Packard Forum Index » General

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Those are great pics, Guscha - thanks for posting. Quite the wooden props?!?! Do 'we' know what kind of planes these ended up in?? Chris.

Chris.
The primary use of the Liberty was in aircraft.
? American-built versions of the Airco DH.4
? Airco DH.9A
? Airco DH.10
? Breguet 14 B2 L
? Caproni Ca.60
? Curtiss H-16
? Curtiss HS
? Curtiss NC
? Curtiss Carrier Pigeon
? Douglas C-1
? Douglas DT
? Douglas O-2
? Felixstowe F5L
? Fokker T.II
? Handley Page H.P.20
? Witteman-Lewis XNBL
The engine was also used in the RN-1 (Zodiac) blimp.

With more rugged barrels the Liberty V-12 was slated for track vehicle (tank) use. Only 100 of these tanks were manufactured, but too late for WWI.

According to Wikipedia 20,748 units were built. Manufactures included Lincoln, Ford, Packard, Marmon, and Buick. During WWII, Neffield, a UK car manufacture produced Liberty engines under license, for various UK tanks. It was not at all uncommon for aircraft engines to be pressed into service powering track vehicles. Many M-2, M-3 Lee, M-4 Sherman, and M7 Priest's were powered by Continental produced Wright R975s . . . along with hosts of low production, or field modified chassis.

dp

Thanks Davidpackard,

I had no idea the usage was that widespread. I have an aviation background and a corresponding interest in its history. While I am familiar with quite a few of those aircraft types, some I had never heard of. Very interesting stuff! Again, appreciate your posting that. Chris.

In 1919 the Navy mounted a mission to fly a squadron of four airplanes across the Atlantic. The aircraft were Curtiss NCs (Navy Curtiss) and were powered by Packard-built Liberty engines. Only one of the squadron completed the crossing, NC-4. The first crossing of the Atlantic by an aircraft.

The engineering officer on that airplane was James Breese. Later on, Breese settled in Santa Fe and established a business making controllers for oil burners used to provide heat to homes and businesses. He was a customer of my father because of the respect he had for the engines that carried him and crew across the ocean.

NC-4 survives and is on display at the Navy's air museum in Pensacola, Florida.

Dave (DavidPackard), thanks. The list of Packard driven air planes is long. The pics below show another type.
What I learned from this time travel is, that Packard wasn't "just" a liberty engine builder. The pics reveal that PMCC in Detroit had once been an -> aircraft maker or at least an assembler.
Chris (Packard newbie) and John (JW), thanks for the valuable input.


source: U.S. National Archives; -> Public Domain Archive
Copyright info: no known copyright restrictions
Click to enlarge!

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