The Secret Behind German Engine Performance: GM-1 and MW-50

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Thanks to a kind Patreon (thanks Damsteri!), it has been pointed out to me that my insert at 08:23 (1 Staffel = 12 planes) **could** be a bit confusing. A Staffel in the organizational sense is a sub unit of a Gruppe, which itself is a sub-unit of a Geschwader, on paper around this time it should have 12 aircraft - hence my insert for your reference. The name drops of Galland, Mölders and Wick add a bit of a question mark, since all three (eventually) commanded a Geschwader during this time, with Galland being the last to achieve the indicated rank of the document (Oberstleutnant) in Nov. 1940. If they would still be commanding a Staffel, the answer would have been obvious since their name would then identify the appropriate Staffel (ex. 3./JG1). The Luftwaffe also used the word 'Staffel' in a **less** literally, meaning a air unit of indeterminate size in a more general sense. As such, the document could be talking about 3 aircraft (Stab of the Jagdgeschwader, loosely called a 'Staffel'), potentially even a Gruppe, or indeed 12 planes (+Stab of JG ?) in the literal sense of a single Staffel within a Gruppe of the Geschwader (which is how I read it).

[@typxxilps]

Regarding the gm-1 production sites: Speyer was and is not a real industrial base, but if you go a bit north you will be in the middle of BASF in Ludwigshafen on the left side of the Rhein river, a huge industrial area nowadays and back then maybe just 25 km away of Speyer. And Frankfurt could mean IG Farben - another chemo industrial company that was capable to deliver the "ingredients"

[@ETALAL]

I'm not seeing the drawings match the explanation. First Mona is obviously code for Nitro methane, A liquid fuel. Using NOx gas appears on one of the performance graphs as a broken line, Next is methanol benzine GM 1 although it could be methanol and water, but that does not give much horse power, it does stop knocking so would help with reliability

[@Nipplator99999999999]

It's interesting how something German engineers pioneered to get an advantage during war, is used by myself to squeeze a few milliseconds out of my car on a dragstrip.

[@CalumDouglas]

@@ETALAL - 1) thats because you didnt even watch the video from start to finish

[@ronjon7942]

Thank you for this; helpful.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Tommorow's workout on the exercise bike will be 28 mins and 19 seconds. If Bismark would come out with videos everyday I would be thin. On a serious note, thanks for this, I'm looking forward to watching it. I'm just commenting early to help the youtube algorithm.

[@gato2]

Wow one of my favorite KZbins watches another of my favorites. Btw thank you very much Greg for your P-47 videos. I learned so much more about my favorite WW2 aircraft thanks to you!

[@ThermicLight]

You and Bismarck maybe should collaborate. You're both some of my favorite content creators on aviation. 😊

[@jeremykull7325]

@@ThermicLight i completely agree. I learnt so much thanks to greg and bismarck

[@ikeraguirre5865]

I love your deep dives on the P-47!

[@markfryer9880]

@@jeremykull7325 I will second that comment. They both have added immensely to the available knowledge of WWII aircraft and a collaboration between them would be superb.

[@misterbacon4933]

Real added value to have guests in this format!

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

happy to hear it!

[@ΑκαρνάνΚάππα]

I second it

[@saulekaravirs6585]

@@MilitaryAviationHistory The benefit of a guest speaker is that we get to hear the information directly from the expert, the benefit of no guest speaker is that we are used to hearing and understanding your speech patterns. But I do think that having Mr. Douglas on as a guest was good. As always, thank you for providing good content.

[@KamenosTypas]

Completely agree!

[@edking755]

Engines have always fascinated me from my pre-teens in New York state when my dad took us to little 1/4 mile oval dirt tracks in the late 1950's. At one track we went to there was a racer called "Doc" Hochter who had a 1937 Ford with a flathead V8 engine in it. He almost always won by slim margins, but if you watched his driving style, he was a patient but calculating racer, who never had to work real hard to win. My dad finally mention to me, watch his tailpipe. Sometimes the exhaust was orange, but when it came time to go to the front, it would turn to a blue flame and he just worked his way to the front....and won. Also when the exhaust changed color, the engine took on a different tone, and just purred. Almost 30 years later my brother actually met him after he had retired from racing. After a long talk he revealed to my brother that he had been a Technical Sargent in the US Army Air Corps. His job was to recover and examine German aircraft for new and unique technology. He was very well versed in supercharging, turbocharging, water/alcohol injection and nitrous injection. For many years, his 1937 Ford flathead engine had a hidden nitrous system, and his "fire extinguisher" was filled with "laughing gas" he got from his family dentist. This video assessment of German engine technology was an eye opener in terms of the terms "GM-1" and "MW-50" which I had never heard, but yet "Nitrous" and "Water Injection" were described in text books and were consider the hot new engine technologies of the the 1970, even though Oldsmobile sold high compression (11:1) performance vehicles in 1962-3 with water/alcohol injection to allow them to run on low octane gasoline.

