Republic XP-47H and the Chrysler XI-2220 engine

This rare 1945 color film of the Republic XP-47H powered by the Chrysler XI-2220 engine was shot by Carl Breer, Head of Research Engineering for Chrysler at the time. The XI-2220 engine was a turbo supercharged, liquid cooled, inverted V-16 power plant that produced 2,500 horsepower from 2,220 cubic inches (36.4 L) of displacement. The engine was fitted to a highly modified Republic P-47 Thunderbolt for ground running and flight testing starting in early 1945. Due to the novel engine, extensive airframe modifications, and complex turbo supercharging system, the XP-47H did not fly until late July 1945. By the end of WWII three weeks later, it was already clear the future was the turbojet engine, not pistons.
Three XI-2220 engines survive: Serial number D-000001 at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT; D-000006 and XP-47H firewall-forward in the collection of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, Chantilly, VA, and D-000005 is held by the Chrysler Foundation.
This film was digitized and narrated by Carl Breer’s son, William, and shared with me by Paul Wise who worked on the XI-2220 engine and flight test program. The film is presented here with the kind permission of Carl Breer II, grandson of the photographer, Carl Breer.
The definitive work on the XI-2220 engine and XP-47H is Chrysler Aircraft Engines by Kimble D. McCutcheon (2012) and an excellent chapter on the XI-2220 can be found in Willem L. Weertman’s Chrysler Engines, 1922-1998 (2007).

[@malcolmstreet1]

Been fascinated by this aircraft and engine since I was a kid (I'm 65 now!). Wonderful to see there's film of it. Too bad there isn't sound - the noise must have been amazing. BTW, the XI-2220 was the first Chrysler Hemi!

[@dwp1970]

I don't know what took youtube so long in matching this video with my feed but better late than never. What a great bit of engineering, so glad Carl Breer had the notion to film it and save it for later generations. Thanks for the video.

[@tomfey6020]

Yep, wonderful that the Breer family allowed me to share it.

[@chrisconley8105]

Thank you for sharing this history of Chrysler as well as your father's efforts. Chris

[@Farweasel]

Absolutely, a real piece of living history, a wonderful tribute to your Dad and the rest of the incredible engineers who worked together to make this happen. People throw the word 'respect' around like it was a an unearned right - No. Its *achievement* like *this* which command respect.

[@barryervin8536]

By 1945 the R-2800 air cooled radial was making 2500+ hp in the P-47M and N models. The only advantage to this engine was streamlining, which only improved the performance slightly at the expense of greatly increased maintenance and increased susceptibility to battle damage. In fact he fastest P-47 was the XP-47J which broke 500 mph with an R-2800 radial in a reworked cowling.

[@jimdavis8391]

Yep, Chrysler fooling about, turbocharging was where it was at.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@jimdavis8391 The turbo's weren't even used below 10,000 ft or so unless they were taking off overloaded from short improvised runways in WEP, like the P47 the B17, B24, P38, B29, Black Widow and B25 all used the engine's mechanically driven single stage supercharger to around 9 or 10,000 ft, after that when the boost level would start to drop the pilot would start pushing the boost lever foreward a little at a time which would close the wastegate dumps and divert exhaust to the turbo to spool it up and then it would start feeding the engines single stage centrifugal supercharger. Most WW2 war planes that you see flying in air shows in this day and age that used that type of system don't even have functional turbo's, since the planes don't have working oxygen system's in them there's no point in going through the expense of locating and maintaining functioning turbo's for them, of the 5 airworthy P47's in the world I know of 2 of them that don't have working turbo's and one that does, the other two I haven't been able to inquire about yet.

[@KPearce57]

They did that all without Cad-Cam or a calculator, Slide Rule and pencils .

[@lariweck8726]

CAD won't ever replace the ability to visualising and imagination, the two most important tools for engineers.

[@machia0705]

Seasoned engineers being replaced by computer geeks and dedicated company administrators being replaced by bean counters. The story of the 737MAX.

[@machia0705]

MichaelKingsfordGray Coward?

[@daszieher]

which makes it impressive, since CAD-CAM, especially numerical simulation makes it possible today, to persistently get closer to engineering limits in a manner that was impossible back then. engines could have been made lighter and way more efficient, if certain technology would have been avaialble. imagine how planes would have been able to perform with special alloys and better heat management, tighter clearances and smaller tolerances.

[@machia0705]

daszieher CAD-CAM is a great tool if put in the hands of the right person. I’m a civil engineer. I know biotech engineers, architects and structural engineers. We all agree that technological arrogance is alive and well due to reliance. Of course this is a general observation. But you’re correct. Imagine if those designers in the 1930’s etc had our tools. Those people had incredible imagination and knew how to use tools. It was a different breed, generally speaking.

[@AviationAtWar]

This is outstanding stuff, thank you for posting this!

[@titanprime6176]

In all honesty, just sitting and hearing this man’s voice, while driving at 6 AM on a Sunday morning to work is the most relaxing thing.

