Pratt & Whitney developed the R-985 Wasp Junior as a smaller version of the
R-1340 Wasp to compete in the market for medium-sized aircraft engines. Like its larger brother, the Wasp Junior was an air-cooled, nine-cylinder radial, with its power boosted by a gear-driven single-speed
centrifugal type supercharger. Its cylinders were smaller, however, with a
bore and
stroke of , giving a 27% lesser total displacement. The Wasp Junior used many parts from the Wasp and even had the same mounting dimensions, allowing an aircraft to easily use either the smaller or the larger engine. The first run of the Wasp Junior was in 1929, and sales began in 1930. The initial version, the
Wasp Junior A, produced . The U.S. military designated the Wasp Junior as the
R-985, with various suffixes denoting different military engine models. However, Pratt & Whitney never adopted the R-985 designation scheme for its civilian Wasp Juniors, identifying them simply by name and model (e.g. "Wasp Junior A"). Pratt & Whitney followed the Wasp Junior A with more powerful models in the "A series". These had higher
compression ratios, greater RPM limits, and more effective supercharging, and they led to the "B series". The first B series model was the
Wasp Junior TB, which could maintain at sea level and could reach for takeoff. The TB was tuned for best performance at sea level; it was soon joined by the
Wasp Junior SB, which was tuned for best performance at altitude and could sustain at altitudes up to , with available for takeoff. A still later model, the
Wasp Junior T1B2, had improved performance at low level, being able to sustain up to The SB and T1B2, and later versions of these with similar performance, were the most popular Wasp Junior models. One later development of the T1B2, the
Wasp Junior B4, was especially designed for vertical mounting in helicopters. During the mid-1930s, Pratt & Whitney developed a still greater improvement of the Wasp Junior, the "C series", with an even higher compression ratio and RPM limit. The only type produced in this series, the
Wasp Junior SC-G, could sustain at an altitude of and could produce for takeoff. It also included reduction gearing to allow the high-revving engine to drive a propeller at suitable speeds, hence the "-G" suffix. Aviator
Jacqueline Cochran flew a special Model D-17W
Beechcraft Staggerwing with this engine in 1937, setting a speed and altitude record and placing third in the
Bendix transcontinental race. However, the SC-G never got past the experimental stage. ==Operational history==