I totally agree with Stuart G….
The centaurus was engineering madness but at least it ran well most of the time.
The Napier sabre engines were just plain dangerous and (rightly) not many survived in service any longer than strictly necessary,they surely had the shortest TBO time of any WW2 production piston engine.

Bazv Not quite true and a case of reputation exceeding factual information. I know personally a pilot that flew 60 or so missions in the same Typhoon during 1944, Flak being the greater danger, not his engine. Yes he had one or two engine failures but they were of a similar nature to those every service pilot might suffer, not sleeve failures. Yes the Sabre had a rough time getting into production, but it had to do this in 1/4 the time the Merlin had to get right, and its worth noting that the early Tempests were running increased boost chasing V1’s at power levels that went way beyond any other engine running at the time, and reliably when using the measures of the day. Engineering madness I think not. Find another 36 litre engine that ran at 2600hp in service. And some engines even ran at 3000hp in service. Only the 27 litre Merlin was in the same class with the Merlin 66 running at 2000hp at low level on 150 fuel

Just look at the B29 FiFi. They have finally given up on her B29 spec R3350’s and are looking to fit 4 post War spec engines, maybe ex DC7 or Constellation units, similar to those fitted to the Racing Bear Cats and Furies. The B29 program nearly failed because the original R3350 was so poor and more B29’s were lost or failed to complete their missions due to engine failure than enemy action. Paul Tibbets refused to allow the first atomic mission to fly until modified fuel injected R3350’s had been fitted the aircraft.

The same pilot that flew the Typhoons then flew Tempest IIs and thought that the Centaurus a marvellous engine. It just depends on your point of view at the time and what you have to compare it with. I believe that the late Paul Morgan was investigating using the manufacturing skills of his organisation the manufacture Centaurus parts before his untimely death.

Franck, as always some of the best photos posted of the show. One question for you. I notice that some of your photos are 3/2 ratio of Canon and Nikon and of course film, and others are 4/3 ratio. Have you cropped these to fit a std screen? or taken them with a 4/3 ratio camera such as the Olympus E series or a Medium format camera. Whatever I love some of your shots.

Peter

Its not widely known but the Wright R3350 had one of the most torturous gestations in aero engine history that made even the Sabre look easy, and made the early troubles with the Merlin look like they fitted the wrong spark plugs. At one point in 1944 there were rows upon Rows of B29s lined up without flight worthy engines. The whole B29 program was almost brought to its knees at one point. I’m sure they had a period around this time when not one single training mission was flown without an engine shutdown. All very inspiring for the forthcoming, long over water flights.

However the program was so vital to the US strategic aims that the bean counters at Wright were put in their box and the engineers allowed to at long last fix the problems. That this engine is now held up as a down of reliability and strength is due to the efforts of a very small group of engineers who battled against unbelievable olds at Wright Aeronautical. I think the US Air force had enough of Wright as well as the R3350 was their last major in house designed and produced aero engine. I think I’m correct in saying that most of the R3350s in Seafuries derive from the Skyraider engine, and some of the racing engines have parts from the turbo compound version that ran at 3500hp to 3800hp in commercial use.

a Hawker tempest what looks like a hawker Typhoon 😮 are you saying one might fly here in the UK 😮 😮

James

It has a round engine like the Seafury, but yes a Tempest may fly soon 🙂 🙂

What exactly is the problem with the general public asking even speculating what might be expected to be seen at FL this year, especially on a widely read public forum?

Particular ‘inner circle’ private forum users appear to believe that their personal views on the subject are sacrosanct and must be obeyed by the interlopers…

I hope you’ve got a good tin hat! 😀 😀 😀

Nothing by the way in answer to your question

Send the Sea Fury back to NZ.

…the Griffon is a fine engine but always sounds like it it has a couple of plugs fouled!

That is because it uses a different firing order to the Merlin. And its not because it rotates in the opposite direction either. And if my memory serves me correctly it has some quite aggressive settings for timing and valve overlap. Combine this with lower rpm settings and the sound is very different. Its a bit meatier in my opinion.

By the way, although I admire the Sabre and Centaurus, not to mention the Jumo 213, BMW801 and R3350, by any measures you wish to use 2 engines stand head and shoulders above everything else, yes, the Merlin and the R2800. I find it impossible to chose between them as to which was the best.

We had Blue Burmese Cat called Nimitz. And one of her kittens was called Focke Wulf. 😀 😀 😀