Author Topic: Early Spitfire V combat boost?  (Read 3559 times)

Offline VO101_Isegrim

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #15 on: August 13, 2004, 09:02:31 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Nashwan
We know the Merlin XII was authorised for 12 lbs boost because the manual says so.

Go to http://www.fourthfightergroup.com/eagles/spit2.html
and scroll down to the bottom. It clearly says combat limit 12 lbs.
Perhaps it's not such a silly stretch after all?


What`s the date of the manual?

I still don`t get what the MkII / Merlin XII has to do with the MkV/Merlin 45.

Kinda like saying just because the MkV was cleared to +16lbs in late 1942, then so was the MkIXs,too.

We know however at that time all MkIX were 'derated';) to +15lbs.

Another example, we know the DB 605D could run for Kampfleistung at 1.45ata, so can we say the DB 605A could run at 1.45ata kampfleistung as well, even though we have no reference to it?

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You claimed that because there was no test at 12 lbs, it was not authorised.

We know it was, yet there are no tests.


Oh-oh, sorry I didn`t. I even pointed that one out. Get off that train. I simply say as there no indication of +12 lbs boost until 1942 AT ALL, it was probably not used initially on a new engine type, which is rather untested at the time.



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Abscence of a 12 lbs rating  on a particular test cannot be proof it was not allowed, even at that time. They may simply have tested at normal rated power, not wep. ie not used the "emergency" rating.


Expect of course if that test is explicitely about the maximum performance of the plane available to it at the moment. That is reached with maximum powers, u know.

Tell me, Nashwan, if you would like to know what is the maximum speed and climb ability of a plane, on what would you test it, +9 or +12, hypothesizing both are cleared at the time...?

They tested it on +9 in all tests I have seen from `41, the first mentioning of +12 is from an mid-1942 AFDU test vs. the 190A.



Quote

Re XIV at +25
Are there? I've never seen them. I've seen documents saying it is not yet cleared, but will be in the future. If you've found anything new in the meantime, I'd be glad to see it.


Well then it appears you and Mike are the only partisans of a lost cause. I thought you have seen the light in the meantime, but it appears I was overly optimistic. Even Neil says +25lbs wasn`t cleared for the Griffon 65 series. From the doc I have seen on that, +21 is enough for 366mph at SL (in fact a bit worser than I expected and calculated).
Moreover, the Mk21 tested in mid-45 on Mike site uses the same engine as the MkXIV (the only difference being reduction gear), and the test say the relevant limitation of the engine is still +21lbs, provide 150 grade is available.

BTW, it also appears that +25lbs 'tests' on the Spit XIV were really a short run at a single altitude, with the rest of the curve calculated from it, as the engine had problems during the tests running on that boost.



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We do know, for certain, that the abscence of the use of 12 lbs on the Spit II test doesn't mean the Spit II couldn't use 12 lbs, though.


Though it points towards it wasn`t used at the same time as MkIs. Or just the test plane didn`t have the modifications for it, remember, the RAF did not fully convert to 100 grade fuel until November 1940.

What we have is a test report of a Spit II tested somewhere after May 1940, and an undated Spit II manual that could be anywhere between 1940 and 1945.


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See the Bf 109 k4 climb chart at 1.8 ata. There is a line showing a revs switch at 8,000m, and the "time to climb" line, which is at climb and combat power, reflects that change above 8,000m.

I believe we had a big argument about that before you finally accepted it :)

I'm not an engineer, so I don't know why rev increases were permitted during high altitude climbs, but it does seem to have had a valid reason on some 109s and Spits.


There`s a simply reason to that, the supercharger speed is directly linked to engine speed, and the 603G supercharger probably couldn`t keep up the 1.45ata boost for Kampfleistung above 8000 without increasing the speed by 200rpm to 2800. I doubt this would be speciality on the 109K only, unless it happened automatically (to which I didn`t find any reference) possible all the others could do the same trick to maintain their 1.3ata to higher altitudes by simply pushing the throttle forward.

Ie.  http://www.x-plane.org/users/isegrim/109/198_drehzahl.jpg

Notice the DB reference and the date of the report BTW. ;)

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Note the test of AA878, where climbs were done at combat rating (16 lbs, 3000 rpm) and "Normal" rating, 9 lbs 2850 rpm.

http://www.fourthfightergroup.com/eagles/aa878.html
[/B]


Yep, in mid-42. We are speaking of mid41, combat ratings could have been easily raised during a year.


Quote

The Spit V manual I have says

Maximum climbing limit 2850 rpm +9 lbs [/B]


Hmm, and it`s date, early 1944 or 1943 I presume with increased ratings, supposed to prove in 1941 it was already used ?

Offline HoHun

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #16 on: August 13, 2004, 01:08:48 PM »
Hi everyone,

To sum it up:

+16 lbs/sqin is documented as in introduction in August 1942
+12 lbs/sqin is documented as being used before August 1942
+9 lbs/sqin was a documented setting, but the documents are not clear that it was ever considered maximum power

The documentation we have doesn't allow any more specific conclusions that these :-(

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

Offline VO101_Isegrim

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #17 on: August 13, 2004, 04:55:37 PM »
100% agree HoHun. That`s the maximum we can conlculde ithout the proper documentation.