[@Damathus]

Thanks for that delighting anecdote

[@livingadreamlife1428]

Fascinating.

[@steventoal6594]

History is so cool.!

[@DVBLEX]

cool story

[@cargo4441]

L

[@keitatsutsumi]

This felt like one of the prerecorded university lectures I’ve been watching lol, honestly I like how calm it is

[@NathanDudani]

Same

[@cannonfodder4376]

90% through Calum's book myself and it is splendidly captivating and informative. Answers to questions I always had, telling the story of something nobody really pays much attention to. And as a newly licensed A&P mechanic, I am glad I can begin to understand a good deal of the information. The new gold standard on this topic. I do hope you can have Calum on as a guest again later for more talks on engineering topics. Its an area that remains poorly understood by the masses and even myself. This was a collaboration I was looking and hoping to see, great work Bis and Calum.

[@matthiasklein9608]

If that is Frankfurt, H could mean Hoechst, This is a town near Frankfurt as well as the name of a chemical plant/company located in this town.

[@TorasLP]

And the one close to Speyer could be Oppau maybe? This place, at least nowadays, borders a large chemical factory (BASF)

[@matthiasklein9608]

@@TorasLP I thought of Oggersheim, but Oppau sounds much better. BASF produced nitrates in Oppau and laughing gas is made from ammonium nitrate.

[@jerry2357]

@@matthiasklein9608 There was an enormous ammonium nitrate explosion in Oppau in 1921.

[@hermes7587]

I had the same idea. Based of the relative position to the rivers Rhine and Main, "H" probably refers to the chemical plants at Hoechst/Frankfurt and "O" to the chemical plant near Ludwigshafen (formerly "IG Farben", today "BASF").

[@matthiasklein9608]

@@jerry2357 I know. As soon as Oppau was mentioned by Toras, i remembered it and knew he was probably right.

[@halsmith7633]

I'm about 3/4ths through Calum's book, and if you're into the very technical side of aircraft engines, it is a fascinating and thorough read.

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Agreed, I pre-ordered it early last year and very happy with the purchase

[@argh1989]

Does it contain anything you couldn't find out through online research? I'm wondering if it's worth picking up. It's a huge hardcover, so probably in the 50 EUR range? BTW if you don't know about it, check out the Soviet VK-107, that's an insane V12 design and reminds me of Lancia's Triflux concept.

[@halsmith7633]

@@argh1989 I don't want to say that a lot of the information couldn't be found online, like horsepower graphs and performance numbers, but the biggest points in the book are covering the how's and why's of different solutions the engine designers and materials engineers came up with and the problems they were trying to solve, of which many are not discussed online.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

@@argh1989 Hal Smith is right; the book's advantage is not just a collection of statistics and charts and graphs and pictures, but the analysis and explanation that goes along with them. Calum earned his royalties the old-fashioned way.

[@stacyobrien1729]

Absolutely a wonderful video session, it is great to have these types of questions explained by those of is who have done historical resurch on them. This was a very interesting and captivating video for me, thankyou, keep it coming!!!

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

I am really happy that Calum agreed to come on the channel and share his research, great to hear that you enjoyed it.

[@EmilBeli]

I just love all of those tech details that are not discussed or writen about frequently. As an aerospace engineer, I find this fascinating. Thank you!

[@taivaankumma]

Thanks to both Chris and Calum. I guess I'll just have to buy the book now 😄

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Credit goes to Calum Douglas, I didn't do anything ;)

[@michaelhawkins7389]

@@MilitaryAviationHistory where are you originally from ? and why did you move to the UK ? I am curious

[@ronjon7942]

Thank you, Chris and Calum, for collaborating on this topic. Calum, I’m becoming a fan of your work - I’ve heard you speak once or twice (prolly book tour?) and I really appreciate your preciseness, both in writing and speaking.

