Working Turbochargers

airtj · **Posted:** Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:31 pm

Just wondering how many aircraft have working turbochargers? P-47, P-38, B-17, I'm I missing any other aircraft?

K5DH · **Posted:** Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:04 pm

B-17G Chuckie... er... I mean, B-17G Madras Maiden

Collings Foundation's B-24J, Witchcraft.

WIXerGreg · **Posted:** Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:47 pm

Ruff Stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj2_EoyVnak

Matt Gunsch · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:31 am

Sentimental journey used to have live turbos, not sure about now, Memphis Belle has live turbos

warbirdfinder · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:52 am

Sentimental Journey has working turbos, Paul Allen's B-17 had working turbos when it last flew.

dirtysidedown430 · **Joined:** Sat Apr 11, 2015 12:36 pm **Posts:** 336

A turbo really does not do much until you get above 15000 feet. Most warbirds very rarely go that high. And they cost money to maintain rebuild. On DTs movie B17 the waste gates were saftey wired wide open that way the turbine would not even spin. David did look into making them but when he saw the cost that was the end of that.

warbirdfinder · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:09 pm

"dirtysidedown430", you are right, very few warbirds ever get to 15,000'. And at sea level to around 3000', the B-17 will perform adequately at 39" - 41" for a non turbo takeoff, but once the elevation and temperature rise, the turbos are important and should be used, especially in the Western US and in summer. Try taking off in ABQ at 80 degrees w/o turbos, you will only pull about 32", not even climb M.P.

About 8000' in climb you can just start bringing in the turbos to keep the 35" for climb.

The turbine wheels will still spin, though slowly, with the waste gate wide open.

I can't speak for the maintenance costs, but with turbos, you have that extra margin of safety that can't be measured, until one of your engines fail on take off.

dirtysidedown430 · **Joined:** Sat Apr 11, 2015 12:36 pm **Posts:** 336

Well said

BK · **Joined:** Sun Oct 09, 2005 4:23 pm **Posts:** 594

P-47D "Hun Hunter XVI" has a operational turbocharger.

b29driver · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:23 pm

When turbo amplifiers and waste gates malfunction it can over-boost engines very quickly. A number one or four on the B-17 as the tail comes up going to 50+"MP and climbing can make pilots start "brake-dancing" in the cockpit.

I have seen impressive "throttle-snatching", "rudder stomping" and "yoking-off" in rapid fashion accompanied by shrilly expounded pilot phraseology and profanity on such occasions.

Rod Schneider · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:42 pm

dirtysidedown430 wrote:

A turbo really does not do much until you get above 15000 feet. Most warbirds very rarely go that high. And they cost money to maintain rebuild. On DTs movie B17 the waste gates were saftey wired wide open that way the turbine would not even spin. David did look into making them but when he saw the cost that was the end of that.

The turbos on the Movie Memphis Belle ARE operational. They come in handy for takeoffs out of places like Denver. :-)

Unless the turbos are completely bypassed (like the CAF has done on Texas Raiders) the turbos will still spin, even with the wast gate butterfly valves completely removed- - Liberty Belle was set up that way. We still had to do turbo maintenance, although perhaps not as often as we do on the Movie Belle..........

dbrown · **Posted:** Wed Sep 09, 2015 1:20 am

The P-38 which was restored for Evergreen had operating turbos

Chuck Giese · **Posted:** Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:59 am

Hey, 46" IS 46". It's one more safety factor on high altitude takeoffs.

For a while, we were having trouble getting turbo 2 to come all the way up (since fixed). You could really see the airplane want to turn left on takeoff at 45 mph.

Larry Kraus · **Posted:** Thu Sep 10, 2015 10:08 pm

The only carburetor heat available in a B-17 is via the turbos. On the few occasions that carburetor icing was a factor, the procedure was to back off the throttles a few inches of manifold pressure and recover with the turbos until the carb air temp came up above freezing. We didn't do much serious IFR in B-17 tankers, but some ferry flights in April or October were mostly on instuments and sometimes in conditions that favored carburetor icing. The book says to use the intercooler controls by the co-pilot's right foot for carb heat, but ours were safety wired in the full cold position, so that wasn't an option. Even if they had worked, you would still need the turbos to generate the heat to remove the ice.

Airlift48 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 744

C-97 "Angel of Deliverance" has working turbos.. We need them for Carb heat.

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