155:
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.
225:
42:
183:, 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.
154:
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
158:
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
877:
1049:
191:
Once the new Cirrus engines were established, in 1937 the company became the Cirrus Engine
Division of Blackburn, which itself had been incorporated into
1064:
216:(GAL) in 1949, becoming Blackburn & General Aircraft Limited, it continued to market the Minor, Major and Bombardier range until the late 1950s.
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172:
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and moved to Brough in
Yorkshire. Napier remained technical director and, while he completed the development and initial sales of the
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143:, was Technical Director and Chief Designer for Cirrus-Hermes Engineering when he began work on two new engines, the
205:
During and after WWII Blackburn produced uprated versions of the Cirrus Minor and Major. In 1948 it introduced the
192:
133:
647:
625:
213:
129:
136:(ADC) and later Cirrus Aero Engine Limited, which itself evolved into the Cirrus-Hermes Engineering Company.
112:
which was developed in the late 1930s, but continued development and production into the 1940s and post war.
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and the larger Cirrus Major. The engines were still under development when the company was bought by the
783:
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268:(1935). Later as Cirrus Major I. Inverted. Introduced by Cirrus Hermes, also manufactured by Blackburn.
248:(1935). Later as Cirrus Minor I. Inverted. Introduced by Cirrus Hermes, also manufactured by Blackburn.
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The
Blackburn Cirrus Major started life as a clean-sheet replacement for the original 1920s
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series of upright inline four-cylinder air cooled aircraft engines originally designed by
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with fuel injection and a higher compression ratio, giving increased output.
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was a smaller version developed in 1938 but it failed to enter production.
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49:
Right side view of a Cirrus Major III installed in an Auster J/5G
859:
843:. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003.
980:
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926:
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835:. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens. p. 40.
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668:
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8:
57:Air-cooled 4-cylinder inline piston engine
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864:
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171:In 1934 the company was taken over by the
841:British Piston Engines and their Aircraft
529:1 inlet and 1 exhaust valve per cylinder
132:and which had been in production by the
664:
173:Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company
149:Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company
568:135 hp (101 kW) at 2,350 rpm
31:
459:Inline air-cooled inverted 4-cylinder
139:C. S. Napier, son of engine designer
7:
300:(1938). Prototype. Not manufactured.
212:When Blackburn Aircraft merged with
27:1930s British piston aircraft engine
1050:Air-cooled aircraft piston engines
833:World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines
25:
1065:Inverted aircraft piston engines
40:
438:Specifications (Cirrus Major I)
1:
1060:1930s aircraft piston engines
726:, 28 February 1935, pp.218-9.
691:, 28 February 1935, pp.218-9.
586:0.43 hp/lb (0.71 kW/kg)
948:Cirrus-Hermes/Cirrus Hermes
739:, 13 June 1935. Supplement.
713:, 13 June 1935, supplement.
678:, 13 June 1935. Supplement.
309:Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier
303:Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier
207:Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier
1081:
1055:Blackburn aircraft engines
306:
292:
240:
193:Blackburn Aircraft Limited
18:Blackburn Cirrus Major III
228:Cirrus Major III showing
134:Aircraft Disposal Company
48:
39:
34:
939:American Cirrus Hi-Drive
700:Aviation Ancestry (1934)
648:List of aircraft engines
626:de Havilland Gipsy Major
421:Portsmouth Aerocar Major
271:Cirrus Major 150 hp
251:Cirrus Minor 100 hp
232:logo cast into crankcase
214:General Aircraft Limited
130:de Havilland Cirrus Moth
451:General characteristics
356:General Aircraft Cygnet
314:(1948). Fuel injection.
295:Blackburn Cirrus Midget
289:Blackburn Cirrus Midget
200:Blackburn Cirrus Midget
831:Gunston, Bill (1986).
