Most Important Aircraft Engine of the War?

There is one engine that hasn't had much of a following on this thread and thats the M105P in it various forms.
No one is saying that its the greatest or best engine of the war, but without it the Russian AF would have been in dire straits. Without the Russian AF the germans would have been a lot stronger and victory far more costly for the allies.
So for keeping the Russians in the fight, I go for the M105P.

Pratt&WhitneyWrightCycloneMerlinAllison was pretty important.

TO

So what, just weld all those engines together and call it "the most important allied engine"

I totally agree about the jets though, they had little impact on the outcome of the war, but they were certainly the most historically important from a technological standpoint and for the future.

There is no doubt the aero engine of WW2 that was made in greatest quantity was the Rolls-Royce's Merlin . Made by Rolls-Royce UK and Ford UK also Packard USA , the total end of war figure was 165,000 units. With a final post war total of 168,040.
Quoting Alec Lumsden's "British Piston Aero-Engines and there Aircraft" .
I quote " It is worth mentioning that the Merlin was produced in larger numbers than any other piston engine the World has seen and this includes all the big American radials" end quote.
To give you a example on one night bomber raid on Germany over 200 Merlin engines would be lost with downed aircraft.
But what also has to be remembered is that between two thirds and three quarters of the entire German war effort went to fighting Soviet Russia not the western allies.
This leads to another question , which WW2 aero engines actually contributed most of all to the destruction of the German war machine ?

The R-1820s and R-1830s of Allied bombers (particularly heavies) and transports (mostly B-17s and B-24s and C-47s and the varients there of, though there were the merlin-engined British bombers as well, but those were primarily used in night bombing iirc and were still not available in the same numbers as US bombers, and I'm not really considdering the Eastern front, though heavies weren't realy prominant there) had a tremendous effect on the war aganst Germany. The C-47 being the most important plane of the war, and the R-1820 and 1830 both being used in this craft (as well as one type substituting the other in several other cases for other a/c as well).

And as for Russia, they used a great deal of lend-lease fighters (the majoity Allison engined, though there were some Hurricane Mk.IIs and some of their P-40s used merlins iirc, and there were feild-mods with Russians as well). Though the Merlin had virtually no advantages over the the Allison on the Eastern front, where air combat rarely took place over 15,000 ft. (Plus the P-40M's 1,200 hp V-1710 was good up to ~18,000 ft) And one of the most well reguarded fighters in the USSR, the P-39, used the V-1710 exclusively, and it was the Russians who recieved the majority of this American fighter iirc.(definitely was the case with the P-63)

The P-39D-2/N/Q, were all used in fairly large numbers in the USSR and all had powerful engines, rated for over 1,300 hp with over 1,400 hp in military power and around 1,500 hp in those with WEP, plus the P-39Q-10 with 4-bladed prop was capable of over 390 mph at 13,000 ft, faster than even the P-51A.

I wont't even go into the capabillities of the P-63. (as it became available in large numbers of the improved versions only late in the war for the USSR, and were supossed to be reserved (according to an American request) for use aganst the Japanese, though they were likely used on the Eastern forn anyway in the guise of P-39s.)

Though fighters didn't win the war, Transports kept the necessary suply lines running with troops and supplies (the most important thing for the war effort), and the bombers devestated the Axis supply lines and fragmented the aircraft inductry, and (possibly even more important) forced the enemy to try to hide from the bombing by wasting time and resourses scattering some production lines to small hidden facilities and constructing bunkers for production (which would never be ready for use anyway). The decentralised industry was compounded with the heavily damaged transportation system which became even more integral to the industry with it devided from industrial centers.

Of course fighters were necessary to protect bombers and transports, but the majority of WWII fighters were not suitable for long-range escort, and only the P-51, P-47, and P-38 were capable of escorting B-17s and B-24s all the way to their targets.

The most important Aircraft engine of the War was the V2 rocket motor.

Upon its back, man set foot on the moon and prepares to venture to the solar system. Upon its foundation was built the embodiment of Armageddon and the source of the world's political power.

It would shape the course of nations for the next 80 years and still ripples today while the Merlin's, Pratt and Whitney's, BMW's, and other piston engines gather dust in museums among the other relics and curios.

All the best,

Crumpp

poloenfield said:

But what also has to be remembered is that between two thirds and three quarters of the entire German war effort went to fighting Soviet Russia not the western allies.

This leads to another question , which WW2 aero engines actually contributed most of all to the destruction of the German war machine ?

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Probably that French diesel airship engine the Russian`s copied, modified, and put into the T-34 and KV/IS series...

The Soviets liked French engines as they used them in their planes.

Kurfurst any more info on this French diesel airship engine?

There are so many good engines, so i'm with Adler, the engine that takes me home

I would add the Gnome-Rhone 14N series radial engines. Great engine which powered a great aircraft, the Bloch MB.170-175 series aircraft. Apparently the Germans though highly enough of them to pluck them from the Bloch MB airframes and install them on the giant Messerschmitt ME 323 aircraft.

Crumpp said:

The most important Aircraft engine of the War was the V2 rocket motor.

Upon its back, man set foot on the moon and prepares to venture to the solar system. Upon its foundation was built the embodiment of Armageddon and the source of the world's political power.

