The Aero Engine that Carried the First Nukes - Wright R-3350

A real human voice and no obnoxious music! That's a win-win! Thank you

Well done! In the 1980s, I worked as a lawyer for C-W right in the Wood-Ridge facility. I actually have a 3350 piston, valve and cylinder barrel destined for the scrap heap, but given to me by the workforce there. In the early 80s they were STILL producing spare parts for engines in service, though not too many. I remember that the Taiwanese AF placed orders for R-1820 spares for their Grumman S-2 A/C, as an example. My dad flew KB-29s in the 1950s, and even then, engine fires were a risk. On one occasion, an engine blew a cylinder head up and out through the cowling while the aircraft was in flight! He got the airplane down in one piece, sans that engine part. I strongly recommend a book by the Smithsonian Institute Press called "Building the B-29." It has a good chapter about the R-3350 engines for the A/C, and the many challenges and problems that occurred in the program.

My father was a War Assets Administration inspector at Boeing/Wichita during the war and his few stories about the development of problems of the R-3350s had impressed me though was very young at the time. On my own in later years, I saw the forward mounted exhaust collector sitting ahead of the engine must have been a significant source of overheated air passing though the engine bay and raising the likelihood of fires and failures. They did eventually redesign the system with the front cylinder bank exhaust tubes running rearward to solve the problem, similar to how the Pratt-Whitney R-2800 is made.

In 1976 I remember seeing a Connie circling the Belize airport, Central America. One could see it was flying just on the two starboard engines. What had happened was the port outer prop had separated from the engine and it spun into the port inner engine with such force that it not only caused that engine to be shut down due to several cylinder heads being badly damaged, it also bent the engine mounting down about ten degrees buckling the undercarriage doors so the port main gear wouldn't extend. After circling for some time it came in on a long low approach to the runway and touched down on the starboard main and nose wheels until the left wing slowly dropped onto the concrete and it spun off into the dirt at the side of the runway. The gear didn't collapse and nobody was hurt. It made for a memorable day way back then. 🙂

Here is some trivia: The B-28 evolved into the B-50, then the 367 Stratocruiser, with four R-4360 engines. The airliner version was the Boeing 377. These airplanes were B-29's with a second much larger fuselage laid on top of the bomber fuselage. In profile they looked a like an "8", with the upper lobe somewhat wider. Then in 1952, Boeing designed the 367-80 Stratocruiser, which of course was a complete ruse. The 367-80 was none other than the Boeing 707. What they did was take the double bubble fuselage of the 367/377 and fill in the dents and make an egg shaped fuselage. This was the original 707. Later, they widened the fuselage to 148 inches, and this was the production airplane. But also the production 720B, the 727, the 737 [all models] and the 757. Which means that a 737 Max that rolls off the assembly line in Renton tomorrow actually has belly panels that were designed for the B-29.... I'm not kidding, the belly panels of every 737 match the belly curves of the B-29, if not actually are interchangeable!

My grandfather was the top foreman in the engine cylinder production plant in Cincinnati. He won many awards in producing the Wright cyclone engine.

There was an old saying amongst B29 aircrew based on Tinian and Saipan in 1945: "What do you need to take off in a B29?" The answer was "either a full load of fuel or a full load of bombs, but not both". The 3350s only had a service life of 4 missions due to chronic overheating issues, with many aircraft lost way before reaching the targets in Japan. The first such takeoff from Tinian which was watched by the press and senior brass, thundered down the runway barely got airborne and plunged into the see. All the film was confiscated and the incident was never publicly reported.

all this technology barely 40 years after the Wright Brothers flight just amazing

Very interesting! My grandfather was a B-29 Instructor pilot during the last year and a half of WWII. I remember him telling stories about frequent engine fires during the long training flights(NM to AK and back) and having the engine mounts fail catastrophically as a result on several occasions? He had a great deal of respect for(and fear of!) the Superfortress but never liked flying it as much as his IP days in the B17-he dearly loved the Flying Fortress. RIP grandpa John!

