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Old 10th April 2004 | 01:11
  #6 (permalink)  
411A
 
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 8,571
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From: Arizona USA
Keep in mind for your calculations that, altho ambient temperature does indeed reduce with altitude (ignoring inversions here), the intake temperature of the fuel charge may well be much higher than ambient, with supercharged engines, unless intercoolers are used, and even then, they are certainly not 100% efficient.
Generally however, the less 'backpressure' at altitude is quite important, for optimum power output of piston powerplants.
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