500cc GP Replica thread

[SaferRides]

My understanding is that it was only when Packard redrew the engine with tolerances on parts which made them suitable for mass production that it became a feasible front line engine. Packard out-produced RR and the Packard built engines had a much better reliabilty record.
RR stuff was basically hand built in small batches. Which is what they were used to. Good book by an insider at RR who later became MD, Not Much Of An Engineer.
Author name Sir Stanley Hooker. Designed and developed the blowers which gave big HP gains. Later designed the early Jets.

Not quite correct, check out Wikipedia for details of Merlin production in the UK. Ford actually built the most in Britain (30,000) at their factory in Trafford Park. In total, twice as many Merlins were made in the UK than the US.

Sent from my SM-S906E using Tapatalk

[pete376403]

Early RR engines were known to use “file to fit” assembly, but by the time Packard started manufacturing, quality, and tolerances were understood to be much more refined. Packard contributed significantly to the design of the engine, especially in terms of simplifying manufacturer and construction.

There’s an interesting thread here on the topic. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/thread...merlins.38825/

Which is getting a long way from 500m GP replicas

[Grumph]

The only relevance really is that these modern GP replicas are probably reverse engineered from an original.
Rather than castings to be machined I suspect they're CNC'd from billets. Yes, barrels excepted I'd imagine.
The relatively small physical size of components makes this feasible. Unlike say, a Merlin crankcase/block.

[F5 Dave]

There's a great several part series podcasts called spitfire that explains how the plane manufacturing was spread out in all sorts of places to hide it.

[SaferRides]

Early RR engines were known to use “file to fit” assembly, but by the time Packard started manufacturing, quality, and tolerances were understood to be much more refined. Packard contributed significantly to the design of the engine, especially in terms of simplifying manufacturer and construction.

There’s an interesting thread here on the topic. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/thread...merlins.38825/

Which is getting a long way from 500m GP replicas

That's an interesting link, and there's also a considerable amount of information on Quora about WW2 aircraft engines. It's good to see RR still pushing the boundaries in jet engine design, even if they do have occasional problems.

Sent from my SM-S906E using Tapatalk

[husaberg]

Not quite correct, check out Wikipedia for details of Merlin production in the UK. Ford actually built the most in Britain (30,000) at their factory in Trafford Park. In total, twice as many Merlins were made in the UK than the US.

Sent from my SM-S906E using Tapatalk

In Here it says RR bulilt 32,000 Merlin's at their factory.
ford or others it seems had other factories in the UK though.
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-...-to-work-with/

The final total came to 30,428. This was only 2,000 less than the main Rolls-Royce plant at Nightingale Road, Derby (although there were several other plants producing Merlins in the UK.

Ford used their experience in having access to the Merlin and drawings to build this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GAA_engine

[SaferRides]

In Here it says RR bulilt 32,000 Merlin's at their factory.
ford or others it seems had other factories in the UK though.
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-...-to-work-with/



Ford used their experience in having access to the Merlin and drawings to build this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GAA_engine

Now that's a big V8!

The Ford factory built the most Merlins during the war. The Derby factory continued production for a number of years after WW2 ended. RR built another factory at Crewe and there was also a factory in Glasgow.

Sent from my SM-S906E using Tapatalk