The Packard Motor Car Co. began its activity in 1900 with the manufacture of automobiles and entered the aeronautical industry in 1915 creating a Division of Aviation Engines.

"Packard logos"

-Packard was based in Detroit, Michigan. We will follow an order by displacement to tell about this brand's extensive production. All the engines we have come to know will be treated.

-At the end of the first engine-construction activity in 1928, there was a gap until WWII when they started building engines again.

-Meanwhile, they had been experimenting with prototypes. Not all of them may be exposed.

-The 1A-258 was a single cylinder test engine in which they used a cylinder from the Packard 1A-1551.

“Packard 1A-258 test bench”

-These tests were carried out in 1922. The 1A-1551 was from the previous year.

-The 299 is from 1916, a V-12 that gave 100 HP at 2,300 rpm

“Packard 299”

-The Packard 452 from 1916 was a water-cooled 6-cylinder in-line engine giving 140 HP at 2,300 rpm.

-Little known is the 1A1-500 delivering 160 HP at 1,525 rpm. It was an 8-cylinder Vee.

-The 2A2-500 also had a displacement of 500 cu. in.

“Packard 2A2-500”

-Packard was part of the Lincoln Motors Co. group and it can be said that American aviation took a great leap thanks to the Liberty engine.

-Liberties were manufactured by Heinz M. Leland's Lincoln Motors Co. At the end of May 1917 a commission of automobile engineers locked themselves in a Washington hotel (see Liberty) with a drawing board and after four days they left the hotel with the design of a new engine, which they called "Liberty". It had 8 cylinders in V and was planned to deliver 300 HP at 1,250 rpm.

-Actually the design was the collaboration of Jesse G. Vincent of the Packard Company and Charles Hall of the Hall-Scott company.

"Test bench of a Liberty"

-In August 1917 the first Liberty left the Packard workshops and was sent to Washington to be tested.

-The engines were designed with 4-cylinder L-4, six L-6, eight L-8 (in V) and twelve-cylinder L-12, 12 in V.

-In the end the real Liberty turned out to be a V12. There were frequent design changes.

-The photo taken in June 1918 shows us a test bench installed on a vehicle of the time with a trio of mechanics forming a chain to pull the propeller in a manual start.

-On that occasion the engine has a GE supercharger that increased the power from 230 HP to 356 HP.

-The Liberty gave 100 HP more than a contemporary RR and weighed 50 Kg Less.

-They were built at a rate of 150 engines per day -by various manufacturers- while at the same time of the war, Rolls-Royce only delivered 10 engines (hand made).

-After the war there were countless applications and records of this engine that reached 400 HP.

-The 1A-744 was an 8-cylinder Vee from 1919 that gave 180 HP at 1,600 rpm.

“1A-744”

-In 1921 there was the 1A-825 with a displacement of 825 cu. in. It was an eight-cylinder Vee that gave 230 HP at 1,600 rpm.

“1A-825”

“1A-825”

-The 1A-833 is an in-line six cylinder (L-6?) Engine.

“1A-833”

-The 1A-905 were made in three series between 1916 and 1917. The 1A-905-1 gave 235 HP at 1,800 rpm.

-The -2 gave 275 HP at 2,000 rpm and the -3, delivered 285 HP at 2,000 rpm. They were water cooled and displaced 905 cu. in. with a 12-V configuration.

“The 1A-905-2 and the -3”

“The 1A-905-3, in more detail”

-Continuing with the order of displacement, but making a parenthesis, there was a very different engine from the general Packard line, because it was not in-line, nor Vee, nor water-cooled, and besides it was Diesel.

-This is the DR-980 9-cylinder radial with a displacement of 980 cu. in.

-It was certified for 225 HP at 1,950 rpm.

-It was designed by Fernan Dohner and Lionel Woolson. According to the brand it was the first Diesel engine to fly.

-This engine is from 1928, and in 1931 it made a flight of 84 and a half hours. This record was not broken until Rutan Yeager made a round-the-world flight in 1986.

