XP-65/F7F Development

[Shortround6]

Zipper730, a lot of this stuff is easily available.

go to http://www.enginehistory.org/

click on reference and scroll down to

Problems of Accelerating Aircraft Production During World War II

at the end there are production totals by factory and by models/types of engines similar engines get lumped together.
Like in 1940 P & W built 17 R-2800 production engines. In 1941 they built 1471 A series engines.
Please note P& W stopped production of the A series in Jan of 1941 and shifted to the B series.

It takes time to tool up and get in production.

Russian guns were built to different standards. They expected to junk the gun and replace it (assuming the gun lasted long enough in combat) with many fewer rounds fired than the US or Britain did.

 

[Zipper730]

It takes time to tool up and get in production

Yes, I'm aware of that: What I was trying to get to was basically this

• The XF4U-1 was a new design in 1940, it's origins were back in 1938
• The R-2800 was first available in 1939, and first reached the 10,000 levels in 1942
• The F4U-1 was first available operationally in 1942-1943
• The F7F didn't first fly until late 1943

Everything took time, I get that but my point is that it didn't stop Vought with going with the R-2800. It seems it would be better to claim that the R-2600 might have been better trusted as a design as it had a track record where the R-2800 had none.

 

[Shortround6]

The XF4U first flew with some sort of a bastard A series engine. It may or may not have had a working two stage supercharger in the first few flights. I believe the XF-4U prototype flew with at least 3 different engines if not 4.
Vought and P & W were both part of United Aircraft corporation and Vought may have had better knowledge of the status of the R-2800 compared to Grumman.

I would note the R-2800 didn't fly in any form or in any airframe until July of 1939 and that was a modified Vultee attack bomber.
Please look at the production numbers again. Of the 17 R-2800s built in >1941< 8 of them were in Dec. An engine sitting in crate on the loading dock in Harford Ct doesn't do any good to an Aircraft factory over a hundred miles away and needing two if not 3 railroads to get there. (or a ferry)

A lot of manufacturers placed a lot of hope/trust in P&W in 1940-41. Things could have gone very wrong. Ford was spending over 14 million dollars of Govt money to build a factory for the R-2800 when fewer than a dozen had been built or run.

edit> that should be 17 engines in 1940 not 1941. Ford Broke ground on the new factory in Sept of 1940.

 

[Zipper730]

Didn't the F6F start with a turbocharged R-2600?

 

[GregP]

That is too easy to answer, Zipper. You KNOW that answer yourself.

 

[Zipper730]

Greg,

No: I know the R-2600 was installed in the prototype. I'm pretty sure there was a turbocharger as well and I vaguely remember seeing figures that indicated 400+ mph.

I'm guessing it either didn't work well enough because they didn't pursue it.