109 e3b against spitfire II

[Seadog]

Originally Posted by Kurfürst

Compared to that theory, German DB 601 was same size as weight as single stage Merlin, 605 actually lighter then two staged Merlin, while the French 35-liter class Hispano Suize V12s were considerably lighter than both.

The only practical way a smaller displacement engine can keep up with larger ones is by heavy supercharging, but that does not comes free, superchargers and their systems add weight, and so does decreasing fuel effiency: more fuel need to be carried for same range.

They are similar, but the Merlin is a bit lighter:


from Flight, April 16 1942.
The net dry weight of the DB601N is stated in the article to be 1400lbs, but OTOH, Merlin engines were being run at much higher boost pressures when this article was written and thus greater power.

A Merlin III/XII/45 net dry weight = 1375/1420/1385lb

The article states that the DB601N had greater frontal area:
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchi...0-%200807.html
and an article on the Merlin XX:
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchi...0-%200449.html