Kevin J
Banned
Maybe from 1939 - 1941 then I could believe it.
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Maybe from 1939 - 1941 then I could believe it.Astounding is an understatement; actually so incredible that it may perhaps be a myth?
I don't know TBH, as with horsepower consumed. There are a lot of parts in contact but no reciprocating valves pushing against springs. What I do know was the Sabre was a bit problematic when cold, even turning the engine over was a bit of a problem. They not only heated them but also continually ran them up over night to keep them warm to hot. The other thing is they were quieter because theres no valve clatter.Wow! Rube Goldberg would be proud. That sucker most have had a ginormous oil pump with all that slipsliding going on. Wonder how much hosepower that valve mechanism consumed. I notice it has a less than 1:1 power/weight ratio.
Cheers,
Wes
Do you have a source for that? Thats pretty close to a 60 series merlin Spit 9 . 385 seems to be the number most often quoted for a Spit III, although I have never seen a primary source for its performance.
This shows both the XX and 45 as being 70.6" long.
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/Aircraft_Engines_of_the_World_Rolls-Royce_Merlin.pdf
Lumsden says single speed engines 69in long, 29.8in wide and 41.2in high, the 2 speed engine 71in long, 29.8in wide and 43in high.
2 speed engines are listed as 88.7in long. Shown as 78in long in the pdf.
Thank you, it does show a bit of confusion. Did you mean two stage engines in the last sentence?
I think this was about production decisions. The MKIII was a new design of airframe but they already had a lot of I/II airframes waiting for engines, these were finished as Mk Vs, most of the modifications of the Mk III were eventually incorporated into the Mk V. The same happened when the Mk IX was created from modified Mk V airframes. You could read into that as a Mk IX being actually just a modified Mk I/II which was not the case.One of the reasons the Spitfire Mk.III did not proceed was because the fuselage was strengthened, which would have required changes to the production lines.
But no great reason why the Merlin XX could not be put into a Mk.I/II as was done with the Merlin 45 for the Mk.V.
The Spiteful was described by some as a Spitfire too far, it may have had a laminar flow wing that had a fantastic rate of roll but its stall performance was "disappointing".correction. It was called the Spiteful and very few were built.
Correction to your post, scoring one ariel victory does not make one aircraft a "killer" of another.Apparently the Ju-88C was among other things, a P-40 killer! Maybe it's time to start another thread Lol:
"Occasionally, the sea convoy escort missions were still flown. Those missions were performed jointly with selected bomber crews of KG 54 and 60 flying Ju 88As. On June 14, during one of such sorties, nine Beaufighters of 252 and 272 Sqns. attacked a group of freighters. The British pressed their attack unaware of a Ju 88C flown by Lt. Wiedow. The German pilot put his aircraft in a near-vertical dive and quickly got on one of the Beaufighters' tail. The British aircraft performed a shallow left turn, only to be hit by accurate fire from behind. The aircraft's starboard engine caught fire and moments later the Beaufighter, crewed by F/Sgt. Gael and Sgt. Amos, crashed in the sea among the convoy ships.
The following day more fighting took place over the convoys and Oblt. Albert Schulz claimed a Maryland. On the night of June 18 Ofw. Hermann Sommer jumped a single P-40 Kittyhawk of 260 Sqn. After a long fight the German crew won the upper hand and shot down the British fighter killing its pilot, Sgt. Carlisle. It was the 150th victory for I./NJG 2. "
Have to look that one in up in Shores MAW...
Maybe from 1939 - 1941 then I could believe it.
They weren't replaced until end 1941 as fighters. Still scoring victories in 1941 over UK.1939 to the end of 1940?
Over the UK possibly but the main thrust of the air war in Europe change to the UK attacking France and Hurricane were rarely used in that role. As pointed out by Stig claims dropped to a trickle because the RAF knew the Hurricane wasn't up to fighting over German held area'sThey weren't replaced until end 1941 as fighters. Still scoring victories in 1941 over UK.
Correction to your post, scoring one ariel victory does not make one aircraft a "killer" of another.