Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:24:21 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: That wonderful ignature VW "chrip"!
In-Reply-To: <49BBE88D.7010706@gmail.com>
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I would agree. As a kid once said on the Art Linkletter show "Kids Say
the Darned Things" - "Birds chirp, Frogs burp!"
And so it is with Beetles and Vanagons. My 88 GL has a definite and
distinctive throaty rumble at idle. Not another machine out there
sounds like it. I think it is the flat four arrangement combined with
the particular exhaust system that does it. Sort of like a Big Harley -
can't duplicate that sound unless you infringe on someone elses patent.
Funny how particular machinery has it's own unique sound characteristics.
I used to own and fly a pair of Cessna 195's back in the '60's and
'70's. Both had the famous Jacobs 7 cylinder 300 hp Radial Engine -
"Shakey Jake" as those engines were fondly called. The way they were
mounted to the airframe at the firewall with the rubber shock mounts
gave them that quality at idle rpm. Like all piston aircraft engines
they had 2 spark plugs per cylinder for both efficiency and redundancy,
and each plug set - top or bottom, front or rear - depending n
configuration - had it's own magneto ignition. - Dual magneto ignition
was the order of the day. Except for the Shakey Jake. It had a Magneto
on one side and an automotive type distributor on the other. For ease of
starting - because of the ease of retarding the spark for ignition - ,
the engine was started first on the distributor, then the magneto was
switched on for the dual ignition. Somehow, because of the way the
ignition system was designed, the Shakey Jake became famous for an
inherent "Hiccup" that would occur once or twice on every long flight.
For those not familiar, when that hiccup would occur, it was enough to
make one sit straight up in the seat and devote rapt attention to the
engine. It was like a single skip - but more than that - but it never
occurred twice in a row.
You would simply be roaring along in the comfort of that airplane -
which by the way WAS quite comfortable, a 5 seater - pilot and passenger
up front in captain chairs and a plush 3 passenger bench seat completely
across in back - doing 160 knots, listening to the steady rumble of that
engine - at cruise it turned 1950 rpm - when all of a sudden it would
let go that single hiccup - and all uneducated persons on board would
sit straight up with their attention focused on the captain for an
explanation. The degree of attention depended on how far out over water
or how mountainous the terrain was. Or whether it was at night. It was
an interesting phenomenon. I flew and worked on those engines for years
and there never was a solution to the Shakey Jake hiccup. But I loved
the rumbley sound of those old engines. The sounds were unique, like our
2.1L WBX's at least. BTW, in the WBX, oil puddling generally is not a
problem if the rings are good. But it was always a problem on the Shakey
Jake and other radials. This was because one cylinder was always upside
down - there was always one bottom cylinder. And no matter what,
eventually there would be some oil seepage past the rings into that
cylinder. Proper procedure required pulling the propeller through
rotation a coule of times to ensure no hydraulic cylinder lock due to
excess oil accumulation. If all was well, when the engine was started -
and this was true on most radials because you had to prime the engine
with raw fuel direct to the intake valves - when the starter engaged
there would be an initial turnover as the engine began to come ot life,
with a momentary surge in rpm, and at that moment all the accumulated
oil would come boiling out mixed with the over-rich start mixture making
a big blue-white cloud. If you were close there would be a great deal of
gasping and hacking. Such were the joys of aviating!!!!
I love those old unique engine sounds - Beetle/Bus aircooled,
Vanagon/WBX 2.1L - and Shakey Jakes.
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
> Having simultaneously owned (until last August) a 71 bay window w/
> completely stock 1600dp and this Vanagon, I must respectfully disagree
> that the WBX sounds much like the little aircooled engine with peashooter
> tailpipes. The WBX sounds throatier and heavier, and I can't say I've
> ever
> heard much in the way of that cheery whistle chirp that I associate with
> the aircooled days. In contrast, the aircooled engine sound more high
> pitched, lighter, maybe flimsier, and with stock exhaust can be
> counted on
> to provide "fweem."
>
> Love 'em both for what they are.
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> Bend, OR
> KG6RCR
>
>
>
> On 3/14/2009 10:02 AM Allan Streib wrote:
>
>> I think my WBX makes a fairly distinctive "VW" sound. More muted than
>> the old Beetles for sure, but it still has that classic sound.
>>
>> Allan
>> --
>> 1991 Vanagon GL
>>
>> John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET> writes:
>>
>>> I remember that VW chirp. My Mom had a '63 beetle that did that.
>>> Later I
>>> had a ragtop sunroof model - can't remember the year, but it had the
>>> chirp and a '69 hard Sunroof model with the chirp. Much later my kids
>>> had one of their own - a 72 model as I recall - that they shared and it
>>> chirped.
>>>
>>> Funny how some machinery will have a characteristic noise, rumble or
>>> shake.
>>>
>>> John Rodgers
>>> 88 GL Driver
>>
>
>
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