Bristol Hercules demonstration 

He's putting a lot of faith in those wheel chocks. Wonderful video.

That's the most ' bloke ' thing I've ever seen . That fella doesn't waste time in the morning moisturising , just goes straight out to the shed and fires up his radial engine . I salute you sir .

Perfect for keeping your PC from overheating minus the loudness.

The sound is beautiful. Imagine 4 of these running full power for a take off. I wish one day I can see/hear that in person =)

It was only after burning 200 litres to start it, that Bert finally realised that a regular 240 volt fan was suffice for cooling his garage.

I have attended this demonstration it is in Alberta Canada. The trailer is staked to the ground and there are legs at the front near the chocks The prop is a cut down version and has at least 12 to 14" of ground clearance. The crowd is about 20 feet back from the engine. You can't see the fire truck, fire men in bunker gear etc off to the left. Certified prop for demo, inspected and x rayed for cracks etc.

By far the best video of this kind out there. During the war my stepfather sat between two of these as navigator on Wellington bombers with nothing but the thickness of the fabric airframe covering between him and them.

GOOD SHOW! BY FAR the best running, best looking, best sounding, & best operated test stand radial engine rig! Man you got it down smooth with that startup - warmup - runup!

One of the smartest operators I've seen so far, he's wearing ear protection. :)

I bet the guy behind the engine was picturing Anakin going "It's working, it's working!!!"

I was amazed at how long the spectators stood behind it as the wind and debris picked up. Very nice video and thanks for sharing this wonderful engine with us.

Cleared out that lot behind the engine and operator, that is one monster of an engine. Sound is incredible!

I hope you eventually caught whoever stole the rest of your aeroplane.

I have one of these inside my house. Great fan.

I thought the world was going to end. EPIC display of engineering and marvel. Brilliant!!

Sounds better than any Harley.

First thought! The general public will trust and stand way to close to things they don't understand! The operator: Safest seat in the house! haha

Some people will never be happy with a normal leaf blower haha.

That thing sounds like a beast! The wind had to be unbelievable behind it to clear out that lot. Serious power here. Great engine.

It's amazing how they put aluminum and steel together and made beautiful music

What a fabulous sound . . .

That looks about as safe as my wife's cooking.

I love the lumpy sound of the camshaft "cam ring" idling and as it came up in rpm's

The Bristol Hercules was a 14 cylinder, 2-row radial engine available in ranges from 1290 HP to 1735 HP. The Hercules I had a bore of 5.75" and a stroke of 6.5" for a displacement of 2,360 cu in. It weighs just under a ton, without propeller. It runs optimally at 2,800 RPM.

This video is a great example of peak engine performance in certain rpm ranges. Can you imagine a camshaft profile designed with the idea of smooth running at a certain rpm range yet just be within reach of allowing it to start with massive changes in ignition timing? Another example would be to compare the starting of a regular production automobile that idles smooth and drives well but loses acceleration at high speed. Then compare it to a drag race car that idles so raggedly yet when at high rpm it is able to keep generating more power, until it runs out of track. This is a great video that displays this idea well, its a shame we don't see the operator bringing the rpm down to shutdown.

Wish the video went on until the end, sounded amazing!!!!

Kudos' to those standing to the side in perfect alignment with the 4 blade projectiles that are under massive stresses trying to separate themselves from the center hub.

Beautiful sound I was thinking, though, I can imagine this thing ripping itself free, shredding through people and going airborne if only the throttle is pushed.

Dear God, this is pure machine porn. I can't stop watching this. That idle is killer.

I can see so much use in a zombie apocalypse. The blades provide chopping and forward motion.

I love these old radials. Hats off to the video guy who ran us through the initial start and warm up. Cachug cachug... Vroom!!!!! Yeah

I keep coming back again and again to watch this video. Especially the last minute of it. Those stakes next to the wheel chocks must be driven way deep into the dirt! Note to Santa: Please?

I use two of these to cool my cpu. They work wonders

wow, what's a video. at first, I thought that it will be fly away.

The amount of air that’s shifting is incredible.

He seemed to be taking his time when the engine first fired up and was only running on some of the cylinders. Maybe he was waiting for it to warm up some? But when he got all the cylinders firing, it was beautiful! I love hearing a big sleeve valve engine run.

I don't understand why everyone thinks that there isn't a single safety precaution in sight. If it weren't safe, then it wouldn't be at that field to begin with

Amazing engineering considering there was no cad or cnc machines, engineers back then were genius

Whát a SOUND!!! PERFEKT!!! One of the most beautifull engine-sounds I ever heard.

That engine is a work of art.

As cool as this whole contraption is, I'd have thought that they would have allowed for a tad more ground clearance between the bottom of the props rotation pathway, and the ground. I'll bet it's rotating(at rather high speed, too, mind you) at less than 6" from the dirt... I'd feel much safer if it were in the 12-24" range. Taller, yes, but much less chance of sucking up errant debris from the immediate vicinity

THESE R.C. ENGINES ARE GETTING QUITE LARGE !! WHAT kind of model RC plane does it fit into !!!... 5 STARS***** RH DSD

Great engine! Notice even the shortened prop wash cleared out the crowd in the rear for 50 yds.:)

This is the most terrifying captive thing I've ever seen - emphasise that it's captive - mind boggles at how the trailer is nailed down to stay there - and if it didnt !!!!!

