Quote:
Originally Posted by winny
I think there's a way to prove the majority of bases were converted, but it'll be time consuming.
Cross reference the combat reports from the battle mentioning 12lb boost, with the squadron involved, to the movements of that squadron for that date. ie. where were they, a: stationed? and b: where they scrambled from? (not always the same station).
In the past I counted at least 30 squadrons refering to 12lb boost in combat reports between May - July 1940.. That's nearly half of all FC's squadrons.
Add that to the fact that there were only around 30-32 'operational' stations being used at the time, and the rotation system, it would suggest widespread use of 100 octane.
Also does anyone know if you could actually run a converted Merlin on 87 oct?
If it was a case of just swithcing fuels then why the modification to the engine?
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Only a selection of squadrons were looked into so before you do this you would have to check every squadrons papers. You would also have to check every station for the fuel, a huge operation.
This is why I call the case a strong case but not a perfect case. The case for the limited use of 87 octane isn't supported by anything, making it a very weak case. They only have Pips posting which I have challenged with supporting documentation.
I would suggest that those who believe in the limited use of 100 octane should be asked to support that view. If they believe that Pips posting is the correct version of events then they need to support it
and disprove the original documents that have been posted.
A converted Merlin could run on 87 octane but the performance would obviously be less. In a similar manner, a non converted merlin would run on 100 octane,
but to get the performance gain, you need the fuel and the conversion