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Constructed in the traditional Soviet tradition of 'More, Bigger, Impractical', they proceeded to develop a lovely diesel aircraft engine with water cooling, a four stroke design with seven banks of six cylinders.
Originally conceived as the Yakovlev M-501, it made impressive power - 4,750 hp. until the supercharger/turbocharger kicked in and boosted it up to 6,205 hp.
However, by 1953 the program was cancelled due to being made obsolete with gas turbine advances. Not wanting to abandon the idea altogether, the design was further used and converted to the Zvezda M503 marine engine, after switching the block casting from aluminum to cast iron.
A single overhead cam operated two intake and two exhaust valves per cylinder to feed the 8,760 cubic inches, and the exhaust had enough volume to add an extra 550 pounds of thrust like a jet engine.
This particular blue engine is being modified by a German tractor pull competition group to run on alcohol and push out over 8,000 hp, read up on that here: DRAGON FIRE - Powered By Ridiculous 8765Ci 42 Cylinder Radial Engine - ThrottleXtreme (watch the video of the tractor in operation)
Cam driven pumps fueled the injectors, and despite having a 13:1 compression ratio it still used nearly 16 pounds of boost. The marine versions were rated at less power than the aircraft design, down to normal running of 3,250 hp. at 2200 rpm (max was closer to 4,000).
Later, a larger version, the M504 used banks of eight cylinders instead of six, its 11,681 cubic inches pushing over 5,000 hp. at 20 pounds of boost, all at 2,000 rpm. Some fast missile attack boats used three of the M503 engines, some went into submarines. This engine continued to be developed into the 1970s.
Putting two M504 engines together resulted in this 10,000 hp. monster, and a 13,500 hp. version was planned before being cancelled in favour of more modern turbines.
Originally conceived as the Yakovlev M-501, it made impressive power - 4,750 hp. until the supercharger/turbocharger kicked in and boosted it up to 6,205 hp.
However, by 1953 the program was cancelled due to being made obsolete with gas turbine advances. Not wanting to abandon the idea altogether, the design was further used and converted to the Zvezda M503 marine engine, after switching the block casting from aluminum to cast iron.
A single overhead cam operated two intake and two exhaust valves per cylinder to feed the 8,760 cubic inches, and the exhaust had enough volume to add an extra 550 pounds of thrust like a jet engine.
This particular blue engine is being modified by a German tractor pull competition group to run on alcohol and push out over 8,000 hp, read up on that here: DRAGON FIRE - Powered By Ridiculous 8765Ci 42 Cylinder Radial Engine - ThrottleXtreme (watch the video of the tractor in operation)
Cam driven pumps fueled the injectors, and despite having a 13:1 compression ratio it still used nearly 16 pounds of boost. The marine versions were rated at less power than the aircraft design, down to normal running of 3,250 hp. at 2200 rpm (max was closer to 4,000).
Later, a larger version, the M504 used banks of eight cylinders instead of six, its 11,681 cubic inches pushing over 5,000 hp. at 20 pounds of boost, all at 2,000 rpm. Some fast missile attack boats used three of the M503 engines, some went into submarines. This engine continued to be developed into the 1970s.
Putting two M504 engines together resulted in this 10,000 hp. monster, and a 13,500 hp. version was planned before being cancelled in favour of more modern turbines.
