November 11, 201510 yr comment_17926 I often wonder about why these were not more extensively used in the war. They had been around for a long time and began to see use as early as 1925. I know the P-38 and 47 utilized them and the P-47 was a monster at high altitude. Imagine if they'd stuck one on a 190! Superchargers are almost as complex and lose efficiency at higher altitudes requiring multiple stages and the 200m difference between one stage and another has huge implications. Absolutely none of that with a turbo. Maybe it's just because I'm a turbo guy when it comes to cars, but in a plane you don't have to shift so there's no turbo lag (and even if you are switching back and on the throttle it wouldn't be much anyhow with a v12 or 18 cylinder radial pushing it) I'll acknowledge that I haven't really looked but I don't know of any documents that would explain why one was preferred over the other. Report
November 11, 201510 yr comment_17927 I can tell you that some planes have good turbos and some have bad. I know two bad ones. Ogar motor glider, and an Extra 400. The turbo on an Extra 400 is SO bad. Report
November 11, 201510 yr comment_17928 Barton Aren't turbo's are on the exhaust side? Wouldn't that require "plumbing" instead of "short stacks" with lots of heat? A thought Mox Report
November 11, 201510 yr Author comment_17930 Yes they are powered by exhaust gasses but the plumbing required for cooling wouldn't necessarily be long. It was in the P47 because they put the turbo just forward of the tailwheel. Even so, the advantages still stand. It may be best the Luftwaffe didn't because one could only imagine how the war would have changed with 190s having unimpeded high altitude performance. Report
November 12, 201510 yr comment_17971 A pretty good discussion of the topic here: http://ww2aircraft.net/forum/engines/turbo-chargers-16798.html I think that the size requirement for turbocharging might be the most likely limiting factor. Exhaust ducting as well as induction ducting is required along with inter / after coolers. So turbos were in acft that could make room for the stuff... the Jug was as large as it was chiefly to accommodate the turbo systems. The P-38 had two convenient booms (maybe a factor in Kelly Johnson's decision to have such an unconventional design). B-17 and B-24 of course had room. Cost (as always) was probably a factor as well as metallurgy limitations of the time. The turbine lives and works in a hellish environment. Report
Create an account or sign in to comment