“DR-980 installation”

“DR-980 cross-section”

“DR-980 drawing”

-The compression ratio reached 16: 1. Each cylinder had a single valve since, as is known, Diesel engines aspirate only air. A short duct facing forward and aided by the air flow acts as the complicated intake and exhaust manifolds.

“DR-980 front view”

“Cylinder details”

-By the photo and the shown details, we see that the short ducts on the cylinder heads act as air intake and gas exhaust. Air enters from the front and exhaust exits from behind. We therefore have a clear idea of ​​the simplicity of the distribution of this engine. In addition, the valve remains open during consecutive intake and exhaust. What's more, the valve works with less heat.

“DR-980 at Packard Museum”

-Another originality of the engine is that in slow gear only three cylinders were running, the rest coming into action when accelerating from idle at 250 rpm and on.

-There was a version that was built by Guiberson (see).

-Precisely the vibrations and the strong smell of the exhaust that was not driven backwards or downwards towards a place where it would not disturb, made this engine not prosper.

"Some Ford Trimotors were powered by it"

-There were three more versions: the DR-1340 with 550 HP at 2200 rpm, the DR-1520 with the same power at 2100 rpm and the DR-1655 with the same power at 2100 rpm.

They were from 1932 and at least the DR-1340 and DR-1520 were 2-stroke engines.

-Now there is more information available on Packard Diesel Radials.

-As mentioned in the text, one of the problems with the Packard Diesel radials was the lack of an exhaust manifold that would prevent the irritating fumes from going to the cockpit and passage.

-We have received three examples in which these exhausts have been channeled to avoid this problem.

-The first is that of a Stinson plane.

“Packard on Stinson”

“Another cross-section of a Packard Diesel”

-We know that this engine had a single valve per cylinder that was used for exhaust and intake. This valve was open in these two contiguous strokes. So it worked with less heat.

-In the above photo we see that in addition to the redirection of the exhausts, the air intakes of each cylinder have a trumpeted inlet for more effectiveness in flight.

“Packard Diesel, angled front view”

-The transverse ducts on the cylinder head are where the air is taken in and the exhaust is brought out to them. Due to the speed and air flow, fresh air enters from the front and the exhaust leaves backwards.

“Another example of redirected exhausts”

-And another example of exhaust manifolds that are derived downwards from the plane. This is the Stinson Detroiter.

“Packard Diesel on Stinson”

-We recovered two images of the Packard Diesel radial engine in which characteristic details of this engine are seen.

“Longitudinal cylinder cut”

-The pumps and injectors are individual and each form a single unit. From the camshaft there are small rods topped with spheres that push, the short one to the injector pump and the one that is a little longer, raises the rod that moves the only valve of the cylinder.

"Cut through the rear cam plate"

-Now we see that there is a short duct in the cylinder head that in its center communicates with the interior of the cylinder through the valve.

-Air is admitted from the front of the duct and the exhaust leaves the duct going backwards, due to the plane's speed or propeller flow.

-The 1A-1100 is considered the Liberty L-8, from the year 1917, giving 275 HP at 1,700 rpm. It was an 8-cylinder Vee.

“Packard-Liberty L-8A”

-In 1919, the 1A-1116, a 12-cylinder Vee, comes out. It was water cooled and gave 270 HP at 1,600 rpm.

“1A-1116”

-It weighed about 733 lbs. The carburetor was Zenith and the ignition, as seen in all Packard engines so far, was by Delco and battery.

-The 1A-1237, sometimes V-1237, was a 12 cylinder Vee from 1920 giving 315 HP at 1,700 rpm.

“1A-1237”

-The 2A-1237 replaced the 2A-1116. There was also a 2A-1237 in the year 1923. It gave 315 HP.

-Following in displacement there is the 1A-1300 from 1923 that gave 375 HP at 1,700 rpm.

“Packard 1A-1300”

-In 1924 there was a 1A-1464 that gave 475 HP at 2,000 rpm.

-The 1A-1500 had several versions: One with direct output for the propeller, another that was geared and a third more original one, an inverted Vee.

