63
votes
What is a "runaway supercharger"?
The B-17 had General Electric exhaust-gas-driven turbochargers (or more correctly, turbo-superchargers) that had pilot selectable boost levels. A selector dial in the cockpit controlled the operation ...
- 126k
40
votes
Accepted
What is a "runaway supercharger"?
The B-17 uses the term "Turbo Supercharger" which refers to just a Turbocharger (As John K points out in the comments, the former is actually the technically correct term). The B-17 had an ...
- 100k
17
votes
Is the DC-6 Supercharged? And what is a Turbosupercharger?
Yes, the DC-6 is supercharged with mechanically driven centrifugal superchargers. A “turbosupercharger” is another name for “turbocharger” which is an exhaust driven centrifugal supercharger.
The DC-...
- 37.5k
12
votes
Accepted
How do you know if an aircraft engine has a supercharger?
As Bianfable has pointed out, the C-130 Hercules does not have a supercharger or a turbocharger. No turbine-powered aircraft have them. Turbine engines do not need these forced-induction chargers ...
- 16.5k
9
votes
Is the DC-6 Supercharged? And what is a Turbosupercharger?
From the Wikipedia entry on "turbocharger" (bolding added)1:
The current categorisation is that a turbocharger is powered by the
kinetic energy of the exhaust gases, whereas a supercharger ...
- 21.8k
9
votes
How common are gear-driven or belt-driven superchargers in modern aircraft?
Lycoming offered mechanical superchargers in some of their large 6 and 8 cylinder opposed engines like the GSO-480 but such engines have been out of production a long time.
I would say the only ...
- 126k
7
votes
How do you know if an aircraft engine has a supercharger?
Superchargers and turbochargers can be used on piston engines to increase the manifold pressure above ambient pressure, meaning more air can go into the cylinder during each stroke. This increases the ...
- 54.3k
7
votes
Can an airplane propeller become supersonic?
Two examples I can think of immediately: the F-84H "Thundescreech" and the Soviet/Russian "Bear" bomber. The former aircraft failed to enter service, in part because it was ...
- 17k
6
votes
Can an airplane propeller become supersonic?
Yes the blade tips can go supersonic at redline rpm if the blades are long enough, the tip speed simply being a function of those two variables, along with the right temperature, which determines the ...
- 126k
6
votes
In the modern aviation context, is the word "supercharger" generally assumed to mean a gear-driven system rather than an exhaust-driven system?
"Turbosupercharger" was General Electric's official term for their system, probably the first mass produced turbocharging system and was used on a range of US fighters and bombers (the system was very ...
- 126k
5
votes
What is the difference between Full Throttle Height and Critical Altitude?
Bob Tait explains it perfectly:
Every turbo charged engine has a rated boost which is the maximum manifold pressure permitted for that engine. It is marked as a red line on the manifold pressure ...
- 4,837
5
votes
Is the DC-6 Supercharged? And what is a Turbosupercharger?
Just to add a little more confusion (and amazing engineering)... Some piston engines were 'turbo-compounded'.
This is when they used a turbine in the exhaust gas to add shaft power back to the engine ...
- 7,319
4
votes
Accepted
How much horsepower is required to run the supercharger in an R-2800 engine?
For compounding see below. The R-2800 was not compounded. From information available in print, the power absorbed by the supercharger turbine was about 400 horsepower. This is comparable to the ...
- 1,044
4
votes
Is the DC-6 Supercharged? And what is a Turbosupercharger?
By the way, the centrifugal blower at the back of a radial engine served two purposes: it stirred up the fuel and air mixture to produce a uniform blend which was then presented to each intake runner ...
- 20.7k
3
votes
Accepted
BHP increases with Altitude
As noted in Airplane Aerodynamics by Dommasch, Sherby, and Connolly, 1967, Pitman Publishing Corporation, New York...
It is a relatively simple matter to fit to an engine a large supercharger that is ...
- 1,044
2
votes
How common are gear-driven or belt-driven superchargers in modern aircraft?
Radial engines like the P&W R-985 contain a geared impeller disc that centrifugally slings the fuel/air mixture around in the manifold from the carb out to the intake runners for each cylinder. ...
- 20.7k
2
votes
In the modern aviation context, is the word "supercharger" generally assumed to mean a gear-driven system rather than an exhaust-driven system?
Don't forget turbonormalizer - a turbocharger that only boosts to sealevel pressure. Seen on small planes.
https://taturbo.com/tnvtc.html
https://taturbo.com/177features.html
- 8,765
2
votes
Accepted
Did any WWII aircraft only use a turbocharger but not a supercharger?
As is suggested in the original question, the answer appears to be "no". This website gives some hints as to why a gear-driven supercharger would normally be used in addition to a turbosupercharger: ...
- 21.8k
2
votes
Is there a simple formula for estimating supercharger throttling losses?
I'm not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for, but may be of help:
A Journal article "Supercharged Engine Performance, Calculated and Actual" (see link below) has information that ...
- 27.2k
1
vote
Can an airplane propeller become supersonic?
Yes, you can figure that out yourself with simple math. The circumference of a circle is 2 Pi r, and let's say the speed of sound is 343 meters / second -- it depends on a few parameters, but 343 m / ...
- 577
1
vote
Can an airplane propeller become supersonic?
The tips of propeller blades can go supersonic, however this is very inefficient so in practice this is rarely done. One notable exception is the Russian Tu-95 turboprop bomber which cruises at 380 ...
- 795
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