Supercharger under the engine on a B-17G 'Flying Fortress' a WW-II heavy bomber on display this week at the Fargo Air Museum. This B-17 is painted as quot;Sentimental Journeyquot;.

Each engine on the B-17 has a B-22 turbo-supercharger which boosts manifold pressure for takeoff and provides sea-level air pressure at high altitudes. To operate the turbo-superchargers, engine exhaust gas passes through the collector ring and tailstack to the nozzle box, expands to atmosphere through the turbine nozzle, and drives the bucket wheel at high speed. A ramming air inlet duct from the leading edge of the wing supplies air to the impeller, which increases pressure and temperature. However, in order to avoid detonation at the carburetor, the air supplied to the carburetor passes through the intercooler, where the temperature is reduced. The internal engine impeller, driven by the engine crankshaft, again increases air pressure at it enters the intake manifold. Higher intake manifold pressure results in greater power output. -manual