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racing versions, the engine could reach 1,300 hp (970 kW) and it was used to break many world height, air speed and distance records in aircraft and boats, delivering 1,375 hp (1,025 kW) in a highly tuned Lion for a water speed record of 100 mph (160 km/h) in 1933. In
244:
became an option in 1922), the Lion went on to commercial success. Through the years between the wars the Lion was ubiquitous and Napier manufactured little else. They stopped making cars in 1925 and little thought was given to replacing their world-famous product. Between the wars the Lion engine
228:
in early 1918, and many cooling problems were observed during testing. The milled block was difficult to build with the required accuracy and the design reverted to separate aluminium cylinders. Both problems were solved by the middle of the year and the engine entered production in June 1918. The
114:
from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in production long after other contemporary designs had been superseded. It is particularly well known for its use in a number of racing designs, for aircraft, boats and cars.
283:
in 1947—a record that came well after the Lion had passed its prime and stood until the 1960s. The record had been held by
British drivers for 32 years. Lions powered successful entrants in the most prestigious event in air racing, the
189:. Both engines proved to be unreliable and in 1916 Napier decided to design an engine with high power, light weight and low frontal area. Napier's engineers laid out the engine with its 12 cylinders in what they called a
960:
330:
delivered just under 1,000 hp (750 kW). The engines were smaller than contemporary designs from other companies and Napier started afresh with a new
1263:
The W, or broad arrow engine, has three rows of cylinders of which the central row is vertical with the other two rows forming equal angles with the vertical.
311:. The Lion aero engine was also adapted to power propeller-driven motor sleighs, which were used for high-speed transport and SAR duties on sea ice by the
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During the 1930s a new generation of much larger and more powerful engines appeared and the Lion became uncompetitive. By the time the
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224:, the design of the engine, renamed Lion, was completed in 1917; hand-built prototypes ran later that year. It was fitted to an
1638:
186:
190:
307:
arrived in the late 1930s, the Lion was obsolete. The Sea Lion, a marine version of the Lion, was used to power high speed
181:
Early in the First World War, Napier were contracted to build aero engines to designs from other companies, initially a
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233:. The power output made the Lion the most powerful Allied aircraft engine, which had previously been the
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197:. The engine was also advanced in form, the heads using four valves per cylinder with twin overhead
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193:—three banks of four cylinders sharing a common crankcase. The configuration is also known as a
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Turning away from the broad arrow layout, Napier designed new engines using the more compact
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instead of the common separate-cylinder steel construction used on almost all other designs.
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Inverted layout, for better visibility. At least some were built turbocharged, for racing.
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Contemporary technical description of the Lion with photographs and drawings.
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first Lion I versions delivered 450 horsepower (340 kW) from their 24
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153: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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including a record of over 250 mph (400 km/h) in 1932 and
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Two intake and two exhaust valves per cylinder actuated via double
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Mainstay engine of the RAF in the late 1920s, replaced by Lion XI
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on each bank of cylinders and a single block being milled from
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As the most powerful engine available (particularly after a
1261:(Engineering textbook). J. Wiley & Sons. p. 7.
1258:
Aircraft
Engines: Theory, Analysis, Design and Operation
1007:
Preserved Napier Lion engines are on static display at
326:
produced 400 hp (300 kW) and the 24-cylinder
1283:
1255:
Domonoske, Arthur Boquer; Finch, Volney Cecil (1936).
1307:
1003:
Napier Lion on display at
Imperial War Museum Duxford
1385:. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003.
598:
1,350 bhp (1,010 kW) at 3,600 rpm (racing)
1061:
60° (3 banks of 4 cylinders) aircraft piston engine
1310:"English Electric Aircraft and their Predecessors"
265:land speed records, Lion engines powered many of
1620:
670:580 bhp (430 kW) at 2,585 rpm, 6:1 CR
1254:
1466:
1347:"Miss Britain III – National Maritime Museum"
956:British Power Boat Company Type Two 63 ft HSL
715:British Power Boat Company Type Two 63 ft HSL
1037:
245:powered over 160 different aircraft types.
1473:
1459:
1048:
708:500 and 600 bhp (370 and 450 kW)
237:, producing 400 horsepower (300 kW).
1383:British Piston Engines and their Aircraft
978:, a 1968 special in the vintage tradition
169:Learn how and when to remove this message
118:
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1154:480 hp (358 kW) at 2,200 rpm at 5,000 ft
998:
731:
247:
207:
1480:
1308:Ransom and Fairclough, S and R (1987).
