Author Topic: New Engineering Company (NEC) 50hp engine  (Read 848 times)

Offline lone modeller

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New Engineering Company (NEC) 50hp engine
« on: August 28, 2023, 09:39:54 PM »
Evening All

I have a question about a pre-war engine which I would like to model accurately if possible on a model of the Wright type R ,(Baby Wright), flown by Ogilvey at the Gordon Bennett Air Race of 1911. The aircraft was built and flown in 1910 with a different engine: the NEC engine was fitted in 1911.

Does anyone know of or have information on the NEC engine? Any information which would allow me to make something even vaguely representative would be gratefully received. All I know is that it was a 4 cylinder inline.

Many thanks.

Stephen.

Online Davos522

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Re: New Engineering Company (NEC) 50hp engine
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2023, 11:21:27 PM »
Wow! That's one I don't think I ever encountered before. I checked my WWI Aero indexes (always my go-to source for pre-Great War info) but came up empty-handed... but I have some other pre-war resources I can check tonight when I get back from work. I'll let you know if I find anything.

Dutch

Offline Berman

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Re: New Engineering Company (NEC) 50hp engine
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2023, 01:34:46 AM »
   On this website's section WWI Modeller's Reference Library, click on the Engine section, click on "Website reference for many engines." You can find some photos alphabetically listed under NEC.

Online Davos522

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Re: New Engineering Company (NEC) 50hp engine
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2023, 01:59:04 PM »
Hi Stephen, I did some poking around in Flight magazine, and in the April Fool's issue for 1911 there was an article on the 3rd Olympia Intnl Aero Exhbition that had some interesting stuff, including this photo of Ogilvie's "Baby" Wright, which the caption stated was the same as his previous year's aeroplane, except for the new two-stroke NEC:



... In the same issue, a few pages along, it had this picture of the 50 hp NEC two-cycle, which I assume is the same motor they were refering to. Trouble is that it's a four-cylinder vee, whereas you mentioned you were looking for an inline:



... in January 1910 they had an article on a 4-cyl 2-stroke 40 hp that looked to be an inline, but how that fits into the mystery I have no idea. I loved the "electrolytically deposited copper jackets" though, that'd look pretty cool.

I cleaned the downloads up in Photoshop as much as I could, but they're still kind of funky... I think they're better than the ones on that site, though. I downloaded some other stuff on the Wright, there were some detail sketches of the undercarriage and so forth, so it you want those as well send me a PM and I'll upload them to my cloud account.

Hope this helps,

Dutch

Offline lone modeller

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Re: New Engineering Company (NEC) 50hp engine
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2023, 04:38:19 AM »
Many thanks Berman and Dutch: I had clearly made a mistake in assuming that the NEC engine was an inline when in reality it was a V.

Dutch: the photo of the Baby Wright is very helpful, and it is clear that the NEC engine mentioned was the one used in the 1911 Gordon Bennet race. (Olgivey competed in the 1910 race in the Baby Wright but with a different engine).

I would be very grateful for any other information that you have on the Baby Wright - pm sent.

Stephen.