de Havilland Gipsy Major

The Gipsy Major is a four cylinder inverted piston engine which forms part of the range of Gipsy engines designed for De Havillands by Frank Halford for use in the company's light aircraft. This range included the 98 hp Gipsy I of 1928, the 230 hp Gipsy Six 'R' which powered the Comet racer of 1934 and the Gipsy Queen 70 which powers the Dove and Devon.

The Gipsy Major Mk.140 is the service designation for the Gipsy Major 215. This was one of the 200-series Gipsies which were fuel-injection engines using the cylinders and pistons from the larger six-cylinder Gipsy Queen.

The first version, the Mk.130, was delivered in September 1956 for use in the Skeeter 6 and the more powerful Mk.140 became available in January 1958. It was available both for fixed wing aircraft and for helicopters and could be fitted with a supercharger to maintain power at high altitudes. The only practical application of this engine was to the Saunders-Roe Skeeter Series 7 (AOP.Mk.12 ) (see [skeeter]) helicopter in which it as fitted with a fan cooling system and a geared drive to the rotor.

The engine on display was kindly lent by the Museum of Army Flying, Middle Wallop

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