The Grumman F4F Wildcat was first to utilize two-stage supercharger.

[windhund116]

What was the first to utilize a single-stage? Did the early PBY Catalinas (pre-WW2) have single-stage on their Twin Wasp engines?

Anyhow, a nice link about super and turbo-charging. Superchargers and Turbochargers

 

[pbehn]

What was the first to utilize a single-stage? Did the early PBY Catalinas (pre-WW2) have single-stage on their Twin Wasp engines?

Anyhow, a nice link about super and turbo-charging. Superchargers and Turbochargers

This made them slightly smaller than Allison V-1710s. In addition, Merlins had 12 cylinders in a V configuration, while Allisons had 10. In general, barring supercharging, they were very comparable. However, supercharging made all the difference in the world. Eh?

 

[GrauGeist]

BTW, the V-1710 Allison was a V-12 engine.

 

[pbehn]

BTW, the V-1710 Allison was a V-12 engine.

Yup, that was my point.

 

[Clayton Magnet]

BTW, the V-1710 Allison was a V-12 engine.

This is a direct quote from the article;
"Rolls-Royce Merlins, which were named after a type of falcon rather than the magician, had 1,650 cubic inches of capacity. This made them slightly smaller than Allison V-1710s. In addition, Merlins had 12 cylinders in a V configuration, while Allisons had 10. In general, barring supercharging, they were very comparable. However, supercharging made all the difference in the world. "

 

[RCAFson]

This is a direct quote from the article;
"Rolls-Royce Merlins, which were named after a type of falcon rather than the magician, had 1,650 cubic inches of capacity. This made them slightly smaller than Allison V-1710s. In addition, Merlins had 12 cylinders in a V configuration, while Allisons had 10. In general, barring supercharging, they were very comparable. However, supercharging made all the difference in the world. "

The article is wrong. The V-1710 was a V12:
Allison V-1710 Engine

 

[tomo pauk]

Other gems from the article:
Some British Merlin superchargers had three speeds.
F4F with a 2-Stage, 1-speed Supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Engine
In compensation, this delay allowed the Mk 60 and engines to have not only two stages but also two speeds and eventually three speeds for greater pilot control.
A P-40 with the same engine [2-stage Merlin] would still not be competitive with German opponents.
Second, it [P-47] used turbocharging for its second stage of forced induction.
In America, bombers typically used supercharging for the first stage and turbocharging for the second.

They also imply that Hooker improved S/C of the Merlin when going from XX to 45.

 

[pbehn]

Other gems from the article:
Some British Merlin superchargers had three speeds.
F4F with a 2-Stage, 1-speed Supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Engine
In compensation, this delay allowed the Mk 60 and engines to have not only two stages but also two speeds and eventually three speeds for greater pilot control.
A P-40 with the same engine [2-stage Merlin] would still not be competitive with German opponents.
Second, it [P-47] used turbocharging for its second stage of forced induction.
In America, bombers typically used supercharging for the first stage and turbocharging for the second.

They also imply that Hooker improved S/C of the Merlin when going from XX to 45.

Wot, a source worse than wiki?

 

[Clayton Magnet]

The article is wrong. The V-1710 was a V12:
Allison V-1710 Engine

Don't think so, I am fairly sure the Allison had 1710 cylinders. Its right in the name!

 

[GrauGeist]

Ohhh Kay...
I now see that was from the "article" - sadly, it's from a museum, too.

 

[pbehn]

Ohhh Kay...
I now see that was from the "article" - sadly, it's from a museum, too.

I dread to think what people will be reading in 100 years time. There is an article doing the rounds showing 50% of people killed in the blitz on London were killed by British artillery, based on a study in 1938.

 

[GrauGeist]

I dread to think what people will be reading in 100 years time. There is an article doing the rounds showing 50% of people killed in the blitz on London were killed by British artillery, based on a study in 1938.

It's already happening in many "forums" out there with photoshopped images becoming "fact" along with old myths and propaganda creeping into canon.
I've seen a few sites that dwell on Dresden, for example, and they're actually using Goebbels as a source!

 

[pbehn]

It's already happening in many "forums" out there with photoshopped images becoming "fact" along with old myths and propaganda creeping into canon.
I've seen a few sites that dwell on Dresden, for example, and they're actually using Goebbels as a source!

The whole discussion about people in the blitz being killed by British artillery is to hang 50% of the deaths on Churchill. Tragic TBH

 

[GrauGeist]

The whole discussion about people in the blitz being killed by British artillery is to hang 50% of the deaths on Churchill. Tragic TBH

It's infuriating, in all honesty.

I'm sure a fair share of the people propagating such nonsense, do it unwittingly. But there are those that revise history for one reason or another, and I have zero tolerance with them.

 

[Deleted member 68059]

Other gems from the article:
Some British Merlin superchargers had three speeds.
F4F with a 2-Stage, 1-speed Supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Engine
In compensation, this delay allowed the Mk 60 and engines to have not only two stages but also two speeds and eventually three speeds for greater pilot control.
A P-40 with the same engine [2-stage Merlin] would still not be competitive with German opponents.
Second, it [P-47] used turbocharging for its second stage of forced induction.
In America, bombers typically used supercharging for the first stage and turbocharging for the second.

They also imply that Hooker improved S/C of the Merlin when going from XX to 45.

That is perhaps a little harsh, the final Griffon 130's did have 3-speed superchargers, and Merlin`s were also designed with them - neither saw any wartime service
and I dont think the 3-speed merlin existed outside a test-bed, but strictly speaking its not actually a complete falsehood.

http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/Aircraft_Engines_of_the_World_Rolls-Royce_Griffon.pdf

Also, the Merlin 46 (one could say in the 45 "family") was the first RR supercharger to have nice circular impeller inducer vanes, so it IS
also in a manner of speaking true that some improvements were made by Hookers group between the XX and 45 series. (see RRHT
"The Merlin 100 Series" pg 40).

I think its overall a pretty good "intro" webpage, and 10x better than most stuff I`ve seen on Museum websites and social media pages
where they can barely manage anything over "look at the shiny plane!" half the time.... IWM had a curator on Twitter recently
claiming that IWM Duxford wasnt primarily an aviation museum !

Certainly needs a few bits tidying, but overall the "general thrust" of it is correct about how boosting works and so on.

 

[pbehn]

Did the Wildcat F4F have a two stage supercharger?

 

[Shortround6]

The F4F-3 and the F4F-4 did.

The F4F-3A, the FM2 and most of the British Martlets did not. They did have two speed superchargers though.

 

[windhund116]

Did the Wildcat F4F have a two stage supercharger?

I think that the Wildcat was the first military production aircraft to have a two-stage supercharged engine.

 

[windhund116]

Just a follow-up, seems that all early P&W R-1830 engines had single-stage, centrifugal type supercharger. So all airplanes which used it, like the pre-war P-36, P-43, and the PBY Catalina had supercharged Twin Wasp engine(s).

Twin Wasp R-1830

 

[GrauGeist]

Aside from the P-35, the DC-3 and C-47 also used the R-1830 - which were two unsung heroes of the war.