Bristol Hercules

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Bristol Hercules engine. Note the absence of pushrods on the cylinders. Each cylinder has two exhaust ports on the front (short L-shaped tubes) and three intake ports on the back supplied through a single manifold.

The Bristol Hercules was a 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine designed by Sir Roy Fedden and produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1939. It was the first of their sleeve valve designs to see widespread use, powering many aircraft in the mid-World War II time frame.

Bristol had introduced their first sleeve valve designs in the 750 horsepower (560 kW) class Perseus and the 500 hp (370 kW) class Aquila, which they intended to supply throughout the 1930s. Aircraft development in the era was so rapid that both engines quickly ended up at the low-power end of the military market, and in order to deliver larger engines Bristol developed 14-cylinder versions of both. The Perseus evolved into the Hercules, and the Aquila into the Taurus.

The rationale behind the sleeve-valve design was to provide optimum intake and exhaust gas flow in a two-row radial engine. The arrangement of the cylinders in two-row radials made it very difficult to utilize four valves per cylinder and all non-sleeve valve two- and four-row radials were limited to two valves.

The first Hercules engines were available in 1939 as the 1,290 hp (960 kW) Hercules I, soon improved to 1,375 hp (1,025 kW) in the Hercules II. The major version was the Hercules VI which delivered 1,650 hp (1,230 kW), and the late-war Hercules XVII produced 1,735 hp (1,294 kW).

The Hercules powered a number of aircraft including Bristol's own Beaufighter heavy fighter design. It was more commonly used on bombers and it could be found on the Short Stirling, the Vickers Wellington, the Avro Lancaster Mk.II, and all later versions of the Handley-Page Halifax. It was considered to be one of the most reliable aircraft engines of the era, and was well liked by both pilots and mechanics.

The Hercules also saw use in civilian designs. It was used in the Bristol Freighter cargo plane, the Short Solent flying boat, the Handley Page Hastings, and the Hermes. The design was also licensed for production in France by SNECMA and saw use in the Nord Noratlas.

A total of over 57,400 Hercules engines were built.