Which country designed the best engines for WWII?

[SaparotRob]

'cause my guy, Benny F., woulda' put jokes in it.

 

[MiTasol]

No need to speculate, the Heinkel He 178 was based around the HeS 3, and ended up being basically identical to the Gloster E.28/39.

The Germans stopped developing the centrifugal designs as their frontal area created more drag which was working against the entire concept of a high-speed powerplant. The axial design was also obviously easier to develop in a multi-stage fashion as the compressed air exited directly onto the next stage and didn't require the weird piping you can see in the Whittle designs - and von Ohain's as well.

and that weird piping and elbows and other changes in the direction of the airflow all produce duct losses which make the engine less efficient.

 

[Wildcat_drvr]

What hurts US is no really successful inline engines. Had to use RR in fighters and PT boats.

 

[swampyankee]

Lets see, the PW R2800 powered the P47, F4U, F6F, B26, A26, C46, too many to enumerate. Smaller PWs powered B24, etc. Wright Cyclones powered a number of attack planes as well as B17s. Seems like US has big edge if only radials considered. British had RR Merlins which powered Spits, Hurris, Lancasters, etc. Bristol radials. Germany had DB inlines which powered BFs and several med. bombers and BMW radials in FWs etc. What hurts US is no really successful inline engines. Had to use RR in fighters and PT boats. The fine radials they built offset some but tough call.

PT boats did not use Rolls-Royce engines; they used a marine derivative of a Packard engine designed before the Merlin

 

[Macandy]

I've heard pilots say they prefered the RR version

Ground crews prefered the Packard ones - they didn't leak like sieves

 

[tomo pauk]

Ground crews prefered the Packard ones - they didn't leak like sieves

Care to elaborate?

 

[pbehn]

and that weird piping and elbows and other changes in the direction of the airflow all produce duct losses which make the engine less efficient.

I think with the technology of the time that was advantageous (not changes of direction but the length and volume of the whole thing) in having stable combustion.

 

[Macandy]

Ground crews prefered the Packard ones - they didn't leak like sieves

Care to elaborate?

Paper gaskets and milled faces - they stayed oil tight.

You could always spot the planes with Packard over RR Merlins by the drip trays under the engines

 

[tomo pauk]

Paper gaskets and milled faces - they stayed oil tight.

You could always spot the planes with Packard over RR Merlins by the drip trays under the engines

Source for the claims?

 

[pbehn]

Paper gaskets and milled faces - they stayed oil tight.

You could always spot the planes with Packard over RR Merlins by the drip trays under the engines

I think I read once that faces in Merlin engines were prepared by Derby housewives with a a nail file in the kitchen and the gasket was a newspaper from the local chip shop, is that the article you read?

 

[MiTasol]

You should have posted that in quotes and jokes. It is the sort of crap that Caidan wrote

 

[GrauGeist]

Considering all engines of the day leaked oil (not including radials - that's a whole different story), I'll have to call bullshit on that.

 

[MiTasol]

Yep --- you can almost follow a Wright Oilcone through the sky using its oil slick.

 

[wuzak]

Paper gaskets and milled faces - they stayed oil tight.

You could always spot the planes with Packard over RR Merlins by the drip trays under the engines

What specific surfaces are we talking about?

Are you saying that Rolls-Royce and its shadow factories did not machine mating surfaces?

 

[wuzak]

I think I read once that faces in Merlin engines were prepared by Derby housewives with a a nail file in the kitchen and the gasket was a newspaper from the local chip shop, is that the article you read?

Don't be silly.

The mating faces were finished by highly skilled craftsmen who hand lapped them together. There was no need for a gasket.

 

[Jagdflieger]

German aircrafts and their engines NEVER leaked - could this add valuable marks for the voting list?

Proof: Georing's white uniform never showed oil stains

Regards
Jagdflieger

 

[pbehn]

Don't be silly.

The mating faces were finished by highly skilled craftsmen who hand lapped them together. There was no need for a gasket.

Rolls Royce oil was very sophisticated, in most cases it simply refused to leave the architecture of the labyrinth and gallery and also had nothing to do with "mating surfaces" which were considered vulgar in mixed company.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Yep --- you can almost follow a Wright Oilcone through the sky using its oil slick.

That's for anti corrosion .

 

[SaparotRob]

German aircrafts and their engines NEVER leaked - could this add valuable marks for the voting list?

Proof: Georing's white uniform never showed oil stains

Regards
Jagdflieger

That's because they had no oil to leak.

 

[AerialTorpedoDude69]

Were there any other nations other than Great Britain that got a H-block engine into mass production and widescale usage? As far as I know, the Napier Sabre was the only one to make it into production and it had one of the highest compression ratios of any engine of the war. IMO, it was a greater technological marvel than any of the WW2 jet engines. I gotta believe that Great Britain was the leader in technical sophistication when it came to IC engine development and design.