How fast did the P-47's turbosupercharger spin?

Short answer

At 21,300 rpm at full power. The engine's exhaust gases reached the turbine, located low in the fuselage roughly midway between the cockpit and the tail, through a pair of side ducts with waste gates that at full power would glow red hot at their forward ends.

Published: November 1, 2026 · Updated: November 1, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

How fast did the P-47's turbosupercharger spin?

514th Fighter Squadron P-47 Thunderbolt 1945

21,300 rpm at full power

At full power, the turbine of the P-47's turbosupercharger spun at 21,300 rpm. The engine's exhaust gases were channeled into a pair of ducts fitted with waste gates running along both sides of the cockpit to drive that turbine, housed low in the fuselage, roughly midway between the cockpit and the tail. Its forward ends would glow red hot.

A turbo in the fuselage, not on the engine

Kartveli placed the General Electric turbosupercharger in the rear fuselage, rather than on the engine. It was mounted inside the fuselage, about 22 feet behind the propeller, and jacketed pipes carried the exhaust gases from the engine to the turbine beneath the fuselage. The waste gates, governed by an oil-operated regulator, automatically adjusted the turbine's speed to maintain the manifold pressure selected by the pilot.

The rest of the aircraft built around the system

The main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were installed beneath the cockpit, with a total fuel capacity of 305 US gallons (254 imp gal; 1,155 L). The armament consisted of eight .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning AN/M2 machine guns, four in each wing, staggered to feed from adjacent ammunition boxes holding 350 rounds each. To reduce the size and weight of the landing gear legs and allow those guns to be fitted in the wings, each leg incorporated a telescopic mechanism that lengthened it by 9 in (23 cm) when extended.