[@Titan500J]

I was lucky enough to have two great engineer's as my mentor's, one was my father. I always been fascinated how an engineer like your father can draw up plans for a complex machine then build it. Hats off to to him!

[@tomfey6020]

Carl Breer was an extremely innovative engineer. www.google.com/books/edition/The_Birth_of_Chrysler_Corporation_and_It/_djEK2wqmAIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover

[@kenney5454]

@@tomfey6020 Thanks for Posting, I found it very interesting and close to my family roots from the Black Forest hand carving coo-coo clocks to America starting a successful business fitting newly built churches with beautiful wooden pews, crosses and doors.

[@festungkurland9804]

I did not think the p47 could look more massive, but here we are. That is pretty cool.

[@dwgallmann630]

What a beast that would have been had it entered the war. Thank you Tom for sharing this moment in history.

[@tomfey6020]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. A lot of engineering was spent on the project and I'm glad it got to fly; even happier the film exists.

[@shermanmace3773]

All I've ever seen of this plane is the one picture of it sitting on the ramp. Thank you for sharing this very rare film with us.

[@tomfey6020]

It is a rare gem of a video.

[@JohnCunningham-sy5ug]

P47 is my favorite WWII aircraft primary because of the double wasp 2800 which made it so durable. This video is really interesting thanks.

[@sidefx996]

Fantastic stuff! Thank you so much for posting and sharing!

[@firefightergoggie]

So glad I seen this. I had no idea this plane or engine existed. Good looking plane too.

[@darkknight1340]

It made the Thunderbolt look more sharklike than the me262.

[@bret9741]

I think the radial in the p-47 is what made it great for CAS. But how interesting. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I always thought the P-47 was beautiful. Thank you so much for posting and the history behind this

[@paulnorman3709]

It looks alot like a BF109.

[@darkknight1340]

@@paulnorman3709 Yes,it does,it also looks a lot like the Hurricane.

[@darkknight1340]

@@bret9741 The big radial gave the thunderbolt plenty of power and,unlike the inline engines,there was no coolant system to worry about,a big advantage in a dogfight.I read a critique of the battle of Britain and it stated that of up to 30% of the spitfires and hurricanes lost, the cause was a hit in a radiator or glycol line.

[@bret9741]

@@darkknight1340 I flew commercially for many years a long time ago. Most of the captains I flew with when I started were Vietnam era pilots. Several flew the A-1. That platform was very similar to the P-47. They favored the radial even over turbine OV-10. I believe a modern radial CAS platform would be a better alternative to nations looking at AT-6 and Super Tacano. I’d probably look closely at the P-47 or the final version F-2G-2 Corsair. Tail staggers still have an advantage on dirt and rough runways.

[@88SC]

Great to see the color footage! Thanks, Tom!

[@southronjr1570]

The radial engine has one advantage that no water cooled engine ever could and that was durability. By neccesity liquid cooled engines have to have a radiator and lines running to and from it that would kill the engine if they were so much as nicked. The radiator has to be open to the air, meaning bullets and shrapnel can, and did, find their way to it. Meanwhile, radial engines can and have often returned their aircrew back to base with serious battle damage including the loss of multiple entire pistons.

[@TRUTHandLIGHT4809]

All P47 success can be traced back to the radial engine.

[@Tremolux59]

Yes. The air cooled engines did not need a radiator. But the all did have an oil cooler. Nick that or an oil line and you get the same end result. There were a number of very successful liquid cooled aircraft. P38, P39, P40, P51, Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster, BF109, TA152, Do335. It can be argued that the liquid cooled engines were more efficient and more reliable.

[@southronjr1570]

Yeah but the inline engines had those same oil coolers and line, just with a raditor, you have a bunch more, and larger diameter lines that will kill her. Beside, I have only ever heard of one instance of an inline engine carrying on after having a cylinder blown out of it and that was on a Dodge half track. Yes there were many instances of inline engined aircraft performing exceptionally well at all aspects of air power, my point was that many of the radials were just plain out tougher in general when it came to battle damage. One point also, the absolute tip top of the spear of prop driven ground attack aircraft used an amazing radial, the Douglas Sky Raider. Heck it wasn't replaced in service until the 19 70's in the US and later in other countries specifically as a ground attack plane.

[@glenn1035]

Correct, the radial engine was the ultimate in battle damage durability that's why the U.S.Navy specified only radial engines in their aircraft and all USAAF bombers were radial engine equipped. This meant the Allison was the only American V12 liquid cooled combat aircraft engine and it's funding for development was very limited. Ford built a similar aircraft engine but when the defense department declined it was cut down to a V8 (the GAA tank engine) ever wonder why the M4A3 Sherman had an all aluminum 4-valve per cylinder overhead cam engine with dual ignition, because it started as an aircraft engine.

[@1badhaircut]

You guys are all correct regarding durability etc - however this would have been the final Gen evolution of piston power air-superiority - before the P-80 would be ready.

[@RamblerMan68]

Outstanding, thanks so much for sharing this overlooked piece of history!!!

