JAY LENO'S AIRPLANE ENGINE COLLECTION

摘要

JAY LENO'S STASH of 199 cars and 168 motorcycles includes machines run by steam and by electric motors, but he has special affection for vehicles powered by aircraft engines. Given that Leno's garage in Burbank, California, was once an aviation technology hot spot, those engines are in a suitable environment. A few miles to the south is where KellyJohnson's Skunk Works created the Lockheed Shooting Star, America's first jet fighter. An airport to the north is where the 18-year-old Norma Jeane Dougherty- later Marilyn Monroe-was discovered by an Army photographer assembling Radioplane drone aircraft. A hangar near Leno's complex was once occupied by Amelia Earhart. Aircraft and automobiles came of age together-so it was inevitable that truly serious auto designers began bolting aircraft engines under their hoods. In pursuit of sufficient power, aviation engine manufacturers routinely combined colossal piston displacements with advanced design features that would improve volumetric efficiency (breathing)-overhead camshafts, four instead of two valves per cylinder, and supercharging-because they weren't constrained by cost concerns. Dual-ignition systems made these engines less likely to break down in flight. And since the power required for flight rises in direct proportion to weight, aircraft engine builders innovated the use of lighter aluminum, magnesium, and alloy-steel materials.