Studebaker XH-9350 powered fighter

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Cjc

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Well I thought my rolls royce crecy thread was fun, so how about in even more obscure engine this time, the 5,000 hp H-24 Studebaker XH-9350.

The engine was proposed more for long range multi engine aircraft (with a focas on fule efficiency) but that would make if perfect for a long range escort for b-36s if jet engine development had not finished before the 50's.
 
Cjc said:
Well I thought my rolls royce crecy thread was fun, so how about in even more obscure engine this time, the 5,000 hp H-24 Studebaker XH-9350.

The engine was proposed more for long range multi engine aircraft (with a focas on fule efficiency) but that would make if perfect for a long range escort for b-36s if jet engine development had not finished before the 50's.
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Even then, the early jets had absolutely terrible fuel efficiency, so it'd take an enormous airframe to hold enough fuel to be an escort for the B-36.

Case in point, when the piston XB-35s were converted into jet YB-49s, the B-49s lost half their range.

So a good piston engine "Super Mustang" might have been viable.
 
Interesting, I know they were no actually built but, any clues as to final weight of these behemoths and could they really be fitted to a smallish single seater?
Floats like a brick, lands like one too? 1 2, 1 2, 1..... Sorry it's one of THOSE days.
 
Foo Fighter said:
Interesting, I know they were no actually built but, any clues as to final weight of these behemoths and could they really be fitted to a smallish single seater?
Floats like a brick, lands like one too? 1 2, 1 2, 1..... Sorry it's one of THOSE days.
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Smallish? No, it'd be on the order of the size of an A-1 Skyraider. Looking more like a Mustang or Spitfire/Spiteful but scaled way up.
 
Archibald said:
Or a Boeing F8B.
https://www.enginehistory.org/Piston/Studebaker/XH-9350.shtml
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If built, the H-9350 would have measured 105 in wide (~2.7 m), 40 in (~1 m) high, and 240 in (6.2 m) long. A pretty difficult packaging problem (designed to fit inside a giant bomber wing). It weighed 7,080 lb (~3218 kg), giving a power-to-weight ratio of only ~0.71 hp/lb.

By comparison, an R-4360 weighed 3,720 lb (1,690 kg) and made 4,300 hp for a power-to-weight ratio of 1.11 hp/lb. It was only 103 in (2.6 m) long and 61 in (1,500 mm) tall and wide.
 
I think a large long-range escort fighter with a size similar to a Curtiss XP-71 or an enlarged Heinkel blended-wing fighter would be suitable for this, much more better if it could have been fitted with contra-rotating propellers.

But the weight would be a nightmare to deal with, absolutely.
 
It's purpose were powering an ultra long range bomber to bomb Germany directly from the USA just in case GB would have to surrender. The Bomber would have had to cross the Atlantic twice without refuling, that's why fuel efficiency was the main priority. I have no idea, what this bomber would have looked like, but propably it would have to be even bigger than the B36. The engine weight would have been just a smal fraction of the take off weight, even if four of these Behemots would have been used.

I believe, the bomber would have used a dedicated ultra long runway to get it off the ground.
 

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