[@ThomasDoubting5]

The irony is that the the Hawker sea fury is largely widely considered to be height of piston powered fighters , and it had a radial engine .. this video is great

[@WildBillCox13]

Interesting stuff. Glad you got it into form for posting.

[@stokerboiler]

After January 1945, the USAAF and RAF had access to 150 octane leaded avgas. You had to change spark plugs after every mission. The stuff was about 40% tetraethyllead, but 150 motor octane is impressive.

[@tomfey6020]

Performance Number 130 and 115/145 fuels did indeed improve engine power via their resistance to detonation under higher boost levels, but even with these fuels, boost had to be regulated below critical altitudes. PN 115/145 fuel had 4.9 grams of lead (via TEL) per US gallon, and fouled plugs at low powers were very much an issue.

[@wes11bravo]

@@tomfey6020 - re: fouled plugs - Paul Fussell wrote about how massive a problem this was in Europe, how it was solved by unit level mechanics who initiated a program that was expanded theater-wide to systematically sandblast then reissue hundreds of thousands of fouled plugs. Fussell cites the ingenuity of this operation as being uniquely American, one of the reasons the US was victorious against Nazi Germany.

[@tomfey6020]

@@wes11bravo Thanks. Fouled plugs were not mentioned a major issue with the XI-2220 during test flight. The ignition problems were related to altitude. The 60 degree V-16 required unique Wico magnetos, turbo surging would occur around the same time as the ignition problems would arise, so they had a whole lot of gremlin-chasing to do. Things were never sorted out during the +/- 18 hours of flight testing before the program was cancelled.

[@OuttaHere7]

Fabulous! Thank-you for posting this historical footage!!!

[@gryfandjane]

Fascinating! I’d never heard of this aircraft, so thanks for the info. The films are outstanding... a real slice of history.

[@alanbare8319]

You can see one of these engines at the New England ir Museum in Windsor Locks, CT.

[@mpetersen6]

Chrysler has one on display as well as the USAF museum at Wright Patterson. The experimental engine that never got fully developed that I would really like to hear run is the Wright Tornado. 42 cylinders with around the same displacement as the Chrysler. One insanely complex beast. And they seriously thought about making a 56 or 72 cylinder version. Wanna gap and change the plugs?

[@oxcart4172]

@@mpetersen6 they should get it running

[@antonioiavarone5928]

Was there in '08 have been planning to go back ever since.

[@oxcart4172]

Nobody ever seems to get them running in the states unless it's going to be fitted to an aircraft being restored to fly

[@walterheinen5298]

Thanks !! I never know that model existed. Very cool. You guys made the Jug beautiful!!

[@P61guy61]

Excellent. Thank you for posting.

[@Skinflaps_Meatslapper]

WOW, talk about some amazing rare footage! I never thought I'd ever see this plane in a video, much less in color!

[@gustavodeibarrapilot]

They were the most in piston engines Spectacular to see today.

[@anthonywilson4873]

Napier Sabre 24 cylinder. Twin crank double flat twelve. One ton engine 2400hp. Test bench model had 5000hp. Jets killed it.

[@kl0wnkiller912]

I read about this aircraft many years ago but have not seen many images except one of it sitting on a ramp in profile. Thanks for this! Well done. This and the P-40Q were always planes of interest to me when I was younger.

[@tomfey6020]

Our thanks to the Breer family for sharing it.

[@racketman2u]

Somehow it's not really a "Jug" without that big old radial up front.

[@WarblesOnALot]

G'day, Mate, that thing was literally, "As Ugly as A Hatful of Arseholes...!" And, historically Aerodynamically Squeaking...; If it Looks RIGHT, Then it IS Right - And it'll Fly RIGHT... Therefore Thus & Because...; This was a One-off, a Waste of Time, Wasted Materials, Wasted Effort... Not EVER Worth Repeating. Regardless of what the people who were PAID to build it..., might have told their Chillblains - many years later... Romanticising about the Dayze of their long lost Youth. Such is life. Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

[@kellygraham4451]

No it was more like a bottle or maybe even a vase with that V 16 in there but it hauled ass though.

[@danawilkes6174]

From the drawing near the end of the video. I would have renamed it the Thunderbolt Shark...

[@henrikcarlsen1881]

Instead they got radiators and fluids to deal with. It probably equaled out the advantages.

[@dyer2cycle]

..No,... it was different enough that they should have given it it's own new designation...sort of like when they re-designated the P-47 with an R-4360 engine the "XP-72"....

[@chpman2013]

This is truly amazing footage.

[@nhra7110]

Thank you for sharing this history!

[@tomfey6020]

You are most welcome. The definitive story on the Chrysler XI-2220 engine is available here: weakforcepress.com/CAE/CAE_3e.shtml

[@walterward8164]

Thanks to your dad's service then and now. And your consideration to share.

[@antstephenson9497]

Just amazing. You must be very proud. thanks for sharing, just amazing.

[@shawnkelley9942]

Thank you for this video.

[@texasknight5175]

The art deco beauty of the machines of this era is...heart warming.

