It produced about 60 hp (45 kW) and played an important role in the development of British aviation before World War I.

The main bearings were in the crankcase ends, and the ball race was designed to allow either pusher or tractor operation.

Thin cylindrical copper water jackets surrounded the cylinders almost to their base, where a rubber ring, located by a circumferential groove in the cylinder, provided a sliding water seal that allowed for the differential thermal contraction of copper and steel.

The overhead camshaft was also driven from the crankshaft via worm gears and a vertical shaft at the rear of the engine.

2, winning the £1,000 Daily Mail prize in 1910 for a circular 1 mile flight by a British pilot in an all-British aeroplane.

Cody's D.4 also powered his entry to fourth place in the 1911 Daily Mail Circuit of Britain competition, a distance of 1,010 miles.