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Home > Fact Sheets > Pratt & Whitney R-4360 “Wasp Major”
PRATT & WHITNEY R-4360 “WASP MAJOR”
Posted 4/29/2013
Printable Fact Sheet
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DAYTON, Ohio -- Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engine on display in the Presidential Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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Note: This engine is located in the Presidential Gallery on a controlled-access portion of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The gallery will close until further notice beginning May 1, 2013, as part of budget reduction requirements due to sequestration.
The Wasp Major engine was developed near the end of World War II to power the Boeing B-50, an improved version of the successful B-29 Superfortress.
The R-4360 is a 28-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine that produces a maximum of 3,500 hp and weighs approximately 3,500 pounds (1,575 kg). R-4360s have been used to power various post-WWII USAF bombers, cargo/transports and aerial tankers, including the B-36 bomber, the B-35 Flying Wing, the C-74 Globemaster, the C-97 Stratofreighter, the Consolidated XC-99, the C-119 Flying Boxcar and the C-124 Globemaster II aircraft. It represents the most technically advanced and complex reciprocating aircraft engine produced in large numbers in the United States. The passing of the KC-97 and C-97 series aircraft from Air Force inventory in the late 1970s marked the closing of the era of both the large piston engine and the turbo-supercharger within the USAF.
TECHNICAL NOTES:
Model: R-4360-4
Type: 28-cylinder, four row, air-cooled radial
Displacement: 4,360 cu. in.
Weight: 3,404 lbs.
Maximum rpm: 2,700
Maximum hp: 3,500
Click here to return to the Presidential Gallery.
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