[@TacoSallust]

Guest speaker was good. This is the first time I've heard of Calum Douglas and I thought he did a great job of "intro-level" explanation of this subject.

[@rickriede2166]

The "hah hah process". Clearly,German humour is no laughing matter.

[@davidbrennan660]

If it is satisfactory, then no it is not.

[@billysolhurok5542]

Germans have a sense of humor? ;-)

[@billnu]

Nailed it.

[@IzmirWayne]

I think this is the reason it was actually a good codework. Since Brits assume Germans have no humor they wouldn't think of the word being a joke but rather some kind of technical term. This then isn't humor, it is exploitation of ones own stereotype. Btw: How many Germans does it take to change a light-bulb? One. Because they are technically able and not very funny.

[@isilder]

@@IzmirWayne but it was a technical term,it was laughing gas

[@slick4401]

Extremely interesting. Thanks Calum and Chris.

[@jacobakana5649]

Even your guests are fun to listen to! Excellent job explaining the systems. I love that you agreed to work together for the video!

[@gort8203]

Awesome and perfect timing! I have not yet finished reading this wonderful book, but I am completely enthralled by it. Mr. Douglas, this book is definitely filling a need, and I sincerely hope you are now writing another book. I would love to see you cover development of the large turbo-compound piston engines. I would also love to see you do a book on the development of motor racing engines, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. I would also request that you enlarge the graphs and diagrams so they can be read without a magnifier, and I will gladly pay a higher price for the extra pages.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

Yes, the graphs and charts are small, but a magnifying glass works wonders on most. The font in general is also pretty small for my tired old eyes, but the paper is good thick slick stock, making sure the ink doesn't run and making a magnifying glass feasible. The alternative of bigger charts and graphs and font could well have doubled the number of pages, making the book a lot more expensive, not to mention heavier. I think the author and/or publisher made the right trade-off.

[@flare2000x]

Great video, very informative. Calum really knows his stuff. Going to try and find a way to get a copy of his book out here in Canada!

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Hopefully it's possible!

[@agoodman1776]

Just checked it in Amazon its like $110, guess we'll just have to wait. I've added it to my wishlist anyway

[@philbosworth3789]

Greg has a very good video on the subject that is well worth watching.

[@mycroft1905]

Fabulous episode. Thanks Calum, thanks Chris. The Secret Horsepower Race is a cracking read. Cheers.

[@abeherbert6603]

This was very interesting indeed and I like the idea of more guest appearances from authors and historians. It gives us an insight into specific areas of military aviation history and also allows you to promote other contributors to the field which is always nice.

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

That's the idea, glad you enjoyed it :)

[@kiwihame]

Chris, great work getting Calum to give that summary. I've got his book and it's fantastic. Well worth buying. Well done both of you. Love your work.

[@NielMalan]

As a physical scientist I put a stamp of approval on the explanation of the mechanism by which GM1 and MW50 added power to the engines. Detailed and accurate.

[@greenpedal370]

What's a Physical Scientist?

[@Digiidude]

As compared.to.A.social.scientist... Say "heh Google" then repeat your question aloud for more detail 😏

[@greenpedal370]

@@Digiidude Don't be a complete idiot. You presuppose I have a smart phone? Besides you don't actually know what a physical scientist is either do you?

[@jamesjack6769]

Any relation to Sailor Malan, Niel?

[@NielMalan]

@@jamesjack6769 From the same stock, but no close family relationship.

[@AndrewH2791]

So neat to see an Author come on the channel and talk shop.

[@ShaneBaker]

Very interesting. If you can access presenters of Calum's quality, then bring them on! :-) Many thanks - and stay safe.

[@stevefowler2112]

Thanks so much for posting this...as a current AE who works for a large American defense contractor's Aero company I am always amazed at how advanced the Engineering was in the WWII aero engines. I also find it very interesting that while the Germans investigated NOS and WM injection the Brits and Americans used a mixture of Methanol and high octane gasoline from America to produce a super high octane fuel that allowed for greatly increased boost pressure later in the war. I believe one of the chief advantages the British planes held over the F109's in the 1940 Battle of Britain was that the Brits had access to large quantities of 100+ octane gas from America whereas the majority of German planes did not and were resigned to using ~87 octane. Also, all the methods outlined in this video for increasing internal combustion engine H.P. are now commonly used in the hobby and professional automotive arena to do the same.

