Curiosity question on WW2 piston engine designs

[imipak]

The Merlin was never reliable at 2,600 hp. The stock Merlin rods are fine up until about 2,100 - 2,200 hp, and then they get pretty fragile. ALL the racing Merlins that are making north of 3,000 hp are using Allison G-series rods. Merlins making 2,100 hp or less can get away with Merlin rods, but they won;t win races with higher hp Merlin airplanes.

Methinks Voodoo made more than 3,100 hp. The only two airplanes I saw race that I think made 3,800+ hp were Strega (with the only Dwight Thorne racing cam) and Voodoo ( used a few more rpm to get it) in the last 2 - 3 seasons. Not too sure Dago Red made that number, but it was potent, for sure. Could have.

The RM17SM, admittedly on a test run, ran several hours at 2600hp due to someone forgetting about it and returning to it later than anticipated.

Voodoo's engineers have posted that the measured HP was 3100, so I'm forced to go with that figure.

After an extensive search, I have not been able to confirm anyone running at 3800hp, although that is very different from saying it wasn't done. All it means us that, if it was done, either it's not documented where I've been looking (always possible) or not documented on the interwebs.

If someone has a definitive source on the 3800hp claim, preferably with details on what was done, I'd be extremely interested.

 

[GrauGeist]

The RM17SM, admittedly on a test run, ran several hours at 2600hp due to someone forgetting about it and returning to it later than anticipated.

Voodoo's engineers have posted that the measured HP was 3100, so I'm forced to go with that figure.

After an extensive search, I have not been able to confirm anyone running at 3800hp, although that is very different from saying it wasn't done. All it means us that, if it was done, either it's not documented where I've been looking (always possible) or not documented on the interwebs.

If someone has a definitive source on the 3800hp claim, preferably with details on what was done, I'd be extremely interested.

Here's an artical with a breakdown of Dago Red's setup for racing, dated back in 2009.

There is also mention of "Critical Mass", a Hawker Sea Fury with a 4,000 hp R-3350 radial.
Unlimited Air Racers: The ultimate hot rods