

About Airplanes & Rockets
Kirt Blattenberger Carpe Diem! (Seize the Day!) Even during the busiest times of my life I have endeavored to maintain some form of model building activity. This site has been created to help me chronicle my journey through a lifelong involvement in model aviation, which all began in Mayo, MD ...
Copyright 1996 - 2026
Webmaster: Kirt Blattenberger BSEE - KB3UON Family Websites: RF Cafe \| Equine Kingdom All trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other rights of ownership to images and text used on the Airplanes and Rockets website are hereby acknowledged.

Plastic Scale Model Kits - Airplanes and Rockets

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. R-985 Radial Engine Video

During a visit to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, part of the National Air & Space Museum, I videoed this animation of an actual Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. R-985-AN-14B radial engine. Bulldog Powers, the propulsion engineer, handles the narration as he describes the workings of the internal components. The entire engine has been cut down the middle through the cylinders, allowing visitors to watch all 9 pistons go up and down as their respective valves are opened and closed by pushrods. The video begins with the two halves fully closed and then they slowly move apart while the internal action is taking place. All the bare metal components are shined and key components are color-coded to follow the narration.

Some guy watching me video the show asked me if I was so interested in the engine because I was an aircraft powerplant mechanic. There is some irony in that since when I signed up for the U.S. Air Force, my "guaranteed" job was supposed to be as a weather equipment technician. When that fell through, I was asked what other career field I would prefer so I chose jet engine mechanic. Well, that wasn't available either so I got my third choice as an air traffic control radar maintenance technician. It turned out well, but often I wish the mechanic job had worked out so I could have spent a lifetime working around airplanes.

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. R-985 Radial Engine - Airplanes & Rockets Here is a description from the Smithsonian website:

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. R-985-AN-14B
The Wasp Jr. is one of the most successful reciprocating engines ever built. Pratt & Whitney introduced it as a complement to the highly successful Wasp and Hornet families of engines in 1930. The Wasp Jr. was essentially a Wasp of reduced dimensions. Pratt & Whitney and its licensees manufactured over 39,000 versions of the R-985 until 1953 for a wide variety of military and commercial aircraft, including light transports, trainers, sport aircraft, and helicopters.
The R-985-AN-14B powered the McDonnell XHJH-1 and XHJD-1 Whirlaway helicopters and the Avro Anson V trainer. This Wasp Jr.-aptly nicknamed "The Dancing Engine"- has been sectionalized and motorized to demonstrate the movements of its internal components.
Manufacturer: Pratt & Whitney Aircraft
Date: 1942
Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
117.5 x 117.5 x 109.4 cm (46.25 x 46.25 x 43.06 in.)
Materials:
Overall - aluminum and steel.
Physical Description:
Type: Radial, 9 cylinders, air cooled Power rating: 336 kW (450 hp) at 2,300 rpm Displacement: 16.1 L (985 cu in) Weight: 309 kg (682 lb) Manufacturer: Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, East Hartford, Conn. Cutaway; with moving parts.

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. R-985-AN-14B Radial Engine Video

Posted May 26, 2012



Modeling Resources
Academy of Model Aeronautics Tower Hobbies Horizon Hobby Sig Mfg Brodak Mfg