This was received from a friend who is not a list member, in response to an
earlier post:
FYI the R1300-3 model was used as a powerplant for the earliest helicopters
designed during WWII, particularly the Sikorsky S55 and the "Whirlybird" HU-19
which worked through Korea and early Vietnam. It was not built for, and would
not fit, the T28 (engine: R1300 S3HP) or S2F "warbirds".
Incidentally, the earliest Sherman tanks were designed for radial aircraft
motors (Continental's mostly), and only later for the "porcupine" 30 cylinder
Chrysler-built monster engine which made them famous. Germans also used
aircraft radial motors in some of their panzers.
I have seen references in the tank modelling world to Shermans with
"Whirlwind" motors, which would suggest that at least some of them were fitted
with Wright engines (for which Whirlwind was a model name), but I have no
confirmation of this. Lindberg's plane had a Wright J-5/R-790 200 hp engine
that was called Whirlwind. The 1300 series bore the name "Cyclone."
-J
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