-The standard one delivered 500 HP at 2,000 rpm and 520 HP at 2,200.

“Three 1A-1500 versions”

-The same happens with the 2A-1500 that we show below. A is a front view of the inverted one. B is a side view of the inverted one and C is a front view of the standard upright Vee-engine.

“Three 2A-1500 engines”

-Two new and better views of the inverted Packard 12-cylinder, model 2A-1500.

“Front and rear views”

“2A-1500 schematic drawing”

-The 3A-1500 delivered 600 HP at 2,500 rpm.

“3A-1500”

-As in the previous cases, it also had its inverted Vee version.

“3A-1500”

-Below we show the geared 3A-1500 with the same power.

“3A-1500, geared”

-The 1500 cu. in. engines reached 600 hp. To obtain more power, the 3A-2500 came out. It gave 800 hp.

“1A-1551”

-The 1A-1551 had magnetos. Here we can see how they were tested. It was a six-cylinder in-line that gave 300/350 HP.

-In the above photograph we see the magneto test in the old style and in the one below, in a more modern style.

“1A-1551”

The 1A-1551 used one cylinder-row of the Vee engine.

-In 1925 Packard made the 1A-1530, a 12-cylinder Vee engine that gave 510 hp.

-The 1A-1650 is considered the 12-cylinder Liberty Vee of 1919. It gave 420 HP at 1,750 rpm and 446 HP at 1,900 rpm. Postwar production was the L-12A.

-Not to be confused with the V-1650 specification-, which was assigned to the Packard-Merlin. This engine was made from 1941 to 1945.

-During the conflict, the Packard Liberty LA-1, 2A, B, C, and E came out. The latter was known as the Double Liberty, the LA-12N and - AS.

“L-12A”

-The L-12B had epicyclic gear while the L-12C had overlapping gears, as we see below.

“L-12C”

The experimental L-12E had a double crankshaft, in fact it was an L-12A joined in a single crankcase but with two crankshafts, joined by the front gearbox.

“L-12E”

-The resulting engine is wider, as we can see in the illustrations.

-The 1,500 Liberty L-12N series engines that were manufactured went to the US Navy.

“V-1650-1”

-Continuing with the classification by displacement, now we treat the V-1650.

-The V-1650-1 was an engine that was manufactured under Rolls-Royce license.

-A wide range of this engine was made with powers from 1,385 to 2,280 HP.

-The RR Merlin engine models were the ones from -28 to -69 and from -224 to -301.

“Packard Merlin at the MAE”

-These engines were used on the Mustang P-51D. They were the Merlins that were built under license by Packard.

-It was a very compact engine as we can see.

-At the rear we see the large mechanical supercharger and an intercooler on top.

-Almost 56,000 Packard-Merlin engines were made, of which almost 900 were manufactured by Continental.

-The best utilization that we know is that of the P-51 Mustang, a magnificent fighter that if powered by other engines did not reach the desired performances.

“V-1650-3”

“Packard V-1650-17”

“Packard Merlin -38”

“Packard Merlin -266”

-During WWII, the Packard company manufactured engines under license from RR as we have said. They were for American aircraft but also for the British who received them as an aid on aircraft as the Lancaster, Mosquitoes and Spitfires that were manufactured in Canada. Although the most famous application, as it has been said, was the one of the Mustang, those destined to both the RAF and the own American P-51D.

-It was in September 1940 when Packard acquired the license from RR and the full production of the Packard Merlin was reached in 1942. The original Merlin -28 was built under the designation V-1650-1, and was intended for the Curtiss P-40F.

-The Merlin 68, 69 and 266 were the V-1650-3 and V-1650-7 with two-stage, two-speed superchargers. (see also Rolls-Royce). As we have seen before, they were massively manufactured.

“1A-2025”

-We now go back to the post-WWI era.

-The 1A-2025 engine was the next in displacement of the brand. It was from the year 1920.

-The winner of the 1920 Pullitzer Prize was the Verville plane that was powered by the Packard 2025 model.