It would shape the course of nations for the next 80 years and still ripples today while the Merlin's, Pratt and Whitney's, BMW's, and other piston engines gather dust in museums among the other relics and curios.

All the best,

Crumpp

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That is certainly an interesting way of looking at it.

But there were Goddard's rockets as well, which were largely ignored by the US government...
He even attempted to develop one capable of impacting on the Moon (using a large flash-powder charge to make the impact visible), though this was obviously quite a stretch and wouldn't have been possible with the technology of the time.

The German rocket engines borrowed some key innovations from Dr Goddard. His work was well known in Europe in the scientific circles.

However it was Von Braun's implementation with some improvements that paved the way for practical exploration of space and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.

We in the United States restricted Goddard to such programs as the development of JATO with variable thrust nozzles and the Bazooka. It seems we rather ridiculed Dr Goddard in the press when he first advanced his theory of space flight using rocketry.

Dr Goddard became the center of a press induced maelstrom questioning the validity of spending public monies on "foolish ventures". The judgment of those who had helped Goddard receive a 5,000USD Smithsonian research grant was publicly called into question. It was an experience he never forgot and forever tainted his dealing with the press.

He would have felt no small measure of vindication on July 16, 1969.

All the best,

Crumpp

That is certainly an interesting way of looking at it.

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In terms of importance to the world of any WWII engine, it stands head and shoulders above the rest IMHO.

Crumpp said:

The most important Aircraft engine of the War was the V2 rocket motor.

Upon its back, man set foot on the moon and prepares to venture to the solar system. Upon its foundation was built the embodiment of Armageddon and the source of the world's political power.

It would shape the course of nations for the next 80 years and still ripples today while the Merlin's, Pratt and Whitney's, BMW's, and other piston engines gather dust in museums among the other relics and curios.

All the best,

Crumpp

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A pessimistic futurist Crumpp?

I like the angle though but have to disagree in choice. It has to be the jet engine for making the world a smaller place for the common man.

Manned spaceflight has stopped far short of reaching the stars and it too is a museum piece. Although the rocket is seeing a renaissance with its original inventors the chinese.

Crumpp said:

The most important Aircraft engine of the War was the V2 rocket motor.Upon its back, man set foot on the moon and prepares to venture to the solar system.

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In a similar vein I would say the 'jet engine' which changed the modern post war world.

HistoryLink Essay: Dash-80, prototype for Boeing 707, first flies on July 15, 1954.

I would agree on the jet engine. It is certainly one of the most significant innovations of WWII and a very important engine. It overshadow's any piston engine design.

However it is the rocket powered ICBM that forms two corners of Nuclear Triad.

It is the ICBM, a distant cousin of the V2 that embodies the ultimate expression of modern political power.

It is not the ability to field Jets that polarizes the world. It is the ability to wield nuclear fire at the tip of a rocket.

Space flight is far from dead, btw.

BBC News | SCI/TECH | Manned flight to Mars in 2014?

Space Today Online - Human Flights to the Moon and Mars

All the best,

Crumpp

Crumpp said:

Space flight is far from dead, btw.

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But....it....is....moving....at....a.....snails....pace.

My Golden Book Encyclopedia 'promised' me that I could/would be living in a Space Station, just like this, by 1970! (under Space Travel -next to Spain!)

Whereas 'Jet Travel' was moving at a FANTASTIC pace.

The year was 1965.

(How many jets are over the Atlantic, at any one minute in 2008?!)

(How many jets are over the Atlantic, at any one minute in 2008?!)

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How many toaster's are in use in the kitchens of the world at any one minute in 2008?
Oh now the toaster is the world's most important invention by that criteria!



Once again, the world is not divided into who has jets and who does not.

It is definitely divided into who has ICBM's and who does not. Having a Jet in my possession does not make world leaders sit up and take notice.

Having the right rocket most certainly does!

[1.0] Chemical Rocket Systems

It's tough to escape that fact.

I was thinking of that earlier too. It's hard to say wich would be more important. For millitary purposes and the Cold-War arms race the rocket would be more important (being impossible for even jet interceptors to take down) though jets and ICB's were still a bigger danger danger for at least two decades after the war.

And as far as commerse and society are concerned, the jet engine is far more important. Even in a practical millitary sence jets are far more important, except in a stratigic deturrant sence. But jets have been far more useful for both society and the millitay than intercontenental missiles.

On the other side there's also space exploration (as far as pure science goes), and more improtantly (as far as society and government are concerned) there is the whole satalite network that couldn't exist without rockets. And this has had a tremendous impact on communication as well as millitary and defence purposes. And then thre are all the SAM and Air to Air guided missiles to look at too, if you want to go there (including solid-fuels), but there are also cruise missiles which are predominantly jet-powered. (though much more than just turbojet, but still all air-breathing)


So both inventions have a large number of impacts and both are extremly important. I can't really decide which is more important in my mind (if such a decision is even right to make in this case, both being so revolutionary). All I can say is that jets had a more immediat impact than rocket development did and they were more strateigicly important untill the late 1950s at least.


And rockets and jets are probably 2 of possibly 3 most important scientific inventions/developments to come out of the war. (the third being harnesing Nuclear energy, including both the bombs, and controlled reactions)