The Curtiss H-1640 Chieftain was an unusual American 12-cylinder radial aero engine designed and built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in the mid-1920s. In contrast to most multi-row radials, where the cylinders in the rows are staggered to present better airflow for cooling, the Chieftain used the inline radial arrangement with the cylinders behind each other to allow pairs of cylinders to share a cast cylinder head and camshafts.
The Curtiss H-1640 Chieftain was an unusual American 12-cylinder radial aero engine designed and built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in the mid-1920s. In contrast to most multi-row radials, where the cylinders in the rows are staggered to present better airflow for cooling, the Chieftain used the inline radial arrangement with the cylinders behind each other to allow pairs of cylinders to share a cast cylinder head and camshafts.
Source: Wikipedia "Curtiss H-1640 Chieftain" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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