A Turbo-Compound-Prop Engine? - The INSANE Napier Nomad 

Napiers were renowned for producing "interesting" engines. Just look at the Napier Deltic triangular diesel uniflow engine with a crankshaft at each corner of the triangle, 6 cylinders per bank, 18 in total and 36 pistons. These engines powered 22 locomotives on British Rail for many years. There are a couple now preserved. Once heard, never forgotten !

Despite it being somewhat of a dead end this ingenious piece of engineering should be remembered so thanks for featuring it. Keep up the good work.

Jaw dropping complexity. These engines were a perfect example of unlimited ingenuity combined with a strong will. Amazing. Great video!

Wow! What a marvel of engineering. All done by skilled tradesmen without computers and the like. Just genuine talent and attention to detail. Amazing.

That must have sounded good! I'm a turbodiesel kinda guy with a love for old british iron and aero engines, so this one hits the spot!

6:49 Oh my god, that may be the first engineering detail drawing in history to induce madness in any mechanic who sets their virgin eyes upon it. That image is at once a testament to a astounding level of functional engineering, and the epitaph for this sort of engineering philosophy. This is the kind of product where the manager in charge should have said “Alright guys, we’ve gone FAR afield of the goal…” A mechanic that would be able to work on something like this would be making hundreds of $$$ an hour.

never ceases to amaze me how compact Napier engines are

This is an amazing engine. Thank you for posting it. About 40 years ago I found the book: " The Power To Fly" by LJK Setright and I instantly became a Napier fanatic as was mr. Setright himself. I think I remember him writing about injecting fuel in the exhaust, because there still was O2 left, so to create an afterburner with 100 lbs of trust.

UK. Thank you for such detailed data about the engines. Having many years ago worked on Centurion and Conqueror engines, which were basically derated Merlins. They were not the easiest engines to strip, so Gawd knows how they managed with some of those engines.

It always amazes me how they designed such complex systems all those years ago.

My introduction to Napier's powerplants was the Double Scorpion liquid rocket engine. Quite a piece of engineering itself!

I can't get enough of these engine history vids. I love it when Paul from Curious Droid does them too. The crazy engines that were developed between the start of WWI and end of WWII were something. Like that crazy Chrysler tank engine where they bolted a gaggle of straight 6 engines together.

It's a pretty amazing design when I had to look at that as an engineer, pause for a bit, then go "Ah!" Modern ICEs in cars and such these days honestly look like a cakewalk in comparison.

Dropping some major love for this channel, the engines of the 1900's aren't documented enough in video format.

I knew about the augmented turbocharger but it only now sinks in that on the Mark 1, one prop was turbine driven. Only the English could come up with something so elaborate, but at least they did it out of necessity where the Germans did it out of tradition. Thank you for a very cogent and accessible look at this engine!

'Dared to dream big' - that's Napier all right. Thanks for posting this.

I'm really curious about what the engine sounds like. Will it be the sound of a diesel engine or the sound of a jet engine? what a awesome engine!

It was a follow on of the motorjet. I am suprised it got so far as all R&D was focused on turbojets and turboprops. The motorjet may have been feasible by using _ready made, cheap,_ air cooled engines. The engine that comes to mind is the Czech Tatra aircooled, aluminium, V8 engine of the 1930s, which was made in various forms until the early 2000s. It was way ahead of all other V8s from the 1930s, probably into the 1960s. Put one of these at the front of a tube turning a turbine behind it, then a cheap motorjet engine may have resulted. All the heat and exhaust goes one way - backwards. Eastman Jacobs in the USA was impressed by the Caproni-Campini motorjet in Italy that he pursued a similar layout that became known as the NACA-Langley-Jacobs-Jeep, or Jake's Jeep. He continued R&D up to 1943 when the US forces, after being drawn into British turbojet developments, decided to focus on turbojets. When the funds ended, the R&D ended. Jake's Jeep got to a mock up stage.

