Fellow Pruners:
I read engineer/author L J K Setright's book entitled
The Power to Fly when I was studying for my engineer exams in the 1960s. He was obviously captivated by this mechanical masterpiece and extracts from his tribute can be seen at
The Greatest Engines of All Time by LJK Setright If the Americans wondered at the Napier-Bristol squabble one wonders what they would make of the Rolls-Royce machinations. FED's right about the Duxford engine, after I spent almost an hour poring over it a kindly attendant approached to ask if I was all right.
More praise for the Sabre can be found in Pierre Clostermann's book
The Big Show. Clostermann flew Tempests with 122 Wing which included Jack Stafford's 486 (NZ) Sqn, and he recounts that at one stage the Tempests shouldered much of the airborne load as the Allies advanced into Germany, ground attack in particular taking a terrible toll. After the war I have read that the Sabre was granted a civil aviation certification rated at 5000bhp for takeoff, but by then it was clear that the future lay with the turbojet.