Where do you get that? As far as I know she can run those engines at full throttle and at max RPM on 87 octane without hurting them.
That then obviates the need to carry, isolate and take off using 100 octane. Why she didn't previously burn it while it was available then fully top up the 100 octane tank at Lae to give herself the best chance makes no sense. Her fuel carrying awareness was such that she chose to leave such items as a life raft behind, yet preserved a partially full tank of 100 octane defies rationale.
"Watch that battery" relates to the transmission duty cycle which becomes complex.
You just did it again. Your statement is an opinion, not a fact. If you don't make a clear distinction you lose track of what you actually know.
I see your point.
I've spent a long time pondering the variables. My electrical engineering background amplifies the importance and emphasis AE placed on the statement.
The ammeter is all she has to ascertain the battery condition, which relates to the next start which is also dependent on having the fuel to support same. For as long as the ammeter reads discharge the situation is in crisis. Because the ammeter integrates the voltage and current peaks to produce a reading, it also reports the rate of recharge.
Low RPM low transmission time = short recharge time, reduced fuel burn but ineffective communication.
Low RPM high transmission time = long recharge time, increased fuel burn but effective communication.
High RPM low transmission time = shortened recharge time, increased fuel burn but ineffective communication.
High RPM high transmission time = shortened recharge time, increased fuel burn but effective communication.
The ammeter's reading showing a more rapid rate of battery recharging is the stress yardstick.
The sooner it comes out of discharge the better.
The sooner it comes out of charge and falls back towards 0, even better still.
I'd like to see the numbers that support your statements. Our tests show that the generator charge does not max out at 1200 RPM.
I agree completely.
The max current output is likely to occur even higher than 1200 RPM.
There is no way to know what RPMs she used to charge the battery. What we do know is that she could have used as little as 900 RPM.
I agree.
Again it is not likely to be as low as 900 RPM. The lower the RPM figure the less efficient the battery recharge process due to the non-linear response of the batteries. That is the longer the engine will have to be run to recover. The higher the RPM the lower the recharge time giving the best return for the fuel burn. Again the ammeter tells the story.
At higher RPM the needle spends less time in heavy discharge.
Integrating all that info is the ammeter, which tells the simple truth that the battery is or isn't being recharged or does not need charging (centred on 0).
Yes, and I think all we can say about "Watch that battery" is that it might be a warning not to let the battery get run down to the point where they would not be able to start the engine.
My focus remains:
1. If they thought fuel exhaustion was imminent then "damn the torpedos, full steam ahead".
2. If they thought fuel exhaustion was not imminent due to some reassuring factor, then "watch that battery."
I'm building the case that the policy of preserving the 100 octane was still in practise on arrival at Gardiner Island and that provided the reassurance of an effective restart.