Originally posted by joeblogs
This is the second time I've seen you take swipes at engine experts based on little more than a hand waive (the first was Wilkinson).
White's new book is based on heaps of P&W internal reports. His data on engine models in the earleir books were generally drwan from primary, not secondary materials.
Now if you want to talk about his description of planes, that's another thing. But when it comes to engines, this guy is one of the best.
Wilkinson is pure unadulterated ****, nothing more.
As for White, do check the section giving basic info on each engine model and tell me if you can find e.g. the well known R-2800-57 WER of 2800 hp. It is mentioned in another part of the book, but no WER data is found in the model data section.
True, White privileged access to P&W archives. He told of this long before the book was published.
Whitney´s major problem is that his knowledge of non-American engines (except the Merlin) is not on par with the knowledge on US engines. This makes many of his comparisons quite dubious.
And he also tends to look everything through Bushian lenses. Trust me, I know this.