All I can say from my experience with internal combustion engines and engineering of 2 stroke gasoline technology with making some personal experimental engine designs myself, is nothing short of Wow! Fukin WOW!🤔🤯🤯🤯 Something like this is exactly what you stated here towards the ending "Dare to dream big" That in fact somehow, something so substantially outside the box of what ordinary was, especially back then??? SMFH! This one takes all cakes, and eats them all too! Incorporating a 2 stroke diesel utilizing Loop Scavenge and the fact they've gone beyond the "Turbo/Supercharger" or ordinary of the day and jumped right into the next level of jet engine technology as their answer to wasted exhaust energy....AkA BTUs and pressure to drive a compressor wheel to power a small turbojet engine as the exhaust system for additional thrust, all while using the compressor stage of the jet as a turbocharger for the ported and then timed ported engine as boost to the compression ratio and assistance of scavenging, which is a necessity for any potential power development within a 2 stroke diesel design. This one has blown away my mind brother! Leave it to the British and evidently a blank check to go with it! And we'll be amazed by what they are able to develop! Did I say Wow? Lol! Holy Sh1t! That's Absolutely Awesome stuff! Thank you for bringing this up to us here and sharing this wonderful feat of engineering with the world, that would otherwise have been long lost to time! 😉

Simple and simplicity were words I'm sure were never in Napier's vocabulary. Fantastic engines and fantastic company.

I have an unhealthy obsession with Napier. Their designs were so flippin wild.

Napier made a bunch of really cool engines! Thanks for the video.

Thank you for your work. Never knew the family was this talented.

This video was put together so well i can't believe it. Amazing job

Just the appearance of this engine is a thing to behold. Reminds me of something out of Jets ‘n’ Guns.

That's incredible and a very innovated use of a hybrid engine design. I really wished manufactures focused more on reciprocating diesel engines for aviation back in the 40s and 50s.

Great stuff, thank you for covering this fascinating engine.

Incredible and complex engine. It looks beautiful as well.

Chantilly pronounced Shantilly and Hazy in the name is actually pronounced Haazy. Hopefully that makes sense. The Udvar Hazy museum is only about a twenty minute drive from where I live and is an absolutely awesome museum. A must see! I’ve stared at this engine on previous visits and I could probably stare at it for hours if my wife let me. Gorgeous gorgeous piece of engineering. Awesome video! Please keep the engine focused videos coming!

Fantastic. Thank you for making this.

Boy, would I like to hear that kitten purr! What a lovely engine.

Those Flight cut-a-drawings to me have always set the standard imo.

Great video - this engine always fascinated me when I went to Udvar hazy center which is only ~25 min away.

Brilliant ideas, brilliant engine. Even beautiful to look at. And yet - so rarely spoken about.

What an absolute beast of engineering!

Yes, been waiting for this one !

Two in one day! Very happy

I was very happy to see the Nomad II E.145 on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center recently.

Petrol annihilation machine with occasional horsepower output. No, seriously, first: Awesome video, had to rewind several times just to get a grip on the details, loving it! Harry Ricardo was a genius in his own right, I know I know, sleeve valves etc wasn't the way ultimately, but his solutions for the requests were nothing short but ingenious! I'd love to see him today, with the possibilities of newer materials and production methods. We need more from his kind, engineers who don't just wanna please and make money, instead thinking outside the box and follow their individual ways. That'd be real progress, hail to the entropy, baby!

I believe that the Nomad II used a Beier transmission to link the turbine to the crankshaft. It's a mechanical CVT, not a fluid coupling. The drawing you have is consistent with the descriptions of a Beier transmission and not with a fluid coupling.

It was in a car magazine my father subscribed to. I was young and didn 't understand what engine it was. Time passed. I understand it now, this engine is as creativel as Deltec. Thank you for sharing (^^♪

What an engine! What a piece of engineering, 70 or so years ago!