[@haraldhannelius]

HA HA, actually ordered Calum's book in March (from the publisher) after travelling to Linköping in February to hear and see Calum's presentation. This was just two weeks before being pinned at home due to the Corona. That's now almost a year ago, funny how time flies. Thank you both!

[@murraykriner9425]

Glad your guest pointed out the fact that teething problems with upgraded plants was quite often tied to these performance upgrades, and limited to specific uses under certain circumstances. Many of these engines had respectable compression ratios, so enriching the performance meant dancing on egg shells. Manifold pressures would climb very quickly under these situations, causing the engine to heat up, while increasing any frequency of vibration as a by-product. With late aircraft running both systems, I don't doubt that varying levels of enrichment were often employed by the pilot. Have to look into finding the book in the future. Thank you. Most engaging content.

[@bernardmitchell7328]

This was worth a listen, and a good choice of guest speaker

[@NeuKrofta]

That was so interesting, Calum's brain is bursting with so much information he did a great job of explaining it for us lemmings. Now could you do a video on the secret behind Italian engine under-performance?

[@PanzerAce247]

That’s funny: That RAF technical officer at 16:16 is actually wearing a Luftwaffe summer flightsuit. I wonder what he swapped it for.

[@WCW4469]

Excellent guest! Great explanation of these two systems.

[@rolandfelice6198]

Thanks Chris. What a good video. I knew these things existed but that was about all. I even understood most of what was explained. Amazing! If you can find more people who explain as clearly as Calum has, then bring them on. Thanks again.

[@wkelly3053]

Thanks. Just the right level of technical depth. A good presentation should ALWAYS challenge the viewer to do a little bit of their own research. When I read a book, I constantly look up terms and concepts separately along the way. This is how you really learn.

[@aww2historian]

I love these collaborations! Sharing is caring in the name of knowledge and entrepreneurship!

[@howegav]

Having a guest, worked really well.

[@kracerx]

Amazing content! I’d love to hear more from him in some future videos. Maybe some content on fuel advances, Merlin development or DB 60x development?

[@adamskinner5868]

Excellent, an interesting explanation about something I knew they had used in some German fighters but had no idea how it was used or how widely. Loved the graphics and easy to follow explanations, Mr Douglas did very well, thanks to you both.

[@michaelperry4308]

Most of the reference I have seen on GM1 referee to "getting out of trouble" boost for many of the two engines destroyers or night fighters trying to avoid fighters or Mosquitos. 10 minutes seems to be the general opted endurance for being 'in or out' of trouble, if you did not outrun then in 10 minutes you had had it anyway. Many boy racers use Nitrous as a performance boost for their cars but if your life depends on it I would think it made a morale boost as much as power, some chance is better than no chance at all. The damage done to engines did not matter if it saved the airframe and crew, the most valuable part of the weapon system.

[@jannesoderholm]

Great video! Calums book is really good and well researched. Would love to se him as guest on more technical/engineering subjects related to German WWII aircrafts, e.g. the advanced super charger in the Bf 109, the inverted engines from Daimler Benz and Junkers, the Kommandogerät used in FW190 etc.

[@Token_Civilian]

Early jet engines also used water injection on takeoff for the same reasons MW-50 was used in piston engines - to cool and make the intake air more dense, allowing more fuel to be burned, and higher thrust. More generally, your early point MAH about propulsion technology driving innovation in aviation is spot on. The DC-7 / Constellation were about the limit of piston engine airliners (R-3350). The 707/DC-8 hit pretty close to what one could do with early turbojet / low-bypass turbo fan engines. And then came the TF-39 and JT9D and their progeny, which enabled wide body airframes culminating today in the A380, A330, B747 and B777. One GE90-115 on the 777 has the same takeoff thrust as ~6 JT3D low bypass early turbofans. Granted a lot of that is from tech improvement, however, you can't deny the influence of Mdot (mass flow rate) in the equation F=Mdot * Delta V

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Appreciate it!

[@linzmcgeorge]

Fogging the N20 into the intercooler would seriously drop intake air temperature charge into the cylinder, making a bunch more free horsepower.

[@flyingdutchman4794]

Thanks Chris - "guest lecturers" to supplement your own extensive research do add value to your already valuable channel. I am fascinated by engines and very much appreciate the documentaries about engine design, the "horsepower race" betw/ Allied and Axis engineers, and the ongoing "thrust race" betw/ Western and Russian/Chinese engineers. Tschuß!

