enginehistory.org

[mholmes]

Hello, my name is Mike Holmes ,I am from Ireland. Just found this most wonderful site and had to join. I am looking for information about th J 5 whirlwind radial with a view to building a scale model that is actually scale not one that is called a Wright Whirlwind but the only resemblance is the 9 cylinders. Is it possible to get actual drawings for the individual parts of the engine ,thanks in advance.

[kmccutcheon]

No detailed Wright J-5 component drawings exist. However, by using high-quality assembly drawings, such as those available from
https://www.weakforcepress.com/wright_j-5.shtml
one can scale components from known dimensions and build models that have extreme fidelity to the original.
_________________
Kimble D. McCutcheon

[mholmes]

Hello Kimble, I already ordered the information from you some time back and was going down that road. The drawings are very informative and I will be able to carry on but I said to myself, get more advice and that is why I am here ! Wonderful site, thanks for the prompt reply. Looking forward to receiving your book on the American engines.

[sstanley]

Good manuals here:
https://www.avialogs.com/engines-w/wright/itemlist/category/1003-r-790-whirlwind
These are listed under Wright R-790 section, so you'd never find them if looking for J-5 manuals.

[jriend]

This thread is quite old and don't know if OP is still interested in the J-5 but FYI, drawings of all of the Curtiss and Curtiss-Wright engines were photographed on microfilm and are available to researcher's at the Special Collections & Archives at Wright State University. Here is a finding aid to the WAD (Wright Aeronautical Division) engine drawing collection: https://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/collectionguides/files/ms356.pdf
You can contact a Special Collections Archivist for additional information at: https://libraries.wright.edu/special/
The WAD engine drawings are contained on over 1,300 rolls of microfilm. Drawings are listed by Part Number ONLY on a paper index which in turn shows the Roll ID and Frame Numbers where the drawing(s) is located. Each P/N on the Index may have zero to several Roll/Frame references (depending on the number of dwg. revisions). Index contents are outlined in the finding aid.
The Wright State Archivist have NO engine catalogs to look up p/n's for you so YOU will have to provide the p/n's for the drawings you want copies of. Fortunately you can find Installation, Inspection and maintenance Instruction Manuals for the Wright Whirlwind J-5 online if you don't already have one. The manual will give you a starting point for obtaining p/n's of components you're interested in. However keep in mind that some of the components listed in the manual are assemblies with sub-components that might not be listed in the manual. You may have to obtain a copy of the assembly drawing to find out what the sub-components p/n's are and then order copies of those p/n's.
YES getting drawing copies can be very convoluted but also rewarding depending on your approach. Over a period of about one year I managed to collect (remotely) just about all of the Curtiss Challenger R-600 drawings. Another item to keep in mind is that this microfilm collection is quite old (1950?s). Some microfilm rolls are missing having been lost to deterioration and the scan quality might be very poor on some copies.
So drawings are there if you want them. If you would like further information send me a PM.