Soviet aviation fuel: More bang for the buck or the ruble?

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Kutscha

Paul,
http://www.oilru.com/or/47/1006/

"The amount of high-octane aviation gasoline, converted into the metric system, was 1,197,587 tons, including 558,428 tons with octane numbers above 99."

Also, for those interested,
Aviation Gasoline Technology Transfer during the Second
World War: Japan, Germany and the U.S.A.

http://www.worldbhc.org/files/full%2...gyTransfer.pdf

Hello Kutscha,

I've noted the figures in the oilru article, but I am slightly hesitant to trust conversions from long tons or US gallons into metric tonnes. The greater unanswered question is when exactly the USSR began receiving Lend-Lease gasoline and how deliveries changed over time, including in terms of octane ratings of the supplied fuel. I am sure there is something on this subject in one or more of the US archives, but it may prove difficult to find.

Thank you for the second link. Do you have an idea where the author might have got his figures for peak German and Japanese gasoline consumption? Getting a graph of comsumption and superimposing it on the equivalent Allied figures would be very enlightening!

Regards,

Paul

[Juha]

Hello Thomas
I'm very busy, on the LL fuel and oil deliveries, see Altea's answers, but IIRC the 2 620 000 metric tons is the amount of all oil products, and remember also the 6 refineries delivered by USA.
On M-82FN Forsage (1st gear only): 2500 rpm 1180+-10 mm Hg, the boost probably is the key., its close to the max boost allowed to Bristol Hercules radials with 100oct, 100/130 grade fuel (+8.25).
On the P-39 IAD, IIRC the question was the time needed to get the 100 oct fuel to the airfields used by the division.

[Tango Echo Dog]

I would like to thank all the members who have responded to my query on Soviet aviation fuel and especially Juha. They have provided a great deal of illumination but also added to the considerable confusion.
As Paul noted we remain uncertain exactly which fuels were supplied to which types of units. I am surprised, for example, given the Soviet Union's limited production and distribution resources that different fighter regiments might receive different categories of, for example, B-78. Where was the relevant additive added, at a forward base or at the refinery and if the latter how did the VVS supply organisation ensure the right fuel reached the right regiment without regularly falling foul of the loveable NKVD?
There is an added complication on the Russian reminisences website 'I Remember.' Many fighter pilots report received B-89 fuel yet even here there is a lack of uniformity. Pilots in the Aircobra equipped 68 GvIAp and 9 IAP report receiving B-78, although one from the latter unit mentions B-100, a 196 IAP pilot reported B-89 for his Aircobra/Yakovlev equipped regiment while another in the Yakovlev-equipped 867 IAP mentions B-86, B-90 and B-100.
If any member can bring order out of this chaos I would be very, very grateful

[Juha]

Hello TED
without delving my books, notes etc all I can say is that in Soviet performance graphs P-39Q performance is exeptionally shown for two fuel grades, 95oct and 100 oct.
IIRC Japanese added, at least on some SW Pacific islands, their additive in field, they put the amount needed into a barrel containing their standard aviation fuel, rolled and turned it over a while and voila, they had higher octane fuel.

Not much but maybe some help.
Juha

[Tango Echo Dog]

Once again I would like to thank members for their contributions on this subject.
I have been pondering upon the logistical and operational implications of the information supplied and, unless someone can provide more information, it wonder whether or not the Russians created a rod for their own backs?
Air operations require huge amounts of fuel and Soviet figures indicate that more than 694,500 tonnes of fuel were used by their air forces during the Second World War in Europe which, presumably, includes US imports of high octane fuel. Most historians agree that the Soviet Union fought the war with industrial and communications resources which, compared with friend and foe, were extremely limited and that they out-produced the Germans by severely restricting their military product ranges.
The oil industries of Germany, Great Britain and the United States met their air force requirements by producing a range of fuels with the necessary additives which could then be issued for use by for trainers, multi-engined and some single-engined combat aircraft as well as high performance fighters. Information produced by members indicate the Russians produced four basic octane fuels; B-59, B-70, B-74 and B-78 which needed additives to provide.higher octane ratings. But this implies that the VVS supply service faced a nightmare situation of up to 16 different variants ranging from 73 to 95 octane, some apparently for specific engines, and even this does not include the B-89 which several fighter pilots stated was used by their aircraft.
How then did the system work and what were the operational implications? The Soviet Union’s communications were stretched to the limit and yet it appears that instead of moving ready-mixed fuel it was having to move petrol, plus additives, despite the fact that every tonne of additive would mean one tonne less of petrol. It is surprising this was allowed.
Then where did they go?. Were they moved to the VVS’ regional or battalion support depots and mixed there or was final mixing performed at regimental level? Either way mixing additives with hundreds of tonnes of fuel would take a significant amount of time and surely delay deliveries and, in turn, restrict operations especially in the later stages of an advance when Red Army units were at the end of very strained supply lines.
This would suggest that either pre-mixed fuel was delivered to regiments and that the Soviet air commanders accepted the problems or, like their enemies and friends, they received pre-mixed fuel otherwise they would have complained directly to Stalin. Yet I know of no such action, although before Kursk there were complaints about the general lack of fuel.
It is worth noting that, if there were fuel supply problems , this might explain while German aces in fighters, bombers and ground attack seemed to fly significantly more sorties than their Russian counterparts.
Perhaps I am missing something but I would welcome any comment by members, especially those with an intimate knowledge of the wartime Soviet air forces to resolve this mundane, yet vital, issue.

[oquaig]

Originally Posted by Juha

My contribution, in fact "Altea"'s


…
Altea

10-23-2009 10:39 AM

…Soviets had no 100 octane fuel until late in war,except from Lend Lease deliveries. With standard 94 one (in fact real octane number 91-92)…Some pilots remember 100 octanes (blue) LL use in their front-line Yaks, with a 20 km/h speed gain and some overheating. But nothing official issued from soviet industry… the 3Б-78 (and 4Б-78 used on M-82) soviet fuels always had 93-95 (and 95-96) o. number from 1939, with some quality fall to 91-92 in some midwar deliveries…
...
Altea

10-30-2009 06:23 AM

… The soviet 95 octanes fuel had exactly the behavior of a 95% iso-octane and 5% heptane mixture fuel on soviet CFR.

It (the 4B-78 ) was obtained by adding 4 cm cub of TEL to a natural 78 octanes kg raffinated from Bakou fuel. You can try owerdays, it’s still making 95 octanes by the same method.

Yaks were not using it, only M-82F/FN. The 2B-78 to 3B-78 mixtures for Klimovs 103A, 105, 106. And some 3.5B-78 for the M-107…
Germans were not using Eugène Houdry’s cracking methods, AFAIK. But soviets with american help, did. In 1943 they were building 6 such a reffineries under licence. So late in the war they had 95 (soviet number) basis fuels that could provide from 96 (1B-95) to 115 (4B-95) octane number fuels.

Juha

The Soviets were producing only B-78 in 1940-41 this was their highest octane fuel at the time (aside from what they custom blended at the design bureaus) In 1940 they produced only 40,600 tons. In 1941 they planned to produce 200,000. It is for this reason that training on the aircraft that used B-78 was curtailed in the winter-spring of 1941 and resulting in few hours being logged by pilots on the newly delivered MiGs. They would not have survived without lend lease aid and the most critical part of that aid was the delivery of 6 refineries. The first I believe was delivered complete in 1942 only assembly required, instructions included and American Engineers sent to assist.

oquaig