Quote:
Originally Posted by NZtyphoon
In Victor Bingham "Whirlwind: The Westland Whirlwind Fighter (Airlife Publishing, 1987) he wrote that in April 1940 the Director of Design/Research and Development in the Air Ministry, W Farren, commented that it was wrong that one of the latest types of fighter aircraft (the Whirlwind and its Peregrines) was only rated to use 87 Octane fuel instead of 100. (p.36)
The photo is of a 137 Sqn "Whirlybomber" from at least mid-to late 1942, so is it possible that the R-R Peregrine was rated to use 100 Octane by then?
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Thanks for the info from Bingham's book. I don't know much about the Whirlwind, so I'm going to see if I can find a used copy. I appreciate the tip. I too figured the photo of the Whirlwind and bowser to be a 137 Squadron Whirlwind; probably taken around September-October of 1942. Don't know where though, maybe Manston? It's pretty clear they were cleared for 100 octane by the time the photo was taken though
I have Warner's Blenheim book and in reviewing the bit about 100 octane in the outer wing tanks he wrote:
"To take full advantage of 100 octane petrol the supercharger pressure could be increased from the normal 'Plus 5 lb/sq.in. boost' by the operation of an 'Emergency Boost Override' lever on the instrument panel. This overrode the Automatic Boost Control to allow 'Plus 9 lb' pressure, and was used for take-off and in emergencies only, for a maximum of 5 minutes."
Interesting - and not unlike the Hurricane and Spitfire use of the boost cut-out enabling +12 lbs, although rather more complicated in practice apparently.