144:
forged steel while the individual heads were of light alloy. Unlike the Minor, the Major retained the established long bolts which passed through the barrels to secure the heads to the crankcase, as well as the general layout of the heads from the Hermes IV A, which remained in production. Pistons and con-rods were of light alloys, with a steel crankshaft. Direct drive to the propeller, without reduction gearing, helped to keep engine revs low and reliability high. The single carburettor was a
Claudel Hobson AV.48D.
214:
31:
172:, Blackburn kept Cirrus Hermes as a separate company (though without the hyphen in its name). Although completely new designs, they were of broadly similar layout to the previous inverted engines, with the Minor in the 70-80 hp class and the Major giving 125 hp in normal use. Coming to the market almost together in 1935, they rationalised and replaced the previous ranges.
143:
Like all the Cirrus engines, the Major was an air-cooled inverted four-cylinder inline design. Aimed at the same market for a robust, reliable and affordable light aircraft engine, it retained many proven design features of the originals while making many improvements. The cylinder barrels were of
147:
In 1935 the Cirrus Minor entered production and the Major followed soon afterwards. Two years later, with its product range now rationalised and the new engines settled in the marketplace, the company was brought into its parent as the Cirrus
Engines Division of
866:
1038:
180:
Once the new Cirrus engines were established, in 1937 the company became the Cirrus Engine
Division of Blackburn, which itself had been incorporated into
1053:
205:(GAL) in 1949, becoming Blackburn & General Aircraft Limited, it continued to market the Minor, Major and Bombardier range until the late 1950s.
1048:
161:
1043:
810:
164:
and moved to Brough in
Yorkshire. Napier remained technical director and, while he completed the development and initial sales of the
837:
859:
1017:
852:
297:
195:
132:, was Technical Director and Chief Designer for Cirrus-Hermes Engineering when he began work on two new engines, the
194:
During and after WWII Blackburn produced uprated versions of the Cirrus Minor and Major. In 1948 it introduced the
181:
122:
636:
614:
202:
118:
125:(ADC) and later Cirrus Aero Engine Limited, which itself evolved into the Cirrus-Hermes Engineering Company.
101:
which was developed in the late 1930s, but continued development and production into the 1940s and post war.
1012:
344:
283:
188:
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349:
231:
165:
133:
136:
and the larger Cirrus Major. The engines were still under development when the company was bought by the
772:
764:
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257:(1935). Later as Cirrus Major I. Inverted. Introduced by Cirrus Hermes, also manufactured by Blackburn.
237:(1935). Later as Cirrus Minor I. Inverted. Introduced by Cirrus Hermes, also manufactured by Blackburn.
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109:
The
Blackburn Cirrus Major started life as a clean-sheet replacement for the original 1920s
814:
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129:
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series of upright inline four-cylinder air cooled aircraft engines originally designed by
98:
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140:, moved to a new factory at Brough in Yorkshire and renamed Cirrus Hermes Engineering.
30:
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with fuel injection and a higher compression ratio, giving increased output.
359:
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was a smaller version developed in 1938 but it failed to enter production.
354:
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535:
212:
38:
Right side view of a Cirrus Major III installed in an Auster J/5G
848:
832:. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003.
969:
935:
915:
882:
824:. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens. p. 40.
659:
657:
860:
8:
46:Air-cooled 4-cylinder inline piston engine
867:
853:
845:
160:In 1934 the company was taken over by the
830:British Piston Engines and their Aircraft
518:1 inlet and 1 exhaust valve per cylinder
121:and which had been in production by the
653:
162:Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company
138:Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company
557:135 hp (101 kW) at 2,350 rpm
20:
448:Inline air-cooled inverted 4-cylinder
128:C. S. Napier, son of engine designer
7:
289:(1938). Prototype. Not manufactured.
201:When Blackburn Aircraft merged with
16:1930s British piston aircraft engine
1039:Air-cooled aircraft piston engines
822:World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines
14:
1054:Inverted aircraft piston engines
29:
427:Specifications (Cirrus Major I)
1:
1049:1930s aircraft piston engines
715:, 28 February 1935, pp.218-9.
680:, 28 February 1935, pp.218-9.
575:0.43 hp/lb (0.71 kW/kg)
937:Cirrus-Hermes/Cirrus Hermes
728:, 13 June 1935. Supplement.
702:, 13 June 1935, supplement.
667:, 13 June 1935. Supplement.
298:Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier
292:Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier
196:Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier
1070:
1044:Blackburn aircraft engines
295:
281:
229:
182:Blackburn Aircraft Limited
217:Cirrus Major III showing
123:Aircraft Disposal Company
37:
28:
23:
928:American Cirrus Hi-Drive
689:Aviation Ancestry (1934)
637:List of aircraft engines
615:de Havilland Gipsy Major
410:Portsmouth Aerocar Major
260:Cirrus Major 150 hp
240:Cirrus Minor 100 hp
221:logo cast into crankcase
203:General Aircraft Limited
119:de Havilland Cirrus Moth
440:General characteristics
345:General Aircraft Cygnet
303:(1948). Fuel injection.
