This is a rare nine-cylinder Lom Praha M462RF radial engine, it has a displacement of 620 cubic inches (10.16 liters) and is capable of up to 311 bhp.
The M462RF was developed by Czech aircraft engine manufacturer Lom Praha and also produced under license elsewhere in the Soviet Union as the Ivchenko AI-14 and Avia M462RF, which was used in over a dozen aircraft types including the Yakovlev Yak-12, Yakovlev Yak-18, and in the Chinese Nanchang CJ-6.
Above Video: This clip shows an Avia M462RF radial engine being started and run on a stand. This engine is a license-built copy of the Lom Praha M462RF.
The Lom Praha M462RF follows the standard air-cooled radial engine layout which was perfected by the 1930s, though it had been in use years before this. The nine cylinders are arranged in a circle around a common crankcase, working on a common crankshaft which is connected to a propeller for aircraft use.
Radial engines offer a number of advantages over more common inline-cylinder aircraft engines, perhaps the key advantage being the fact that all cylinders receive equal amounts of cooling airflow.
Radial engines were almost all used in aircraft, including bombers and fighters during both WWI and WWII. They also found use as tank engines, boat and ship engines, and they were used to power more unusual vehicles like the Tupolev A-3 Aerosledge – a Cold War USSR cosmonaut rescue vehicle.
The Lom Praha M462RF radial engine you see here has now been decommissioned. It’s been affixed to a stand made from tubular steel and able to handle the not-insignificant heft of the engine – it does weigh in at 218 kgs or 481 lbs after all.
The Lom Praha M462RF is an air-cooled, nine-cylinder radial engine capable of up to 311 bhp.
The engine has a propeller fitted and the stand rolls on caster wheels which makes it relatively easy to move around when required.
It due to roll across the auction block with Aguttes on the 5th of October with a price guide starting at €2,000 or approximately $2,229 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Aguttes
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