Designed my man. A purely brilliant thing. We need to control our own minds too. It will give us a more controlled insight. Love this video

after 3:15 best engine sound ever

And to think this was in Sweden where everything has to be so safe. Allowing the public to stand so close, only a rope and a couple meters between them and thousands of stampeding horses. Crazy!

Look at the power this thing has it certainly cleard a space behind it.

Sleeve valved engine?

He had hair until he started this engine

Very cool I love the look and sound of these old engines

Man I love the sound of a big radial engine. There is someone who hangers a plane at our local airport that is powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp radial engines. You can always tell when he fires it up without even hearing it, just have to watch for the huge plum of smoke. Harleys don't have anything on these engines when it comes to sound.

thats an expensive fan

Where's the rest of the plane?

Such a thing of raw twentieth century genius - I'd certainly have it installed on my ride-on mower - no more grass, no more mower, no more me.

this vid is still fun to watch after all this time Loving hearing this thing Rev Up

Bummer I thought he was going to drive it.

This would make an awesome cooler for my pc :3

Literally goosebumps every time I watch especially when he’s give er the full pipe 💪🏻

That Baby was Singing at the end of the Vid!! Loved how there was no body left behind it once it was going !!

14 cyl, 38.7 litres, 1675 hp

Maravilhoso ver uma máquina destas funcionando!!!

This Vid Freakin Rocks! I love the sound when he revs that motor up. People don't have to stand there if they didn't want too. I would be right where this guy was Awesome! And I love how the people behind it Scattered

I love the sound of the radial and the straight enginies. Thye just have a sound that can't be replaced by the jet engine.

I'm Amazed it didn't pull the trailer ! : )

fuck standing next to that spining blade so close

who needs a hair dryer when you have this guy and his engine

I need a fan like that- it was 102 degrees here the other day... Seriously: Beautiful engine! Nice restore job.

I wonder who had the smart idea to set it up right in front of all the loose dirt lol

tat setup does not look safe... disaster waiting to happen... i understand the trimmed prop but still..

Wow, what a monster! Sounds great...I don't know why anyone would hate the power of this engine demonstration...maybe a little loud but the sound is meaty.

there's something so friggin cool about giant piston engines!

Whispering death.

I love the sound of a "round motor' but I think that the Bristol is the king of the "round motors' as far as sound goes.

Beautiful engineering

Reminds me of watching one of those classic war films with that superb purr of the engine from a bomber. I'm in love with an engine! Shame the video finished. I wanted more.

That's fantastic! If you can find three more and a Short Stirling to go with them, you'll be away!

With the earth rotating faster and the high winds from the prop, a few people lost their wigs. LOL

Awesome that he brought it up to power like that!

This is how a radial should be run, with the exhaust collector ring in place. Theres so many run without them and they sound rough as a badgers arse without..

The people standing to the side of the prop are brave af

You're right, I wouldn't trust anyone to be able to keep a prop attached to an engine after 77 years of practice and research, and design improvements.

this is just sheer power. love it

What an insane good video!! I hate it isn't longer, because that sound....It's music to my ears!!

Every man needs one of these to tinker on in his garage!

The best ever engine sounds.

The Brits made some truly awesome engines. And still do. What a beast.

The prop blades are cut short and they aren't throttling up high enough to overcome the weight of the engine and trailer. (They can't because the short prop blades won't put a full load on the engine and it could over-speed and be damaged.) However, having the crowd so near the rotating mass is cause for concern if the engine happens to throw a piston or other parts.

There will always be one mystery, how in the world did that guy behind the engine hold on? Hes the real MVP!

Ive seen this video before but never noticed the people leaving from the back before. Great view but the wind and dirts alittle strong. Pretty nice

I spent many hours working on these engines in 1951-53. RAF Lichfield, 6 ANS.

Display of total horsepower. Fantastic.

yes many engines are sleeved....the heads like modern cars are sleeved, aluminum heads in both case, and steel sleeves or carbon like material (Honda as I recall), valves are in the each design as well...intake and exhaust

i will need one of these for summer

This would be an AWESOME leaf blower in the Fall! Really starts coming on strong after 2:30. That baby sounds good!

Bristol sleeve valve engines, probably the best aero radials ever.

Totally safe, there is no way that engine could overpower those massive 6 inch wheel chok's !

Very impressive to watch, but very scary at the distance those people are watching it from. this sounded great through my 15" speakers at loud volume i could feel the floor shake.

I would be saying, "Hey, Gridly, take the chalks off this trailer and lets see what this puppy can do!!"

I love how everyone that was dumb enough to stand behind that motor moved really fast. Chuck Norris does not need a motor for his boat. The water simply moves under him.