Fairey Battle with R-R Peregrine…

Hi
just a bump to see if there is any info more on the battle yet
cheers
Jerry

Jerry, do you know what else R-R have concerning Whirly material?

Stuart…

Hi Stuart,
just pulled out my R-R Stuff,
Battle mentioned by them was N2110 used from Oct ’39 to Oct ’40.
And Heinkel 70 G-ADZF, until grounded 3.3.39.
Interestingly, I had forgot that they refered to the peregrine MkI and four MkII engines, in the notes.

New lad at R-R ?
What happened to Peter Kirk ? he was very helpful.

Cheers
Jerry

And another thing . . .

A possible addition to the Battle installation. According to the Air Min contract registers Rolls was given Contract 698328/37 for “Flight tests of Kestrel XVI and Peregrine engines in Hart K3036”. Contract value was £5,800. The date of the contract is uncertain: two dates are given – 20/10/37 and 05/11/37, but I don’t know if these are tender out and tender in or ITP issue and contract out. Unfortunately the contracts department, while splashing the ministry’s cash on a grand scale, apparently couldn’t afford a typewriter so resorted to maximally unintelligible copperplate writing. Both dates given though are before the Peregrine had completed its 100-hour type test so, presumably, no flight-cleared engine available at time of contract.

I’ve no idea whether this installation and testing actually happened, but I will check with RRHT.

NiallC

Thanks to everyone here, I’ve now found the passage mentioning the Peregrine Battle, K9477 in Ken Wixey’s Forgotten Bombers of the Royal Air Force (ISBN 1-85409-306-1) Shame R-R has mislaid the Photo’s, mind you the new lad there did say they had nothing on the Peregrine at all when I requested the AP…

Jerry, do you know what else R-R have concerning Whirly material?

Niall, pleasure as always seeing you here, sorry I haven’t replied to your last email, will write and get you up to speed with our Whirly replica…;) It’s a 😀 & 🙁 story…

Many thanks again to all…

Stuart…

It is usually stated, I think, that the only aircraft other than the Westland Whirlwind to be fitted with the Pergrine was the He 70.

Hi
Also one other Gloster F9/37 peregrine engined.
http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac6/Gloster%20F9_37.html
cheers
Jerry

I understand several Fairey Battles were used as engine test beds during the war, with-Fairey P.24, Napier Dagger VIII, Sabre, Bristol Taurus to name a few.

I’ve read somewhere that one was used as a test bed for the Whirlwind R-R Peregrine…

Truth or should I cut down on the medication…;)

Hi
Yes, a Battle was used, unfortunately R-R no longer has a photo, I have seen a scan of the HE-70 fit ( below), but none of the battle.
I think I recall an airfix magazine conversion many years ago.
cheers
jerry

there is an exe battle photo in flight archive but never had time to search more.
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200146.html

It is usually stated, I think, that the only aircraft other than the Westland Whirlwind to be fitted with the Pergrine was the He 70. In Flypast Jan 2009, Fairey Battle in Focus, there is a piece on Battle testbeds. It says the following.

“Rolls-Royce used several Battles for trials work on the Merlin during its development and one of these, K9477, reportedly tested the company’s Peregrine I. Around 300 Peregrine Is were built, the majority installed in Westland Whirlwind I fighter-bombers. It
was a relatively unsuccessful engine as its power fell off rapidly at altitude. The test-bed was struck off charge on October 4, 1943, around the same time as the Whirlwind was replaced in the two front-line squadrons it served with. (See the October F1yPast.)”

Hi Stuart

The Peregrine made its first flights in Roll’s He 70, but I have found an Air Ministry document listing all the aircraft that were on the AMDP fleet (with a view to returning some of them to active service) that lists Battle K9477 as being at Rolls-Royce for “fitting of Peregrine engine” in May 1940. Seems odd bearing in mind that the Air Min had by that time suspended development of the Peregrine for a full 100 Octane rating.

HTH
Niall

In the Air Britain Battle file there is no mention of Battles used for testing the Peregrine engine. RR Merlins, Exe, Napier Dagger, Sabre, Bristol Hercules, Taurus and Fairey 24 Prince engines where tested in Battles.

Dave

More likely the Heinkel He-70 that was Rolls-Royce’s all-purpose test bed for Kestrels and their derivatives from the late 1930s onward. I’m always willing to be proved wrong, though.