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Originally Posted by johnny rockett
I started this thread mainly because of my interest in flying both in cars and planes....be that as it may I could not help but notice on the show " Dogfights" that an American pilot was in trouble as he ran out of ammunition and was being chased by a German 109.....he mentioned that he had to hit the throttle and take the plane to a new power level by adding water/alcohol etc......after researching this thoroughly I notice the approach by the Germans and the Anglos was quite different......now we all know the Germans were pretty smart about building qaulity well engineered equipment...but what I thought was interesting that an supercharger/carb deal was faster for a few moments and the exta power this American Pilot was able to use kept him alive.
The pilot probably did not understand his engine that much and all he knew was he better push the throttle past the saftey gate and that it would add a bunch of power......I think it went from like 18 pounds of boost to 23 pounds and then used the water/alcohol injection to keep it from self destructing etc
We still have the blow thru carb guys and now with EFI here we have that bunch........but the carbs are still plenty fast and there is something to be said for keeping things simple....
You might want to look up Beatrice Shilling.....who helped those spitfires get out of trouble with a simple fix...she evidently was some kind of woman for those times..
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The great Smokey Yunick mentions this in his book. After a pilot used the water/alcohol injection on the plane or 'red lined' it, The engines had to be pulled and overhauled. Smokey talks his way into flying one that had been redlined, to see what would happen. Needless to say he was very impressed!