[@Yeeter_Inbound]

Thanks for sharing! This is quite an interesting aircraft! The p47 is my favorite ww2 fighter.

[@SMichaelDeHart]

My father was a Flightline Engineer and Mechanic on the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in the South Pacific Campaign. He passed in '06, but never knew about this version. He loved the Jug's.

[@tomfey6020]

They only built two experimental XP-47H aircraft, and they didn't fly until after VE day. But it is an interesting airplane. God Bless the Greatest Generation.

[@TalkingGIJoe]

great vid! thanks for sharing!

[@tankertom3243]

Just found this. i have been an avid model builder for years and have always loved the odd ball and one-off experimental stuff. This will be a project for me in the near future.

[@wayvicle]

What a great film about a rare and beautiful aircraft. Thank you.

[@karlkleimenhagen9918]

Thank you. Quite enjoyable.

[@PATRIK67KALLBACK]

Great footage!

[@chackos123]

So COOL!! I'd LOVE to here audio of this engine!! Truly amazing...........and thank you for sharing!

[@tomfey6020]

All thanks to the Breer family, Glad you like it.

[@muskepticsometimes9133]

Great video many thanks.

[@davidhoy8997]

That is outstanding! My Dad was in the US Army Air Corp at that time. The P 47 was his favorite, we trapsd around to any place we could find one. He never mentioned the. XP47. I gotta believe he did not know about it. Amazing! Thanks for putting that out there.

[@jimburig7064]

That poor P-47 looks totally frankensteined out with that huge liquid-cooled monster in it.

[@marklittle8805]

It would have been a beast and fast

[@jimburig7064]

What cranks your prop, @Frank Sisson.

[@dieselscience]

Over one horsepower per cubic inch is not just remarkable, it's astounding for anything of the time. It's still a good achievement today.

[@tomfey6020]

I agree. The engine achieved the 2,500 horsepower goal on the test stand, but getting that performance in flight required development time and resources that were no longer allotted for this size of engine.

[@Rev6044]

I have just worked out the Brake Mean Effective Pressure for that thing. 1800kPa, versus 1700kPa for the Merlin 61. It was more powerful because of its larger displacement, and because it revved fast, 3500rpm, versus a pretty fast 3000rpm for the Merlin.

[@thethirdman225]

@@Rev6044 It was also about 30% larger in capacity than any Merlin. BMEP may tell you the relative efficiency but that’s really all. Greg’s Airplanes and Automobiles channel looked at why British engines were able to achieve more power for their capacity than anyone else and yes, the answer is in their pressure ratios. Unfortunately, Greg talks about it using mostly inches of mercury, which I have absolutely no understanding of. Even if he’d done it in lbs of boost, I’d have understood it better.

[@Rev6044]

@@thethirdman225 I noted the larger displacement. Pressure in the cylinder at top dead centre (TDC) is atmospheric pressure, plus supercharger boost, plus the effect of compression ratio. Note how there are multiple ways to work with this. BMEP is the average (mean) pressure _after_ ignition, calculated from brake power. It gives you an idea of what the engine is doing, separate from displacement and RPMs.

[@Rev6044]

@@thethirdman225 The Merlin was powerful because it turned at relatively high RPMs, and it eventually was fed high octane fuel. It was successful because they developed a two-stage supercharger for it, making it effective at high altitude. The Allison V1710 was only slightly bigger and it turned at the same speed, and it put out similar power at low altitudes. I am hoping Greg will look into the low altitude Seafires (LIIC and LIIIC) with their "cropped" superchargers. Their critical altitudes were at around 6000ft, and they had excellent performance below 9000ft. They sent less power to the supercharger, and more to the propeller, at least until they climbed above 6000ft.

[@buythematicket]

I've come to fully believe there are those that go from video to video on KZbin just to NOT LIKE. These people must lead sad lives.

[@clark9992]

I know what you mean. No matter how well executed a video is, how uncontroversial the subject matter, you will always find the dislikes. People are weird.

[@Yosemite-George-61]

This is gold... Thanks a lot !

[@tomfey6020]

I agree! My thanks go to the Breer family that allowed me to post it.

[@wes11bravo]

Always loved the P-47 Razorback, kind of an unsung plane, excellent for close air support. I never knew about this variant - thanks for sharing!

[@joshuajury5481]

A fantastic fighter as well. It was the main fighter during the early air war in Europe and was instrumental in killing off the majority of the Luftwaffe's experienced fighter corps. By the time the P-51 was introduced they were mostly flying against rookies because of the Thunderbolt.

[@thethirdman225]

Nothing unsung about it. Now somewhat overrated, thanks to some selective information out there. You should have seen the Wikipedia page a few years ago!

[@thethirdman225]

@@joshuajury5481 Yeah, this is all part of the disinformation wave that’s out there. If you read Galland’s book, _’The First and the Last’,_ he barely mentions the P-47, despite his own brother being shot down and killed by a P-47 (flown by Walker ‘Bud‘ Mahurin). The two aircraft that gave the RLM nightmares were the British Mosquito and the P-51.

