George Constantinescu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gogu Constantinescu

Concrete bridge in Carol Park, Bucharest, designed by G. Constantinescu and dedicated in 1906

George (or Gogu) Constantinescu (1881 - 1965) was a Romanian scientist, engineer and inventor. During his career, he registered over 130 inventions. He is the creator of the Theory of Sonics, a new branch of continuum mechanics, in which he described the transmission of mechanical energy through vibrations.

Born in Craiova and settled in the United Kingdom from 1912, Constantinescu was an honorary member of the Romanian Academy.

Among his inventions are a mechanical torque converter, a sonic engine and a hydraulic machine-gun synchronizer (or interrupter gear) - which allowed airplane-mounted-guns to shoot between the spinning blades of the propeller). The Constantinesco synchronization gear (or "CC" gear) was first used operationally on the D.H.4s of No. 55 squadron R.F.C. from March 1917, during World War I, and rapidly became standard equipment, replacing a variety of mechanical gears. It continued to be used by the Royal Air Force until World War II - the Gloster Gladiator being the last British fighter to be equipped with "CC" gear.

He was the designer of the Constantinesco, a French-manufactured car, and of the Constanţa Mosque (a project completed by the architect Victor Ştefănescu).