Too bad that NACA found it fit to test and suggest improvements for the V-1710 in 1946.
Actually, NACA was working on the V-1710 in 1942.
From the NASA website:
SP-4306 Engines and Innovation: Lewis Laboratory and American Propulsion Technology
"Ben Pinkel, one of the NACA's leading propulsion experts, directed the NACA's research on the exhaust gas turbine, another name for the turbo supercharger. Pinkel had come to the NACA in 1931 from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in electrical engineering. In 1938, when Pinkel was appointed head of the Engine Analysis Section, it had a staff of three. By 1942, Pinkel's division had expanded to over 150 people. Although facilities were lacking at Langley, as soon as the Cleveland Laboratory was ready, Pinkel's Thermodynamics Division launched a strong program to improve exhaust gas turbines. In a talk to the staff, all of whom, he humorously remarked, demonstrated the principle of "heat in motion," Pinkel illuminated the importance of their work to the war effort. Adding a turbo supercharger to the engine of the B-17 "Flying Fortress," once thought obsolete, had made it a high-speed, high-altitude airplane. "This caused considerable excitement at the time because there wasn't a pursuit ship in the air force that could keep up with it."
17 Testing in 1939 by Ben Pinkel, Richard L. Turner, and Fred Voss confirmed the predictions of a German, Hermann Oestrich, who suggested that the horsepower of an engine could be increased by the redesign of the nozzles of the airplane's tailpipes. The Power Plants Division became an advocate of "exhaust stacks" added to the tailpipes of aircraft. Once they were adopted by the aircraft manufacturers, they led to dramatic increases in performance fighter planes, including the North American P-51 and the British Spitfire.
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"Laboratory staff was less enthusiastic about its work on the Allison liquid-cooled engine. Although many of their research programs were simply a carryover of work begun at Langley, Army Research Authorization E-1 to improve the power output of the Allison-1710 engine was different. Issued in October 1942, it was the laboratory's first new research project. Hap Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces, counted on the Cleveland laboratory to assist in the redesign of the Allison supercharger and intercooler. Three engines were sent to the laboratory. Schey's division investigated the supercharger to give it better performance. Rothrock's division explored its limitations in terms of knock; Pinkel's division took on the problem of cooling. Moore's Engine Components Division improved the distribution of fuel and air in the carburetor.
The Allison engine, however, never met the expectations of the Army Air Forces. The Cleveland Laboratory's work on the Allison engine increased its horsepower through the use of water injection and supercharging. However, from Ben Pinkel's point of view, this work was a "tremendous waste of effort" because of the basic flaws in the engine's design. Only after the Army substituted the British Merlin engine, in the P-51 Mustang did the United States finally have a fighter for high-altitude flight.
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The full article:
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