14.06.2009, 14:29
One of the hottest Mosquitos was the MkXIII nightfighter, some of which were fitted with nitrous oxide injection to boost the power of their Merlin 25s (for three minutes). The equipment was supplied in 1944 specifically to counter fast intruders over Britain, such as 190s, Me 410s and V1s.
There is a pilot's account of how the equipment was used, and what it looked like, in Armand van Ishoven's "The Luftwaffe in The Battle of Britain". [Basically, there was a manually operated valve and gas tank in the cockpit, with copper piping leading to the engines].
These engines ordinarily had a combat power (5 minute rating) of 1630 h.p at 18lbs boost in medium gear at 2,500 ft, falling to 1,510 h.p at 9,250 ft (at +18 lbs) - so the aircraft were optimised to be fast at low to medium altitudes. I don't have figures for the power boost they received with the addition of N2O injection, unfortunately.
The only difficulty is that these Mossies were the first aircraft to be fitted with spinning parabolic dish antennae (for the AI Mk VIII radar), meaning that they had rather bulbous noses, in several variations. It would mean some 3D work....
There is a pilot's account of how the equipment was used, and what it looked like, in Armand van Ishoven's "The Luftwaffe in The Battle of Britain". [Basically, there was a manually operated valve and gas tank in the cockpit, with copper piping leading to the engines].
These engines ordinarily had a combat power (5 minute rating) of 1630 h.p at 18lbs boost in medium gear at 2,500 ft, falling to 1,510 h.p at 9,250 ft (at +18 lbs) - so the aircraft were optimised to be fast at low to medium altitudes. I don't have figures for the power boost they received with the addition of N2O injection, unfortunately.
The only difficulty is that these Mossies were the first aircraft to be fitted with spinning parabolic dish antennae (for the AI Mk VIII radar), meaning that they had rather bulbous noses, in several variations. It would mean some 3D work....