[@williamstel9330]

Great music accompaniment with a great video.

[@martentrudeau6948]

A very nice and interesting plane I didn't know about.

[@shawnbeckmann1847]

Awesome and interesting video thanks for sharing.

[@tomfey6020]

A gift for the ages from the Breer family.

[@tracylemme1375]

I thought I had an original idea in mounting two V-8s flywheel to flywheel and using a driveshaft and reduction gear to drive the prop. I guess I was about 75 years too late. Your dad must have been one great man.

[@tomfey6020]

Tracy, thanks. My understanding is that Chrysler was not the first to use this type of drive system, but likely the first to use it to carry 2,500 horsepower. I'm just the poster of this video and no relation to the Breer family. But Carl Breer was indeed a genius.

[@markcantemail8018]

Thank you for the Video . I had no idea they made this engine or used the P47 Airframe to make this happen .

[@tomfey6020]

My pleasure. Our thanks to the Breer family for allowing this to be posted as well as author Kim McCutcheon for writing the definitive book on the XI-2220 and the XP-47H.

[@kennedysingh3916]

Watched from Jamaica, very interesting.

[@samhouston1673]

Thanks for this History gem.

[@juanasanelli6831]

Muchas gracias por este video No conocia de la historia de este motor Chrysler ,una maravilla de la ingenieria

[@oscarjonesxxx2893]

Excellent - thank you

[@thomaslittera3395]

My dad worked at republic in experimental..helped build PX P 72 ..just a little late for piston engines..!!!

[@tomfey6020]

If you have any anecdotes on the XP-72 I'd love to hear them . Thanks. TF

[@clutchpedalreturnsprg7710]

Cool.

[@benhudman7911]

Excellent history!!

[@paulslevinsky580]

that is a very clever engine arrangement!!!

[@briansilcox5720]

Hi Tom... I miss our get togethers... great subject, great film.

[@tomfey6020]

Brian! Oh man, me, too. Tried to put a meeting together for Oct. 2020; Ka-Boom. But plan to have a meeting in Dearborn this time next year.

[@jacobaubertin645]

This film is better than some 1995 vhs tapes I've seen. I was really into it.

[@ditzydoo4378]

Super to see this to see. I had no idea this existed. but then again there were a lot of late war developments that were a day late and a dollar short with the war winding down and the rapid development of the jets that were been developed along side these experimental aircraft. The idea of two eight cylinder tied together at the middle has many merits in easing production costs, but when set along side the late war radials of the period such as the 2800 double wasp. the radials were just so much more robust and simple to build and maintain.

[@clintmullins4406]

The r2800 was capable of 2900hp by 1945. They were turbocharged and methanol injected. More power was available but at a cost of shortening the life of the engine. Republic was able during the war to send kits to update the planes throughout the war as higher octane fuel became available. The mechanics were then available to increase the boost available to the pilot. Robert Johnson’s plane was noted to be one of the “turned up” examples.

[@andyharman3022]

I never thought I would get to see film of this engine running. I did see the XIV-2220 in the Chrysler Museum at the Auburn Hills Tech Center about 8 years ago. But now that building has been converted to be the Alfa Romeo North American headquarters.

[@tomfey6020]

Yep, pretty cool, with thanks to the Breer family.

[@crushingvanessa3277]

To bad these old films never had sound, would love to hears this thing. Must have been loud.

[@tomfey6020]

It would be great to have heard what the engine sounded like. But like the R-2800 powered P-47, the XI-2220 engined XP-47H exhausted through a collector exhaust through long pipes to the turbocharger located in the aft fuselage. There were waste gates located low on the fuselage on both sides, near the leading edge of the wing. The collector exhaust, long pipes, and turbo exit may have quieted the exhaust quite a bit over the individual stacks used for some of the test stand work.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@tomfey6020 It would be loud on the ground, like the regular P47 the turbo wouldn't have been used until around 9,000 ft or so, unless of course they were taking off in WEP which they only did on short improvised runways, below 10,000 ft the wastegate dumps would actually be the exhaust. Most of the WW2 aircraft including some of the P47's that fly in this day and age don't even have functional turbo's in them, some just have ballast in their place to keep the CG of the aircraft correct, the B17's and the one flying B24 don't have them, they're too expensive to find working one's and maintain them since the aircraft don't have working oxygen system's in them anyway's it's pointless to bother with the turbo's since the engines single stage supercharger does the job up to 10,000 ft anyways.

[@tomfey6020]

@@dukecraig2402 , thank you.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@tomfey6020 What really makes me curious about that plane is that in July of 1945 it has such an early airframe, that's a modified P47B with it's razorback and split windshield with the bar down the center, they must have started on that project pretty early or you'd think it'd have a later airframe like at least a D. The B's were so early none of them were even used in combat as far as I know, the 56th Fighter Group who is supposedly the first unit to use them in combat trained on the B's in the States but got the C when they got to England in 1942, the B's were left behind for training additional crews. I'd really like to know the backstory as to why that was built on such an early airframe.

