Green Engine Co

The Green Engine Co was a British engine company founded by Gustavus Green in Bexhill to sell engines of his design. He flourished especially as a designer of aeroplane engines during the first two decades of the 20th century. The engines were actually manufactured by the Aster Engineering Company.

History

The firm produced a range of water-cooled, mostly inline engines up to about 1915. Green engines powered many pioneering British aircraft, including those of A. V. Roe, Samuel Cody, and Short Brothers. They had several advanced features in common; cast steel single-piece cylinders and cylinder heads, two valves per cylinder driven by an overhead camshaft, white metal crankshaft bearings and copper and rubber-sealed water jackets.[1][2] Manufacture was at the Aster Engineering Company of Wembley.

When the Great War broke out, the company was known for its motorcycle engines and particularly associated with a "pannier honeycomb" radiator design.[3] It was already involved in aero-engine design. In 1909, the C.4 had been the only motor to complete the tests for the Patrick Alexander Competition but was not awarded the £1,000 prize, because the rules called for a 35 hp (26 kW) engine while the C.4 only averaged 31.5 hp (23.5 kW).[4] The competition was re-run the following year for more powerful engines: this time, Green gained the prize with the D.4.[5] Up to 1912 Green was the only source of all-British aircraft engines capable of producing 60 hp (45 kW) and so the only choice when prizes were offered for all-British aircraft. The best known case is John Moore-Brabazon's winning the £1,000 Daily Mail prize for a circular 1 mi (0.87 nmi; 1.6 km) flight by a British pilot in an all-British aeroplane in his D.4-powered Short Biplane No. 2 in 1910.[1]

In 1914, the company was awarded a £5,000 prize by the Army Council in a Naval and Military Aeroplane Engine Competition[6] for their 100 hp (75 kW) water-cooled six-cylinder "Engine No. 1", which was judged to possess the highest number of attributes desirable in an aeroplane engine.[6][7] It was designed to deliver maximum power at low speed and weighed 442 lb (200 kg).

Green continued to design motorcycle engines too, using cylinders similar to, though smaller than, those on their prize-winning aero-engine, having similar rubber-sealed copper jackets and removable overhead valve mechanisms designed to protect the cylinders from damage by broken valves, and forced lubrication throughout.[3] In 1914, Motor Cycle magazine reported on a Zenith motorcycle supplied with the 'new' 964 cc (58.8 cu in) (8 hp (6 kW)) V-twin, of 85 mm (3.3 in) bore and stroke. One interesting detail seen on many modern motorcycles was 'the fitting of a glass window in the crank case to show the level of the oil'.[8]

Aircraft engines

Data from Gunston 1986, p. 72 and Lumsden 1994, pp. 154–6

  • V-8, 100 hp (1908–1909)
  • Green C.4 4-cylinder inline, 105 mm bore × 120mm stroke, 30–35 hp (1908–1910)
  • Green D.4 4-cylinder inline, 140 mm bore × 146 mm stroke, 50–60 hp (1909–1910)
  • 6-cylinder inline, 140 mm bore × 146 mm stroke, 82 hp (1912–1916)
  • Green E.6 6-cylinder inline, 140 mm bore × 152 mm stroke, 90–100 hp (1912–1916)[9]
  • 6-cylinder inline, E.6 development, 140 mm bore × 152 mm stroke, 120 hp[10]
  • V-12, 275 hp (1914–1915)

Applications (grouped by engine power)

Source:Goodall & Tagg 2001

Aeroplanes

35 hp inline C.4

60 hp inline D.4

8Handley Page Type B[13]

100 hp inline E.4

Airships

35 hp inline C.4
Army Balloon Factory Beta I

80 hp V-8
Army Balloon Factory Gamma I (the first all-British airship)

Boats

The Defender II a 1909 racing boat owned by Fred May was powered by a 60 hp Green aeroplane engine.[15] In World War I, the well made, reliable but heavy (450 lbs or 204 kg) 82 hp Green inline engine was produced for fast boats rather than aircraft.[1]

References

Notes
  1. Gunston 1986, p. 72
  2. Lumsden 1994, pp. 154–6
  3. Anon, The Motorcycle, no. 695, Volume 13, 29 October 1914, p.482
  4. Flight 1911
  5. Flight 1913
  6. "Aeroplane Engine Tests. Army Council Awards". News. The Times. No. 40667. London. 16 October 1914. col G, p. 10.
  7. Flight (23 October 1914, p.1062) states the prize was awarded to the 120 hp (89 kW) engine, a refinement of the 100 hp (75 kW) model, unlike "The Motorcyclist"
  8. "An 8 h.p. Twin-cylinder Zenith-Green", Motor Cycle, 20 August 1914, p.248.
  9. Jane 1969, p. 3c
  10. Flight 23 October 1914 p.1062
  11. Barnes 1967, p.52
  12. Bruce 1992, p. 260
  13. Barnes & James 1987, p. 64
  14. Lewis 1962, p. 476
  15. "The Motor-Boats at Monaco". Sport. The Times. No. 39242. London. 9 April 1910. col C, p. 18.

Bibliography
  • Bartley, L.J. (1971). The History of Bexhill. p. 94 – first successful British aero engine.
  • Bruce, J.M. (1992). The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (2nd ed.). London: Putnam Publishing. ISBN 0-85177-854-2.
  • Barnes, C.H.; James, D. N. (1987). Handley Page Aircraft since 1907. London: Putnam Publishing. ISBN 0-85177-803-8.
  • Barnes, C.H. (1967). Shorts Aircraft Since 1900. London: Putnam P.
  • Goodall, Michael H.; Tagg, Albert E. (2001). British Aircraft before the Great War. Atglen, PA, USA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7643-1207-3.
  • Gunston, Bill (1986). World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens. p. 72.
  • Jane, Fred T. (1969). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1913. London: David & Charles. ISBN 07153-4388-2.
  • Lewis, Peter (1962). British Aircraft 1809–1914. London: Putnam Publishing.
  • Lumsden, Alec (1994). British Piston Aero-engines and their Aircraft. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.
  • "Interim Report of the Government Flight Office and Official Results of the Alexander Competition". Flight. Vol. III, no. 2. 14 January 1911. p. 23. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  • "Flight Engines at Olympia". Flight. Vol. V, no. 6. 8 February 1913. p. 151. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
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