Offline Angus

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2004, 12:11:22 PM »
Well, 12 is what I heard.
That would be applyed by pushing the throttle through the gate, right?
Note, that although there may be time limits listed, especially in the manual, that was just on text. There was nothing stopping the pilot from using max boost untill either the mission ended or the engine seized up.
RR had a very tight limit compared to what their engines would actually take.
An overdosis of "panic boost" would by requirements lead to a total overhaul of the engine.
It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline Kweassa

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #19 on: August 17, 2004, 12:15:28 AM »
Then IMO the AH2 SpitV should be dragged down back to +12 boost.

 And a new sub-variant of +16 boost with other features such as clipped wings, should be introduced.

Offline Squire

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #20 on: August 20, 2004, 02:37:55 PM »
Osprey's book "Spitfire Mk V Aces" by Alfred Price has an appendice on page 87, listing both the Merlin 45 and Merlin 46 as being 16 lb boost engines.

"Spitfire VB W3134 tested May 1941
RR Merlin 45 EMERGENCY COMBAT POWER (WEP in Aces High)1515 bhp at 11,000 ft at +16 lbs boost
Max speed 371 mph
This was a first production Spitfire V with combat gear"

"Spitfire VA (tropicalised) X4922 tested early 1942
RR Merlin 46 EMERGENCY COMBAT POWER (WEP In Aces High)1415 bhp at 14,000 ft at +16 lbs boost
Max speed 363 mph"

Im paraphrasing of course.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2004, 02:46:34 PM by Squire »
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Offline Kweassa

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #21 on: August 20, 2004, 04:53:22 PM »
So it's Osprey vs Hohun's summary?

 ...

Offline HoHun

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #22 on: September 20, 2004, 03:12:58 PM »
Hi Kweassa,

>So it's Osprey vs Hohun's summary?

No, actually it's Osprey vs Air Ministry.

The August 1942 date is from an Air Ministry memorandum.

You could also say it's Price vs. Price since I found the Air Ministry memorandum in his "Spitfire - The Complete Fighting History" :-)

But seriously - maybe we can make an educated guess in the +9/+12 lbs/sqin issue by calculating mean effective pressure of the Merlin XII (cleared for +12 lbs/sqin) and the Merlin 45 of the Spitfire V?

If the Merlin 45 had the same compression ratio (I haven't cheked if it has), wouldn't that be a good indication it could run at the same boost level as the Merlin XII?

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

Offline Guppy35

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #23 on: September 20, 2004, 04:23:57 PM »
Missed this thread completely.

Don't forget the intro of the Merlin 50M with the cropped supercharger in 1943 that allowed for +18 boost.  

Performance was much better up til about 12K when it fell off rapidly but it was done for the low alt capability to help it cope with the 190s better.

In August 42 the Spit Vs with Merlin 45s and 46s were approved for the +16 boost

As mentioned only +9 boost is mentioned in the Spit V manual but that is in reference to climb rates.  Nothing on wep or 'pushing it through the gate" so to speak

AS for in AH, The Spit V is definately a better performer now.  I prefer it to the IX.

I don't know how you determine which is the way to go in the MA as it's competing against latewar stuff.

If it was confined to fighting within the 1942 and before timeframe it would have to be the lesser performance but as it's essentially fighting in 1945 in the MA, I'm glad it's got more pep.

I only wish the IX had been tweaked to give it the latewar performance not stuck with the 1942 performance.

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Offline Badboy

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Re: Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #24 on: September 20, 2004, 06:28:03 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by HoHun
Hi everyone,

I'm looking for something definite on the boost level (and rpm) specified for the early Spitfire V.

I'm convinced that it was +12 lbs/sqin @ 3000 rpm, but I can't prove it wasn't (as suggested by someone else) +9 lbs/sqin at either 3000 or 2850 rpm.



Hi HoHun

I checked the chronology of the Merlin engine for you and these are the quoted take-off ratings showing only the major changes in take-off boost values:

Merlin Mk II 3000rpm +6.25 psi boost
Merlin Mk X 3000rpm +10 psi boost
Merlin Mk XII 3000rpm +12 psi boost
Merlin Mk 22 3000rpm +14 psi boost
Merlin Mk 35 3000rpm +12 psi boost
Merlin Mk 47 3000rpm +12 psi boost
Merlin Mk 66 3000rpm +25 psi boost

Even the early versions of the Spitfire MkV had versions of the Merlin engine able to employ +12 psi boost for take-off. Every Spitfire MkV produced is listed, and the engine types are easy to confirm, I scanned the lists for you, and it appears that you are correct!  

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Offline HoHun

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #25 on: September 23, 2004, 05:17:41 PM »
Hi Dan,

>Performance was much better up til about 12K when it fell off rapidly but it was done for the low alt capability to help it cope with the 190s better.