[@tomfey6020]

@@dukecraig2402 , according to Kim McCutcheon's book, negotiations for the installation of the Chrysler engine into a P-47B airframe were begun in January 1942. Extreme delays in producing a flightworthy engine meant work on airframe conversion didn't start until September 1944 in Evansville, Indiana. I can find no explanation why -B's were used instead of later models of the P-47, but I'll posit that the engineering drawings were done based on the -B so they had to stick with them. Curiously, some of the period documents state the XP-47H would be a revision of the P-47-D-15 specification aircraft. The P-47 airframe served as a test bed for the engine because it was the only airframe big enough to handle all the plumbing required by the engine and turbocharger. The XP-47H was not an effort to improve or expand the performance of the P-47; it was simply a test bed airframe for engine development. The two airframes converted to XP-47H configuration were 42-23297 and 42-23298.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Super rare clip of a super rare aircraft.

[@ericulrik6659]

Amazing footage. Wish we could hear the roar. I’d rather fly that than a jet any day. What a glorious BEAST !!

[@JamesAllmond]

I would truly like one of those engines...

[@jerrysolomon7623]

this was the first HEMI engine

[@Yosemite-George-61]

I was about to comment... too bad Don Garlits wasn't there... :-)

[@88SC]

First Chrysler hemi. All the Pratt and Whitney and Wright radials, before and after this, were hemis as well.

[@LeachimSagrav333]

That thing got a hemi?...yeah, my P-47 does also😂

[@mpetersen6]

There were any number of Hemi engines before and since. The Jag was a hemi. Hell, I had a freakin' Renault that had a Hemi in it. It had the cam so high in the block the timing chain and sprocket were partially above the deck of the block. Extremely short pushrods.

[@Mercmad]

@@mpetersen6 Chysler used a lot of the information gained from building that engine to design the 331 Hemi ,plus copying a lot of design features from the ARDUN conversion heads. There is a story about the presence of a Ardun head in the office of a Chrysler engineer. The first Hemi head Engine was the Peugeot Grand prix engine.

[@peterszar]

With that aerodynamic cowl you'd never know it was a P-47. The telltale signs being the vertical stabilizer and the dorsal and canopy junction area. Very cool video.

[@boydgrandy5769]

And the sheer size. The Jug was the all time biggest single seat, single engine fighter of WWII. That includes Tempests and Typhoons.

[@jimburig7064]

The P-47 with it's air cooled radial engine could stay in the air and get the pilot home with incredible battle damage. The same air frame with a liquid cooled engine would be highly vulnerable to battle damage forcing the pilot to bail out, possibly behind enemy lines.

[@tomfey6020]

The XP-47H was a test bed for a new engine, not a fighter prototype. Only the P-47 aircraft had enough room for all the equipment associated with this engine installation.

[@jimburig7064]

Agreed, the Jug was the biggest fighter and appropriate test bed for this huge, liquid cooled engine, @@tomfey6020. But you have missed my point

[@tomfey6020]

@@jimburig7064 , thank you, and I do understand your point regarding the durability of aircraft with air-cooled radial engines compared to liquid-cooled engines. But it is a complicated dynamic during wartime. Several attack aircraft that operated in the "high risk for battle damage" arena were both liquid-cooled and quite successful in their time (II-2, Ju-87). I would agree that naval operations strongly favored the the use of air-cooled radial engines.

[@jimburig7064]

I'm not knocking any of these aircraft, @@tomfey6020. They were all engineering marvels. I was merely stating that the ones with plumbing were more vulnerable to being shot up. An example of that Chrysler engine was on display when the Walter P. Chrysler Museum was open in Auburn Hills, MI. As for the P-47 that was the chosen testbed for this huge power plant, I don't think the plane benefited from this engine at all. It looks like a nose over waiting to happen just sitting there.

[@ImpendingJoker]

@@jimburig7064 But the two examples he cited were not vulnerable to ground fire really. They were flying tanks. Most of those lost were due to fighters not ground fire. Had this gone into production, I am sure that they would have beefed up the armor. Also on that note, the P-40(liquid cooled), the P-39/P-400(liquid cooled) both excelled in the ground attack role, and usually came back shot up but brought the pilots home alive to fly again. So, I'd say your initial argument has been shot full of holes. Keep the blue side up.

[@marklittle8805]

Too bad we didn't have the audio of this beast. It was just an engine that time passed by with Jets

[@robertguttman1487]

Despite the long nose, not only is this clearly a P-47, but it is also an early "razor-back" example. Why did nothing ever come of this powerful, new engine? The answer is that it took so long to develop it that, by this time, jet engines were already in existence and Republic was already developing their first jet fighter, the F-84 "Thunderjet".

[@davidrose6375]

I had the pleasure of seeing that engine in Feb '03 when I attended the Birthday Party of the 50th anniversary of the HEMI at the Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI

[@curtiscooper3546]

This is just amazing! Thankyou so much for sharing this gem with us, I had no idea of chrysler's involvement in war time engine developments, and so appreciate the time and effort you made to bring this to light. The pride you feel for your father's work is obvious, and well founded. Thankyou, sir!

