And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Rolls-Royce Merlin: Forging the Engine That Won The War | Fascinating!
Yeah, that country doesn’t exist any longer and soon the muzzies will have nuclear weapons as they take over Great Quitain. Weak men. It’s gonna get sporky.
Packard had to re-engineer the Merlin to enable mass production by Americans - very high quality parts assembled by relatively unskilled workers which was the opposite of RR. That shift made it smoother and more reliable than the RR assembled engines. It was all made possible by the invention of the plain engine bearing shells of the type that we take for granted today. That enabled much higher horsepower outputs and you can thank the Allison engine company for that. If I was paying the bills I'd prefer the Allison V1710 over the Merlin. The 1710 supercharging was never developed because the US had gone down the radial engine route but experimental versions of the 1710 gave huge and reliable horsepower.
A few years ago CW posted about this book https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Horsepower-Race-Western-Development/dp/1911658506 I have a copy on my bookshelf now. The Allison engine was designed for airships and since lighter-than-air craft are altitude limited there was no reason to develop an advanced supercharger. At the same time in the '30s the USAAC went all-in for turbo-superchargers on the B-17, P-38 and P-47 to increase their high-altitude performance. Al_in_Ottawa
Yeah, that country doesn’t exist any longer and soon the muzzies will have nuclear weapons as they take over Great Quitain. Weak men. It’s gonna get sporky.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, appreciate you!
ReplyDeleteApocryphal story - RAF engine techs preferred Packard Merlins because they came with a better tool kit than RRs!
ReplyDeletePackard had to re-engineer the Merlin to enable mass production by Americans - very high quality parts assembled by relatively unskilled workers which was the opposite of RR. That shift made it smoother and more reliable than the RR assembled engines.
DeleteIt was all made possible by the invention of the plain engine bearing shells of the type that we take for granted today. That enabled much higher horsepower outputs and you can thank the Allison engine company for that. If I was paying the bills I'd prefer the Allison V1710 over the Merlin. The 1710 supercharging was never developed because the US had gone down the radial engine route but experimental versions of the 1710 gave huge and reliable horsepower.
Let’s hear it for Babbit, Stellite, snd Inconel !
DeleteA few years ago CW posted about this book
Deletehttps://www.amazon.com/Secret-Horsepower-Race-Western-Development/dp/1911658506
I have a copy on my bookshelf now. The Allison engine was designed for airships and since lighter-than-air craft are altitude limited there was no reason to develop an advanced supercharger. At the same time in the '30s the USAAC went all-in for turbo-superchargers on the B-17, P-38 and P-47 to increase their high-altitude performance.
Al_in_Ottawa
Secret-Horsepower-Race-Western-Development ain't at my local library network. And it's $48 on Amazon. Put that on the wish list.
DeleteAmazing video. For an engineer, it’s as inspiring as Braveheart.
ReplyDelete