Something for VE day

[mr swarf]

A great short film for watching today. 28 mins long but most interesting on the Merlin engine.
youtu.be/-fo7SmNuUU4
Paul

[ettingtonliam]

Fascinating stuff. If you haven't already done so, I can recommend reading'Not Much of an Engineer' by Sir Stanley Hooker, the chap who was responsible for developing the Merlin supercharger and effectively doubling its power. He was also deeply involved in the early days of the jet engine, working closely with Frank Whittle to produce a viable commercial engine from Whittle's prototype.

[Midland]

While perhaps of historical interest, did you know where the stripes on the Coronations came from?
Surprised me but Tom Coleman, Chief draughtsman for Stanier was apprenticed with R J Mitchell as a youth. They kept in touch and Tom would visit RJ in the south. I liked the stripes on the supermarine aircraft so much he copied them onto the Coronations.
So our spitfires and coronations have a little in common as well as helping win the war.
And I remember sitting on my Dad's shoulders during the celebrations 75 years ago watching great big bonfires without having a clue what it was all about.
Cheers David

[kipford]

Concur that Not much of an engineer is a great book about a great engineer in a great period in Aviation development. Another recommended read is Neville Shutes autobiography Slide Rule. He was Chief Metriculator (AKA chief stress engineer) on the R100 airship, the R100 was the successful one the R101 being the disaster. He then went on to form Airspeed only taking up writing novels as a form of relaxation. I once saw Stanley Hooker once in the RR Bristol Engineering Block when I was an undergraduate apprentice there. He was well past retirement age but still had an office and used to come once or twice a week.
Dave

[overner]

"He was well past retirement age but still had an office and used to come once or twice a week."

That reminds me of my time as an apprentice at BAC, Weybridge (Brooklands) when Barnes Wallace still had an office in the old Racing Club House and he too visited a few times a week. We were in the apprentice workshops next door and I remember seeing him arriving or departing in his BMC 1100, Wolseley I think ...

Andy

[rrmrd66]

Memories of Stanley Hooker

I worked for Bristol Siddeley Engines, (which became Rolls Royce almost immediately I joined) from 1966 to 1969 in the Mechanical Research Department on the development of both Pegasus (Harrier) and Olympus(Concorde) engines.

I cannot claim to have ever met Sir Stanley but there was always the threat that if something wasn't quite right "Stanley will be after you"!

Another great in those days was Hugh Conway who was MD of Bristol Siddeley at the time of the RR buyout. Again never met him the but I recall a visit with his entourage one day to one of our test rigs. Famous, of course, for his involvement with Bugatti cars.

Ah.Happy Days.

[d304]

Most people think Rolls Royce as a car, but they are predominantly an aero engine maker. The three volumes of “The Magic of the Name” is a great read of the history of RR and the engines, people and cars. Hooker was brought back after retirement to save RR after the financial trouble with RB 211 for the Lockheed Tristar airliner.
Precision into Power is about RR’s in-line engine rival, Napier. Unfortunately During the 50’s Napier we’re forced to give some of the projects to RR, prior to their demise.
Another good read is Project Cancelled, the demise of the British aircraft industry in the 50’s and 60’s.
To get us back to locos, Gresley wanted streamlined valances for the A4 and based them on the R101 airship.

David

[d304]

Mustn’t forget the book on Sir Roy Fedden at Bristol and his sleeve valve engines!

[d304]

One more thing has come to mind!


I remember reading the Merlin was improved over time from 970hp to 2060hp without increasing the cylinder volume from 27 litres. The later Griffin was 37 litres.
To give perspective, the difference in performance between the first Spitfire to the last Merlin Spitfire and what it could carry was equivalent to carrying 24 passengers and their luggage.

David

[ettingtonliam]

That was largely due to Stanley Hooker's work on improving the original supercharger, then developing the two stage supercharger, plus the availability of 100 octane fuel

[d304]

If I recall the super charger rotor was also used as the compressor for the RR Dart prototype.

[ettingtonliam]

Hooker seems to suggest that they used their knowledge of the Merlin supercharger design to increase the performance of Whittle's engine when designing the Derwent 1, RR's first production jet engine. He doesn't seem to claim that they used the Merlin supercharger for the job.

[kipford]

Agreed, they would have used their knowledge of centrifugal compressor design from superchargers not the actual item. The Dart has a two stage compressor, both centrifugal, the amount of work required to try and match an existing supercharger would not make it a viable proposition. It would be easier to start from scratch.
Dave

[d304]

Having a flick through “The Rolls Royce Dart, Pioneering Turboprop” by Roy Heathcote, the compressor of the first Dart “ was almost exactly as the supercharger of the last piston engine designed by the company(the Eagle). In turn this was based on the enormous background of experience that had been accumulated from the Merlin”

I guess if you are building a prototype you will use parts that are at hand.

I had read the book years ago and had linked the Merlin with Dart, in my head.