Hi folks, I've been reading the post's on the engine in the Wright Flyer & what a coincidence, In my mail box today in Oz I received a magazine entitled "Flight Safety Australia" & in it is a full page story on the engine used for the first powered flight. I have scanned it & posted it in the drop box under "wright engine" It confirms that igniters were used, but there is also other interesting facts. There is no copywright involved just an acknowledgement of the magazine. (Another interesting article is on the "Gimli Glider" 20 years ago on the 23rd. of July) Cheer's Ian Sutherland.
WRIGHT ENGINE
Jul 18, 2003
9 Replies
Thanks Ian for more confirmation on the Wright Bros. engine using ignitors instead of spark plugs. I suppose that around 1903, the spark plug had not been perfected. The ignitor was a step up from its prdecessor, hot-tube ignition. Hot-tube was a step up from the very early "open flame" ignition system. It seems that development of the IC engine had to wait on advances in the electrical arts.
Hmmm. Maybe it wasn't the spark plug that wasn't perfected around
1903 so much as it was the coil and battery systems.Here are some links that suggest this idea:
formatting link
I own a one-cylinder, 6 HP, marine engine built by Gray Marine circa
1908 that uses "jump spark" (spark plug) ignition. Usual practice is to use dry cell batteries and a coil from a Model T. I believe that other engine manufacturers were selling jump spark engines as early as
1903 if not earlier.
Jon Etheredge
How do they time those things anyway? The adjustment instructions on mine give a nice constant buzz from 6VDC...
Tim
-- In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!" Website @
formatting link
Tim,
The model T coil is an electro-mechanical multivibrator producing high voltage AC. Timing is done through a distributor that connects to each cylinder at the appropriate time.
Not sure, but I suspect the coil runs constantly, and the distributor rotor handles the timing functions. A lot of early engines wanted multiple sparks. With lousy gas, low compression and whatnot, you needed a few chances to ignite...
Pete Brooks
The high voltage distributor was a novelty invented by one A. Atwater Kent (of the radio fame!), *after* the advent of the ford model T.
When originally manufactured, the T had four individual coils in a box on the dashboard, one coil per spark plug.
The timing was accomplished by a low voltage timing switch driven by the crank, which buzzed each coil box in succession.
Jim
================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================
My history is rusty. I remember the points and single coil ignition being called the Kettering system after Charles Kettering of Dayton Electric (Delco) and GM fame. Can anyone straighten me out on this? Engineman1
Kind of. Kettering in a sense perfected and standardized the system. There were others before and after, but his is the one that was used by so long by most of world's manufacturers. The secret is in the details :-)
BTW, same thing about starter. He did not make the FIRST electrical starter. His was just first one that worked properly.
BTW, electric igniti>
But *not* the distributor. Atwater Kent rightfully gets credit for that.
ajim
================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================
Join the Discussion
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Didn't find your answer?
Ask the community — no account required