de Havilland Gipsy Minor

1930s British piston aircraft engine

The de Havilland Gipsy Minor or Gipsy Junior is a British four-cylinder, air-cooled, inline engine that was used primarily in the de Havilland Moth Minor monoplane, both products being developed in the late 1930s.

Design and development

The engine was a simplified and smaller version of the earlier de Havilland Gipsy. It featured only one magneto where dual ignition was normal for the Gipsy series of engines. A total of 171 engines were produced, including 100 built in Australia as production moved to that country due to the start of the Second World War.^[1]

Applications

• De Havilland Moth Minor
• Short Scion
• Druine Turbi

Engines on display

• A de Havilland Gipsy Minor engine is on public display at the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, London Colney, Hertfordshire.

Specifications (Gipsy Minor)

Data from ^[2]

General characteristics

• Type: 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline piston aircraft engine
• Bore: 4.016 in (102 mm)
• Stroke: 4.528 in (115 mm)
• Displacement: 229.29 in³ (3.759 L)
• Dry weight: 216 lb (98 kg)

Components

• Valvetrain: Overhead valve
• Fuel type: Minimum 70 octane petrol
• Oil system: Dry sump, gear-type pump
• Cooling system: Air-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 90 hp at 2,600 rpm
• Compression ratio: 6:1
• Power-to-weight ratio: 0.41 hp/lb

See also

• de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre
• Frank Halford

Related development

• de Havilland Gipsy

Comparable engines

• Argus As 8
• Blackburn Cirrus Midget
• Blackburn Cirrus Minor
• ERCO I-L 116
• Hirth HM 504
• Walter Mikron

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References

Notes

1. Lumsden 2003, p.136.
2. Lumsden 2003, p.141.

Bibliography

• Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.