Radial vs in-line engines

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by Crumpp

Meredith effect on the Mustang.



Only the RAE bought into the thrust production theory. Both the NACA and the RLM disagreed.

Understand that of the three, it was the RAE that was trailing in aerodynamics. The British engines were good, probably the best of all the combatants but their aerodynamic sciences was behind the other major combatants. That is why you have RAE claims for things like Mach .98 dives out of the Spitfire that later get retracted as they discovered the static port placement was completely wrong for any degree of accurate speed measurement in the transonic realm.

I'm not discussing the quality of British aerodynamic research, I'm just saying that the Meredith effect is not a made up thing, and the Mustang is probably the design that benefits most from it.
As you know, they took a great deal of care in the design of the radiator system on the P-51: the radiator intake is detached from the fuselage to avoid turbulent airflow from the fuselage, and the radiator exhaust port could be opened/shut automatically so that it wouldn't bother the pilot. It surely was an efficient and revolutionary system, which allowed for a better performance with a very low drag coefficient (if compared to others) because of its design.

Its clever aerodynamics, light weight and reliability made for a superb system compared to the conventional turbo supercharged radials.