Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp

The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is a nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial piston engine, the first engine built by the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company and the first of the Wasp series. Its bore and stroke were both 5.75 inches and it displaced 1,344 cubic inches, about 22 litres, which gives the 1340 in its name. It was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward, and as well as fixed-wing types it powered helicopters such as the Sikorsky H-19 and a class of airship, the K-class blimp. A total of 34,966 engines were produced. Examples of the early Wasp A and Wasp C are on display at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and in 2016 the American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated the engine a Historic Engineering Landmark.