Recent content by sotaro

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/aircraft-engines-world-war-ii/2/

I think current levels of automotive power output and reliability could be extracted from larger engines. How many pistons and in what shape would be very interesting. In your scenario, would exhaust turbines be allowed? Turbocompounding? If so, the Napier Nomad is a guide to potential power...

" Are there any production flat four cylinder engines with only two throws for the connecting rods? I have never seen any. VW, Porsche, Subaru, Citroen, Honda, Alfa, Lycoming, Continental, Rotax. The flat eight of the Porsche 908 had an eight throw crankshaft as I recall. That was a racing...

Tomo et al, I am curious about the idea of the BMW 801 being particularly compact. It is the most compact of the 4 mid sized 14 cylinder WW2 radials, but not by a lot. I see the area of the 801 being about 7% less than the Kasei 21 and 13% less than the R2600 and Hercules. I calculated the...

Every family has it's version of family fun!

In discussions of the V 3420, one of the weight differences was having 2 cranks, which I think was 150 lbs.

Part of training for the San Francisco Fire Department fire college was using the pompiers from the ground to the top of the 8 story fire tower and back down. I tried my "creak" best, but I really couldn't stop wondering when "creak" was the last time someone "creak" did maintenance on the...

San Francisco is all tiller aerial ladder trucks. They are more maneuverable than the fire engines, despite being 20 feet longer. Before head sets with microphones and speakers, the only means of communication between the driver and the tiller was the buzzer. The crew cab is a vast improvement...

Do you remember the code for the buzzer? Did you have a bar that swung down behind the tailboard riders as well as hand straps, or did the straps go around your torso?

Leaving out the four wheel drive/non air braked vehicles. those were the days!

American fire trucks usually don't have locks.

So that would leave the Soviets?

To me, cost is a significant issue, especially since the donor countries could lose enthusiasm.

Thank you. the duct work and then the fuel tanks explain the thickness of the fuselage. I am wondering if the Hellcat fuselage plus the ductwork would equal the seat height (from the bottom exterior of the fuselage) between the Hellcat and the Thunderbolt. I love all the cutaways and drawings...

"The retention of fuselage-mounted guns with their synchronization gear which slowed their rate of fire and still occasionally failed became increasingly unattractive." Are you stating that this was a world wide phenomena? It seemed like the Germans stuck with fuselage guns, the Japanese as well...