De Havilland Gipsy Major

Type: 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline piston aircraft engine
Bore: 4.646" (118 mm)
Stroke: 5.512" (140 mm)
Displacement: 373.7 in³ (6.124 L)
Length: 48.3" (1227 mm)
Width: 20.0" (508 mm)
Height: 29.6" (752 mm)
Dry weight: 300 lb (136 kg) Mk 1F to 322 lb (146 kg) Mk 1D

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de Havilland Gipsy Major

The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA was a 4-cylinder, air-cooled, inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft in the 1930s including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. The engine was a slightly modified Gipsy III which was effectively a de Havilland Gipsy engine modified to run inverted so that the cylinders pointed downwards below the crankcase. This allowed the propeller shaft to be kept in a high position without having the cylinders blocking the pilot's forward view over the nose of the aircraft. One disadvantage of the inverted configuration was the high oil consumption (up to 4 pints per hour) requiring regular refills of the external oil tank. The Major was a slightly bored out (118 mm from 114 mm) Gipsy III. First built in 1932, total production of all Gipsy Major versions was 14,615 units.