XP-47J

[john e. holliday]

Here is one for the electric guys/gals.  I would have to punish myself if I did this to the one I am working on.

[Pat Johnston]

You're right, Doc, but it is a totally cool version.  Let us know how you are doing on your P-47.
Pat Johnston
Friend of Doc
Skunk Works

[john e. holliday]

Tis going slow what with family things and the weather.   

[dennis lipsett]

John,
Your spending some time on plane a day i see.
Dennis

[PerttiMe]

That beast reminds me of some Curtiss experimental fighter designs: XF14C and YP60E.

(google should find more pics.)

[Robert Zambelli]

Doc - another picture for you.

Bob Z.

[Bill Heher]

There was a Chrysler ad a while back that gave the history of the Hemi. It seems that at least 1 of the X- P47J had a new hemi head v12 by Chrysler

[Robert Zambelli]

Here's the Chrysler powered version.

Bob Z.

[Steven Kientz]

What i get from the last two pictures is" If you want to slow down an airplane put a Hemi in it"

Steve

[john e. holliday]

One thing about it is they know how to ruin a beautiful airplane.   And yes I go to plane a day and wheels a day when I get on the computor of a morning. 

[Chris McMillin]

What i get from the last two pictures is" If you want to slow down an airplane put a Hemi in it"

Steve

Complex equation. If Chrysler had had the engine in production for 6 years with hundreds of thousands of units built and incorporated the turbo into the induction for high altitude like the P&W R-2800 in the Thunderbolt, it would've probably been of equal performance with less cubic displacement and less specific fuel burn for longer range.
It's like I hear about the "inferior" Allison V-1710. When used for all of the production of the P/F-82 at 2000 hp for TO and 1800 for 32,000 feet and top speeds above 450 mph, it was every bit the performance of the Merlin. Just a few more thousand units and the r&d reaches the point of performance equality. The "inferior" Allison won the first post-war Thompson in '46 and held the closed course record from'48 until 1966, too. (In the "inferior" Bell P-39 Airacobra. It took a Grumman Bearcat and a hybrid 3500 hp R-2800 modded by Lockheed engineers from the SR-71 program to beat it.) It's all about the r&d, eventually one can get that optimum performance.
Chris...

[Joseph Patterson]

       I have always heard that the bottom end of the Allison was stronger than the Merlin- that some of the engine builders use the Allison con-rods in the Merlins because they are stronger ?
         Doug

[jim gilmore]

I think some planes were favored nt because of their attributes but because the pilots had ides about other planes they just did not like....
such as a drive shaft that spun under their seat and the though of having the engine behind them in the event of a crash...I would have avoided crashing at all cost or made sure I bailed out...

[Douglas Ames]

Complex equation. If Chrysler had had the engine in production for 6 years with hundreds of thousands of units built and incorporated the turbo into the induction for high altitude like the P&W R-2800 in the Thunderbolt, it would've probably been of equal performance with less cubic displacement and less specific fuel burn for longer range.
It's like I hear about the "inferior" Allison V-1710. When used for all of the production of the P/F-82 at 2000 hp for TO and 1800 for 32,000 feet and top speeds above 450 mph, it was every bit the performance of the Merlin. Just a few more thousand units and the r&d reaches the point of performance equality. The "inferior" Allison won the first post-war Thompson in '46 and held the closed course record from'48 until 1966, too. (In the "inferior" Bell P-39 Airacobra. It took a Grumman Bearcat and a hybrid 3500 hp R-2800 modded by Lockheed engineers from the SR-71 program to beat it.) It's all about the r&d, eventually one can get that optimum performance.
Chris...

I'm sure powerplant selection back during the War was very political, lots of Government contracts at stake, plus jobs. Imagine the post-war Fighters had jet engine development stalled out.

[Dave Hull]

Pursuing the comments on the Allison and pilot's perceptions:

I always found it odd that most folks in the USA thought that the P-51 was the first capable long range fighter escort. Yet the P-38s were flying from North Africa on some very long missions well before the P-51 and P-47s got to England. But the P-38 just wasn't accepted in England. One book I recently read may have provided the reason:  the Allison and the P-38 simply didn't like the quality of the fuel then available in England. Not sure this could ever be substantiated, but the engine complaints for the same planes didn't occur in the Pacific theater.

And it is a sure bet that the air racers and unlimited hydro racers powered by Allisons used the best fuel that could be purchased....

Another possible explanation is that North American (and perhaps Republic?) were able to ramp up production very, very rapidly and delivered on their promises. Lockheed never seemed to get the big order for a "final" configuration?

Somehow a Jug that no longer looks like a Jug is just another plane.

Dave "McSlow" Hull

[Chris McMillin]

P-38's didn't have good gun heaters, or pilot heaters. Also the Lockheed "Rube Goldberg" system for the semi-automatic turbo system was controlled by a combo of mechanical selection of the throttle and propeller controls, and this sent a sense through an electrical system to the wastegate, and intercoolers that was controlled by small orifice lines with engine oil. It worked well in temperatures close to Southern California. I think any 100 octane fuel worked fine, and the airplane was used for some time in England.
 P-47's were long range fighters too, they used Lockheed 165 gallon drop tanks on the D models with wing pylons, (the Army wouldn't let the manufacturers use external tanks until 1943 showed that their dictates were all wet).
The reason the Mustang took precedence in my study is that is cost the least. The Lockheed was the most expensive at well over 100,000 dollars, the Thunderbolt was up in the 90's and the Mustang was about 55,000 dollars.
Chris...