THAT the efficiency and performance of superchargers on aircraft engines depend heavily upon the character of the particular installation, is the authors' theme. Accordingly, they stress the application of superchargers and their accessories to engine-airplane installations rather than the design details of the superchargers themselves. They evaluate the relative influence of supercharger inlet temperature, supercharger inlet duct pressure drop, and intercooler pressure drop. Four disadvantageous results of high intercooler pressure drop are listed.
An important result of a study of the power required to drive superchargers for large engines is a formula for “installation efficiency,” which the authors have established as a barometer of installation excellence.
Two much-discussed problems of supercharging are considered - the method of driving the centrifugal compressor and the location of the carburetor with respect to the supercharger. Reporting the results of laboratory tests, the authors announce that it is possible to obtain take-off power by the use of an exhaust-driven supercharger.