Paul,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the later Spitfires could
actually fly higher than the German ME-262 jets of the time.
Supercharging was indeed very important during WWII. As a mater
of fact, designers here in the US were convinced that larger
displacement reciprocating four stroke engines with advanced
supercharging would be the wave of the future. Initially we had
no interest in those new fangled turbine engines the English and
Germans were racing to develop. Mr. Whittle's experiments finally
got our attention and after the war, captured ME-262's were flown
extensively at Wright Patterson in Ohio.
Basically putting an end to furthering the abilities of the
supercharger here in the US.
Great stuff!! Please tell us more!
Pat in NC
|