Alfa Romeo 135 Explained

The Alfa Romeo 135 Tornado was an Italian 18-cylinder radial engine designed by Giustino Cattaneo in 1934–1935.^[1]

Design and development

The Alfa 135 consists of two nine-cylinder radial rows, back to back, operating a two-throw crankshaft. Cattaneo left Alfa Romeo in 1936, leaving the development of the 135 to eng. Bossi and his staff, but without success. At the time of its first running in 1938 and 1939 it was one of the most powerful radial engines in the world, generating just less than 1492kW on 100 octane fuel, but the standard fuel available was 87 octane, with which the 135 developed 1200-.

Despite the obvious potential, this engine was affected by many reliability problems. Although many mechanical defects were addressed during testing, it suffered from overheating and vibrations so seriously that it was rejected from service. Up to 1944 approximately 150 were made, none of which were fitted in operational aircraft.

Further development resulted in the Alfa Romeo 136, but this remained a paper project before the Armistice in September 1943 intervened.

Applications

• Cant Z.1018 "Leone"^[2]
• Savoia-Marchetti SM.87 (four planes)
• Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 (central engine)
• Savoia-Marchetti SM.90 (one prototype)
• Cant Z 1014 (five prototypes)
• Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condor" (135 R.C.34 engines supplied for testing)^[3]
• CRDA CANT Z.1018 "Leone" (136 R.C.25)

Variants

136 R.C.25: Experimental derivative of the 135, probably not built, 1765kW at sea level, 1360kW at 2500m (8,200feet)

135 R.C.32: 1620hp

135 R.C.34: 1194kW

135 R.C.45:

136 R.C.65: Experimental derivative of the 135, probably not built, 1618kW for Take Off, 1214kW at 6500m (21,300feet)

136 R.C.100:Rated at 10000m (30,000feet)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Patrick . Italiano . STORY OF THE ALFA ROMEO FACTORY AND PLANTS . PDF . 2007-08-29 . enzociliberto.it . https://web.archive.org/web/20070929010114/http://www.enzociliberto.it/aisastoryauto/articolieriviste/galleryItaliano2006-2/Alfa_Romeo_factory_1933-45.pdf . 2007-09-29 . dead . 10 .
2. Web site: CANT Z 1018 "Leone". 2007-08-27. comandosupremo.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20070824224147/http://www.comandosupremo.com/Cantz1018.html. 24 August 2007. dead.
3. Web site: Alfa Romeo AEREI Collezione Modelli di Marco Rigoni Settembre 2005. PDF. 2008-06-15. aerei-italiani.net. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070605150251/http://www.aerei-italiani.net/Marco_Rigoni/Alfa%20Romeo_Album%20Modelli%20Aerei_Nov.05.pdf. 2007-06-05.