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Albert S. Menasco, SAE member and distinguished aircraft engine designer active in the 1920s and 1930s, produced a series of inverted, inline, four- and six-cylinder, air-cooled engines that achieved great success in many U.S. air races before World War (WW) II. Menasco's engines found substantial use in such light airframes as the famous Ryan monoplane ST, but his company was not commercially successful until it shifted to manufacturing landing gear in the 1940s. Menasco's historical legacy in aircraft engines is a fine testimonial to U.S. engineering accomplishment. This paper chronicles the engineering development of Menasco's relatively light aircraft engines and their air racing success in the hands of “golden age” pilots. Menasco furnished special superchargers, cams, pistons, and other parts to achieve extra speed with available racing fuels.

During an exemplary engineering career Charles Matthews Manly (1876-1927), former president of the SAE and one of America's foremost aircraft engine pioneers, contributed greatly to the design and development of the radial piston engine, which came to dominate aircraft propulsion until the 1950s. He is best known for development and refinement of a world-class 52-hp, five-cylinder, water-cooled radial aircraft engine at the Smithsonian Institution. His early academic achievements led to his appointment as chief assistant to Professor S. P. Langley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who was engaged in early aeronautic experiments and, in 1903, racing with the Wright brothers to demonstrate the first manned aeroplane. Easily the most advanced aeronautical engine in the world at the turn of the century, the so-called Manly-Balzer radial powerplant used in Langley's Aerodrome was almost 20 years ahead of its time in terms of specific-weight excellence.

Glenn H. Curtiss (1878-1930), an early member of the SAE, was one of America's premier aviation pioneers, a self-taught engineer, and creator of a broad series of commercially successful engines for both aviation and motorcycles. Best known for his aerial accomplishments (from the 1908 June Bug to World War I aircraft, such as the JN-4 Jenny trainer), Curtiss developed solid experience with engines long before (dating back to 1901). His early interest in bicycle racing led to motorcycling and his motorcycle engines evolved into aero engines-first for airships, then aeroplanes. Curtiss engines of this era (the most familiar are his V-8 4-stroke water-cooled designs) were noted for advanced construction materials, lighter-than-average weight, reasonable reliability and some innovative mechanical features.

Charles Norvin Rinek (1888-1980), one of America's largely unknown aviation pioneers, built and flew some innovative engines. His principal contribution to aeronautical engineering was a series of pre-World War I engines (mainly water-cooled 4-stroke V-8s) that exhibited advanced construction materials, relatively light weight, enhanced reliability, and clever mechanical features. He also manufactured wood propellers of sophisticated design and built and flew a test-bed aircraft. He modified this 1909 pusher biplane design from a basic French 1908 Voisin, successfully using new and advanced engineering materials, such as chrome-moly alloy steel tubing. His engineering work has been displayed at a few prominent aeronautical museums, including the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.