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Incorrect assumption
The Mustang's 4 x .50" gun fit was puny* compared to the
4 x 20mm
According to one test pilot (who just happened to command the Tempest Wing in mid 1944) R. Beamont, the early Meteor was
practically useless, ( 616 Squadron got a 'bakers dozen' (13) victories for the Meteor), because it was so fuel-marginal, & don't
forget, the Meteor was being built by the same company which was churning out Typhoons, for invasion duties, too.
Its perfectly evident z42 that you make too many assumptions, & fail to grasp the facts. Shooting down tiny missiles flying fast, with nearlyOk, good, so then you agree that if the Tempest V hadn't been available, all of the 800 V-1's the Tempests shot down wouldn't have rained down over London.
Maybe the alternative approaches they would have devised would have shot down more than the 800 shot down by the Tempests, maybe less.
Now we seem to be rapidly shifting the goalposts, but anyway, I fully agree that 4x20mm is far superior to 4x.50, but OTOH for shooting down a non-maneuvering target that has a very limited capability to absorb damage even compared to a single-engine fighter, I'm not sure it's a particularly big issue.
Clearly the Meteor in mid 1944 was for all practical purposes a prototype. One reason I read somewhere for the meager success against the V-1's was that they had problems with the cannons jamming. Of course a serious problem for a combat aircraft, but nothing per se to do with the powerplant and no reason to believe it couldn't be fixed, as many other aircraft were very successfully using cannons by that time.
My point was that if all the effort they spent on the sleeve valves had been directed at jets instead, the Meteor might have been a much more formidable aircraft already by mid-1944. And of course, if the Tempest with the Sabre wouldn't exist, chances are the Typhoon wouldn't exist either, and Gloster would perhaps had more capacity for Meteor.
'Flight & the Aircraft Engineer' also re-published German journal articles, I was amazed to see a translated piece which not only showed howWhat, Flight Magazine ?
It was read by the Germans during the war, and was heavily censored and obviously very heavily edited to make sure it was always good propaganda.
It says absolutely nothing inside which is even relevant to any of your points - and the mocking was well deserved - which was directed at your thinking that a propaganda magazine is a primary archive source.'Flight & the Aircraft Engineer' also re-published German journal articles, I was amazed to see a translated piece which not only showed how
impressive the Germans found the Sabre, but also a 'laminar-flow' wing profile which was a virtual match for the NPL/Hawker 'high-speed'
profile which was fitted to Tempest/Fury. What was even more amazing, was this was in 1942, & the Typhoon was only just operational.
Can you dispute any of the data presented in the linked article? Mocking isn't a substitute for critical analysis...
What was failing? The de Havilland propeller oil-seal? Or was it throwing a blade, just as later, in Europe @ +13lb boost, pre-Rotol props.Also utter nonsense >
".... cannot be boosted any further without disastrous failure."
View attachment 759679
So... you didn't read it, evidently... The technical data is accurate, as any German Engineer examining a Sabre himself with that journal inIt says absolutely nothing inside which is even relevant to any of your points - and the mocking was well deserved - which was directed at your thinking that a propaganda magazine is a primary archive source.
What on earth are you talking about ?So... you didn't read it, evidently... The technical data is accurate, as any German Engineer examining a Sabre himself with that journal in
front of him contemporaneously could perfectly well fact-check.
Cracked cylinder heads, cracked cylinder blocks and broken engine propellor shafts.What was failing? The de Havilland propeller oil-seal? Or was it throwing a blade, just as later, in Europe @ +13lb boost, pre-Rotol props.
the effort they spent on the sleeve valves
This is all true, but it is also true that plenty of even the Bristol engineers at the time had deep misgivings.We must not forget the extraordinary reputation enjoyed by Harry Ricardo in the 1930s. However, this guru came to the conclusion that sleeve valves were a credible alternative to poppet valves, or even superior to them - see the first editions (1923, 1931, 1941) of his famous "High-speed internal-combustion engine" - number 1 in Raymond's references.
And don't forget either that in the time when the Sabre was failing, Bristol had already enjoyed real successes with its sleeve-valves engines.
Under these conditions, we can understand that for some ingineers and decision-makers the development of the Sabre was not understood as a dead end and a waste of time.
My previous post (#111) shows a quote from Ricardo's book that the Sabre achieved a sustained output of 3600 hp.What on earth are you talking about ?
Literally the only thing it says about performance is that it developed 2200hp, the rest is a descritpion of the design features.
You`ve spent half this arguing that it ended up 3500hp
Well nobody appears to have told Napier that, because there are no test results for that, only a projected output for the mooted E.122 version, which was never built.My previous post (#111) shows a quote from Ricardo's book that the Sabre achieved a sustained output of 3600 hp.
Fedden also worked on a flat 6.Yes... But after leaving Bristol, Fedden worked on a car project, with a sleeve-valves engine !
Another person who cant read ?Ricardo was a highly respected member of the Royal Aeronautical Society for decades. I find it implausible that Ricardo made it up. He gained no benefit from publishing that performance number.
I guess it comes down to if you respect him or not. Having read a number of his books and papers, I am inclined to accept his information. Having read your book, I expect you to reject it.
try the flaming pop tart thing !Aw c'mon. It's just getting good.
I'm stuck inside and I'm bored.