I agree, from the performance graph I'd say the Merlin 50M Spitfire was aimed right between the Fw 190's eyes ;-) It seems they weren't loved anyway - if I remember correctly, Clostermann describes his mixed feelings escorting Hurricanes in a "cropped" Spitfire. Of course, it could be that pilots just preferred "high and fast" over "low and fast" ;-)

>As mentioned only +9 boost is mentioned in the Spit V manual but that is in reference to climb rates.  Nothing on wep or 'pushing it through the gate" so to speak

Hm. The manuals I know have all the amendments and thus describe the late-war status. I would be interesting to see the old status, but unfortunately they had no Wikis back then or it would be easy :-)

>AS for in AH, The Spit V is definately a better performer now.  I prefer it to the IX.

Roger, it's often forgotten the Spitfire V was a great deal lighter than the IX! :-)

>I only wish the IX had been tweaked to give it the latewar performance not stuck with the 1942 performance.

For a late-war arena, late-war performance should be the way to go! (Even better: The server should tell the front-end dynamically what maximum boost to allow :-)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

Offline HoHun

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Re: Re: Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #26 on: September 23, 2004, 05:24:36 PM »
Hi Badboy,

>I checked the chronology of the Merlin engine for you and these are the quoted take-off ratings showing only the major changes in take-off boost values:

Thanks! :-) Is there a date to go along with the boost settings?

>Even the early versions of the Spitfire MkV had versions of the Merlin engine able to employ +12 psi boost for take-off. Every Spitfire MkV produced is listed, and the engine types are easy to confirm

Does that mean it is definite proof? I imagine engines of one version could be cleared for different boost levels, as evident in the upgrade to +16 lbs/sqin later.

My reasoning was that if the Merlin XII was good for +12 lbs/sqin and the Merlin 45 had the same bore, stroke and compression, we can be almost sure that it was good for +12 lbs/sqin, too. I don't have data detailed enough to check that, though.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

Offline Squire

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #27 on: September 24, 2004, 02:34:15 AM »
I think the whole issue is rather hard to nail down. I have 3 books that give the Merlin 45 a +16 lb boost capacity...but no exact dates in some of them.

The 2 questions that I have not seen answered definitively are: #1 Was +12 lbs the Merlin 45s "max allowable" before 1942 or was it in fact +16? #2 Did pilots push it to +16 anyways in combat prior to 1942? I have seen nothing that clears that up.

Here is an interesting quote from Yellow Series "Supermarine Spitfire V" page 81 describing the Merlin 45 engine:

"Takeoff 3,000 rpm +12 lbs
 Climb 2850 rpm +9 lbs
 Cruise 2650 rpm +7 lbs
 Combat 3000 rpm +16 lbs

In normal conditions a barometric control unit limited the maximum pressure according to the alt. In emergency this could be switched off to give maximum boost (for a short period only, to avoid engine failure). This was done by pressing a button on the throttle lever (the action known to pilots as pressing the tit). Standard boost lever position in combat was 12 lbs."

...This would seem to indicate +12 lbs was "standard" max combat power?, and +16 lbs was "emergency boost" for the Merlin 45. Other sources claim 3-5 min max for that power setting.

Finally I will say this, because it was "sanctioned officialy" (whatever that means) at +16 at some date, does not mean it was not capable, or not used, prior to that. I cant say for certain though. My understanding is that all the Merlin 45s ran on 100 octane, and required no modification to run at +16 lbs with the boost regulator shut off.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2004, 03:27:15 AM by Squire »
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Offline BPNZ

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Early Spitfire V combat boost?
« Reply #28 on: September 24, 2004, 05:52:52 AM »
Hi Everyone,

According to various sources (Jane's etc) there were no changes in internal physical dimensions of the Merlins at all, although I admit I'm not sure of the very late versions (>70 series).

They all shared the same dimensions:
Bore                5.40 inches
Stroke             6.00 inches
Capacity         1649 cu inches
Compression   6.0 to 1

All changes to the engine seem to only be concentrated on improving the supercharging or strengthening components/construction to allow it to survive greater supercharging.

There were probably other subtle changes but I'm interested in those that affect performance and output.

The Merlins were much more closely related than the DB 601/605 series of engines which changed Comp Ratios and Max RPM frequently as well as supercharger capacity.
I understand however that there were reasons why one series would be cleared for a boost while another was not.   This was usually due to a detail improvement in the construction.

As far as I am aware the only difference between the XII and the 45 was the capacity of the supercharger and an improvement in its effeciency.

I know we are all after documented proof but my moneys on 12lb boost under combat conditions, up to the change to +16.

>In normal conditions a barometric control unit limited the maximum pressure according to the alt. In emergency this could be switched off to give maximum boost (for a short period only, to avoid engine failure). This was done by pressing a button on the throttle lever (the action known to pilots as pressing the tit). Standard boost lever position in combat was 12 lbs."

This is correct, however the boost override had to be 'set' to give a maximum boost pressure so that at low altitude the supercharger could not deliver a pressure greater than the authorised amount.     There is a document many will have seen describing the details of the changes necessary to the boost control cut out on the Merlin III so that the max pressure could  be increased from +6.25 lb, but not exceed the new limit of 12lb above atmosperic.    It is also my impression that the British tended to do most things 'by the book'.


Regards
BPNZ
« Last Edit: September 24, 2004, 05:59:26 AM by BPNZ »