Those were 'rotary' engines -- not rotary like Wankles, but rotary like the crankcase rotated, you mounted the crankshaft to the airplane and the prop to the case. Induction was through both the crankcase and 'backwards' through the exhaust -- so you really couldn't throttle the thing with a regular carburettor. Hence the 'blipping' engine speed control.
Somehow I suspect that the inline and V engines had more conventional throttles.
Our engines have a much smaller moment of inertia to keep the prop rotating, so you couldn't turn the ignition off for very long -- I don't know if you could blip it long enough to be heard, unless you put a humongous flywheel on the thing.