{"id":75,"date":"2010-03-19T08:29:22","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T13:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/?p=75"},"modified":"2010-03-19T14:12:55","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T19:12:55","slug":"charles-taylor-the-first-aircraft-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2010\/03\/charles-taylor-the-first-aircraft-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Taylor & The First Aircraft Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring has finally sprung and it is time to dust off our motorcycles and go cruising. \u00a0To help kick off the season I invited a friend over for lunch to talk about cars and motorcycles. \u00a0The conversation turned to engines and naturally being a pilot I added a little about aircraft engines. \u00a0Soon I was on the topic of Charles Taylor and how he built the first aircraft engine for the Wright Bros.\u00a0 I explained how Charles Taylor built this first aircraft engine with some very basic tools and how that engine not only met the Wright Bros requirements but it exceeded them. \u00a0Several years ago I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing one of his 1903 engines run.\u00a0 The engine that I saw run was ALL original ran just fine \u2013 over 100 years old!<\/p>\n

Here is a little piece from Centennial of Flight\u00a0 <\/a>in Charles Taylor\u2019s own words about the first aircraft engine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn’t make any drawings. One of us would sketch out the part we were talking about on a piece of scratch paper, and I’d spike the sketch over my bench. It took me six weeks to make that engine. The only metal-working machines we had were a lathe and a drill press, run by belts from the stationary gas engine.<\/p>\n

The crankshaft was made out of a block of machine steel 6 by 31 inches and 15\/8 inch thick. I traced the outline on the slab, then drilled through with the drill press until I could knock out the surplus pieces with a hammer and chisel. Then I put it in the lathe and turned it down to size and smoothness.<\/p>\n

The body of the first engine was of cast aluminum and was bored out on the lathe for independent cylinders. The pistons were cast iron, and these were turned down and grooved for piston rings.<\/p>\n

The completed engine weighed 180 pounds and developed 12 horsepower at 1,025 revolutions per minute.<\/p>\n

While I was doing all this work on the engine, Will and Orv were busy upstairs working on the airframe. They asked me to make the metal parts, such as the small fittings where the wooden struts joined the spars and the truss wires were attached. There weren’t any turnbuckles in the truss wires, so the fit had to be just so. It was so tight we had to force the struts into position.<\/p>\n

The fuel system was simple. A one-gallon fuel tank was suspended from a wing strut, and the gasoline fed by gravity down a tube to the engine. The fuel valve was an ordinary gaslight pet cock. There was no carburetor as we know it today. The fuel was fed into a shallow chamber in the manifold. Raw gas blended with air in this chamber, which was next to the cylinders and heated up rather quickly, this helping to vaporize the mixture. The engine was started by priming each cylinder with a few drops of raw gas.<\/p>\n

The ignition was the make-and-break type. No spark plugs. The spark was made by the opening and closing of two contact points inside the combustion chamber. These were operated by shafts and cams geared to the main camshaft. The ignition switch was an ordinary single-throw knife switch we bought at the hardware store. Dry batteries were used for starting the engine, and then we switched onto a magneto bought from the Dayton Electric Company. There was no battery on the plane.<\/p>\n

Several lengths of speaking tube, such as you find in apartment houses, were used in the radiator.<\/p>\n

The chains to drive the propeller shafts were specially made by the Indianapolis Chain Company, but the sprockets came ready-made. Roebling wire was used for the trusses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for an article that Harry Kraemer published in Aviation Maintenance in December 2003.<\/p>\n

Click here <\/a>for some more reading on Charles Taylor from Aircraft Maintenance Technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring has finally sprung and it is time to dust off our motorcycles and go cruising. \u00a0To help kick off the season I invited a friend over for lunch to talk about cars and motorcycles. \u00a0The conversation turned to engines and naturally being a pilot I added a little about aircraft engines. \u00a0Soon I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p95FsX-1d","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5143,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2021\/12\/kraemer-aviation-flymall-org-december-2021-wheels-wings-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":75,"position":0},"title":"Kraemer Aviation \/ Flymall.org December 2021 Wheels & Wings Newsletter","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation\/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter. This month is all about pushing the limits. And we're introducing a new section to our newsletter dedicated to trains and rail travel, its called \"Riding The Rails\". Since it is the Christmas season, here is our post on different takes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9901,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2025\/12\/flymall-kraemer-aviation-december-2025-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":75,"position":1},"title":"Flymall \/ Kraemer Aviation December 2025 Newsletter","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation\/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter This month: Kitty O\u2019Neil, Wright Bros, William Harley, Charles Goodyear, and more. You can view past newsletters here. Share this with someone that may be interested! Here's our collection of different versions of Twas The Night Before Christmas. The Sunday before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/603004093_33879885321610920_6186001089536516206_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1303,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/n736le-appraisal-draft-july-28-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":75,"position":2},"title":"N736LE Appraisal Draft July 28 2016","date":"July 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Kraemer Aviation Services \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aircraft Appraisal Report \u00a0 Client: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 LADY EDITH HAWKER FLIGHT CO LLC\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Phone: (561) XXX-XXXX Address: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bethesda, Maryland \u00a0 \u00a0 This report is intended to be used by: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 LADY EDITH HAWKER FLIGHT CO LLC & XXXXXXX \u00a0 This report should not be distributed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9963,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2026\/01\/flymall-january-2026-wheels-wings-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":75,"position":3},"title":"Flymall January 2026 Wheels & Wings Newsletter","date":"January 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation\/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter You can view past newsletters here. Interested in living at an airport?\u00a0\u00a0Visit our Aviation Real Estate page here. You can view price data for airport property in our Market Watch section of the Flymall.\u00a0Here is the data for all airport property.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jett-2016.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8219,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2024\/02\/flymall-kraemer-aviation-february-2024-wheels-wings-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":75,"position":4},"title":"Flymall \/ Kraemer Aviation February 2024 Wheels & Wings Newsletter","date":"February 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation\/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter You can view past newsletters here. This month we're featuring Glenn Curtiss, the Glenn Curtiss Museum, and the town of Hammondsport in the Finger Lakes area. Harry was at the Glenn Curtiss Museum earlier this month for their annual event Winter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/53535809503_6f4d1d10ff_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6345,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2022\/11\/flymall-kraemer-aviation-november-2022-wheels-wings-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":75,"position":5},"title":"Flymall \/ Kraemer Aviation November 2022 Wheels & Wings Newsletter","date":"November 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation\/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter You can view past newsletters here. This month the theme is \"Indian Motorcycles and Indian Power Vehicles\". We celebrated Thanksgiving this month and since the early English settlers celebrated this traditional holiday with Native American Indians, we thought let's highlight an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/51874259228_922e4bdaf9_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/78"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}