1197:Vehicles powered by Napier Lion engines
456:500 bhp (370 kW) at 2,250 rpm
454:470 bhp (350 kW) at 2,000 rpm
399:480 bhp (360 kW) at 2,200 rpm
380:450 bhp (340 kW) at 1,950 rpm
288:, in 1922 and 1927 but were dropped by
1621:
296:, which had been designed for racing.
1454:
1437:(13): 397–402. 27 March 1919. No. 535
1301:
994:
961:British Power Boat Company 60 ft 4 in
949:
16:British piston aircraft engine family
637:(John Cobb's land speed record car)
151:adding citations to reliable sources
122:
572:875 bhp (652 kW) (racing)
536:900 bhp (670 kW) (racing)
510:700 bhp (520 kW) (racing)
13:
14:
1655:
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252:The Napier Lion installed in the
277:'s 394 mph (634 km/h)
127:
29:
1374:
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383:geared, also related IA and 1AY
334:design, which evolved into the
292:in favour of a new engine, the
138:needs additional citations for
1361:
1339:
1328:
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1145:
990:world land speed record holder
984:world land speed record holder
1:
1639:1910s aircraft piston engines
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601:Supercharged, about 6–8 built
7:
1425:"The Napier Lion Aeromotor"
1185:
1022:Imperial War Museum Duxford
727:
341:
10:
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1297:(2579): 893. 27 June 1958.
853:Handley Page H.P.31 Harrow
632:(Schneider Trophy entrant)
518:(Schneider Trophy entrant)
477:Turbocharged, intercooled
459:VA had increased CR to 5.8
1600:
1584:
1568:
1537:
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1057:12-cylinder water-cooled
801:English Electric Kingston
711:Marine version of Lion XI
212:Cutaway view showing the
37:
28:
23:
1241:
1231:List of aircraft engines
1038:Specifications (Lion II)
1027:National Maritime Museum
322:layout. The 16-cylinder
214:double overhead camshaft
1634:Napier aircraft engines
1349:. Collections.rmg.co.uk
1314:Their Fighting Machines
1049:General characteristics
908:Supermarine Southampton
738:Brooklands Motor Museum
415:geared high compression
1538:Turboprop / Turboshaft
1181:0.5 hp/lb (0.82 kW/kg)
1163:0.32 hp/in (15.0 kW/L)
1017:Canada Aviation Museum
1004:
858:Handley Page Hyderabad
740:
257:
217:
183:Royal Aircraft Factory
119:Design and development
102:-fueled 'broad arrow'
83:Handley Page Hyderabad
40:Canada Aviation Museum
1285:"Napier Aero-Engines"
1177:Power-to-weight ratio
1088:1,461.6 in (23.944 L)
1002:
781:Boulton Paul Atlantic
735:
280:Railton Mobil Special
251:
211:
1367:Lumsden 2003, p.166.
1335:2nd MTB Flotilla.pdf
1219:Lorraine 12E Courlis
1079:5.125 in (130.17 mm)
746:Alliance P.2 Seabird
673:RAF production model
267:Sir Malcolm Campbell
147:improve this article
1135:per cylinder block.
903:Supermarine Seagull
791:Boulton Paul Bolton
786:Boulton Paul Bodmin
756:Blackburn Blackburn
435:experimental geared
348:
309:RAF Rescue Launches
112:D. Napier & Son
63:D. Napier & Son
1400:. Stroud: Tempus (
1203:Comparable engines
1133:overhead camshafts
1005:
995:Engines on display
950:Other applications
923:Vickers Valparaiso
796:Bristol Ten-seater
741:
346:
305:Rolls-Royce Merlin
258:
218:
98:is a 12-cylinder,
78:Major applications
38:Napier Lion II at
1616:
1615:
1402:Images of England
1214:Hispano-Suiza 18R
1168:Compression ratio
1106:43.5 in (1105 mm)
1100:42.0 in (1067 mm)
1094:57.5 in (1460 mm)
1070:5.5 in (139.7 mm)
1012:Brooklands Museum
972:lap record holder
863:Handley Page W.10
720:
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313:Finnish Air Force
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933:Vickers Virginia
928:Vickers Victoria
766:Blackburn Pellet
626:Miss Britain III
605:Blue Bird (1931)
546:Blue Bird (1927)
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301:Bristol Hercules
286:Schneider Trophy
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1139:Cooling system:
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1115:960 lb (435 kg)
1051:
1040:
997:
988:Railton Special
952:
947:
943:Westland Walrus
898:Supermarine S.5
893:Supermarine S.4
843:Gloster Gorcock
776:Blackburn Velos
771:Blackburn Ripon
736:Napier Lion at
730:
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656:Gloster Gorcock
635:Railton Special
633:
628:
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617:Betty Carstairs
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579:Supermarine S.5
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554:Supermarine S.5
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521:Supermarine S.4
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441:Gloster Gorcock
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271:record breakers
222:Arthur Rowledge
185:model and then
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108:aircraft engine
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1492:Piston engines
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1418:External links
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1398:Napier Powered
1396:Vessey, Alan.
