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Sakae
Nakajima Sakae engine on display at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum
Type	Piston aircraft engine
Manufacturer	Nakajima
First run	1939
Major applications	Mitsubishi A6M Nakajima Ki-43 Kawasaki Ki-48
Number built	30,233
Developed from	Nakajima Ha5
Developed into	Nakajima Homare

The Nakajima Sakae (栄, Glory) was a two-row, 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine used in a number of combat aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II.

Design and development

The engine was designed by Nakajima Aircraft Company with code name NAM, as a scaled-down and advanced version of the previous NAL design (Army Type 97 850 hp radial engine, Nakajima Ha5). The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force called the first of the series the Ha25 (ハ25) and later versions were designated Ha105 and Ha115, in the Hatsudoki designation system and Ha-35 in the unified designation system, while the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service designation was Nakajima NK1, with sub-types identified by Model numbers; thus Nakajima NK1 Sakae 10, 20 and 30 series.

A total of 21,166 were made by Nakajima; 9,067 were manufactured by other firms.

Variants

Army Type 99 975 hp Air-cooled Radial

Long Army designation for the Nakajima NK1 radial engine named Sakae.

Nakajima Ha25 (Hatsudoki designation)

Short Army designation for the initial production version of the Nakajima NK1 radial engine named Sakae.

Nakajima Ha105 (Hatsudoki designation)

Nakajima Ha115 (Hatsudoki designation)

Nakajima Ha115-I

Nakajima Ha115-II

Nakajima Ha-35 (unified designation)

Nakajima Ha-35 Model 11

Nakajima Ha-35 Model 12

Nakajima Ha-35 Model 23 - 1,150 hp (858 kW)

Nakajima NK1 (Navy designation)

NK1C Sakae 12 - 925 hp (690 kW), 940 hp (701 kW), 975 hp (727 kW)

NK1D Sakae 11 - 970 hp (723 kW), 985 hp (735 kW)

NK1F Sakae 21 - 1,130 PS (831 kW; 1,115 bhp)

NK1E Sakae 31 - 1,130 hp (843 kW), boosted to 1,210 hp (902 kW) with water-methanol injection

Applications

• Kawasaki Ki-45 (prototype)
• Kawasaki Ki-48
• Kawasaki Ki-56
• Mitsubishi A6M
• Mitsubishi C5M2
• Nakajima B5N2
• Nakajima J1N
• Nakajima Ki-43
• Nakajima Ki-115
• Tachikawa Ki-77

Surviving engines

A small number of original Sakae powerplants are on display in aviation museums, usually mounted into the airframes of restored Mitsubishi A6M Zeros. Only one airworthy Zero worldwide still flies with a restored Sakae powerplant, the Planes of Fame Museum's A6M5 example, bearing tail number "61-120".

Specifications (Sakae 21)

Data from TAIC Manual

General characteristics

• Type: 14-cylinder air-cooled two-row radial engine
• Bore: 130 mm (5.1 in)
• Stroke: 150 mm (5.9 in)
• Displacement: 27.9 L (1,687 in³)
• Length: 1,600 mm (63 in)
• Diameter: 1,150 mm (45 in)
• Dry weight: 590 kg (1,300 lb)

Components

• Valvetrain: Overhead valve
• Supercharger: Gear driven, two speed.
• Fuel system: 2 BBL D.D. Float Carb. automatic mixture and boost control.
• Fuel type: 92 Octane
• Cooling system: Air-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 842.64 kW (1130hp) at altitude
• Specific power: 30.2 kW/L (0.66 hp/in³)
• Compression ratio: 7:1
• Power-to-weight ratio: 1.428 kW/kg (0.869 hp/lb)

See also

Comparable engines

• BMW 801
• Bristol Hercules
• Bristol Taurus
• Pratt & Whitney R-1830
• Fiat A.74
• Gnome-Rhône 14N
• Mitsubishi Zuisei
• Piaggio P.XI
• Piaggio P.XIX
• Shvetsov ASh-82
• Tumansky M-88

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References

Notes

1. Gunston 1989, p.105.
2. Nakagawa, Ryōichi (1985). Engine History of Nakajima Aircraft. Tōkyō: Kantōsha. pp. 76–85. ISBN 4-87357-007-7.
3. Seaman, Richard. "Aircraft air shows." richard-seaman.com. Retrieved: 13 October 2010.
4. Flight Demo of Genuine Japanese Zero with ORIGINAL WWII Sakae 31 Engine! on YouTube
5. OPNAV-16-VT#301, p. 852 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFOPNAV-16-VT#301 (help)

Bibliography

• Goodwin, Mike & Starkings, Peter (2017). Japanese Aero-Engines 1910-1945. Sandomierz, Poland: MMPBooks. ISBN 978-83-65281-32-6.
• Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9
• Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7
• Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN 1-55750-432-6

External links

• Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines
• 1930s aircraft piston engines
• Nakajima aircraft engines