[contourcreative]

The 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma was a common but not particularly popular engine in the early 'twenties.. It powered the De Havilland 9 and despite its shortcomings, managed some significant aviation achievements.

I like to read around the subject and this passage from 'The Wandering Years' by Arthur Affleck from 1928.

"The method of starting-up a Siddeley "Puma" engine was to completely soak two mutton cloth pads in petrol, jam these pads into the engine breathers and then, by hand, pull the propeller around for about a dozen revolutions. this had the same effect as operating the choke on a car, and enabled a very rich mixture to be drawn into the cylinders. Then, having removed the petrol soaked pads from the breathers and juggled the propeller until a suitable compression was felt, the pilot, if he was without engineering or other knowledgeable assistance, would race around or duck under the wing, climb up into the cockpit, switch the ignition on and wind madly at a small handle which actuated a starting magneto and, if he was lucky, would throw a nice fat spark into the cylinder on compression, thus igniting the mixture and starting the engine..."

Currently I am designing the Fokker III and the relativity visibility of the 'Puma' engine made it an ideal subject to create in more detail as attached..

ROSIE