19 Facts About Rolls-Royce Merlin

Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres capacity.

Rolls-Royce Merlin designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture.

The first operational aircraft to enter service using the Rolls-Royce Merlin were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire.

The Rolls-Royce Merlin remains most closely associated with the Spitfire and Hurricane, although the majority of the production run was for the four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber.

Rolls-Royce Merlin engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and power many restored aircraft in private ownership worldwide.

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Two more Rolls-Royce Merlin engines developed just prior to the war were added to the company's range.

The Rolls-Royce Merlin III was the first version to incorporate a "universal" propeller shaft, allowing either de Havilland or Rotol manufactured propellers to be used.

The Merlin XX utilised the two-speed superchargers designed by Rolls-Royce, resulting in increased power at higher altitudes than previous versions.

Lovesey, an engineer who was a key figure in the design of the Rolls-Royce Merlin, delivered a lecture on the development of the Rolls-Royce Merlin in 1946; in this extract he explained the importance of the supercharger:.

In 1940, after receiving a request in March of that year from the Ministry of Aircraft Production for a high-rated Merlin for use as an alternative engine to the turbocharged Hercules VIII used in the prototype high-altitude Vickers Wellington V bomber, Rolls-Royce started experiments on the design of a two-stage supercharger and an engine fitted with this was bench-tested in April 1941, eventually becoming the Merlin 60.

However, the Rolls-Royce Merlin's float controlled carburettor meant that if Spitfires or Hurricanes were to pitch nose down into a steep dive, negative g-force produced temporary fuel starvation causing the engine to cut-out momentarily.

However, as early as 1938, at the 16th Paris Air Show, Rolls-Royce displayed two versions of the Merlin rated to use 100-octane fuel.

Production of the Rolls-Royce Merlin was driven by the forethought and determination of Ernest Hives, who at times was enraged by the apparent complacency and lack of urgency encountered in his frequent correspondence with the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aircraft Production and local authority officials.

All the Rolls-Royce Merlin-engined aircraft taking part in the Battle of Britain had their engines assembled in the Derby factory.

Rolls-Royce Merlin production started to run down in August 1945, and finally ceased on 23 March 1946.

In chronological order, the first operational aircraft powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin to enter service were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane, and Supermarine Spitfire.

Non-supercharged version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin using a larger proportion of steel and iron components was produced for use in tanks.

In 1938, Rolls-Royce started work on modifying some Merlins which were later to be used in British MTBs, MGBs, and RAF Air-Sea Rescue Launches.

One of the most successful of the World War II era aircraft engines, the Rolls-Royce Merlin continues to be used in many restored World War II vintage aircraft all over the world.