The Fiat AS.8 was a large Italian 16-cylinder,

liquid-cooled Liquid cooling refers to cooling by means of the convection or circulation of a liquid. Examples of liquid cooling technologies include: * Cooling by convection or circulation of coolant, including water cooling * Liquid cooling and ventilation ...

V configured aircraft racing engine designed and built in the late-1930s by

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

for an attempt to capture the

air speed record An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records ...

. Another reason for the design was to provide the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the mon ...

'' with high performance fighter aircraft engines. Production problems caused the project to be abandoned when Italy entered World War II in June 1940, power for the fighter designs moved to licensed-built

Daimler-Benz DB 605 The Daimler-Benz DB 605 is a German aircraft engine built during World War II. Developed from the DB 601, the DB 605 was used from 1942 to 1945 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, and the Bf 110 and Me 210C heavy fighters. The DB 610, a p ...

V-12 engines as the Fiat RA.1050.Montalbano 1980, pp. 39-40.

Design and development

This V-16 engine used a

supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced indu ...

similar to that used on the

Fiat AS.6 The Fiat AS.6 was an unusual Italian 24-cylinder, liquid-cooled V configured aircraft racing engine designed and built in the late-1920s by Fiat especially for the Schneider Trophy air races, but development and running problems meant that it w ...

capable of delivering air at a boost pressure of . The unusually long crankshaft was supported by nine

main bearing Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *" Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

s to prevent torsional vibration. A

propeller speed reduction unit A propeller speed reduction unit is a gearbox or a belt and pulley device used to reduce the output revolutions per minute (rpm) from the higher input rpm of the powerplant.Gunston 2006, p. 82. This allows the use of small displacement internal ...

was used to drive

contra-rotating Contra-rotating, also referred to as coaxial contra-rotating, is a technique whereby parts of a mechanism rotate in opposite directions about a common axis, usually to minimise the effect of torque. Examples include some aircraft propellers, re ...

propellers. During

dynamometer A dynamometer or "dyno" for short, is a device for simultaneously measuring the torque and rotational speed ( RPM) of an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover so that its instantaneous power may be calculated, and usually displayed by t ...

testing in the early 1940s the engine produced and ran reliably for over 100 hours, where the AS.6 had been limited to one hour running. Work on the speed record aircraft, the Fiat C.S.15, progressed slowly but by June 1940 a static test

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aero ...

was ready for

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

analysis, it was predicted to have a top speed of . The aircraft suffered damage from air raids and the factory was taken over in 1943 during the German occupation of Italy.Oldmachinepress.com ''FIAT AS.8 Engine and CMASA CS.15 Racer.''
Retrieved: 19 January 2021

Applications

* Fiat C.S.15 (intended)

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Montalbano, Giovanni, ''Il Fiat A.S.8'', in Aerofan III Gen.-Mar., Milano, Giorgio Apostolo Editore, 1980. * Alata, ''Compiuti 50 anni di costruzioni aeronautiche a Torino'', volume XV, 1959.

External links

Restoration of a Fiat AS.8 at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle - www.aisastoryauto.it
{{Fiat aeroengines AS.8 1940s aircraft piston engines