Ah, I see... thanksYeah, looking at again, I could've been clearer.I mean, you can get much better performance by adding turbos. The trouble was, turbo tech had lagged, & the metallurgical issues were much the same as those hurting early jets: blades melting, or being very heavy (to resist melting) & thus slow to respond. Now, if you can get earlier turbos, you could just see the U.S. leading in jet engine development, since GE led the world in turbos in '20s & '30s. (IIRC, this was one reason USG wouldn't allow export of turbo'd V1710s.)
Oh, and to answer the question, yeah, the Sovs did it with an extra engine. (IIRC, it was a 3d in a twin, but I could have it wrong.)
Woo! I knew it was here somewhereHere's the link for an enjoyable read.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=53820
Here is the relevant snippet to get you going...
Reaching 30,000 feet, the pilot fired up the slave engine in the center of fuselage. Sucking in the thin outside air, it compressed it and passed it to the four Pratt & Whitney’s on the wings. The slave gave a satisfying vibration through the airframe and into the seats in the cockpit. Engine temperatures dropped and the plane resumed its slow climb as more fuel burned off.
The clouds cleared over Yugoslavia. “Cameras on, start the photolog.” Tibbets called on his intercom. Cruising at 41,000 feet did not make for good tourism with the naked eye. The plane handled poorly in the thin air, fortunately the mission required a nearly straight flight path. The radio operator brought up coffee.
“190s, six o’clock, very low,” the tail gunner called.