AXIAL vs CENTRIFUGAL SUPERCHARGERS for Aircraft Engines

PRESENT indications are, according to Mr. King, that interest in the axial type of supercharger for aircraft engines will increase at an accelerated rate, due, in part, to the impetus recently given to the development of new designs for various kinds of gas turbines. The continuing trend toward higher critical altitude, he adds, will provide further incentive to exploit the relatively high volumetric capacity of the axial design.

In the final analysis, however, the author feels that within the next few years the choice between the axial type and the centrifugal type of supercharger may be made more upon the basis of adaptability to particular installations than upon any intrinsic superiority of one over the other.