FIRST IN FLIGHT

The biggest downer was the fatal crash that killed Lionel Woolson and two others on April 23, 1930. The Dr-980-powered Verville Air Coach on the way to the New York Air Show encountered a snowstorm trying to land near Attica, New York, and crashed into a hill. Though the crash was purely weather-related, it cast a dark cloud over the Packard diesel program—but the 1929 stock market crash had an even bigger impact.

The Great Depression soon rolled across the globe, and as a luxury carmaker Packard was especially vulnerable. It really wasn’t the time to have one’s corporate neck out with off-the-mark products. The light aircraft market slowed way down, putting the vulnerable low-production companies out of business and reducing the need for aero engines. Unfortunately, the DR-980 had also acquired a bit of a “reputation” in the aero engine market. The Packard “cavalry” had been ready to save the day as early as 1930, with a 300 hp, two-valves-per-cylinder engine designated the DR-980B. It was reputed to eliminate most of the issues under complaint, but unfortunately, just before his death, Woolson had chosen to continue with the single-valve design. Production officially ended in 1933, but the die was cast late in ’32. The exact number of engines produced is unknown but reported in some documents to have been 116 units total, including the prototypes.

Packard’s engineering prowess is legendary and there is little doubt the engine could have been perfected. Would that have ensured the success of a diesel in the aero engine market? Not likely. Gasoline aero engines were advancing very quickly. The introduction of high-octane gasoline in the early ’30s allowed higher compression ratios, greater power output and better high-altitude operation. Gassers never caught up to the diesel for fuel economy or fire safety, but in every other way they were a better product. The later Guiberson radial aero diesel (see Diesel World January 2018), very much superior to the Packard, also failed in the market in the late ’30s and early ’40s for largely the same reasons. Today there are some diesel aircraft engines being sold, none of them radials. They are very modern electronic engines and seem to be making sales headway due to the originally touted benefits: fuel economy and fire safety.

There are 12 Packard DR-980 engines known to survive, most in museums and none running. One is still mounted in a historic aircraft, Packard’s original Stinson SM-1DX test plane, repowered in 1930 with a production engine. The aircraft has not flown since the mid-1930s and likely never will again. The Smithsonian has the original prototype engine that powered it.

 One of the largest aircraft to use the Packard DR-980 was the Towle TA-3 prototype amphibian. Thomas Towle developed this bird on a budget and it first flew in 1930 equipped with DR-980S. This is the aircraft where an engine launched a cylinder at the pilot. Top speed was 120 mph and the plane cruised at 100 mph, using 18 gallons per hour for both engines. This aircraft flew passengers around Lake Michigan for a year or so but crashed due to pilot error. The plane was salvaged and put back into service in Florida, where it was used for hauling illegal booze. Courtesy of the Greg Herrick Collection

 The legendary Stinson Detroiter SM-1DX test aircraft in 1929, still mounting the prototype engine with which it made the first diesel-powered airplane flight. It’s shown here when the Department of Commerce tested it for radio interference and proclaimed it static-free. That same year Charles Lindbergh flew this aircraft at the Packard Proving Grounds. In 1930 the prototype engine was removed and replaced with a production engine (engine 135). The prototype engine was donated to the Smithsonian Institution, where it is still held. This plane was donated to the Henry Ford Museum in 1935 and remained there until sold to Greg Herrick in 1995. This aircraft still exists in Herrick’s Golden Wings Collection. Courtesy of the Greg Herrick Collection

 On the inside the DR-980 is very much like any radial, until you consider the complicated cam arrangement that drives the unit injectors, shown in the bottom half of this 1930 illustration. In the upper section you can see the master rod at TDC, to which all the other rods are attached via pins.