Beyond The Sprues
Modelling => Ideas & Inspiration => Engineering Dept. => Topic started by: elmayerle on March 26, 2014, 12:04:48 PM
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What if, around 1930 or so, Curtiss had taken the bore, stroke, and cylinder spacing of the V1570 Conqueror and applied more modern engine technology (including gearboxes, variable-pitch propellers, and superchargers) and materials? They should have been able to get 1000 hp. easy and likely more, certainly enough to be reasonably competitive with the V1650 Merlin and Allison's V1710. I could see this making for some interesting aircraft variants.
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Two big obstacles:
1) Wright was committed to radials using the Lawrence designs
2) Lack of customers because of the world economic situation
The second reason was why Packard reluctantly abandoned aircraft engine design
and manufacture. They had the designs and know-how but the US military pie was
already divvied, other countries put money into domestic manufacturers and there
was no commercial market, as Curtiss also found when they tried to sell the V-1570
to commercial operators.
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... or what-if the displaced liquid-cooled V-dudes from Curtiss got together with the Packard crew?
:icon_fsm:
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A private venture done in slow time between other projects and then offered up to the French when they came knocking looking to buy war materiel. Initial orders get production going for use in French P-36, P-38, P-39 and P-40. Turns out to have superior high altitude performance to the Allison so starts getting USAAF orders as well.
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What if Curtiss had sold the license rights to their engines to say, the Italians or the French? Italian fighters with an excellent inline engine without reliance on the Germans? French fighters with more powerful inlines than the Hispano-Suisa series?
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What if Curtiss had sold the license rights to their engines to say, the Italians or the French? Italian fighters with an excellent inline engine without reliance on the Germans? French fighters with more powerful inlines than the Hispano-Suisa series?
Wasn't the issue for the Italian political interference from Mussolini? He ordered that they concentrate on radials at the expense of inlines
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... Wright was committed to radials using the Lawrence designs ...
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=351.msg62097#msg62097 (http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=351.msg62097#msg62097)
Got around that by slapping Curtiss-Wright with an anti-trust charge ;)
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Wright was committed to radials using the Lawrence designs
Yeah, and that drove a number of their top people off to form Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines; people like Rennschler (sp), Willgoos, et al.
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Also using the basic Lawrence design. ;D
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And taking them further than Wright did.