Winning WWII Aircraft Technologies

Doors Open at 0800am    Presentation Begins at 0900am

WWII strategic bombing tactics called for bombers to fly at high altitude to make anti-aircraft fire less effective and enemy fighter intercepts more difficult.  Enemy fighters, and the friendly fighter escorts that defended against them, had to be designed to operate at high speed in the same high altitude airspace as the bombers.  Two technological innovations—the supercharger and turbosupercharger—were developed early in the war to enable all of these aircraft to operate effectively at high altitude.

As an aircraft without these technologies climbs, its engine loses power due to a decrease in atmospheric pressure and a resulting loss of oxygen needed for the combustion process.  Without compensating technology, an aircraft engine at 10,000 feet generates only two thirds of its sea level power.  Early war aircraft like the Bell P-39 Airacobras and Curtiss P-40s with only limited compensating technology performed well at low altitude.  However, when they climbed above 10,000 feet, they were inferior to aircraft like the British Spitfire, the Japanese A6M Zero, and the German Me-109 that had the advanced engine technologies on board.

On Saturday, October 18^th, at 9:00 am, Lead Docent and aerospace engineer Les Doggrell will present the story of the development and use of aircraft engine superchargers and turbosuperchargers and how they greatly improved the performance of some of the most famous and effective U.S. aircraft of WWII.

Weather permitting, the presentation will be followed by a flying demonstration of the museum’s P-38 Lightning.  It is the only flying P-38 with fully operable turbosuperchargers.