Quote:
Originally Posted by Kurfürst
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d, 100 octane issue curves are clearly responding to FC sorties number increase/decrease. Though that's not news, FC used that fuel. But it should be kept in mind that number of Blenheim Sqns also used and were issued 100 octane fuel, and a Blenheim sortie would consume 4-6 times the fuel a fighter sortie would.
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f, Obviously the 87 octane curve reaction is less pronounced, as
fa, A good percentage of FC used 100 octane, so they don't their needs 'do not exists' from the 87 octane issues POV
fb, A large number of other aircraft also uses 87 octane, and many of them - bombers, patrol craft etc. - consume much more fuel than small fighters.
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In terms of Bomber Command usage, the pilot's operating handbook for the Blenheim Mk.IV confirms the above points.
Actually, the Mk.IV used
both types of fuel.
What happened?
1) They needed more range so they added two more fuel tanks, one in each wing (the outboard tanks).
2) This made the aircraft heavier so it needed more power to get off the ground safely when fully bombed-up and fueled.
3) Engines were modified and a boost cut-out installed, so that maximum boost could raised from +5 lbs to +9 lbs.
4) This needed fuel with more resistance to detonation (aka 100 octane), but it was also important for Fighter Command use.
So, what they did was load 100 octane only in the outboard tanks and use 87 octane in the inboard tanks.
When loaded for long range, takeoff was done on 100 octane fuel from the outboard tanks with the boost over-ride enabled and +9 lbs boost, then immediately after take-off they throttled back and switched to 87 octane from the inboard tanks.
When flying shorter range sorties only the inboard tanks were loaded with 87 octane and the normal maximum of +5 lbs boost was used, in order to let the fighter boys have more of the 100 octane supply.
Another consideration was that only the outboard tanks had jettison valves. So, they used the 87 octane fuel from the inboard tanks first, during the climb out and cruise, because in the event of an emergency they couldn't dump it. Then they switched to outboard tanks and 100 octane fuel for the remainder of the trip.
The ability to use +9lbs when running on 100 octane as an emergency rating would probably factor in tactical considerations as well, so maybe they switched to outboard tanks when in dangerous airspace or over the target/during the bomb run, just to be able to pull the boost cut-out and throttle up to +9 if they needed.
In case of a long-range run (like the raid on the Cologne power station on August 12th 1941), this would probably mean using 87 octane on the outbound leg, switching to 100 octane near the target, switching back to 87 octane once outside the "danger zone" (if any was still left in the tanks) and finally, switching back to 100 octane fuel for the remainder of the trip back home.
In any case, this could make up for a sizable part of fuel expense for both types of fuel, especially if we consider that during the BoB they were operating throughout the battle:
a) in the long range reconnaissance role (as far as Germany itself) and
b) attacking targets as far as Denmark.
After the description of their manufacturing restrictions and resulting operating procedures above, it's more or less clear that the more far-away a Blenheim target was the more 100 octane fuel would be used, since close-range targets would only need the inboard tank fuel load and could be flown solely on 87 octane fuel (less weight, less boost needed for take-off-->no need for 100 octane)
The difficult part here is getting a similar graph for Blenheim sorties and factoring in target range, so that we can actually know how much of the 100 octane fuel expenditure could be attributed to them.
I don't have the wealth of references some of you guys have, but i thought this might interest you and you may be able to dig deeper into it
