<VV> Sleeve Valve engines

[James P. Rice]

All:  I don't know how many autos or aero engines used sleeve valves.  So
far as I know, unless there is something in one of my few Automobile
Quarterly's, I don't have any info about auto usages, though I know they
were used in some autos.  I think mostly before WWII or those carried over
when auto production, such as it was, resumed.

So I went and did some low level poking into my aero books, as I remembered
the Hawker Fury/Sea Fury had a sleeve valve engine.  I probably remember
this because of the Fury's at the Reno Air Races.  Most of them now have a
big Pratt&Whitney radial in them.

Anyhow.  Bristol Aero Engine had a whole series of sleeve valve engines,
most of them powering various English transport and twin engine fighters and
bombers during WWII.  The Fury/Sea Fury was a work in progress as the war
ended, but it did reach some limited production, distribution and usage in
the Royal Navy (Korea) and various other countries (think mostly middle
east).

The engine was a Bristol Centaurus XVII, which had 18 cylinders, displaced
53.6 liters and produced 2550hp at 2700 rpm.  Engine had a 2 speed
supercharger and sleeve valves.

I do know off hand how tight they turn the engines and props at Reno.  But I
remember various discussions with both engineers and knowledgeable boating
friends many years ago that 2700rpm is about the max propellers work at.
Above that, they cavitate. (Spelling?!)

I suspect the sleeve valve arrangement is only applicable in low RPM
engines.  There would be an awful lot of material moving around at typical
modern engine RPM's.  Kinda makes you wonder what kind of ugly valve float
would look like in a sleeve valve engine!

So it is very likely, if a sleeve valve was ever suggested in a Corvair
engineering design meeting, it was quickly rejected.

Historically Yours,
                   James Rice

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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:34:54 EST
From: BobHelt at aol.com
Subject: Re: <VV> sleeve-type valves
To: hyarnell1 at earthlink.net, virtualvairs at skiblack.com

In a message dated 12/22/2008 5:11:34 PM US Mountain Standard Time,
hyarnell1 at earthlink.net writes:

I'm  reading an article on the 1930 Willys-Knight in an old SIA mag, and a
sidebar mentioned that the Corvair was initally considering using sleeve
valves
in the engine. I never heard of this. Any truth to this?

Harry  Yarnell


Hi Harry,
I have never heard of this before....and really doubt that it is true for
the Corvair. There are just too many limitations and problems with
sleeve-type
valving. No current automotive engine to my knowledge has used these since
the
 1930s-40s.
Regards,
Bob Helt