The History of the Rotary Engine

Rotary engines were used mainly in aircraft.

Reciprocating piston engines and fixed radial engines spin a crankshaft, but in rotary engines the cylinders, which are in a circle, spin around a crankshaft. Though used in early motor vehicles, the rotary engine was used mainly in aircraft. In 1957, German engineer Felix Wankel invented a new type of rotary engine for automobiles.

Felix Millet

Felix Millet, a Frenchman, built the first rotary engine. In 1888, Millet created a primitive motorcycle by attaching his 5-cylinder rotary engine to the rear wheel of a bicycle.

Lawrence Hargrave

In 1889, Australian inventor Lawrence Hargrave became the first to develop a rotary engine for an aircraft. Running on compressed air, Hargrave's engine powered an experimental ornithopter, a type of aircraft propelled by flapping wings.

American Rotary Engine Pioneers

F.D. Farwell developed a rotary engine in 1896. That same year, Stephen M. Balzer became the first American to receive a patent for a rotary-engine automobile.

Airplane Rotary Engines

In 1907, French brothers Laurent and Louis Seguin developed a 7-cylinder rotary engine for airplanes. They showcased their engine, eventually referred to as the Gnome, at the Paris Air Show the following year. It became the most common airplane engine in World War I, but following the war, other types superseded it.

Wankel Rotary Engine

Wankel's engine, the only rotary engine for automobiles to be mass produced, used a triangular rotor to turn an eccentric shaft. Building on Wankel's design, Japanese automaker Mazda developed rotary engines with up to 4 rotors and introduced its first rotary-engine car, the Cosmo Sport, in 1967. Mazda has continued developing rotary engines and even introduced a hydrogen-powered model in 1991.

References

• Autoevolution.com: How Wankel's Rotary Engine Works
• "The American Aviation Experience: A History"; Tim Brady, ed.; 2000
• The Aviation History On-Line Museum: Rotary Engine Theory
• EngineHistory.org: Gnome Monosoupape Type N Rotary
• History Channel: Stephen M. Balzer Patens Rotary Engine Auto
• Mazda: History of Rotary

Resources

• U.S. Centennial Flight Commission: More Precursors to Powered Flight