Spitfire engine problem

ridato · 03-26-2007, 08:06 AM

First Merlin engine Models use carburettors, late models use indirect fuel injection (german DB use direct fuel injction).
Regarding to the shape of wings, Spitfire has elliptic wing. This type of wings offer the minimum induced drag. This type of wing was used frequently a this time, see He 70, He111, Aichi D3A, etc..
The Spitfire use elliptic wing for other reasons, the designer want to keep the thickness to a minimum (Spitfire has a thickness of about 11%, while others aircrafts the same time use 15%). The reason for this thickness was high speed aerodynamic. The only way to accomodate 8 machine guns and keep the thickness without bulges was the elliptical wing planform. The big problem of this wing was time to manufacture, it require a lot of more manhours and cost more money.

Sgt. Pappy · 03-26-2007, 07:17 PM

the wing also would shudder at the tips near a stall. this would give the pilot early warning to correct his maneuvering.

Smokey · 03-26-2007, 07:25 PM

Quote:

the wing also would shudder at the tips near a stall. this would give the pilot early warning to correct his maneuvering.

That's what fire ball was referring to

Quote:

Originally Posted by fire-ball

also the rounded wings on the spitfire allowed the pilots to realize the how hard the pilots could take the plane unlike the me109 which pilots never new how hard to fly the sucker

ridato · 03-27-2007, 04:31 PM

well, stall should start at wing root in a good designed aircraft to provide a good stall warning with aileron control, if stall start at wing tip you loose the aileron and the aircraft could enter to a spin. Usually wings have a washout of about -2 or -3 degrees, so the angle of attack in wingtip is lower than in the wing root. A big problem in aerodynamic elliptic wings is that lift is constant spanwise, so stall start all the wing, and if a washout is provided in the design of the wing, the wing is not aerodynamically elliptic.

mike nixon · 07-27-2007, 08:05 PM

It had a float carb. reduce the G force, and the fuel rises. the mixture gets rich and the engine quits making noise. increase the G and the effect is not as bad as the change to lean was not as pronounced. the fix was to change the gasket over the fuel chamber to limit the fuel level. the real fix was to change the engine over to an american stromberg pressure injection unit.
Mike Nixon

pasoleati · 08-05-2007, 10:33 AM

BTW, most WW Two fighter were restricted to 3-10 second inverted due to oil systenm limitations, not due to fuel system.