Airworthy P-47 - turbochargers??
- Thread starter Piper106
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GregP
Major
I know of ONE, over on the east coast, and have heard of another, but have never confirmed the second one. Steve Hinton flew the one, and said it performed quite well way up high. It was a short conversation and that's the gist of it as I recall. There was a bit more, but it did just fine way up high, over 30k feet.
I couldn't say if any (but one, 45-49385 N47DF) have functional turbos or not (would be ballasted if not) but a good clue is the waste gate exhaust behind the oil cooler exhaust in front of the wing. If there is a butterfly valve in a "smaller" size pipe the engine exhaust is probably going all the way back to the turbo where it is going to be run past either a functional or non-functional turbine. If you look closely at a lot of P-47s you'll notice a "larger" valveless exhaust where that turbo wastegate should be and consequently all (both sides of plane) the exhaust is exiting. .
Westpac (they restored Paul Allen's, check it) put 45-49385 N47DF together awhile back (1995 I guess) and when I was sitting in it in Santa Rosa, CA (haha - somewhere I have pics) I was told they had pulled some boost on the turbo (no idea how much). They were also using a Curtiss Electric prop (name another P-47 that's flown on an electric - lol). It didn't last long, tho, next owner went hydraulic because he wanted to fly it, I guess. The aircraft back to Westpac and is (was?) being restored with a "fully functional" turbo. I will say it's truly odd watching a cold Jug fire up spewing 98% of it's oily startup smoke there in front of the tailwheel ... someone else can check the tailwheel tire pressure ...
Westpac (they restored Paul Allen's, check it) put 45-49385 N47DF together awhile back (1995 I guess) and when I was sitting in it in Santa Rosa, CA (haha - somewhere I have pics) I was told they had pulled some boost on the turbo (no idea how much). They were also using a Curtiss Electric prop (name another P-47 that's flown on an electric - lol). It didn't last long, tho, next owner went hydraulic because he wanted to fly it, I guess. The aircraft back to Westpac and is (was?) being restored with a "fully functional" turbo. I will say it's truly odd watching a cold Jug fire up spewing 98% of it's oily startup smoke there in front of the tailwheel ... someone else can check the tailwheel tire pressure ...
GregP
Major
Nothing wrong with Curtiss Electric prop. Change the brushes before they wear out! No problem. P-38s, P-39s, and P-40s don't have much trouble with them.
