Article ID: CBB001252209

A Lifelong Love Affair---Sir Harry Ricardo and the Sleeve Valve (2013)

unapi

Towards the end of the Second World War, almost all British piston aero engines in both production and development, with the exception of the Merlin, were of sleeve-valve design. This situation was unique; no other country had so wholeheartedly embraced the sleeve valve. It is the author's opinion that this situation existed as a direct result of the steadfast conviction of one man, Harry Ricardo. From the early 1920s to the Second World War Ricardo, with the backing of the Air Ministry, carried out a vast programme of sleevevalve research which initially encouraged and then supported the Bristol, Napier and Rolls-Royce Companies in the development and production of a range of sleeve-valve engines. It is not the intention of this paper to discuss the excellent work undertaken by these companies but rather to trace the early years of the fascinating self-confessed love affair between Harry Ricardo and the sleeve valve, as revealed in The National Archives documents relating to the Aeronautical Research Committee.

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Authors & Contributors
Leo Marriott
Mark C. Wilkins
Johnson, Oliver
Ramirez, Enrique Gualberto, III
Gray, Steven
Booth, Brian J.
Concepts
Engineering, aeronautical
Military technology
Technology and war; technology and the military
Aircraft; airplanes
World War I
Aeronautics; aviation
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
20th century, late
20th century
Places
Great Britain
United States
France
Soviet Union
Japan
Germany
Institutions
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
University of Manchester
Great Britain. Royal Navy
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