[@josephstabile9154]

Great book and great guest contribution! By implication, Calum suggests that german engines had boost limitations, leading to the choices of MW-50 & GM-1, and NOT due to octane limitatations, per se. Production limitations of sufficient quantities of C3 or higher octane were problematic, as even sufficient quantities of B4 would become problematic as bombing increasingly took refineries offline. But the real story of boost limitations has to do with increasingly severe lack of manganese, cobalt, nickel, chromium, tungsten, silver, platinum, magnesium, aluminum, copper, requiring the use of "Sparrmetals," and lead babbit engine bearings. This situation, and the resultant direction into which it drove the German aero industry, was the reason German fuels were of excess octane requirement to Luftwaffe needs throughout war (to Allied puzzlement), a fact some aviation presenters have not fully appreciated. If 150 octane avgas had magically appeared on Luftwaffe airfields, the Luftwaffe's engines still would not have handled 80" boost pressures! Perhaps a presentation by you, or Mr. Douglas, would shed some clarity to this little discussed subject.

[@Shhtteeve]

as someone who is seperatly into tinkering with engines and mecanical systems and ww2 aircraft, Calum is my dream human.

[@thedumbguncollector5546]

Just ordered that book!

[@deanhedin1615]

As a former builder of nitrous systems for motorcycles I found this most interesting. I was unaware of the chilled low pressure systems.

[@typxxilps]

Speyer is not a real industrial base, but if you go a bit north you will be in the middle of BASF in Ludwigshafen., a huge industrial area nowadays and back then maybe 25 km away. And Frankfurt could mean IG Farben - another chemo industrial company.

[@belchnasty]

I don't think I've ever bought a book so fast!!!

[@kek207]

Finally ^^ I heard from Greg that they could have implemented it even during the battle of britain so the technology was there.

[@lyndondowling2733]

the RAF had BP Octane 100 in 1940 no need for anything else. The Luftwaffe was struggling on Octane 87.

[@kek207]

@@lyndondowling2733 the Video is about stuff from the Germans so there would have been a use. And also mw 50 increases octane by well over 20 so it doesn't matter if you have 87 or 100 octane fuel. It would have been useful for both sides.

[@trauko1388]

@@lyndondowling2733 The LW had 93 octane available in 1940, a well as GM-1 in limited service.

[@gort8203]

@@lyndondowling2733 If true they didn't "need anything else", perhaps British thinking was slower to come around to the concept of short term war emergency engine power than other nations. The U.S had 100 octane but that did not dissuade them from developing water methanol injection. That's because they were thinking of it for war emergency power rather than to compensate for low octane fuel. Water Methanol injection allows more manifold pressure than the base octane can support. The problem is that usually the resulting cylinder pressures and bearing loads are greater than the engine can support for very long.

[@lyndondowling2733]

@@gort8203 The Merlin had Emergency Boost as well. Plus bigger and better Turbo stages for extra Compression in later marks.

[@dogeness]

I loved this so much. This stuff is so interesting to me and the format was really nice.

[@timdaley8486]

Good one, liked the view into the back of the FW. Reminded of the stories about escaping with a crew member stashed in the roomy back.

[@NAVYABHAN]

From what I know, the German Aircraft engine’s used Fuel Injection, while the Allied Fighter’s used Carburetors that had float’s .

[@kenneth9874]

Most US planes used a form of throttle body injection, the brits went to that as well

I did indeed like this format with a guest speaker good sir.

[@Martmns]

A most excellent and hugely informative video on MW-50 and GM-1. Well done!

[@randylong6550]

Extremely informative. I really enjoy the knowledge of the guest lately. Keep it up Chris!

[@1966masy]

Super Video. Vielen Dank!

[@moistmike4150]

In my head I hear Vin Diesel with a German accent yelling "NOOOOOSSSS"

[@Dieselboater582]

Like your technique of inviting specialists / experts to explore intricate aspects! Thanks!

[@davidmcintyre998]

Brilliant lecture and going after the book right now.

[@davewhittle2480]

I really enjoyed the insights provided in your video. Having guest subject matter experts I think is really helpful, I enjoyed the clear concise explanations and graphics provided. A well thought out, and handled presentation, which I found both enlightening and enjoyable. I’m looking forward to you hopefully inviting similar ‘subject matter expert’ guest speakers in the future. Thank you for your dedication in making these videos, as a new subscriber I’m really enjoying working through your videos, particularly those featuring WW2 Aircraft.

