I’m doing some research with my brother-in-law on Merlin-engined Rolls-Royce cars, of which there were a few. However, part of my own interest is that my father worked at the Rolls-Royce engine factory at Hillington near Glasgow during the war. He was a toolmaker developing equipment to improve Merlin manufacture and production, and I remember him many years ago telling me that he (or his group) managed to make measuring equipment which enabled Rolls to finish the Merlin crankshaft main bearing journals to a sufficiently fine tolerance that the engines could be taken off the production line and installed in an aeroplane without first having to be bench run-in, as had been the case before. Can anyone tell me if this ever happened.
By: Scouse - 29th September 2012 at 16:52
Charles, a mirror image of your dad’s experience was that of my dad’s oldest friend. He was a fitter on the Rootes line in Liverpool, assembling Blenheims and getting more and more fed up.
He was accepted to the Army and, it being war time, the Army had no problems in offering a working class Liverpool lad a commission. He never looked back, eventually becoming transport officer on Brian Horrocks’ personal staff and commandeering a number of top Nazis’ personal cars. To the end of his life he never bought anything other than Mercedes.
By: Scouse - 29th September 2012 at 16:52
Charles, a mirror image of your dad’s experience was that of my dad’s oldest friend. He was a fitter on the Rootes line in Liverpool, assembling Blenheims and getting more and more fed up.
He was accepted to the Army and, it being war time, the Army had no problems in offering a working class Liverpool lad a commission. He never looked back, eventually becoming transport officer on Brian Horrocks’ personal staff and commandeering a number of top Nazis’ personal cars. To the end of his life he never bought anything other than Mercedes.
By: Charles Ross - 29th September 2012 at 15:27
Hi, guys,
Many thanks for the input and sorry for the delay in replying. Just in case you’re interested, a couple of stories my Dad told me, from the beginning and end of the war.
When war broke out, he went to his local recruiting office to join up. He had fantastic long range vision and wanted to fly fighters. However, when the officer got to ‘occupation’ and found out what he did, he tore up the form and sent him back to Rolls with a flea in his ear. That’s probably why I’m here today.
During the war, surplus Merlin packing cases were in great demand by the workforce as coal bunkers, storage etc. You put your name down on a list and every so often a lorry would leave the factory and drop them off at workers’ houses. Just after the war ended, my Dad was called by his neighbour to give him a hand, as his case had just been delivered. When they tried to move it, nothing happened. You guessed it – it contained a brand new Merlin which was now not needed. The factory couldn’t even be bothered to take it out of the crate.
Thanks again for your input, it’s been very interesting.
By: Charles Ross - 29th September 2012 at 15:27
Hi, guys,
Many thanks for the input and sorry for the delay in replying. Just in case you’re interested, a couple of stories my Dad told me, from the beginning and end of the war.
When war broke out, he went to his local recruiting office to join up. He had fantastic long range vision and wanted to fly fighters. However, when the officer got to ‘occupation’ and found out what he did, he tore up the form and sent him back to Rolls with a flea in his ear. That’s probably why I’m here today.
During the war, surplus Merlin packing cases were in great demand by the workforce as coal bunkers, storage etc. You put your name down on a list and every so often a lorry would leave the factory and drop them off at workers’ houses. Just after the war ended, my Dad was called by his neighbour to give him a hand, as his case had just been delivered. When they tried to move it, nothing happened. You guessed it – it contained a brand new Merlin which was now not needed. The factory couldn’t even be bothered to take it out of the crate.
Thanks again for your input, it’s been very interesting.
By: minimans - 11th June 2012 at 06:10
Is he perhaps thinking that the rod bearings did not need to be sized individually for each journal? All RR engines are/were test run before fitment and one of each batch were stripped and inspected for wear/damage to check for production problems. The Rolls-Royce heritage trust have a few books available on Merlin production that make for a very interesting read, especially the development ones which look at all the problems and solutions throughout the life and service of this great engine.
The trust is a great place to have a subscription the news letters and archive magazine make for interesting reading I have been a life member since the early 80’s and never regretted it!
By: MerlinPete - 10th June 2012 at 22:19
Hi Charles
I hadn’t heard about that, but all Merlins were definitely test-run prior to being signed off.
Right from all but the very earliest versions with white metalled rods, new bearings could be fitted without the requirement for ‘running in’.
Pete
By: Arabella-Cox - 10th June 2012 at 20:46
Testing Merlin engines
I can’t vouch for the story but I understood it was standard practice for every aero-engine right up to the present day for it to be tested and checked by the manufacturer before being signed off.
It’s T’s & P’s as well as a host of other information that is gathered and recorded on the engine log.
On this point (and I’m digressing, as usual, about this fascinating subject): the Pratt and Whitney Company in the US had so many engines on test at any one time during the war years that they would be coupled to generators during testing to produce most of the electricity requirement for the factory.
Anon.
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June 10, 2012 at 3:26 pm