Posted on 03/12/2021 3:42:52 PM PST by silent majority rising
Anyone my age will remember the delightful stories of Paul Harvey, who used to explain the 'unexplained' facts of history in a very colorful way. This story was passed on to me from a dear friend, who knew my interest in how the United States and Britain were able to overcome the Germans in the 'Battle of Britain' and other critical World War II aerial battles. Here is the story, exactly as written:
World War II - Aviation Gasoline It seems that the German and British aircraft both used87 octane gasolinein the first two years of the war. While that was fairly satisfactory in the German Daimler-Benz V-12 engine, it wasmarginal in the British Rolls-Royce Merlin XXengine used in Britishaircraft. It fouled the spark-plugs, caused valves to stick, andmade frequent engine repair problems. Thencame the WWII lend-lease program andAmerican aircraft began to enter British service in great numbers. If British engines hated 87octanegasoline, the AmericanGeneralMotors built Allison1710 engines loathed and despised it. Something had to be done! Along came an French-American named Eugene Houdry. Never heard of him? Small wonder, very few people have. Eugene Houdry, born in France, resettled in the USA and developed one of the earliest catalysts to convert useless crude oil into high octane fuel. As a scientist for Sun Oil in their Southeast Texas Refinery, heinvented the "Cracking Tower" that produced 100 octane aviation gasoline. This discovery led to great joy among our English cousins and great distress among the Germans. A Spitfire fueled with 100 octane gasoline instead of 87 octane was 34 miles per hour faster at 10,000 feet. The need to replace engines went from every 500 hours of operation to every 1,000 hours which reduced the cost of British aircraft by 300 Pounds Sterling. Even more, when used in 4 engine bombers. Luftwaffe pilots couldn't believe they were facing the same planes they have successfully defeated over France a few months earlier. British Spitfires that couldn't catch them a year ago started shooting their ME-109 E and G models right out of the sky. The planes were the same – but the fuel wasn’t. Of course, the matter had to be kept secret. If the Germans found out that it was a French Invention, they'dsimply copy the original Frenchpatents. If any of you have ever wondered what they were doing in that 3 story white brick building in front of the Sun Oil Refinery onOld Highway 90in Beaumont, TX that was it. They were re-inventing gasoline. The American Allison engines improved remarkably with 100 Octane gasoline, but did much better when 130 octane gasoline came along in1944. The 130 Octane also improved the Radial Engine Bombers we produced. The Germans and Japanese never snapped to the fact that we had re-invented gasoline. Neither did our "Friends" the Russians. 100,000 Americans died in the skies over Europe. Lord only knows what that number would have been without "Super-Gasoline". And it all was invented just a few miles west of Beaumont, and we never knew a thing about it.
As Paul Harvey used to say, “And that is the rest of the story!”
Remember when Rush Limbaugh said “I’ll let you know when it’s time to panic”?
Well my FRiend, that time has come.
I do appreciate your Optimism though.
As I heard it, 100-octand avgas wasn’t the result of catalytic cracking, it was the result of tetraethyl lead.
“100,000 Americans died in the skies over Europe.”
That number seems high.
The British and American ground crews at the airplane service stations were full service and cleaned the windshields on the British and American planes.
Many German pilots spent hours chasing a squished grasshopper on their windshields that they thought was a Spitfire.
I thought it was Shell that first made 100 octane and Jimmy Doolittle was involved.
If so, what are you going to do about it?
Source: 398th BG newsletter (http://personal.psu.edu/kbf107/Losses.html)
“During World War II, one in three airmen survived the air battle over Europe. The losses were extraordinary. The casualties suffered by the Eighth Air Force were about half of the U.S. Army Air Force’s casualties (47,483 out of 115,332), including more than 26,000 dead.”
My uncle went on a bombing raid to Germany, where over 500 of the men were lost in one night.
Being a bomber crewman was so deadly, a man could go home after 25 missions. Most didn’t make it during the early years of the war when fighter cover wasn’t available all the way to the targets. Once the fighters had to turn back, Luftwaffer fighters had a very easy time shooting down bombers. There were some bomber raids that resulted in 15-20 crew losses.
Got much better with the introduction of 51 .ustangs with upgraded British Merlin engines with drop tanks and better fuel management.
The 100,000 number isn’t high. Seeing that the U.S. had a total of about 316 KIA during WW II, bomber crews suffered an exceptionally high death rate.
That should 15-25 bomber losses.
A study after the war of the strategic bombing campaign in Europe showed that only 25% of the bombs dropped by Allied bombers landed within 15 miles of their target.
The losses of aircrews was horrific.
Victor Davis Hanson made a brilliant observation of the Allied bombing campaign in Europe.
It forced the Nazis to pull thousands of their best antitank weapons, the 88 Flak Cannon, away from the Russian tanks heading for Germany.
Had those weapons been available for the Eastern Front, it might have been a very different war.
Those young American fliers didn’t bomb Germany into defeat, but their sacrifices were instrumental to winning the war.
Pure TEL is poisonous as hell, very nasty stuff.
According to the Wikipedia article on tetraethyl lead GM and DuPont discovered in the 1920s that it increased octane.
Encyclopedia Brittanica tells roughly the same story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead#History
https://www.britannica.com/science/tetraethyl-lead
We had leaded gas in our tank and sperm whale oil in our transmission. Life was good!
Thanks!
Tetraethyl lead was invented by GM in the early 20s.
There were some bomber raids that resulted in 15-20 crew losses.
60 of them (and 600 crewmen) did not return.
I realize that flying on bombers over Europe was extremely dangerous and that they suffered high losses. I have a hard time believing that aircrew deaths in Europe accounted for over 20% of all deaths of U.S. servicemen in the entire war. There was a lot else going on.
If you find an accurate and reliable number, please let me know.
You're right on both counts:
"Well versed in high-performance engines and their fuel requirements, Doolittle began pushing the oil company to go into production while simultaneously convincing military brass to order a few thousand gallons of 100-octane aviation gas. Tests in 1934 at Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio, confirmed Doolittle's suspicions when the Army Air Corps reported 20 to 30 percent improvements in power without any increase in operating temperatures. At the time, aviation fuel was typically 87 octane, and high-octane automobile fuel just 77 octane." Link
Jimmy Doolittle was a Man.
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