The Nomad also reminds us that sometimes the most educational & informative things, come from the projects that didn't work or didn't go ahead. Like Dojo, I would say the Nomad was not a failure, it was a lesson and an important learning tool. The Yakolev M501 is another example of this, as of course is the Wasp Major. Also made by Napier, in about the same time, was the 3 crankshaft 2 stroke Diesel Deltic, which ended up powering small ships and Diesel locomotives. That thing is an awe-inspiring piece of engineering! Another example might be the H-16 engine British Racing Machines tried to make, for Formula One. It was the age of Fangio & Moss, Jim Clark, and that H-16 was a bridge too far in terms of complexity...

There are some clever ideas in this engine that one could apply to cars.

Aircraft engines stories are some of my favorite

I’m staggered at the drawings alone!

If a design could be made more complicated, the Napier engineers were up to the task! (Check out the design of the Napier Deltic for verification!)

Awesome! Totally awesome!

An excellect presentation of a terrific engine. My only slight quibble is the conrods were not fork and blade but a unique arrangement where the opposing cylinders were consentric and each rod ran directly on the crank pin without conventional caps. Due to the masive boost pressures the rods were allways loaded onto the crank pin when the engine was firing. To allow the engine to be spun up without the rods detatching light straps were fited arround the opposing conrod ends. The allways loaded crank pins caused problems early on as the normal relaxing of pressure on the intake stroke promotes oil feeding into the bearing and prevents the oil fing breaking down. The problems were solved by grinding each pin in three distinct bands sightly eccentric to each other causing a relaxing of the bearing and stopping the oil film from breaking down. This is just one of the complex problems the engineering team overcame before the Ministry of Supply pulled the plug on what was the most efficient diesel engine ever seen.

I had heard about the astonishing cycle efficiency of this engine, but didn't realize how they achieved it. The idea of a combined turbine and two stroke diesel piston cycle has been rolling around in my mind since I learned about the Wright 3350 turbo compound as a kid- I'm not surprised that Napier and Recardo tried this. It is a brilliant solution for long-range aircraft, and it is sad stroke of bad timing that it was overshadowed by pure turbines. One has to guess that the turbine's low weight and simplicity was hard to beat with such a heavy, complex beast. Still... reheat fuel injection to the compressor turbine- check. Fluid coupling for compounding the excess turbine power- check. They thought of everything.

6:50 whoever did this drawing I salute you

One of the museums mentioned- the Udvar-Hazy in Northern Virginia- is quite good. I recommend it

This is one of the coolest engines ever and counter rotating props also extremely cool😎

Wow what an amazing engine thanks for the video

Great video!

Harry Ricardo is one of the most important engine development experts of the last century. These Nomad engines represented the peak of piston aircraft engine development, tuning for both power and efficiency. Using two-cycle diesels with Ricardo's combustion chamber technology, exhaust turbines, and newly available alloys to reduce weight, these were probably the most efficient aircraft engines ever designed. The problem was the jet age... Jets and turboprops are not nearly as fuel efficient, but they are much simpler systems with fewer moving parts and have much longer service lives.

Your channel is awesome! Your way of presenting this type of material is very good. Engine technology is a very interesting subject. Please branch out into other types of engines. For example, I would really like to see your presentation of the history and development of the two-stroke, Detroit Diesel, it's rise and fall, the company's history, and as well, other iconic "Over the Road" engines. Thanks for a great channel. Regards.

Wright also produced ( i.e. production engines: not just experimental) turbo compound versions of their R-3350.

well done to ever hand-drawn that 6:45

The Turbo compounded Allison V12-1710 was also extraordinary.......the 1500hp V12 gained a staggering 1000hp from its attached turbo compound......and that was with 1940's turbine designs.

This engineering always amazes me ..

A work of art..

Che spettacolo...sta napier ha fatto delle creature spettacolari...complimenti

Beautiful. 🫡👍🏻

Beautiful engine !!

I clicked on this because I thought the thumbnail was a spaceship from Warhammer 40k. I watched the whole thing because it was interesting. Good job.

That was interesting. The schematics helped a lot

That's some serious engineering, holy (two-)strokes.