735:"The 'Cirrus Major'",
722:"A New Small Engine",
709:"The 'Cirrus Major'",
687:"A New Small Engine",
674:"The 'Cirrus Major'",
609:Blackburn Cirrus Minor
361:General Aircraft Owlet
243:Blackburn Cirrus Minor
233:
116:Design and development
103:Blackburn Cirrus Major
824:14 March 2007 at the
795:Lumsden 2003, p. 130.
582:Power-to-weight ratio
498:17.5 in (444 mm)
486:385.64 cu in (6.31 L)
477:5.51 in (140 mm)
468:4.72 in (120 mm)
227:
513:310 lb (141 kg)
492:50 in (1270 mm)
936:American Cirrus III
899:Cirrus Aero Engines
887:Cirrus aero engines
804:Lumsden 2003, p.89.
603:Related development
504:30 in (762 mm)
351:Foster Wikner Wicko
128:for the early DH60
986:Blackburn Aircraft
615:Comparable engines
406:Miles Hawk Trainer
234:
161:Blackburn Aircraft
76:Blackburn Aircraft
1037:
1036:
1029:Cirrus Bombardier
573:Compression ratio
280:(1945). Inverted.
260:(1945). Inverted.
254:(1944). Inverted.
122:Cirrus and Hermes
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16:(Redirected from
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426:Simmonds Spartan
401:Miles Hawk Major
381:I.Ae.32 Chingolo
376:I.Ae. 31 ColibrĂ
341:Chrislea Skyjeep
286:(1945) Inverted.
283:Cirrus Major III
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826:Wayback Machine
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751:, 3 April 1936.
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416:Miles Messenger
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277:Cirrus Major II
257:Cirrus Minor II
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141:Montague Napier
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110:aircraft engine
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67:United Kingdom
63:National origin
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776:September 1938
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331:Auster Autocar
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241:Main article:
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1024:Cirrus Midget
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982:Cirrus Hermes
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819:Oldengine.org
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784:November 1938
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780:October 1938l
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642:Related lists
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566:Power output:
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411:Miles Mercury
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386:Miles Aerovan
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346:Fairey Primer
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336:Blackburn B-2
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326:Auster Aiglet
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167:Cirrus Hermes
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126:Frank Halford
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72:Manufacturer
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35:Cirrus Major
33:
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1008:Cirrus Major
1007:
995:Cirrus Minor
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812:Bibliography
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631:Hirth HM 504
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482:Displacement
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396:Miles Gemini
319:Applications
264:Cirrus Major
263:
237:Cirrus Minor
229:
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181:Cirrus Major
180:
177:Cirrus Minor
170:
157:
153:
145:Cirrus minor
138:
119:
102:
100:
91:Number built
29:
988:(1936-1960)
950:(1931-1934)
930:(1931-1934)
901:(1925-1929)
560:Performance
539:carburettor
431:Stampe SV.4
391:Miles Aries
107:inline-four
1044:Categories
967:Hermes III
918:Cirrus III
654:References
636:Menasco C4
597:ADC Cirrus
555:Air-cooled
543:Fuel type:
525:Valvetrain
518:Components
509:Dry weight
82:First run
972:Hermes IV
962:Hermes II
913:Cirrus II
761:The Times
749:The Times
443:Data from
371:Hendy 302
274:Inverted.
187:Blackburn
957:Hermes I
908:Cirrus I
822:Archived
591:See also
366:HAL HT-2
220:Variants
502:Height:
490:Length:
446:Lumsden
847:
773:Flight
737:Flight
724:Flight
711:Flight
689:Flight
676:Flight
549:petrol
547:octane
496:Width:
473:Stroke
230:Cirrus
95:c.700
659:Notes
577:5.1:1
457:Type:
85:1936
54:Type
845:ISBN
464:Bore
198:The
179:and
101:The
1018:III
895:ADC
545:73
1046::
1015:II
1002:II
782:,
778:,
667:^
535:1
195:.
163:.
1012:I
999:I
984:/
897:/
879:e
872:t
865:v
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786:.
584::
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527::
511::
484::
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20:)
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