P-40 and turbo

[wuzak]

Did any version of the P-40 ever fly with a turbo?

Was the P-40 ever intended to have a turbo?

FWIW, Vees for Victory says that Don Berlin was frustrated with the unreliability of the turbo in the XP-37/YP-37s and asked Allison for an altitude rated engine. That would suggest to me that the P-40 was never designed around, nor intended to get, a turbo.

 

[MacArther]

Correct me if I'm wrong guys and gals, but didn't the P-40F and the P-40K (not so sure on the K model) have Turbos? Albeit, they used British engines rather than the Allisons, but they must have had turbochargers, right?

 

[altsym]

No turbo's. F used a Merlin, K used an Allison. I think there was the XP-40J that dabbled in the use of a turbo, but never went into production.

 

[Shortround6]

It never flew, it may have never been completed, it may have never been started.

SO far the best anybody can come up with is a turbo was delivered to Curtiss for installation. Nobody seems to know if it was put in a never completed P-40 airframe or if it was shuffled over to the P-53/P-60 project.

SO far no drawings and no photos of either a complete aircraft or an aircraft under construction have surfaced. Considering photos exist for a number of one-off experimental P-40s with different radiators and such this does seem a bit suspicious.

 

[vikingBerserker]

The 3 XP-40Qs were equipped with the Allison V-1710-121 with the 2 stage, 2 speed supercharger. I always assumed that turbos and superchargers did the same thing, just powered by different means.

 

[Shortround6]

Kinda, sorta.

While the turbo kills most or all of the exhaust thrust it takes no power from the crankshaft (prop) to drive, the Auxiliary stage on the two stage Allison could take several hundred horsepower to drive.

Turbos (the turbine in the turbo-supercharger) in aircraft actually make more power the higher they go as the pressure differential gets higher as the outside (exhaust outlet) air pressure drops.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool, thanks for the education!