Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine 1

[drawoh]

Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine

This is a fun, post-war film about designing and manufacturing the Rolls Royce Merlin. It turns out that rapid prototyping is not a new concept, albeit, it probably was not very fast. Unfortunately, much of the discussion below is arguments with a couple of trolls.

--
JHG

 

[dik]

Also funny that the first Messerschmitt's that were used against the RAF, used Rolls Royce Merlin engines... Not a bad engine.

Dik

 

[JohnRBaker]

Exactly what sort of "rapid prototyping" did you see in that film?

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[berkshire]

Drawoh,
What you have there is a piece of a much longer film about Rolls Royce , the film was started in 1938 and added to during the war, the piece you have is towards the tail end around 1945 .

I posted the whole film on this forum some time ago, thread769-402400 remember it is about an hour and a half long.
But you do get a better picture of the undertaking by watching the whole thing. However ,remember, it is time you will never get back.

B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Sparweb]

For those who want even MORE (because 12 cylinders aren't always enough):

https://www.amazon.com/Not-Much-Eng...99203&sr=1-1&keywords=not+much+of+an+engineer

This is the only biography I have ever read that has brake horsepower curves in it.

STF

 

[EdStainless]

And then there was also the Packard version of this engine.
Which not only powered the P-38 but most unlimited hydroplanes through the 1980's.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[drawoh]

EdStainless,

Packard Merlins went into P-51 Mustangs except for the P51A, and into some Curtis P40s. The P40s got the single stage supercharger Merlins, not the two stage Merlin[ ]60s used in the Mustangs and MkIX[ ]Spitfires. P38[ ]Lightnings used Allison V1710s, and they had poor performance at high altitude.

--
JHG

 

[SnTMan]

... and the Merlin made a good plane (the P51) into an all time great.

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[ScottyUK]

Not that we're overlooking the Lancaster bomber or anything. Anyone who has seen the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will understand just how evocative and unmistakeable the sound of the Merlin engine is.

 

[SnTMan]

Well, not to take anything from the Lancaster, or the many other great planes that fought that war, but I think it is fair to say it was largely the Mustang that decimated the Luftwaffe.

Of course this has been argued over for 70 years, not looking to re-start it

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[JohnRBaker]

I got a chance to see a Spitfire in action at Duxford several years ago. It must have been something when there were dozens of them in the air at once.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[zeusfaber]

Don't know whether this will suppress or fuel the Mustang/Spitfire fire, but here goes anyway.

Seems a long time ago now that I was working at a flight test centre in the UK. The rules said the test pilots needed to stay current on at least five aircraft types and we were already well into the era when there often wasn't that number of different types generating trials flying. Most of the TPs got round this by putting hours in on whatever they could borrow from the ETPS fleet, but one of them took a different approach, got friendly with the estate of a property developer who had owned a number of 1930s/40s aircraft (and had, unfortunately, recently died in one of his Spitfires) and made his hours by trials flying in Tornado, display flying in Spitfire, Mustang and Me 109 and doing a bit of both in the Buccaneer.

Cutting to the chase, it was obvious that the two he got most fun out of were the Mustang (in preference to the Spitfire and the 109) and the Buccaneer (over the Tornado).

The thing about the Lancaster is that it has four Merlins and they aren't automatically synchronised. That's a very special sound.

A.

 

[ScottyUK]

zeusfaber knows what I mean about the sound of the Lancaster.

No argument about the importance of the P-51 once the war moved onto an offensive footing over Germany where its combination of range and firepower was so badly needed.

 

[SnTMan]

Never seen or heard a Lanc, I'm the poorer for it.

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[JohnRBaker]

I've seen two Lancaster's, one at Duxford (but it was a static display) and one in Toronto, a Mark V, at the Toronto Aerospace Museum in 2005. I was a speaker at an engineering conference that was being held there. The Lancaster was being restored and the conference attendees got a special tour in the shop where the work was being done. They had two engines that were torn-down and at least three others in crates (they looked like they might have been "new"). They said that the goal was bringing it back to full-flying condition, but I never followed-up to see how much progress had been made.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[ScottyUK]

A pair of Lancasters flew together over here fairly recently. One was from the BBMF, the other was definitely a Canadian aircraft. Hopefully they succeeded in their goal.

 

[drawoh]

Never seen or heard a Lanc, I'm the poorer for it.

I am spoiled here. I live in the west end of Toronto. ScottyUK's Canadian Lancaster is based in Hamilton, Ontario, where it is owned and flown regularly by Canadian Warplane Heritage. I have seen it fly overhead quite a number of times.

I visited the place when they were visited by a flying DeHavilland Mosquito, and I took lots of pictures. The elderly gentleman giving the speech is Russ Bannock, a WWII Canadian air ace. I do not have photos of the ten Merlin flight because my camera's batteries died. My camera is a Lumix DMC-ZS15. You have been warned!

--
JHG

 

[ScottyUK]

Thanks drawoh, looks an interesting place to visit.

 

[SnTMan]

I do get a B-17 over the house occasionally and a B-29 thru town now and then. A flight of 4 to 6 T-6's is not uncommon either.

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[drawoh]

ScottyUK,

Last week, as I arrived at work in Kitchener, Ontario, I heard a weird noise, and I looked up and saw a DeHavilland[ ]Vampire fly overhead. Canadian Warplane Heritage has one, but I did not know it was in flying condition.

--
JHG