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1225:Related lists
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367:Notable uses
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328:Napier Dagger
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324:Napier Rapier
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294:Rolls-Royce R
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206:
204:
200:
196:
192:
191:"broad arrow"
188:
184:
173:
170:
162:
159:December 2013
152:
148:
142:
141:
136:This section
134:
130:
125:
124:
116:
113:
109:
105:
101:
97:
88:
84:
81:
76:
75:
71:
68:
67:
64:
61:
59:Manufacturer
58:
57:
54:
51:
48:
45:
44:
41:
36:
32:
27:
22:
19:
1518:
1485:aero engines
1439:. Retrieved
1434:
1428:
1401:
1397:
1382:
1375:Bibliography
1363:
1351:. Retrieved
1341:
1330:
1318:. Retrieved
1313:
1303:
1294:
1288:
1279:
1270:
1262:
1257:
1250:
1224:
1223:
1202:
1201:
1175:
1166:
1157:
1151:
1141:Water-cooled
1138:
1125:
1109:
1103:
1097:
1091:
1084:Displacement
1082:
1073:
1064:
1054:
1042:
1041:
1006:
982:Golden Arrow
878:Parnall Pike
848:Gloster Guan
833:Fokker D.C.I
723:Applications
652:direct drive
620:
612:
542:Golden Arrow
496:Gloster Guan
492:Turbocharged
347:Lion models
336:Napier Sabre
332:sleeve valve
317:
298:
278:
262:highly tuned
259:
242:turbocharger
239:
235:Liberty L-12
219:
180:
165:
156:
145:Please help
140:verification
137:
95:
93:
18:
1629:Napier Lion
1274:Vessey 1997
1209:Farman 12We
1146:Performance
812:Fairey Fawn
803:(prototype)
516:Gloster III
290:Supermarine
216:arrangement
96:Napier Lion
53:aero-engine
1623:Categories
1441:12 January
1237:References
1127:Valvetrain
1120:Components
1111:Dry weight
1032:Solent Sky
970:Brooklands
968:race car,
828:Fokker C.V
807:Fairey III
751:Avro Bison
630:Gloster VI
623:powerboat
613:Enterprise
583:Gloster IV
558:Gloster IV
315:and Navy.
226:Airco DH.9
69:First run
1644:W engines
1320:7 January
1043:Data from
868:Letov Š-8
819:– (N4839)
621:Estelle V
358:Works No.
275:John Cobb
203:aluminium
199:camshafts
110:built by
1608:Scorpion
1504:Culverin
1316:. Putnam
1186:See also
728:Aircraft
700:Sea Lion
342:Variants
320:H engine
303:and the
195:W engine
187:Sunbeams
1555:Gazelle
1514:Javelin
1353:6 March
1104:Height:
1092:Length:
1059:W-block
1045:Lumsden
683:Lioness
423:Mk.III
1601:Rocket
1524:Rapier
1509:Dagger
1482:Napier
1430:Flight
1408:
1389:
1290:Flight
1098:Width:
1075:Stroke
575:geared
231:litres
220:Under
100:petrol
50:Piston
1576:Nomad
1560:Naiad
1550:Eland
1529:Sabre
1242:Notes
1172:5.8:1
1055:Type:
364:Notes
361:Power
352:Model
72:1917
46:Type
24:Lion
1592:Oryx
1519:Lion
1443:2011
1406:ISBN
1387:ISBN
1355:2013
1322:2017
1066:Bore
703:1933
665:1928
645:1927
642:VIII
592:1929
589:VIID
567:1927
564:VIIB
530:1927
527:VIIA
505:1925
485:1927
393:1919
375:1918
355:Date
94:The
1499:Cub
688:E71
662:XIA
611:'s
595:E91
533:E86
502:VII
482:VIS
472:E79
408:III
396:E64
269:'s
260:In
256:car
149:by
104:W12
1625::
1435:XI
1433:.
1427:.
1312:.
1295:73
1293:.
1287:.
619:'
467:VS
428:IV
390:II
338:.
1474:e
1467:t
1460:v
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447:V
372:I
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157:(
143:.
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