In the early 1930s, the Navy supported development by Wright of two new liquid-cooled engines, the H-2120 and the V-1800, in a special "high-speed development program." This was undertaken because of concern over growing superiority of foreign airplanes at top speed, especially as demonstrated in the Schneider Trophy contests. The H-2120 was the first of these engines, and proved unsuccessful.
It was derived from the Curtiss H-1640, a very small diameter air-cooled engine. The small diameter of the experimental engine, considered important for drag reduction, proved to be a difficult technology due to excessive angularity of the connecting rods and other problems. Testing and development continued to 1936, when a 100-hour development test was run. The Navy then withdrew support from the project, primarily because it decided to focus on air-cooled engines. Wright, convinced that the design was mechanically very poor, made little effort to persuade the Navy to change its decision and dropped the project.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.