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The big engines of WWII ate dust for months between overhauls. Ask ANYONE who flew from, say, Malta or in North Africa. I have and they ran just fine for longer than anticipated.
Some Hurricanes were "tropicalised" with Vokes air filters to deal with certain environments.
From Wikipedia:
Hurricane Mk IIB Trop.
For use in North Africa the Hawker Hurricane Mk IIB (and other variants) were tropicalised. They were fitted with Vokes and Rolls Royce engine dust filters and the pilots were issued with a desert survival kit, including a bottle of water behind the cockpit.[102]
I can't think of even ONE modern engine that could do it except maybe a diesel ... and they were NOT the engines of choice in WWII. The ONLY reason we are flirting with diesels in aviation today is the cost of fuel. If it weren't that, nobody would bother with them at all except in trucks hauling freight and large boats and ships. They are good for good torque at low RPM at one speed for a long time ... hardly an aviation need.
There was some brief use of diesels in aircraft in the early 1900's.
Even radial diesels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Aircraft_diesel_engines
Several aircraft used diesels, a famous one is the Junkers Ju 86
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_86
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