[norton]

"The Brits might have put Merlins in their P-38’s"

Don't think so, the supercharged Allisons worked fine and there were other places for the Merlins to go.

P-40 "F" and "L" ran Merlins without much improvement in performance...Google tells me that those were later re-engined back to the Allison.

[Tallguy]

I recall stories about how cranky the superchargers were on the P-38’s that were used in the Pacific. I don’t recall the specific models. The superchargers were also very vulnerable to battle damage positioned as they were on the topside of the booms.

I wasn’t aware that the Merlin was put in the P-40, but it stands to reason since the Brits used a lot of Warhawks in North Africa. I wonder if the P40’s aero design was just a little to draggy to take maximum advantage of the Merlin’s power at altitude? Worth checking out.