The Isotta Fraschini Beta was an

air cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

aircraft engine produced by the Italian engineering company

Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 195 ...

in the 1940s. Isotta Fraschini derived the Beta inverted 6-cylinder in-line aircraft engine from the V-12

Gamma Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...

. The engine saw limited production for aircraft, including the Nardi FN.316 and Ambrosini SAI.7, but was generally unsatisfactory in service.

Design and development

Isotta Fraschini had developed V-12

aircraft engine, which gained some success, powering the Ambrosini SAI.107 lightweight fighter. The company took essentially half of the engine and created the Beta inverted 6-cylinder in-line aircraft engine. The Beta shared the larger engine's bore and stroke. The engine had a one-piece aluminium alloy crankcase with steel and aluminium cylinders, each with a single inlet and a single exhaust valve. It had a carburettor designed by Isotta Fraschini and a single speed supercharger. The Beta was produced in small numbers and fitted to a number of Italian training aircraft, including the Nardi FN.316 used in limited quantities by the

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was 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 monarchy was ...

Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana The National Republican Air Force (, ANR) was the air force of the Italian Social Republic, a World War II German puppet state in Italy. Description This air force was tasked with defending the industrial areas of the region, intercepting All ...

and German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. However, the engine was unsatisfactory in service, its failure leading to the cancellation of the IMAM Ro.63

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

Variants

;Beta R.C.10 ISZ: for take-off at .

Applications

* CANSA C.6. * IMAM Ro.63. * Nardi FN.316. * Ambrosini SAI.7.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Isotta Fraschini aeroengines Aircraft air-cooled inline piston engines 1940s aircraft piston engines Straight-six engines

Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...