Re: Quit Being A Goddamn Idiot, Bill Hughes!!

Sep 03, 2004 43 Replies

Over the years I think I've seen just about anything that could be use to keep a carb de-iced used in one way or another. Nearly all the normally aspirated a/c engines were forced by the FAA to use exhaust heat in one form or another but the automakers got realy ingenious at times. For liquid cooled engines, running a coolant line thru the manifold was common (took forever to do any good if it wasreally cold!). Several tried using exhaust gas piped around the carb base either in the manifold casting or in the carb casting itself (usually plugged solid after a couple of years). Jeep uses an air intake tube from the exhaust manifold with a vacuum controlled diverter valve to allow the hot air to be shut off - damned if I cansee how it specifically addresses icing, tho.

BTW, there have been several certified inverted flight carbs over the years. I flew aStinson so equipped 40 years ago and early model (late

40- early 50's) T-34s were also rated for inverted flight with restrictions on negative-G duration. Of course, some jet trainers I flew had similar restrictions but those were based on fuel pick-up considerations rather than burner supply (the "donkey dong" in the central tank would hang and gulp air).

The power plant for these was an 19 cylinder double row air cooled radial engine with an exhaust driven intercooled supercharger feeding a pressurised carburetor (sort of an early turbocharger). They weighed

7 tonne all up, and had a reputation for being able to "dive like a rock". No aircraft on either side could match them in a dive, it's said. Though not FI in the true sense, the pressurised carby was virtually "gravity proof".

Later, yes. The early designs were as I said, scary.

LOL Well, at least I was talking about early WW2 aircraft. I'm sure 4 decades have improved things immensely, although my current Lycoming powered Worrier doesn't stand up as an example of those improvements.

;-)

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