Nov. 13--CANTON -- Over the past 15 years C. Mitchell Boulton has been working to make something old new again.

Doing what he described as a retirement hobby, Boulton began reverse engineering a radial aircraft engine, wher the cylinders are arranged radially like the spokes of a wheel. That led to creation of a company called Radial Engine Innovations in 2012.

The company has reached the point wher prototypes of its Radial M92 or RA-92 redesigned engines are being built by Fredon Corp. in Mentor. Boulton hopes that early next year the company can have working models powering trucks, motorcycle and generators.

If progress continues, Radial Engine Innovations could be manufacturing engines for customers within two years. Production could mean more than 250 jobs at a new factory in the area.

Everything hinges on the research and development process. Boulton and a team of enthusiastic technicians are working on models and processes in space off Camden Avenue SW.

Boulton and his team are confident that they've developed an engine that will be more fuel efficient and have significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. As the world debates global warming and looks for ways to clean the environment, the crew at Radial Engine Innovations is chasing a solution.

Airplane engine

The radial engine evolved from rotary engines. An American engineer named Charles M. Manly is credited with developing the first radial engine, converting a rotary engine developed by Stephen Balzer.

Plans were to use the Manly-Balzer engine in an airplane being developed by Samuel P. Langley, but two attempts to fly with the engine failed. Eventually the radial engine became the preferred engine in airplanes through World War II.

Boulton said his first experience with a radial engine came as a child when he flew in a radial engine biplane. "That got me hooked."

Boulton studied construction technology in college and that led to a 38-year career in residential and commercial building. But he never stopped thinking about the radial engine and found himself compiling notes and drafting ideas.

"It's just a fascination with the engine," he said. "I understand it."

Fewer parts

A radial engine is circular and contains an odd number of pistons, which gives the engine a star design. It has a short crankshaft, opposed to the long crankshaft of inline engines used in cars, trucks and newer aircraft. Some designs are water cooled, but many of the radial engines used in older aircraft were air cooled.