Thread: Spitfire celebrates 75th anniversary

And the Sea Fury, I have seen one of these in flight at an airshow at Naromine I think. It looked so impressive in flight and when it landed and taxied down to the main terminal it's nose sat well above the cesnas and tiger moths. So powerful just to look at but the sound, did I mention that I love the round sound. It is written that "If aero engines where meant to be any configuration other than round, Pratt & Whitney would have made them that way". Having said that, thank god and the poms for the Merlin.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA69MsHfxuc&feature=related"]YouTube - Hawker Seafury AWESOME SOUND ![/ame]

Originally Posted by Landy110

And the Sea Fury, I have seen one of these in flight at an airshow at Naromine I think. It looked so impressive in flight and when it landed and taxied down to the main terminal it's nose sat well above the cesnas and tiger moths. So powerful just to look at but the sound, did I mention that I love the round sound. It is written that "If aero engines where meant to be any configuration other than round, Pratt & Whitney would have made them that way". Having said that, thank god and the poms for the Merlin.

The Sea Fury of course, does not have a Pratt & Whitney engine! Its engine was a Bristol Centaurus, a sleeve valve engine representing in some eyes the peak of aeroplane piston engine development.

John

Personally a Centaurus always sounds better than a Pratt & Whitney

there was an Iranian one in auckland for a few years

Originally Posted by Landy110

It is written that "If aero engines where meant to be any configuration other than round, Pratt & Whitney would have made them that way".

But the British Bristol Centaurus was bigger and better. If the Sea Fury had been an enemy fighter it probably would have been a match for the P51 Mustang (the early versions of which were British designed and built).

Garry

Originally Posted by garrycol

But the British Bristol Centaurus was bigger and better. If the Sea Fury had been an enemy fighter it probably would have been a match for the P51 Mustang (the early versions of which were British designed and built).

Garry

The earlier versions of ther Mustang were fitted with an American Allison engine and were a disappointment, it was only when fitted with the Merlin that the Mustang was any good.

Originally Posted by garrycol

But the British Bristol Centaurus was bigger and better. If the Sea Fury had been an enemy fighter it probably would have been a match for the P51 Mustang (the early versions of which were British designed and built).

Garry

well in concept, shoving a bomber motor into a fighter = FW190 which was a match for a P51 c and early P51d until they got the shark fin, then they had the edge. The XP51 was designed by a couple of German jews who were in Brittan and were given British citizenship then shipped to the US after the US army preordered all p40 production.
The fitting of the Merlin to the XP51 was done by a couple of Kiwis in Egypt. they had some Merlin parts but no Alison parts. Which then scared the pants off there pilots.
the XP51 was ( i think) 20 miles an hour faster than the p40 this was not due to there laminar flow wings but to the internal radiators and NAs???? Air intake. The only advantage a P51 had over a spit, was fuel capacity, speed in a dive and wing thickness ( well it was designed as a ground attack, not a dog fight)

The British Bristol Centaurus, is was and always will be a dog. The advantage of a sleeve valve motor was better air flow. This was good up until sodium filled valves became available, which allowed overlap in valve timing and (eventually multiple valves) which increased the performance of valve motors past that of the sleeve valve motor. Ease of manufacturing wasn’t in the sleeve valves favor either. The real disadvantage was cooling, having a sleeve and a liner meant that there was so much metal between the hot stuff and the cold stuff. Distortions of the sleeve and excessive wear of the sleeve both lent to in-flight failures with disastrous effect for such a heavy air craft with a high over the fence speed.
Its use was a political one, since all the other manufactures had been post war supported with other projects or products. Bristol had to be given some thing.

Besides all that, they are the absolute top of piston powered fighters. And to me the best sounding aircraft ever. uumm that would make a Bristol freighter twice as good ????

Originally Posted by Bearman

The earlier versions of ther Mustang were fitted with an American Allison engine and were a disappointment, it was only when fitted with the Merlin that the Mustang was any good.

Correct, the XP 51 was fitted with an Allison. but since they were purchased and designed for the desert, as a replacement/ supplementing the p40. The British air ministry was over joyed with its extra speed. hidden radiators and the ability of the laminar flow wing to not fail under heavy buffeting ( IE bending when pulling out of a dive at low altitude)

For Europe the only offering the yanks had was the P47, so the poms brought them for Europe and Asia at a latter date

Originally Posted by 85 county

Correct, the XP 51 was fitted with an Allison. but since they were purchased and designed for the desert, as a replacement/ supplementing the p40. The British air ministry was over joyed with its extra speed. hidden radiators and the ability of the laminar flow wing to not fail under heavy buffeting ( IE bending when pulling out of a dive at low altitude)

For Europe the only offering the yanks had was the P47, so the poms brought them for Europe and Asia at a latter date

My old Dad was in the RAAF during WW2 and he reckoned the best Yank aircraft was the Lightning. Apparently it was the only one that could catch and blow the Zeke in level flight.