Document Type: Book (Technical Reference) Purpose: Informational Authority: Author Expertise

Scope: Technical monograph about diesel engines used in various types of aircraft. Written by Paul H. Wilkinson, "Diesel Aviation Consulting Engineer"

From Chapter 1: "Most people in the United States who are interested in aviation associate the gasoline engine with the airplane as its power plant.

True, the gasoline engine has made flight possible and it has been developed to a fine art. Progress does not stand still, however, and now the Diesel or compression ignition engine has become a challenger of the gasoline engine for aviation.

Today, the Diesel provides the motive power for fast streamlined trains and swift motorships as well as for powerful trucks, busses and tractors. Its use in warships and tanks is growing rapidly and it is being adopted for mechanized transport. Adoption of the Diesel for aviation has been relatively slow because of the difficulty in reducing its weight sufficiently for use in the air. Now this problem has been solved and we are on the threshold of a new era in aviation in which the Diesel will play an important part.

DR. RUDOLF DIESEL By common usage, the word Diesel has become synonymous for compression ignition engine and few people remember its inventor or the difficulties he encountered in its development. More than forty years have elapsed since the first industrial engine operating on this principle was built. It is nearly fifty years since the first patent was issued to Dr. Rudolf Diesel for his invention of an internal combustion engine with compression ignition."

Contents (chapters from Table of Contents): 1. Development of the Diesel Aviation Engine 2. How the Diesel Aviation Engine Works 3. The Guiberson Diesel 4. The Junkers Jumo 205 Diesel Engine 5. Flights with Diesel-Engined Aircraft 6. Advantages of the Diesel for Aviation