Allison V-1710

The Allison V-1710 aircraft engine was the only indigenous US-developed V-12 liquid-cooled engine to see service during World War II. Versions with a turbosupercharger gave excellent performance at high altitude in the twin-engined Lockheed P-38 Lightning, and turbosuperchargers were fitted to experimental single-engined fighters with similar results. The US Army preference for turbosuperchargers early in the program meant that less effort was spent on developing suitable superchargers, and when smaller or lower-cost versions of the engine were desired, they generally had poor performance at higher altitudes. The V-1710 nevertheless gave excellent service when turbosupercharged, notably in the P-38 Lightning, which accounted for much of the extensive production run.