Radial engines are innovative piston-cylinder assemblies in which the engine block is arranged around a circle. You may think it is a new concept of engineering, but it isn’t. During World War II, these types of engines fired the Tempests and Spitfires, the two main battle aircraft of the Royal Air Force and performed very well against the Luftwaffe, shooting down thousands of planes. Now engines and their different firing positions depend on the kind of arrangement we are looking at so how do you think these radial engines work? This amazing video from Ian Jimmerson shows us how he made this awesome working replica engine from wood and its intricate working. Since the project is so complex, Ian removes all parts and shows us how they go inside the assembly. Then he gets to explain each part of the engine and how it works:
It will be interesting especially for the aeronautical engineers to be able to inspect how these vintage engine kinds operated. Despite being made out of wood, when he cranks the engine, everything starts moving exactly as intended. There are two parts of his video log. This one only explains the basics of the process. The part 2 of the video is much more detailed if you want to get in the details and make one for yourself.