Fine and Rare Model Engines Auction On Tuesday March 20th, Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions are offering
three examples of finely engineered ¼ scale models of early rotary and radial engines used in aeroplanes from both the First and Second World War. Dreweatts’ Transport Sale at Apseley Rd, Bristol, UK encompasses around 300 lots ranging from locomotives, traction engines and boats to related reference books and model engines. It is however, the three model aero engines from the early days of flying that will set the pulses of international collectors (and institutions) racing. The extraordinary craftsmanship and attention to detail of all three models is superb, each was painstakingly built by a retired English engineer and each is estimated to fetch between £5,000–£7,000 ($7,900–$11,000 US). The first piece in the group and which can justifiably be called an
“engineering work of art”, is the model of a Clerget 9BF rotary engine designed by Pierre Clerget in 1915 and used to power the Sopwith Camel, the most successful fighter/scout aircraft of WW1. Clerget engines were perhaps the best designed and preferred by fighter pilots and their engineers. The 9BF was a nine-cylinder rotary engine which was developed in France from 1915; it cost £907 and was first run in 1913. Original full size engines can be seen at the Air Arm Museum RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. Dreweatts believes that this is the first time a model of a Clerget 9BF rotary engine of 1915 has ever appeared on the market. The second model in the series is a finely built
model of a Bentley BR2 Rotary Engine, designed by the great WO Bentley in 1916/17 at the request of the Admiralty specially to replace the Clerget and give an engine greater power and reliability. This amazing overhead valve air-cooled engine consumed around 20 gallons of fuel per hour and 16 pints of oil per hour. The BR2 was first run in 1916 and a total of 2,567 were built. Examples of the full sized engine are in the Science Museum, London and the Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford. The first ¼ scale model of the Bentley BR2 was built by Lewis Kinleside Blackmore and is currently on display at the Bentley Memorial Building in Oxfordshire; he also published a book on the history and building of this model. It is interesting to note that two years ago Dreweatts sold a similar model to a Japanese collector for £9,200. The third model and one which will undoubtedly
appeal to the US market, is that of an American 18-cylinder radial engine designed by Lee Hodgson and based on the famous Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp R-2800 which powered much of the US fighter fleet, as well as many British planes. Hodgson was a chief engineer at Pratt and Whitney and their engines powered 98% of all transport used by the US military. These three fine models of aero engines encapsulate early aviation development and each is a work of art in its own right.
DREWEATTS, Bristol, UK, attn: Michael Matthews, Tel: 0117 973 7201,
mmatthews@dnfa.com
12 APRIL 2012
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