[@otm646]

6:39 It's not that it is stored at a low temperature It is that it is stored as a liquid under pressure. It takes energy aka heat for the phase change to occur from a liquid to a gas. That in turn cools the intake charge. Stored as a liquid or as a pressurized gas the storage temperature is mostly irrelevant, It comes down to the latent heat of vaporization. As in how much energy it takes to make the liquid turn into a gas. This is something he should understand intuitively from entry level thermo coursework.

[@dabootv]

REALLY enjoyed Calum speaking and explaining!

[@andreasvenator]

Well done, guys. I will use these designations for my choice single malt whiskies in the future...

[@Duececoupe]

This book just made it on to my "must have" list. Just picked up a couple of books about the late war Luftwaffe, want to read up more on Bodenplatte, see what I can find out about Fhr. Siegfried Leese, 14./JG53, his Bf 109G-14, WNr 464137, Black 6, he was reported as MIA during Bodenplatte and Fhr. Wolfgang Rosenberger, also from JG53, but this time from 15./, he flew a Bf 109G-14 as well, WNr 462828, Yellow 12, he was reported as MIA during Bodenplatte too....both at the age 19! Model building is educational to say the least, hopefully I'll have a couple if G-14's in 1/32 done in the near future! As always, love the video! 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

Thanks Chris, I bought this book as a pre-order. I have not dug into it yet in detail! I would love to see more. This is an important book; just excellent!

[@Kay-51995]

The reason for the discrepancy in dates with FW-190 GM-1 systems was (at least as far as I'm aware) due to testing in the FW-190 B, an A4 with higher aspect ratio wings and the GM-1 system while the C model was with a turbocharged DB 603. This is also the reason for the jump from A series to the D series.

[@steventoal6594]

This was absolutely informative and a great a listen.

[@ronaldlourens9849]

Really very clear and informative. Enjoyed it very much. Would like to see more of those in depth explanations.

[@ArminHartinger]

The "Ha-Ha Process". This genuinely had me laughing :)

[@davidbrennan660]

Germans of the era didn’t really get the gag about codenames.... it was their way.

[@maschinistensoehne2110]

Compact, but very informative. I hope, we'll see Calum again. Excellent video.

[@countvonaltibar236]

What an absolutely fantastic channel this is, really great stuff...!

[@johnross2086]

Excellent use of a source to get at a very thorny subject and I can hardly wait for his return to describe the valve seat problem with the BMW 801... Each of us air-cooled Volkswagen mechanics deal every day with the engineering choices of a 1937 engine and the story of engine power in world war II aviation is inextricably linked to the materials science and flow Dynamics that the engine developers developed during the conflict

[@rayschoch5882]

Very interesting - I hadn't thought about this tech being in use in Europe. My Dad's squadron (VF-19) traded planes with another squadron in Hawaii before they shipped out for their Pacific combat tour in 1944 so that their F6F-3s were all W-M equipped. Replacement planes were all F6F-5 models, which all had it to begin with. He also flew the F4U-4 for 9 months in 1945, preparing for the invasion of Japan that never took place, and the squadron's Corsairs were equipped with W-M injection, too. Not a surprise, as both planes used the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine.

[@onogrirwin]

Do a video on the A4, or earlier aggregat rockets. You know you want to :) I argue that it's relevant for several reasons, even if the A4 wasn't "aviation" due to the lack of a pilot. Probably the most direct reason is the later planned variants, some of which were intended to be piloted. And we know they weren't just paper projects, Wernher was serious. And to understand that A9 (I think that was one of the piloted ones, I didn't check), you need to go back to at least 1933. Additionally, such videos would be infinitely more popular than a walk-around of a trainer aircraft, and you have to make enough to pay for the spaetzle and kolsch.

[@MrBryansa]

I agree with you. When I think about an aircraft the first thing that comes to mind is the engine. While the Jumo 205 was in developent, testing & production began of the first aerodiesel by the American Packard Motor Company of Detroit in cooperation with Hermann Dorner. Packard adverticed fuel burn rate of 0.40 lbs/hp-hr on furnace oil. That was in 1928/29 & unfortunately it's producers were killed in a crash due to a storm early on. I'm curious how aviation may have been diferent today had that tragedy not occured as diesel GA aircraft have just become more popular again this century. I have never seen video of an example of a plane equiped with this configuration to my knowledge but have seen many stills.

