These big powerful [2000+ hp Napier Sabre H-24 mill] Hawker fighters were fast hard hitting machines -4 20mm Hispano cannon [+ rockets & bombs], & bested the Luftwaffe’s hit & run low-level attacks on Britain by Fw 190 jabos & later the V1 cruise-missile offensive on London in `44.
Their power gave them the fastest, most potent offensive capability performance available to the Allies in the tactical air-superiority/strike role for the invasion of Europe like-wise…
& the mighty Napier Sabre, also best of British…
Check out the 3,500hp [on +20lbs ADI boost] for take off - rated Mk 7…
www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/Aircraft_Engines_of_the_World_Napier_Sabre.pdf
Gotta love the madness inherent in coming up with the Sabre engine - one boxer engine isn’t enough? Just chuck another one on top, it’ll be fine. Oh, and while you’re at it, come up with a whole different valve system to the rest of the world.
Never knew they did a Sabre Fury, but it does look awesome - I think I’ve got a new “aircraft I’d have built for me if I ever became king”…
There’s an old saying, 'bout the essential difference between insanity & genius being …success.
The Sabre isn’t a ‘boxer’ FYI, more like 4 Porsche flat 6 mills en-bloc,
& the valve system is more familiar if you’ve ever seen inside a 2-stroke chainsaw…
Kermit Weeks has a Tempest & a number of Sabres, with the intention of flying them,it’ll be cool to see & hear a Sabre flying again…
Oh, I’m familiar with how sleeve valves work and why they thought they had to do them - I’m just ever so slightly in awe of the fact that they got them to work!
Why? Awed by how well they went? Or worked at all ?
Since in principle …they are less ‘nuts & bolts’ than poppet valves…
This may be of interest… http://www.hawkertempest.se/GreatestEngines.htm
Bit of both. And I’ve seen a sectioned Centaurus engine which has the same valve arrangement - it’s actually a hell of a lot more complex than a 2-stroke.
That website is a bit hagiographic about the Sabre - they’re rather taciturn for instance as to precisely why Bristol made their sleeves for them (Napier couldn’t make one that lasted any length of time). I do agree with most of it though.
There is a hand-cranked Bristol sleeve valve display unit at the RNZAF Museum which shows just how simple & smooth they are in action…
Bristol had much more investment & production experience in manufacture of them, it is amazing that in wartime they had to be pushed to help…
& as noted R-R were actively hostile to Napier…
The ‘complexity’ is more conceptual than actual, & modern 2-stokes do indeed have various forms of regulating their similar large/efficient ports.
Here’s a set of performance figures for that Sabre-Fury…
www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%202181.html?search=hawker
