A Technical & Operational History of the Liberty Engine: Tanks, Ships, and Aircraft 1917-1960
by Robert J. Neal, Specialty Press, 2009, $74.95.
Designed literally overnight in a Washington, D.C., hotel room in 1917, the Liberty aircraft engine was nevertheless a groundbreaking power plant. While the engine design in itself was not a pioneering effort, the speed with which it was developed and put into production—plus the amazing number produced within a short period of time—set new trends in manufacturing. Auto manufacturers quickly geared up using modern mass-production methods to spit out this complex engine like popcorn.
Robert Neal’s thoroughly researched book on this water-cooled V-12 (4-, 6- and 8-cylinder variants were also built in small numbers) traces its early history through its final decommissioning in the 1960s powering tanks. At the conclusion of World War I, huge numbers of Liberties became available for sportsmen, who used them to power high-speed boats. The Liberty’s power and light weight also attracted land-speed record seekers.
Neal documents every aspect of the Liberty, including its use for developing turbosuperchargers, reduction gearing and enhanced manufacturing techniques. He also chronicles every variation, including air-cooled and inverted types.
This huge volume is repetitive in some spots, and typos and misspellings have unfortunately crept in. The text also tends to get bogged down in trivia such as contract numbers—of inestimable value to the researcher but meaningless to most readers. For the devoted student of aircraft engines, however, those mistakes will seem unimportant given the book’s scope. Overall, it’s a good buy.
Originally published in the November 2009 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