-It was quite larger than the 1116, and it reached 585 HP at 2,000 rpm.

"1A-2200, mutilated"

-The next one is the 1A-2200. In the illustration it has the left cylinder bank removed. This engine is from 1923 and gave 600 HP at 1,800 rpm.

-An engine that is difficult to fit is the 1D-2270, a 16-cylinder diesel Vee, but from 1952, that is, much later. It gave 800 HP at 2,000 rpm, and 900 HP at 2,300 rpm. There is no illustration available at the moment.

“1A-2500”

-Some important engines have been those of the 2500 cubic inch series, the 1A-2500 from 1924 gave 800 HP at 2,000 rpm.

“1A-2500, geared”

-The 2A-2500, from 1925 gave 800 HP at 2,000 rpm with gear.

“2A-2500”

-The 3A-2500, from 1927 could be geared or ungeared. It gave 800 HP.

-Below we see these engines and also the 4A-2500.

-Actually the 4A-2500 looks like it is from another series. Its appearance seems very different. It is a 12-cylinder V-engine with two mechanical superchargers, one on each side, to feed the cylinder banks.

-In the photo we see its designer Lionel Woolson, or rather, Captain Woolson.

“3A-2500”

“3A-2500, geared”

“4A-2500, side view”

“4A-2500, rear view”

-We can see the intake manifolds, normal and "bare". In the side view the gearbox stands out and in the rear view the multiplier drive of the two superchargers.

-In the photograph below we see the designer next to his machine. We notice that the intake manifold is different, more voluminous and with fins, as an intercooler, to cool the compressed air and give it density again.

“4A-2500 and Woolson”

-The first impact we receive from its shapes is that it is a high-performance engine.

-Its beauty has given rise to make a miniature of that engine. Its size can be guessed by the hand that holds it.

“Packard 4A-2500 miniature”

“4M-2500”

-The 4M-2500 is contemporary to the time the Merlins were built, but not related.

- Curiously, the Merlin displaced much less.

-The 5A-2500, from the 30's was experimental and its power was 1,750 HP at 2,800 rpm.

“Packard engine range”

-We have observed that Packard (except for the Diesel radial experiment) made their engines in V. Almost all of them were upright, although there were a few inverted versions. But now we see an engine that combines the upright and inverted V, that is, in "X". It is the below shown engine with a displacement of 2,775 cu. in. It is from the year 1927.

“Packard X-24 drawing”

-The engines in "X-24" were the 1A-2775. The first units gave 1,200 HP. Later engines with supercharger had powers up to 1,400 HP.

“1A-2775, series 1”

-The 2A-2775, from the year 1935 gave 1,900 HP. Possibly it is one shown below. This does differ from the previous one in the type of epicycloidal concentric gear in the above illustration. Even the one in the drawing on the previous page is larger.

“Packard, 2A-2775 series 2”

They made other engines with 2,832 cu. in. that had their cylinders in W. These were the W-1, -1A and -1B. They were manufactured earlier as they appeared between 1921 and 1923. All of them delivered 700/800 HP.

“W-1A”

-These engines had 18 cylinders in W in three rows of six cylinders.

“Packard W-2”

-The estimated power of the W-2 was 1,000 HP, but this engine was larger, it displaced 4980 cu. in.

-The 1A-3000 was an H-24 engine actually displacing 2,350 cu. in. and it was experimental because of its “H” architecture. It was to reach 2,350 HP at 3,000 rpm.

-The 1A-5000 was an X-24, and the 2A-5000 an H-24, and the 3A-5000 an X-24, all displaced 5,080 cu. in. and they were from the year 1939. The intended powers were 3,500 HP.

-The 3A-5000 was an experimental engine with sliding sleeves.

-By 1946 Packard was experimenting with turbines at its Toledo and Willow Run plants.

-These projects were carried out in agreement with the US government.

-During that year they worked on the XJ-41 with a thrust of 4,000 lbf. Only seven engines were made.

