Quote:
Originally Posted by vteco
The idea that steam engines have to be relatively big and slow persists mainly because they were largely abandoned in technological development for most transportation uses in the beginning of the last century. Big lumbering piston powerplants were the rule then, frozen in time. And then it stopped.
Well, except for the efforts of one tiny stalwart group of amateur model engineers, mainly in Britain who had been quietly racing tethered model steam hydroplanes.
In a racing traditionover a century old, these guys developed amazing engines in garden shed workshops, competing with each other year after year. Trial and error created a line of technical steam advancements that to me is mind boggling. One cubic inch engines turning more than 10,000 rpm and producing multiple horsepower driving boats over a hundred miles an hour these days. There is nothing sedate or old fashioned about these engines. They put out huge power for their size and displacement.
Here's a class A racing steam hydroplane being readied and then released, accelerating to scary speeds:
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Holy Prac!
That puts steam a a whole different light!
1 cubic inch at 10 000 rpm means small, light and efficient? engines!
Is there a web site for this?
I'd love to see more on how they're made.