The Napier Sabre is a British H-24-cylinder, liquid-cooled, sleeve valve, piston aero engine, designed by Major Frank Halford and built by D. Napier & Son during World War II. The engine evolved to become one of the most powerful inline piston aircraft engines in the world, developing from 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) in its earlier versions to 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) in late-model prototypes.
Napier Sabre
The first aircraft designed around the Sabre engine – the Napier-Heston Racer which crashed during early flight tests.
The Hawker Typhoon was the first operational Sabre-powered aircraft, entering service with the RAF in mid-1941. Problems with both the Sabre engine and the airframe nearly led to the Typhoon's withdrawal from service.
Napier Sabre III
An H engine is a piston engine comprising two separate flat engines, most often geared to a common output shaft. The name "H engine" is due to the engine blocks resembling a letter "H" when viewed from the front. The most successful "H" engine in this form was the Napier Dagger and its derivatives. The name was also applied to engines of the same basic layout, but rotated through 90 degrees—most famously the Napier Sabre series. A variation on the "H" theme were the Fairey Prince (H-16) & Fairey P.24 Monarch, where the two engines retained separate drives, driving Contra-rotating propellers through separate concentric shafts. Although successful, they only existed in prototype form.
Napier Sabre H-24 engine (starboard side)
BRM H-16 engine (64-valve version)
Brough Superior H-4 motorcycle engine