Which country designed the best engines for WWII?

[KevinB]

I'm thinking the question should be specific to what year?

The double-wasp and R-4360 major pineaple (variant) were the biggest/best engines at the end of WW2 IMHO. Starting the war the fuel injected Daimler-Benz DB 601 that didnt need carb-heat and would dive without leaning was best.

The Packard and RR merlins were awesome production machines too during and after.

KB

[engguy]

USA built the best aircraft engines.
As someone mentioned the improvements to the Packard Merlin, and even if some consider the Allison a dog, remember even the RR engines that are built for racing usually end up with Allison connecting rods in them.
Something else to consider, what brands and what country designed and built the most popular radial engines that are still flying today? I'd say the most popular "large" recip engine still in use today is the Pratt & Whitney R-2800, (gosh maybe even the R-1830) that is a testament to which country did build the best engines.
And we can't forget the R-3350 powering the big Martin mars fire bomber.
I don't think there too many running examples of what any of the other countries made during the war years. Other than RR liquid cooled engines.

[bada]

All those countries had marvelous engines, but my vote, in general, goes to the germans, because of the bmw801:
-small (front area-less drag),
-very well build cooler-system,
-injection (no need to explain),
-easy for maintenance (very fast attach-points on the fire-wall),
-delivered as a whole ready-to-use unit (power egg),
-best engine command-unit till the fifties (when a canadian company copied the design without authorisation) allowing an easier flight for the pilot,
-Solid as a rock (as the most of the radials anyway!),
-rather low weight compared to the PW's with the oversized compressors (or the complicated turbo system)
-and it's power starting at 1560 in41 and ending somewhere at +/-2050hp at the end of the war with max boost and C-3 injection (crump, if you read me and i'm wrong about that one, please correct me, i dream about the 1.65 C3injected bmw power and boost chart for the JABO-1000meters and Fighter versions!).

And i forgot about the beemer's sister in law: the Ash-82, with less qualities than the 801, but comparable in aerodynamical and power aspects, still in use today...even in the new build FW190's!

and about the pb that we only see PW's now: it's due only to the fact who won the war and who not

[Reluctant Poster]

Originally Posted by KrazyKraut

From my point of view it would be logical to include these. However I'm not an engineer nor an expert on intercoolers or superchargers. Apparently the Germans indeed did NOT include superchargers when giving numbers for dryweights.

Like I said, I can't believe that for an engine this well-known there is no detailed breakdown available. I hope someone can come up with one and clear this up without further need for personal insults.

America's Hundred Thousand - Table 48 breaks down the weight of the P-51 B&C with the weight of the engine given as 1670 lb INCLUDING ACESSORIES

Table 35 breaks down the weight of the P-40F with the weight of the engine given as 1518lb with engine accessories listed separately as 114 lb.

In neither case is there a separate listing for a supercharger.

[kool kitty89]

That seems a bit odd, as the all-up dry weight of the V-1650-1 (Merlin 20 series) should be considerably less than that of the V-1650-3/7 (60 series). (and the Pacard engines seem to be a litle heavier than their british counterparts)


Also, on a slightly different not, the carburetor fed into the supercharger, so it would not be mounted without the supercharger there as well.

[Reluctant Poster]

Originally Posted by kool kitty89

That seems a bit odd, as the all-up dry weight of the V-1650-1 (Merlin 20 series) should be considerably less than that of the V-1650-3/7 (60 series). (and the Pacard engines seem to be a litle heavier than their british counterparts)


Also, on a slightly different not, the carburetor fed into the supercharger, so it would not be mounted without the supercharger there as well.

The book actually states what is included in the these weights;
“The installed engine required a charge air intake along with an exhaust system and engine isolator mounts. The engine accessories included items like oil and fuel pumps mounted on accessory drive pads provided at the engine rear face. Under engine controls weight of the throttle and mixture linkages form the cockpit were considered as well as the supercharger controls.” The propeller and it’s accessories, the starting system, the ADI system, the cooling system, the lubrication system and the fuel system are given as separate weights