its development of the diesel engine. The formal presentation was made at the White House, March 31, 1932, by President Hoover on behalf of the National Aeronautic Association. Alvan Macauley, president of the Packard Motor Car Company, accepted the trophy, saying: “We do not claim, Mr. President, that we have reached the final development even though our diesel aircraft engine is an accomplished fact and we have the pioneer’s joy of knowing that we have successfully accomplished what had not been done before....”[8] The amazing early success of the Packard diesel is illustrated by the following chronological summary:

In spite of this promising record, the project died in 1933. The December 1950 issue of Pegasus gave two reasons for the failure of the engine: “One blow had already been dealt the program through the accidental death of Capt. L. M. Woolson, Packard’s chief engineer in charge of the Diesel development, on April 23, 1930. Then the Big Depression took its toll in research work everywhere and Packard was not excepted.”

Figure 14.—Walter E. Lees, Packard chief test pilot (in cabin) and Frederic A. Brossy, Packard test pilot, before taking off on their world’s record, nonrefueling, heavier-than-air aircraft duration flight, which lasted 84 hours, 33 minutes, and 1¼ seconds. (Smithsonian photo A48446E.)

Figure 15.—Walter E. Lees, official timer, and Ray Collins, manager, 1930 National Air Tour, with their official airplane, a Packard diesel Waco “Taper Wing,” at Packard proving grounds near Detroit. (Smithsonian photo A49449.)

Figure 16.—Capt. Karl Fickes, acting head of Goodyear’s airship operations, pointing out features on one of the “Defender’s” Packard diesel engines to Roland J. Blair, Goodyear airship pilot, Akron, Ohio. From “Aero Digest,” February 1932. (Smithsonian photo A49674.)

The engine did not fail for the above mentioned reasons. Capt. Woolson’s death was indeed unfortunate, but there were others connected with the project who carried on his work for three years after he passed away. The big depression was also unfortunate, but it did not stop aeronautical engine development. “It was a time when such an engine would have been most welcome if it had been produced in large enough numbers to bring the price down to compare favorably pricewise with gas engines of the same horsepower class.”[10] The Packard diesel failed because it was not a good engine. It was an ingenious engine, and two of the several features it pioneered (the use of magnesium and of a dynamically balanced crankshaft) survive in modern reciprocating engine designs. In addition, when it was first introduced, no other engine could match it for economical fuel consumption and fuel safety. It also had other less important advantages, but its disadvantages outweighed all these advantages, as will be seen.

Description

Specifications

The following specifications are for the production engine and its prototypes, known as the model DR-980:[11]

Figure 17.—Longitudinal cross section, Packard diesel engine DR-980. (Smithsonian photo A48845.)		Figure 18.—Transverse cross section, Packard diesel engine DR-980. (Smithsonian photo A48847.)