Thank you very much for this post. I promise you that there are a lot of people on this bbs who will find it fascinating. (pca, schofiel, n6mod, bonzi, to name just a very few)

I am not familiar with the reference to "RTA". Can you clarify?

At "max Rpm was 64 flat out" that's about one firing cycle per second in a two-stroke engine. That would seem to allow a great deal of time for fresh intake charge to mix with exhaust as it is going out the exhaust valve. Is this indeed a problem? How is it dealt with?

"...start this this thing with about 80 tons of rotating parts." That's how I figured it would be done (compressed air). But 80 tons! Absolutely glorious! Just imagine what would happen if you ever threw a rod in that baby! Probably sink the ship!

How big are the connecting rod and main bearing journals? What type of beaings? Probably plain babbit bearings -- I'll bet they're poured in place if they have to be replaced? What kind of machine could grind a crankshaft with three-foot throws?

Would the engine ever be removed from the ship for repairs, or would they scrap the whole ship if there were a catastrophic engine failure? How would they get it out? I'm guessing the engine would weigh over 200 tons altogether?

So you're running a Diesel (compression ignition) engine, that means minimum 16:1 compression ratio, but probably much higher. Are there giant glow plugs for use in starting the engine from cold (as in a Diesel engine automobile) or does it light off on its own after you get those 80 tons spinning over? How many RPM does it take to get it started?

Please do start a website... I could spend *hours* on this stuff!

tanstaafl.