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SPA 6A

1910s Italian piston aircraft engine

Field	Value
name	6A
image	SPA 6A inline engine (2).JPG
caption	S.P.A. 6A engine on display at the Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics
engine_type	Water-cooled Piston aero engine
manufacturer	Società Piemontese Automobili (S.P.A.), Ansaldo, Breda, Talomona, Industrie Mecchaniche e Ferroviarie of Arezzo
national_origin	Italy
first_run
major_applications	Ansaldo SVA
number_built	3,000

The SPA 6A is an Italian water-cooled inline six-cylinder aero engine of the World War I era. The SPA 6A is mostly known for its use in the Ansaldo SVA high speed reconnaissance aircraft.

Design and development

The Societa Piemontese Automobili (SPA) of Turin, Italy started building aircraft engines in 1908 and prior to 1916 had built flat, vee and radial engines. In 1916 SPA began manufacturing a straight-six engine known as the 6A.

The SPA 6A was designed with steel cylinders arranged in pairs with a common welded water jacket. The type made use of relatively advanced features such as aluminium pistons and a 6 degree overlap in valve timing.

The engine was ordered into mass production by the Italian Military Aviation Technical Division to equip the Ansaldo SVA aircraft. In addition to production by SPA, the 6A engine was manufactured by Ansaldo, Breda, Talomona and Industrie Mecchaniche e Ferroviarie of Arezzo.

The Ansaldo SVA was one of the fastest aircraft of WW1 with a top speed of 230 km/h. During WW1, Anasaldo SVAs made a sensational flight over Vienna to drop propaganda leaflets. Other famous exploits of the Ansaldo SVA included a 1920 Rome-Tokyo flight and a 1919 crossing of the Andes.

Around 3,000 SPA 6A engines were produced in three variants: normal, semi super-compressed and super-compressed. Engines of this type remained in service until the 1930s.

Variants

;SPA 6A Normal: Originally rated for 150 hp at 1,600 rpm with a displacement of 14.6 L and a weight of 240 kg. Maximum power 201 hp. ;SPA 6A Semi-Super-Compressed: Identical to the normal 6A, but with the cylinder bore increased to 137 mm, and with a capacity of 15.03 L. Rated for 210 hp but could develop 235 hp at 1,700 rpm. ;SPA 6-2-A Super-Compressed: Displacement 16.62 L bore increased to 140 mm bore and 180 mm stroke, with a weight of 270 kg. Rated at 250 hp but could develop 310 hp at 1,850 rpm.

Applications

Ansaldo A.1 Balilla
Ansaldo SVA
Bartel BM.5
Breda A.2
Breda A.3
Breda A.9 and A.9bis
CANT 7ter
Caproni Ca.66
Gabardini G.9
SIAI S.50

Specifications (6A Normal)

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References

(2001). "Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I". Random House.
Caramanna, Giorgio. "The Italian Air Force Museum of Vigna di Valle and its Engine Collection".
(1921). "Airplane Engine Encyclopedia". The Otterbein Press.
(1966). "The S.V.A. (Ansaldo) Scouts - Profile Publications Number 61.". Profile Publications Ltd..
Zampicinini, Franco. (1994). "La collezione "Antonio Capetti" di motori alternativi per aeromobili". Politechnico di Torino.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1910s-aircraft-piston-engines straight-six-engines

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