 | Spitfire engine problem| Engines Discuss Spitfire engine problem in the Technical forums; Hi!
This is my first post here and i have one question.
I heard some time ago, by someone, that ... |
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01-22-2007, 07:49 AM
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#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: North
Posts: 2
Country:  | Spitfire engine problem
Hi!
This is my first post here and i have one question.
I heard some time ago, by someone, that the early Spitfires had problem when flying inverted, because of the fuelpump not being able to work properly.
Does anyone know if that was true?
If it was true, when did this problem get mended?
Thank you! | 
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01-22-2007, 08:21 AM
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#2 | | IP/Mech THE GREAT GAZOO
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 13,004
Country:  | It was the carburetor that would cause the engine to quit.
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01-22-2007, 09:57 AM
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#3 | | Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 212
Country:  | I think it's problem is that it had gravity fed carburetors, go into a parbabolic dive and the carburetor failed to work.... kinda like the wieghtless simulation flown by NASA 747 to train astronauts... the plane falls faster than the fuel so the fuel cannot get into the cyclinder...
I think tho that you could fly upside down because of a 2nd inverted carburetor that fed the engine when upside down, the engine would die, pick-up, die and pick-up again as you performed a roll.
Download Warbirds simulation.... have a fly in their Spit I and Spit V and see the difference. | |
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01-22-2007, 10:18 AM
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#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: North
Posts: 2
Country: | Thanks for your answers!
I just wonder how many pilots that got lost becasue of this problem and how serious it was considered to be.
i can imagane that in a dogfight, when u fly about, it would be preferable with a engine that dont malfunction.. 
otherwise, the Merlin was a very reliable engine wasnt it? | |
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01-22-2007, 01:06 PM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 102
Country: | Once the bugs were worked out just as most other engines it was quite reliable.
Most fighters were only approved to fly inverted for a scant 1-2 mins as they would be
starved of oil. Besides they were quite hard to fly inverted for any length of time because
of the airfoil shapes.
FWIW | |
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01-26-2007, 11:32 AM
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#6 | | Banned
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 43
| There was 2 stages to the Merlin cutting out. The first was the lean mixture when the float bowl ran out of fuel due to neg Gs. The second was the rich mixture cut-out when the a/c went inverted and the float fell to the top of the bowl allowing an unrestricted flow of fuel to the cylinders.
Do a Google search for 'Miss Tilley's orfice' for a more detailed description and fix. | |
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02-27-2007, 04:30 PM
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#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 6
Country:  | yea
yea the spitfire had rounded wings unlike the me109 so it made easier flying when in the air which helped make up for engine and machine guns because the me109 used fuel injection and connons not machine guns | |
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03-01-2007, 06:25 AM
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#8 | | Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 212
Country: | Quote:
Originally Posted by fire-ball  yea the spitfire had rounded wings unlike the me109 so it made easier flying when in the air which helped make up for engine and machine guns because the me109 used fuel injection and connons not machine guns | Oval shape of the wings reduce interference drag that occur at sharp corners...
I can assure you that the supercharged Merlin engines were on a par if not better than the German fuel injected versions...
Having spoken with the designers of the Merlins, they've told me they were asked to look into producing a fuel injected Merlin but after consideration to the aircraft as a whole, not just to the engine it was determined that there'd be no gain from converting.
Simon | |
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03-16-2007, 10:46 PM
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#9 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 6
Country: | 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 | |
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03-16-2007, 10:53 PM
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#10 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,951
Country: | WTF are u talking about???
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03-16-2007, 11:19 PM
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#11 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Jacksonville, NC
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Country: | 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 | Yeah... 
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03-17-2007, 05:15 AM
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#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: UK
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Country:  | Beats me Les | |
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03-17-2007, 08:30 AM
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#13 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,951
Country: | Dumb ass kids who cant speak English.... Bad combo...
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03-17-2007, 02:17 PM
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#14 | | aka Dickcheese
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03-17-2007, 03:43 PM
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#15 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 173
Country:  | lol c'mon kids, let's be nice now xD
anywho, Spitfire Mk.I's and II's had carburettors and no fuel injection. The engines were Merlin III's and Merlin XII's respectively. This wasn't actually a mistake. It was believed to produce a little more power than a fuel injected engine such as the Daimler Benz engines of the Me/Bf 109's.
Going inverted would cause the engine to starve of fuel and if the negative G position was held too long, the pilot would have one nasty spill all over his windshield. A temporary fitting was applied in 1941 to Spitfire Mk.V's and it was known as 'Miss Schilling's Orfice' which esentially modified the carburettor to allow fuel to stay in the engine even during - G maneuvers. Later Merlins were fuel injected.
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