[@paoloviti6156]

Very interesting video although generally speaking I did knew the GM-1 and the MV-50 years ago I didn't know about the use of high pressure tanks and later reverted to lower pressure tanks making less dangerous. It did had relative advantages and you did have barely mentioned it that it was very hard on the engines. The GM-1 system could be manually activated by the pilot just before the takeoff and was used as high altitude booster and the MV-50 was used primarily for its anti-detonation effect, allowing the use of increased boost pressures. Secondary effects were cooling of the engine and charge cooling with oil-based anti-corrosion additive used up to 6,000 mt, above it added 4% because of cooling effects. It was used for only 10 min with interval of 5 min each. It was quite corrosive and required extensive overhauling also because of low quality fuel. Blown gaskets, broken pistons and more was not uncommon on both systems...

[@chrisbrodbeck1961]

Yes Chris I really liked the guest speaking about the book, I am extremely interested in the content and was shocked that they actually used it in action... I will buy the book asap... I had a friend in the 90's that used to race a Ford Mustang with it, ha ha, is what he did usually after winning...I don't believe he ever lost! 1/4 mile street racing

[@buffalomerkis7603]

Hi, Just got the 3rd edition hardback of the book, Secret Horsepower race, signed. Awesome piece of work. Its got information that I didn't know that I didn't know. Detailed enough to be very interesting, but not so dry its impossible to read. You may need to look up certain aspects of engineering using google and other resources online, the book puts forward some interesting technical information. and even then some of the deep engineering items I only really have a surface knowledge of. But its enough to get me through the ideas the book puts forward. How the engineers came up with these designs with slide rules and mathematics rather than complex computer modelling is amazing. It almost seems like it shouldn't have been possible. Also some great 1st hand references used and some detailed graphs and reference material, though given limited space in the book, some are a little bit small to read the full detail, to get the most you may need to bring out a spyglass, but that just makes it more fun. Over all though, a really great read.

[@gordonlawrence1448]

Surprisingly the limit for altitude was not the engine. There was in (early) 1945 a Spitfire X1X still climbing at 51155 feet when the seals gave due to the cold and that caused an oxygen issue for the pilot. I have this from a source that is not tier 1 or 2 (1 research papers and 2 books) but since it's a retired pilot they probably know what they are talking about.

[@argh1989]

You know why all the relevant Bf 109 G (and K) series variants had even numbers? The difference between a G-1 and G-2, a G-3 and G-4, a G-5 and G-6 was pressurised cockpits. But those variants only made up about 5% of the production for each of those "sister variants" if you will. I wonder why and what they were used for. They didn't even bother with G-7s, G-9s etc. when high-altitude fighters would've made the most sense in 1944 and '45. What I'm saying is: Yes, engine technology was the bottleneck for high altitude performance.

[@gordonlawrence1448]

@@argh1989 51000 feet is hardly a bottleneck. Maybe you don't work in feet so that's just over 15500 meters. That's significantly higher then a commercial airliner certification ceiling. Not only that, it was not the engine that stopped the pilot going higher, and it was a standard Spitfire Mk XIX.

[@argh1989]

@@gordonlawrence1448 The Spitfire Mk XIX is quoted with a service ceiling of around 44.000 ft. So I have trouble believing a "51.000 ft and climbing" story. But that's besides the point. What do you think is more difficult: Developing an air-breathing engine to climb 10.000 ft further, or developing cockpit seals that withstand 10.000 ft more?

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Pierre Clostermann described intercepting a photo 109G at 43,000 feet in a pressurised Spitfire Mk VII with extended wingtips and the tall rudder.

[@maxmuster5512]

Thanks for the presentation! Good job and easy to follow

[@jameslooker4791]

I'm surprised that more planes didn't have MW50 systems since they must have been much less expensive to build and utilize than almost any other horsepower boost. You only focus on fighters, but all aircraft could have benefited. The bombers and transports would have benefited from just the takeoff and climb boost, and they could have used pure water. The dive bombers and ground attack planes spent most of the time below 5,000 meters and they needed to climb many times per sortie and potentially escape fighters. As I have done a little research on Water Injection, the water actually lowers the exhaust temp by providing an endothermic source of oxygen. With more fine tuning, the water vapor is able to control the reactivity of the air mixture. Basically, the inverse of changing the octane of the fuel. Recently, BMW has had some good result mixing gasoline and water in the fuel pump and injecting them together in a test engine as a way of varying the octane rating of the fuel as well.