I was a Recip Engine Mech in the Air Force back in 62-66. I worked on the R-3350, R-4360, R-2000 and the R1300 engines. The 3350's were on the EC-121, the 4360's were on the HC-97G, the 2000's on the HC-54 D and the 1300 were on the HH-19B. It was quite an experience working on those big engines. I still watch videos of the 4360 being run just to listen to the sound. You never forget the sound that those big engines make.

My father was a gunner in Korea in the B-29s (later in the A/B-26). He told me a lot of stories about flying in them and about the remote gun systems. etc. He was responsible for starting and then shutting down the small gas generator that gave the plane electric power until the engines were up and running. He said the fumes from that little generator were terrible and many fights he made while sick from the fumes at the start of the flight from the "Putt-Putt". As a model builder I do a lot of contract builds for people. Recently a guy asked me to build a model for him and as a reference he gave me a copy of a home movie from the early 1950s (in color!) of an airshow in Texas. In the film were many aircraft; Hellcats, F-82 twin Mustangs and even a fly over from a very early B-36. In the background, parked on the ramp is what I am sure is a B-32 Dominator. Someday Ill post it to You Tube because it is really cool!

I’ve flown on aircraft powered by the R-3350, but not the B-29. Born in 1954, I’m referring to being a passenger on the Douglas DC7 airliners operated by American Airlines, circa 1958-59. I have a sketchy memory of a night flight from El Paso, TX to Los Angeles where an engine overheated, warranting an unscheduled mid-point landing to let the engine cool before proceeding. The passenger versions of the R3350 were equipped with a power recovery turbine (PRT) as a system that scavanged exhaust pressure redirected via turboshafts as added crankshaft output power. The novel design added substantial power, but at the cost of even more complexities & maintenance costs. I treasure my somewhat fuzzy memories as a young child flying in DC6 & DC7 aircraft…the sounds, smells, buffeting, and the overall experience in what was the inception of the golden age of commercial aviation.

Something forgotten to history: my grandfather was an A&P mechanic on the B-29 during the war. He was an instructor as well. So he knew the B-29 very well. He said they were taught to work in those engines blindfolded. In case there was a bombing blackout, the could still work on them. I once asked him why it takes so long for those big radials to start. He said, "well....all the cylinders get together and form a committee and they take a vote on whether they want to start or not." Lol! When i saw Lord of the Rings and Tree Beard and the other Ents slowly talking in their committe about whether to go to war, i instantly remembered what my grandad said about the B-29s starting. I was laughing in the theater. Lol

Very nice video of the Wright R-3350 Cyclone engines. Thankyou for sharing. My father was a B-29 pilot in command in June 1945. He referred to the Wright R-3350 Cyclone engines on the B-29 as "Wrong Engines" and "Flame Throwers" because they had a nasty tendancy to overheat and catch on fire during takeoff. On the early R-3350's, the cylinder head temperatures were red lined at 289 degrees Celsius and on takeoff it was not uncommon for the cylinder head temperatures would be reading well over 320 degrees Celsius. My father went on and flew WB-29 Superfortresses after the war for the USAF's Air Weather Service until 1956. Even then the engines still proved themselves to be problematic. It was not uncommon at all for a WB-29 come back to base with three engines running and one engine feathered.

The gun sight/turret demo 6:30 was pretty neat. Lotsa technology right there.

The world's first pressurized fuselage? The Boeing 307 Stratoliner would like a word.

My father worked for C-W from about 1952 to 1963 mostly in Fairfield, NJ and in the last years in Wood-Ridge, NJ. He mainly did QC work, inspection and testing of rebuilt engines. Much of his work involved this engine for the military and commercial users. Sadly C-W didn't get involved with jet engines although did make some RR ones on license. The Wood-Ridge building and some deteriorating signage for C-W still exists. Most of the building has been sub-divided for warehouses, light industrial and by NJ Transit for heavy maintenance for their locomotives and passenger rail cars as adjacent to a major railroad track. The huge parking lots and adjacent properties have been developed into a massive apartment and town home development over the last 15 years.

The Boeing 307 had a 7:48 pressurized cabin and it predated the B-29.

American engineering and mass production ability blows your mind.

Absolutely fascinating - I love these. Please keep them coming!❤