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Forced Induction Trivia, The "Supermarine Spitfire"

1.1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  krautmaster  
#1 ·
I recently watched a documentary (Netflix) "Spitfire" the plane that saved the world, and learned in the later days when Germany started producing the FW190 successor to the 109 it was running circles around the spitfire.
England then began fitting the Rolls Griffon engine with FI to the tune mof 25lbs boost requiring larger 5 & 6 bladed props (the MK.24 version).
The Luftwaffe then avoided dog fights with it and it was also able to chase the V2 rockets.
Gotta love FI.

The documentary is pretty decent. Good all the way to the end.
 
#2 ·
If you read old history, the English pilots used to call what the Germans had as "negative G carburetor" because they had no idea what fuel injection was, all they knew was the Messerschmidts & Focke Wulfs could do some crazy maneuvers that their planes couldn't. The Daimler Benz inverted V12s used a fuel injection system very similar to what was used 1980s Volkswagens (K Jetronic)
 
#3 ·
Yep. Unless you could keep atleast 1G through a maneuver the engine would cut out on the spitfires with carbs.

With FI you could control control combustion so much better.
 
#5 ·
Check out the crazy engine the English used in the Hawker Typhoon & Tempest -- the Napier Sabre: it was two flat (boxer) 12 cylinder engines stacked one on top of the other with a common gear driven output shaft for the propeller.. 24 cylinders, sleeve valves, up to 3500 horsepower in the last version. Apparently it was unreliable and worthless at high altitudes, but made for a great ground attack aircraft
 

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