[@brianhiles8164]

(00:22) _Three_ “special substances.“

[@jim7297]

This guy was great. I learned a lot today. I think I might buy his book. Thanks to you for providing this information.

[@LaLaLand.Germany]

This was a real treat. As me being German especially. Vielen Dank für die Erklärung, this is the first time anybody mentioned our planes could be and have been fitted with nitrous. Well, with the best pilots propably dead by 1941 having the better tech alone doesn´t cut it. What baffles me is the fact that there were pipelines and designated factories- I bet Herr von Braun needed alot of this(this is me not knowing, therefore betting). Couldn´t that be Peenemünde? Anyways, thanks!

[@anselmdanker9519]

Big thank you, a great insight into the German aero engines capability,is there any data on operational impact in the 3 staffels which first received the GM mix and was this a contributor to the RAF losses in the cross channel attacks ?

[@hlynnkeith9334]

Interesting video. The question that interests me is how did the Germans get combat comparable performance out of relatively low power engines compared to British and French engines in WW1. For examples, the Germans flew with 160hp, 185hp, and 110hp (rotary) engines but still got good speeds from their airplanes. At the same time, the British flew with 200hp, 275hp, and 230hp (rotary) engines, and the French flew with 200hp and 137hp (rotary) engines. Some scouts were faster -- SE5a, SPAD XIII -- but the speeds of the German airplanes were comparable to the speeds of their British and French opponents. How was this achieved?

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Rate of climb and holding height in steep turns was more important, their drag killed speed increases. The bracing wire free Fokker Dr1 got a reasonable speed out of a puny 80 hp.

[@jimfisher5856]

Storing nitrous oxide as a liquid allows the storage tank to be both smaller and lighter. Storing it as a compressed gas requires a relative small and light container. If nitrous oxide gas is stored at 100 atmospheres, the tank will be 6 times as large as a tank used to store liquid nitrous oxide. It will also need to have much thicker walls. The liquid tank will need to have insulation and a bleed to allow evaporation to keep the nitrous oxide cold.

[@thebigone6969]

Thanks for this video Chris! You’re the greatest European military aviation historian in world history!!!!!!!!!

[@woodthorpe100]

I used to drive a tanker. We carried liquid ammonium nitrate.This was used to make nitrous oxide for hospital use. Very little other products were used.

[@thomasherbig]

Some selected guest experts in the future would be good. I learned a lot.

[@jeffreymorris1752]

Really good. Damsteri nailed this.

[@ciddax754]

Real good idea! Please more shows with guests! - Funny fact: Both systems are car tuners best friend. Nitrous oxide is nowadays called NOS after the brandname for such systems thanks to Fast & Furious!

[@ryanjonathanmartin3933]

NOs, yessssssss ahahaha

[@gort8203]

Great presentation! He said MW-50 and GM-1 could be used together, but I wish he'd gone into more detail there. GM-1 adds power at a given manifold pressure, but MW-50 basically helps the engine resist detonation, allowing used of higher manifold pressure than the octane rating of the fuel would allow. I suspect it would not be useful to use MW-50 at extremely high altitudes were the supercharger can no longer produce the excess boost that causes detonation.

[@CalumDouglas]

Broadly correct, there is no possibility to burn fuel without oxygen, so MW50 is "nearly" useless above rated altitude (depending a bit where it is injected). You can use both together, but this was prevented by mechanical limitations experienced by the wartime situation in Germany. It is a rather complicated story to explain in full, which is what my book is about.

[@gort8203]

@@CalumDouglas Thanks! Your book is awesome. Please see my other comment where I ask you to please write another one.

[@MrPnhartley]

Excellent video, liked the reference expert input. Most of the piston aircraft engines flying today are little changed from this era(flat air cooled spark and magneto) - the height of aircraft piston engine development.

[@WarmasterHorus96]

It was a nice video and I would like to see more cooperations like this in the future!

[@nurzumkommentieren5762]

I'm not sure about your guess with Frankfurt, but Speyer is definitely wrong, they never had any industrial installations worth mentioning. But Ludwigshafen, where BASF is located (back then known as IG Farben), is just about 20km away.

[@marienfeld07]

Excellent Bismarck

[@davidpeters6536]

Excellent, guest speaker for specialist subjects is a great idea and a showcase for those that do it. I am guessing from the book cover that the Brits used something similar on the Tempest?

[@kylemcauly7663]

great vid want that book now lol