[@karlbishop7481]

Chrysler built more Wright radials during the war than Wright did. They redesigned some components to make them more reliable. Chrysler built a lot of wartime products from Pom Pom guns to tank engines. Radials were also used as tank engines. Chrysler also developed a practical way of enriching uranium for the Manhattan Project. It is too bad that Chrysler is only a shell of what it once was.

[@martinrigggs500]

They could have mounted 6 20mm cannons on that bad boy or went 2 50’s and 2 20mm’s on each wing to replace the 8 50’s and that was the prototype so you know it they would have made her a lot more beautiful than she already was

[@danbenson7587]

The Smithsonian has this engine. Actually engine, nacelle, and firewall which was just cut off the front of this plane. I saw it 20 years ago at the Silver Hill facility and guess it’s now in a closet at Dulles. As someone noted below, it laid Chrysler’s foundation in their hemihead engines to come. However, it’s arguable the radial engines of the day were hemis, so it’s not Chrysler’s idea. If you did not catch it, the engine is two V8s with a transfer gearbox spliced between. The box had a series of spur gears so the drive shaft centerline cleared the front engine. The drive shaft went forward to the propeller gearbox. V8 tooling is much easier to make than a long V16s. Good video on a very interesting subject. Cheers

[@tomfey6020]

Thanks. There are photographs of two of the three surviving engines at then end of the video. The third engine is in the collection of the former Walter P. Chrysler Museum.

[@johncrispin2118]

Snozzle lol ! Thankyou a remarkable document which exemplifies the horsepower race of the late thirties and ww2 period , as the commentary Mentions eclipsed by jet power but brought the piston engine and fuel technology on so much all our cars, motorbikes have benefitted since. Recommend Callum Douglas’s book “the secret horsepower race” which particularly documents the German aero engines but also gives valuable Insight into the efforts of the allies including Chrysler..

[@leeharrison2722]

This history is fascinating, as the twilight of piston fighters, though none of the people involved likely had any idea what was coming. This was one of the "super props," none of which ever turned into a successful combat aircraft, though the Bearcat (sort of a super prop) did enter production.

[@joecaldwell9906]

Very nice

[@nickdecarlis4108]

Truly amazing that this footage exists in such nice quality -- thanks for digitizing and sharing. I sure with your father has taken footage of the Republic XP-72 with the counter-rotating props! Was hw involved with those two prototypes as well?

[@tomfey6020]

Wouldn't that be nice! The photographer of this film, Carl Breer, was a co-founder and Director of Engineering at Chrysler. The XI-2220 was Chrysler's WWII foray into aircraft powerplants. As far as I know, he was not associated with other Republic Aviation projects. But you never know what is out there hiding in those 16 mm film cans...

[@tomfey6020]

No XP-72, but you can find a snippet of the contra-prop Curtiss XP-60C @ 5:50 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJmXqH1oacqIhtk

[@paoloviti6156]

@@tomfey6020 thanks for sharing also the "profile of Test Pilot" as I found it very interesting as well!

[@Buck1954]

AMAZING!

[@jocrp6]

I'm not a big Mopar fan,, But I would love to have a V16! ;-)

[@djcjr1x1]

Not a mopar fan but with a mopar lover as a profile pic Ironically.

[@Hopeless_and_Forlorn]

The "I" in the designation means it is an inverted engine, not inline. Otherwise, it would have had a "V" designation. With all that plumbing for the liquid cooling, it is probably a good thing it was never sent over enemy territory. Unlike the air cooled R-2800, which frequently brought its pilot home with cylinders blown off, this thing could probably have been shot down with a Luger pistol.

[@Rev6044]

Ya' know, somehow P-51 Mustangs survived missions.

[@Rev6044]

@Stuart Aaron Actually, the high altitude fighter was the Thunderbolt. The turbocharger was awesome at 30000ft. At low level, it was disconnected and represented nothing more than weight and drag. In testing in Great Britain, the Thunderbolt was inferior to the Fw190 below 15000ft, and superior above 20000ft.

[@tomfey6020]

Chrysler might argue that in 1940 when the engine program began, and with a projected first flight in 1943, their intent was to produce an American engine to supercede the performance of the RR Merlin. By the time they cut modification metal on the XP-47H in September 1944, it was clear that the XI-2220 was too late for everything.

[@allangibson8494]

The problem was the Rolls Royce Griffin had already left it in the dust in 1940 and the Derwent and Nene were in production by 1943…

[@ZuluLifesaBeech-]

Thanks for posting this. Wonder if this would kept pace with the Me 262?

[@tomfey6020]

No, I don't think so. The Me-262, at that time, was in a class all by itself.

