Unless you have an interest in mechanics, aviation, or were born earlier than the children of the jet age, you may not know that internal combustion engines came in a format other than straight or in a 'V'.

In fact, these once-prolific engines were once a familiar sight in every sky, with pistons aligned in a circle: radial engines.

Some radial engines did find their way into a very small amount of obscure cars, but on the whole, they were key for airplanes.

Sadly, no mass-produced supercars ever came with a radial engine.

A radial unit like other engines can vary in size, this one is no bigger than a Mini at 2.5 meters long.

It’s the Wasp Major – the biggest and most powerful radial engine produced in America, and second to only the turbojet.

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2022: We take a look again at the radial engine and see where current aviation engine technology is in 2022, where we try to increase sustainability, efficiency and break speed barriers.

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The Wasp Major Is The Biggest And Baddest Engine For The Skies

Via: Bonhams

As a radial engine, the Wasp Major had a central crankshaft with pistons radiating out from different angles, unlike in a horizontally aligned engine where the pistons are all on the same line facing the same way.

While straight engines (and other types of engines) have existed since the beginning, the radial design worked well for a few reasons.

It could get cooled efficiently by the airflow from the front, with all cylinders receiving the same air – this air-cooling is also beneficial because in battle situations, there is no critical liquid cooling system (that could lose its functionality from just one bullet or shrapnel hole).

The crankshafts are shorter, there are fewer parts and the engines are inherently lighter too.

For the Wasp, there were 28 cylinders total, in 4 rings of 7 cylinders.

Displacement was up at 4362 ci – or 71 liters, the piston travel or stroke was 6-inches long and the whole unit weighed around 3900 lbs, about the same weight of the 2022 Kia Sorento SUV.

Power was good, in the top version the engine made around 4300 hp thanks to not just one, but two turbochargers and a supercharger: that's still more than the fastest hyper-EVs like the Rimac Nevera, Pininfarina Battista and others.

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The Wasp Major Got Used In Bombers To Fighters To Passenger Planes

Via: Smithsonian

Designed to power anything from a bomber to a freighter to a passenger plane, the Wasp Major, unfortunately, didn’t make its way into combat in the way it might have done.

Instead, it powered (or supposed to power) many military prototypes, and got used in some aircraft including the Guppy freighter – a massively-inflated airliner like the Airbus Beluga for carrying large, heavy cargo.

With almost four times the power of a Tesla Model S Plaid, the Wasp would have created a lot of thrust when implemented in 2, 4, or 6 sets to power strategic bombers or passenger aircraft.

In the end, most of its proposed applications didn’t come to fruition or missed WW2 completely, so it didn’t get the exposure it might have done a few years earlier.

Now internal combustion engines are seemingly on limited time - a lot of manufacturers and governments have pledged to reduce or eliminate new ICE-engined cars from model lineups in the near future.

Concerning aviation, there are relatively few chances of seeing a radial engined commercial airliner or military plane in service, and even less of a Wasp Major in action, although a few manufacturers still build radial engines today.

Civil aircraft airline engines are also under a heavy focus due to sustainability and climate concerns and new technology and fuel systems are being tested and implemented to improve the jet engine; while supersonic flight with the power of advanced engines and aerodynamics is also in the planning stage by various companies such as on the Boom Overture project by Boom Technology.