Recent content by SeaWorldOrBust

Obviously difficult to compare single to twin engine fighters like this, but it's worth noting that the DH Hornet was able to pretty much match the performance of the P-51H with ~150 less hp per Merlin using wing radiators. It's higher wing loading may have been part of that, though whether...

As far as I know, the only reason a Merlin powered fighter couldn't meet this specification was that it explicitly called for the Sabre or Centaurus (and maybe Griffon, I'm not sure) which I imagine is largely because it was simply assumed that only a larger engine would be sufficient, as it...

My impression was that the Yak radiators weren't that special — and in fact given the cooling difficulties they had with later versions of the klimov (which still weren't excessively powerful), may have actually been rather poor. It seems to me the relatively high speeds the later Yaks achieved...

Hawker experimented with an annular as well and had good results, especially in conjunction with a ducted spinner (though that added a fair bit of weight). However that's in comparison to the normal Tempest V which has probably the draggiest radiator installation of any of its contemporaries...

@BarnOwlLover I would say the objective is specific excess thrust on par with (or ideally superior to) a Tempest V across the flight envelope, as that's obviously the aircraft the closely related "Tempest Light Fighter" specification was aiming to improve on. Because it's so difficult to...

In this case the Spitfire also has the problem of not really being able to carry much external ordnance for what I believe were structural reasons. That might not have been important to the original F.6/42 specification, but it was a major quality of the aircraft that specification produced, and...

Okay well I'll be sure to qualify my statements more carefully next time.

I only say "it's been suggested" because I don't remember by whom, where or how reliably. May well be bullshit, though intuitively I think it makes some sense.

Having guestimated some of the numbers based on that document, I'm not sure a "half-Hornet" really offers much after all. The wings, let's say we're alright with pretty much half the area, assuming weight scales more or less directly there, we're looking at less say ~1100 lbs to be a little on...

If it's well designed it will actually improve lift, as the outlet will increase pressure beneath the wing. It's been suggested that that was actually one of the factors in the Mosquito's high altitude performance.

The P-51H already proves this is possible; excellent performance and range, solid carrying capacity — and it's still arguably a couple thousand pounds heavier than an aircraft with a ~1700 lb engine needs to be — largely, I suspect, owing to its size. Moving to a smaller aircraft would probably...

I would imagine simply by cutting the Hornet F.1's range in half. You could arrive at an (at least marginally) more thorough, and possibly more conservative number by comparing the internal fuel of a similarly sized aircraft (say a later Merlin Spit or perhaps a Yak-9) with the fuel consumption...

I think it could certainly be done, especially if you went with a laminar flow wing like the actual Hornet had (though this would take more development vs reusing the Mosquito profile). Granted, I don't really know the Hornet's airfoil that well, but if it's anything like the Mustang's profile...

I did some digging and found that a Sea Fury X has a max continuous cruise power of 1450hp in full supercharger at ~18k, compared with 1190hp at ~24k for a Merlin 130 (aside from ancillary positioning, probably more or less identical to what you'd want in a hypothetical F.6/42 Mustang). Adding a...

I suppose only that the OP seems to be implying he wants a new design, lol