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Glenn Curtiss Engine Studio, Cornell University

Curtiss OXX-6 V8: Reverse Engineering to Augmented Reality

Teardown, measurement, and animated CAD reconstruction of a 1916 aircraft engine

Role
Led the reverse-engineering and CAD reconstruction
Status
Deployed at the Curtiss Museum
Curtiss OXX-6 V8: Reverse Engineering to Augmented Reality

Headline results

1916
Year of manufacture — among the first mass-produced US aircraft engines
V8
Configuration reconstructed part by part
0
Reference drawings available at the start
Watch
Process — The teardown, the measurement, and how the CAD reconstruction was built up part by part.
Results and impact — The finished model in use — the augmented-reality experience the museum and students now run.
Fusion 360Reverse EngineeringMetrologyCAD AnimationAugmented Reality
01

The problem with a hundred-year-old engine

The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum holds a 1916 Curtiss OXX-6, a V8 that was among the first mass-produced aircraft engines in the United States. What it does not hold is documentation. There were no drawings to work from, no parts list, and no assembly sequence — only the engine itself.

That makes this a metrology problem before it is a CAD problem. Every dimension in the final model had to be measured off a physical part, and every relationship between parts had to be inferred from how they fit together.

Figure 1: Teardown and measurement in the studio — working the engine down to its individual components.
Figure 1: Teardown and measurement in the studio — working the engine down to its individual components.
Figure 2: Moving the engine in the studio — a hundred-year-old V8 is heavy, fragile, and irreplaceable.
Figure 2: Moving the engine in the studio — a hundred-year-old V8 is heavy, fragile, and irreplaceable.
02

Reconstruction

I rebuilt the engine in Fusion 360 as a complete assembly — not a static shell, but a model with the actual kinematic relationships in place, so the crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, and valvetrain move the way the real mechanism does. Animating the assembly is what turns a model into a teaching artifact: a still render shows what an engine looks like, and an animated one shows what it does.

Figure 3: The reconstructed OXX-6 assembly in Fusion 360.
Figure 3: The reconstructed OXX-6 assembly in Fusion 360.
03

From CAD to augmented reality

The finished model drives an interactive augmented-reality experience the museum and students now use to dissect the engine virtually — pulling apart an assembly that in physical form is far too fragile and far too valuable to hand to a visitor.

Figure 4: The AR experience in use — the reconstructed engine explored in headset.
Figure 4: The AR experience in use — the reconstructed engine explored in headset.