The Napier Deltic was another innovative engine with three crankshafts and opposed piston cylinders. Imagine that, with a gas turbine.

Insane!

Beautiful engine

I loved British engines starting with my 1968 Triumph Bonneville.

Honestly everytime I see a Napier engine design I wonder if they would have fared better in Germany than in the UK

Very interesting.

Reminds me of modern F1 hybrid stuff, with the turbo generator thing. Very cool 👍

Diesel Aero Engine ? ! COUNT ME IN ! 👍

Always amazing videos cant wait to see more

I worked on the Curtiss Wright R-3350 turbo compound piston engine in the SP-2H. The 18 cylinder, 3,350 cubic inch engine had a 2 speed super charger and three exhaust driven power recovery turbines, PRT. Insane? I didn't think so.

Another video! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I've always wanted to hear one running. The axial flow compressor is mesmerizing and seems odd that no one's tried to bring it back for piston aero engines, due to the limited benefits it would have at sea level for the automotive industry. I know the Leclerc tank's engine uses one, and there's also a truck engine that was developed with one but can't remember by who.

I'm really impressed how complicated those engines can be. Despite being a wonderful feat of engineering the downfall of those engines was it's complication and it was much cheaper and easier to produce the jet engines..

this struggle of complex turbo-compound engines vs turboprop reminds me development and improvement of electro-magnetic, quartz synchronized, balance watch movements, and tuning fork quartz synchronized movements, complex to produce, complex to handle, assemble and adjust, and somehow beautiful blend of high-tech mechanics and latest electronic, which became obsolete due to development of much simpler, cheaper and suitable for mass production quartz movement with stepper motor, which used in watches to this day

I would love to see a video about the Kuznetsov NK-12.

@3:40 - The cone shaped axial flow compressor looks like backwards mounted to me.

Oh lawd... I thought the image in the thumbnail was a new Battlefleet Gothic vessel 🙏

Thank you for putting this up..! Liked the way the 2 was a logical simplification of the 1...

Nomad was discontinued for simple reasons 1: it was HEAVY 2: half the power came from the turbine 3: which only had a fraction of the mass and parts count of the piston section 4: power output was being limited by the material limits of reciprocating components, not the turbine or compressor Even then, it was realised that gas turbines had the potential to scale to incredibly high outputs at light weights and with high reliability. The 50% fuel consumption penalty of a pure turbojet was judged as an acceptable cost given the tradeoffs involved Remember, this was an era when long-haul engine aircraft such as the Lockheed constellation would routinely arrive at their destination on three engines and routine maintenance was several tens of manhours per flight, per engine Piston engines were (and are) more efficient but the other tradeoffs made them lose out

It is a shame that we no longer hear of innovative ideas from Napier unlike Rolls Royce.

Back when Britain had industry and clever people working in it.

It's almost as though Naiper had a motto. "Complexity is our Trademark." The Nomad likely would have been successful without jet engines being available. But the Brits also had the Centarus while the US had various Wright and P&W radials. Plus there loads of surplus US transport aircraft flooding the market post WWll.

There's one of these engines on display at East Fortune aerodrome near Edinburgh. I think the label says that it weighs a ton and a half!

Good video, have you seen the sleeve valve 27 cylinder radial engine, insane............

An ilustration of the principle that systems reach their peak complexity just as they are being superseded by something completely different.

May I suggest you should present engine displacement in litres as well as cubic inches. Hi from Australia.

I thought I was looking at some Warhammer insanity in the thumbnail, before I realized I am looking at an engine.

Seems like something that with slight modifications could have been applied to rail, and simis, or shipping.

What was the source material for the mechanical drawings?

When you are not sure if it's a piston engine, a turbo, a supercharger, a turbo, a turboprop a jet engine but dammit it will fly.

Allison invented the turbo compound. It was the V1710E27. Produced 3,000 hp.

I like to think that I am a Mechanical Engineer. Hmm. So humbling.