Spitfire makes only 300 mph?

[b101uk]

Originally Posted by Kurfürst

The thing about rpm is odd though. I believe you have to fly 3000/+12 to get max speed, less rpm should yield less power..

max RPM would have more power but less torque, a slightly lower RPM e.g. 2600 to 2800 rpm would have less power but more torque.

Engines are at there happiest when ran ~2/3rd & 4/5th of the way between peak torque RPM and rated power RPM, so for the sake of maths lets say rated power is 3000rpm and peak torque is 2000 rpm then 2/3rd would be 2666rpm and 4/5th would be 2800rpm, as this is ware you get a good balance of actual torque and notional power.

You did now that power is a notional figure derived from force vs. speed so e.g. 1HP = 550lbft/sec or 33000lbft/min or anything that amount to the same, so both 1lb @ 550ft/sec & 550lb @ 1ft/sec are equal to 1HP.