“XJ-41 engine”

-The J-47 was built by Packard as the J-47-PM-25 (version of the J-47-GE-25), for the F-86 Sabre.

-There was an experimental XJ-49, a turbofan that delivered 10,000 lbf at 11,780 rpm. It had the highest thrust of the time, but only one unit was built. It had a rear fan.

“XJ-49”

From Appendix 6: Regarding turbojets, Packard made the GE J-47 for the engine supply during the Korean war, both for the Sabre Jet and the B-47 strategic bombers.

-Before they made their own design, that of the J-41 whose photograph appears in the main text. But the inside we can see in the following diagram.

“J-41 schematic drawing”

-And the later and last known project of a Packard turbojet is the J-49.

-This engine is already a turbofan, rather, an afterfan.

-The diffuser is extraordinarily original because, when the air comes out tangentially from the centrifugal compressor, it rotates rapidly backwards and towards the center of the engine before entering the combustion chambers.

“Packard J-49 schematic drawing”

-To make the flow diverge in the diffuser (so that it slows down and increases the pressure), while it is directed towards the center, the spaces between guide fins increase dramatically.

-Below we show an artistic vision of the same engine. Remember that in the main text there is a photograph of this engine.

“Packard J-49 drawing”

-And from our friend Fred Van der Horst, a photograph of the fan part of the FanJet XJ-49-N1 engine. It was an experimental engine as we can deduct through the X.

“The Packard XJ49-N1 fan”

-In this extension of the Packard chapter we show new material that we received, such as that found at the NASM in the reserve store, the 1A-2775 model with the cylinders in X.

-The photograph is taken by a colleague from the AEHS Aviation Motor Historical Society, Mr. Fred van der Horst at the 2010 Convention held in Washington.

“Packard X-engine”

-Another 600 HP Packard became famous for being installed on the Verville plane, which with the pilot Moselev won a Pulitzer trophy.

“The Packard V-12 for the Verville”

-For their engine tests Packard also had a mobile bench. With this bench they could go to any climate or altitude for their tests.

-The photograph shows us the truck surrounded by snow, which can also mean being on top of a mountain to simulate flight in altitude.

"Mobile test bench"

-And it also is obvious because the staff is very wrapped up. The engine gave only 200 HP - as mentioned - but, as a curiosity, it was capable of driving the truck on its own at 40 mph.

-In the USA, Packard engines were used to set records on land and on water as well.

“The supercharged 1,100 HP Packard”

-It was used on the Miss America X record canoe. With two highly visible Roots superchargers, it gave 1,100 HP instead of 700 HP.

-The Packard company manufactured automobiles but it was closely related to aviation, achieving enormous successes in both fields.

-As a curiosity, during the 2009 edition of the famous Barcelona-Sitges Rally, a Packard car with a splendid appearance, and with the detail of having the silhouette of an airplane on the radiator thermometer has been seen, which indicates this relationship.

"A Packard from the Barcelona-Sitges Rally (Spain)"

-And as proof of this, we now have a photograph that also shows a Packard car testing an aviation engine.

-It dates from 1916, and it is a V-12 that was installed for testing as well as general installation.

-It appeared in the American magazine “The Automobile”. The photograph of this vehicle is shown below.

“Aviation engine in Packard car”

-In 1920 Packard introduced the engine called "Altitude" known as the "1237" model (see main text).

-It was clearly based on the "1116" model but more reinforced and with a little more compression. As a constructive detail, a Zenith carburetor was mounted underneath on the lower-half crankcase. The mixture passed through cored passages in the case and was delivered to the inlet manifolds in the Vee by pipes, flanged to the upper half and passing between the cylinder of either row opposite the center bearing.

“Packard Altitude”

From Appendix 10: A Packard-Merlin V-1650-1 derived from a P-51 Mustang is on display at the Fliegermuseum in Dübendorf.

“Packard-Merlin”

-This engine is extremely compact, including the front coolant feeder. It is suitable to be inserted in the bow of the finest known hunter: the North American Mustang P-51.