284:Blackburn Cirrus Midget
278:Blackburn Cirrus Midget
189:Blackburn Cirrus Midget
820:Gunston, Bill (1986).
724:"The 'Cirrus Major'",
711:"A New Small Engine",
698:"The 'Cirrus Major'",
676:"A New Small Engine",
663:"The 'Cirrus Major'",
598:Blackburn Cirrus Minor
350:General Aircraft Owlet
232:Blackburn Cirrus Minor
222:
105:Design and development
92:Blackburn Cirrus Major
813:14 March 2007 at the
784:Lumsden 2003, p. 130.
571:Power-to-weight ratio
487:17.5 in (444 mm)
475:385.64 cu in (6.31 L)
466:5.51 in (140 mm)
457:4.72 in (120 mm)
216:
502:310 lb (141 kg)
481:50 in (1270 mm)
925:American Cirrus III
888:Cirrus Aero Engines
876:Cirrus aero engines
793:Lumsden 2003, p.89.
592:Related development
493:30 in (762 mm)
340:Foster Wikner Wicko
117:for the early DH60
975:Blackburn Aircraft
604:Comparable engines
395:Miles Hawk Trainer
223:
150:Blackburn Aircraft
65:Blackburn Aircraft
1026:
1025:
1018:Cirrus Bombardier
562:Compression ratio
269:(1945). Inverted.
249:(1945). Inverted.
243:(1944). Inverted.
111:Cirrus and Hermes
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415:Simmonds Spartan
390:Miles Hawk Major
370:I.Ae.32 Chingolo
365:I.Ae. 31 ColibrĂ
330:Chrislea Skyjeep
275:(1945) Inverted.
272:Cirrus Major III
81:
53:
33:
21:
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917:American Cirrus
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828:Lumsden, Alec.
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815:Wayback Machine
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740:, 3 April 1936.
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542:Cooling system:
509:
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405:Miles Messenger
310:
300:
286:
266:Cirrus Major II
246:Cirrus Minor II
234:
211:
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130:Montague Napier
107:
99:aircraft engine
79:
56:United Kingdom
52:National origin
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17:
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5:
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765:September 1938
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752:, 9 July 1937.
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610:Alfa Romeo 110
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526:Claudel-Hobson
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320:Auster Autocar
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282:Main article:
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230:Main article:
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94:is a British,
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1013:Cirrus Midget
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971:Cirrus Hermes
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838:1-85310-294-6
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808:Oldengine.org
806:
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773:November 1938
770:
769:October 1938l
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631:Related lists
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555:Power output:
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400:Miles Mercury
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375:Miles Aerovan
373:
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335:Fairey Primer
333:
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325:Blackburn B-2
323:
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315:Auster Aiglet
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156:Cirrus Hermes
155:
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115:Frank Halford
112:
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61:Manufacturer
60:
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41:
36:
32:
27:
24:Cirrus Major
22:
19:
997:Cirrus Major
996:
984:Cirrus Minor
829:
821:
801:Bibliography
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780:
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733:
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620:Hirth HM 504
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522:Fuel system:
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471:Displacement
469:
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431:
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385:Miles Gemini
308:Applications
253:Cirrus Major
252:
226:Cirrus Minor
218:
200:
193:
186:
179:
170:Cirrus Major
169:
166:Cirrus Minor
159:
146:
142:
134:Cirrus minor
127:
108:
91:
89:
80:Number built
18:
977:(1936-1960)
939:(1931-1934)
919:(1931-1934)
890:(1925-1929)
549:Performance
528:carburettor
420:Stampe SV.4
380:Miles Aries
96:inline-four
1033:Categories
956:Hermes III
907:Cirrus III
643:References
625:Menasco C4
586:ADC Cirrus
544:Air-cooled
532:Fuel type:
514:Valvetrain
507:Components
498:Dry weight
71:First run
961:Hermes IV
951:Hermes II
902:Cirrus II
750:The Times
738:The Times
432:Data from
360:Hendy 302
263:Inverted.
176:Blackburn
946:Hermes I
897:Cirrus I
811:Archived
580:See also
355:HAL HT-2
209:Variants
491:Height:
479:Length:
435:Lumsden
836:
762:Flight
726:Flight
713:Flight
700:Flight
678:Flight
665:Flight
538:petrol
536:octane
485:Width:
462:Stroke
219:Cirrus
84:c.700
648:Notes
566:5.1:1
446:Type:
74:1936
43:Type
834:ISBN
453:Bore
187:The
168:and
90:The
1007:III
884:ADC
534:73
1035::
1004:II
991:II
771:,
767:,
656:^
524:1
184:.
152:.
1001:I
988:I
973:/
886:/
868:e
861:t
854:v
840:.
775:.
573::
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500::
473::
464::
455::
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
