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... it would be a brave or desperate pilot that ran an early model Merlin at max emergency power for 5 minutes. From reading memoirs of Battle of Britain pilots max emergency power was used for about a minute maybe two.
Fastmongrel,
If a situation boils down to loss of life or possible loss of engine, I would pick the engine and roll the proverbial bones.
Fastmongrel,
If a situation boils down to loss of life or possible loss of engine, I would pick the engine and roll the proverbial bones.
Cheers,
Biff
Not saying they didnt hammer the engine Biff as they certainly did and a Merlin could take it but 5 minutes at max on an early series Merlin would be really pushing your luck I bet the temp guage needle would be bouncing off the stop pin
(ii) Mustang IA aircraft.- On these aircraft Delco Remy automatic boost control is fitted.
...
A stop, which consists of a plunger held in position by a wire (not visible to the pilot) is provided at the take-off position. To obtain 56 inches boost for combat, the throttle lever is pushed hard against the stop, thus operating the plunger and breaking the wire; the plunger will then remain in the war emergency position until reset by the ground staff; the boost control will, however, still regulate at any boost to which the throttle lever is set.
I can find no mention of this breaking wire setup. Any more information?
That's not all that far off from the overboosting reports from some US and Commonealth P-40s, with the exception that 70" Hg was the highest pressure possible with their testing (with ram at sea level). With the P-39's poorer ramming capabilities this seems unlikely as well unless the colder temperatures on the Eastern front had an impact on that. (I'd imagine it would help with overheating and carb air intake temperature and density, but not sure it'd affect pressure)When I was with an Allison shop, we tlked with some former Soviet WWII fyers who flew P-39s. They said they ran them at 75" when in a dogfight with a German and only followed the US-recommended limits when not in direct combat. I supposed if you were fyling borrowed airplanes there was little incentive to make them last, but the Britsh guys in early SPitfires did it too.
When your life is on the line, the redline becomes transparent and you do what you need to do.