Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Here's something you don't see every day. Just finished refurbishing these three Schoenner flame ignition gas engines. All are rotating sideshaft poppet valve engines. Ready to run but don't have the proper gas mix to do so; we ran a smaller model a few years ago at Coolspring Power Museum; search: "world's smallest flame ignition gas engine" on Youtube.

Beautiful machines that I envy you.

Great work Brent.

I saw these before the restoration and Brent has done an awesome job.

Is the one with only one flywheel missing one or was it made as a single flywheel model?

Brent, very nice rare trio you’ve got. Do you or any other collectors made any research related to the combustion cycle of these rarities?

As requested, here's a detailed description of the Schoenner gas engine cycle provided in Wayne Grenning's excellent book: Flame Ignition, A Historical Account of Flame Ignition in the Internal Combustion Engine, p. 167, paraphrased here: After lighting the burner and with the piston at top dead center, the flywheel is rotated. As the piston moves toward the flywheel, a cam on the end of the side-shaft depresses (opens) a poppet valve at approximately 45 degrees of rotation. Immediately afterwards, another poppet valve opposite the ignition port momentarily opens to allow fuel to enter the cylinder. At about fifty percent stroke the piston passes the ignition port and flame is drawn into the cylinder where it ignites the air-fuel mixture. Both fuel and air valves are closed at this time. Combustion pushes the piston to bottom dead center. On the return stroke, exhaust gasses pass through the same valve that allowed air to enter the cylinder and the cycle repeats itself at top dead center. This arrangement was patented in the UK and US in 1894 and 1895, respectively.

Brent, this is a winning Schoenner trifecta!

These are a type of non-compression gas engines.

Gil