[@stephenandloriyoung5716]

In a Motor or Chilton Auto Repair Manual, I came across an upside down drawing of an engine. So I (smarty-pants) wrote a note that it was the overhead crankshaft model. Then I saw, in the Bush Plane Museum in Sault Ste. Marie, ON, planes with engines with the crankshaft at the top - the better to align with a high propeller. So I guess "inverted" in the description is about this arrangement - overhead crankshaft.

[@markrozenberg7959]

Messerschmitt also used inverted engines, including the Mercedes motor in the 109.

[@paulopinto4127]

Em 1962/3, eu servia no Segundão em SC. Seu Cmt, Maj Ary Bezerra, criou um teste mensal sobre os mais variados assuntos. Por acaso, eu havia acabado de receber uma coletânea de quatro livretos com todos os Caças desenvolvidos na época da Guerra (William Green). E eu contribuí com duas perguntas de identificação do XP47H e do J. Claro que ninguém tinha ideia da estória desses XP47H e J, este, inclusive, foi recordiste de velocidade com 504 mph. Quem diria que passados 60 anos, o filho de um projetista da Chrysler envolvido na criação do motor XI2220 nos brincaria com um filme do primeiro voo do avião. Um belo projeto, mas o jato já estava no forno e ele não evoluiu.

[@tomfey6020]

Obrigado pelos comentários. Há uma série de erros factuais na narração, e o filme não é do primeiro voo. A primeira aeronave XP-47H de voo não tinha os porta-malas de entrada de carneiro estendidos na fuselagem traseira. Mas não importa, é um filme maravilhoso generosamente compartilhado pela família Breer. Thanks for the comments. There are a number of factual errors in the narration, and the film is not from the first flight. The first flying XP-47H aircraft did not have the ram-inlet trunks extended into the rear fuselage. But no matter, it's a wonderful film generously shared by the Breer family.

[@recoilrob324]

Developing another piston engine this late in the war didn't make any sense...so the explanation that it was started in '42 but had problems and was delayed seems appropriate. By the time it flew it was obvious to all involved that making more power wasn't going to increase speeds very much at all because the propeller was the limiting factor. You could double the power but only marginally increase the speed because the prop must stay subsonic at the tips...so approaching trans-sonic airspeed means the prop rotation had to be slowed down as the rotational speed was added to the forward speed relative to the prop tips. That is really hard to imagine but the faster you go the slower you can turn the prop or it becomes very inefficient which sucks the power rather than increasing the speeds. Late in the War the Corsair was experimentally given the P&W 4360 which was the same diameter as the 2800 just longer....so they were able to stretch the cowling and stuff it in! About double the power with basically the same drag...and the top speed was only marginally increased...again due to the prop becoming so inefficient at high speeds that they were already reaching with the existing 2000+ hp engines. Fun times but the only way for a true quantum leap in speed was the jet...which were being built and developed so props would be hereafter relegated to lower speed duties where they work well.

[@peterroberts505]

So Cool.

[@bobdyer422]

Well, those "N" models rolling along the tarmac in the background had an R-2800 that could develop 2,800 HP. Plus no clumsy radiators. So the HEMI had to wait a bit before it's fame. No it didn't outperform existing "N" models. There was also a P-74 that could easily do 500 mph, the 47H couldn't come close. Beside that, great color vid.

[@jsullivan9238]

All the radials and most of the V-engines had hemispherical chambers. Chrysler was simply the first to use them on passenger vehicles in the 1950s.

[@4wazza]

Imagine that at a tractor pull lol ... very cool colour motion pictures

[@hadleymanmusic]

My Grandfather Glen Mc Intyre flew a jug. Flew a mustang for the marines in korea too.

[@ThreenaddiesRexMegistus]

It would have been a world beater had it been introduced. Great looking plane. 👍🏻

[@AEHSvideo]

The prolonged and troubled development of the Chrysler engine was in a race of technology and performance against the jet engine. The jet won.

[@martinmoffitt4702]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! LOVED IT!!! where is the footage from???

[@tomfey6020]

Thanks. As noted on the lead graphic, the film was shot by Chrysler Director of Engineering Carl Breer in Evansville, Indiana during the flight test program in mid 1945. The family had the film transferred to VHS tape, narrated, then digitized. I became aware of the film via a Chrysler engineer named Paul Wise. I tracked down the heirs of Carl Breer and they kindly granted permission to share the footage on You Tube.

[@richardhertz1989]

I'm 69 and grew up in Huntington Long Island . Back when I was a kid my Dad and many of my neighbors worked on defense and space related programs. A slide rule would be a common item in their shirt pockets .I was interested in the background showing 1940's Long Island. It was a great place to grow up.

[@Jimbo-in-Thailand]

@richard hertz - I'm your age and slide rules or 'slip sticks' as they were affectionately known were still in use by the late 1960s and early 1970s. I took a mechanical drafting class my first year in college in late 1969 and we were taught the basics of the mighty _slip stick._ Having just graduated high school it sure seemed high tech at the time! :)

[@richardhertz1989]

@@Jimbo-in-Thailand They always amazed me and my Dad taught me some basics on how to use it. I became a printer so I didn't use one for my job . But what I chose for a trade is almost as obsolete.