The Rolls Royce Merlin: Powering History's Most Famous Fighters
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
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If only the Russians shared their petal vortex throttle system
You could have included the fact that the Rolls Royce Meteor engine, used in most British tanks in world war two and in the post war years, was a RR Merlin adapted for ground use.
I came to say the same thing, not just the aircraft.
Maybe a side not of Charlie from PPC magazine fitting one to a rover SD1 lol
Wasn't there also a marine version of the merlin!!!
@@lxtechmangood9503 Yes, used by their Search and Rescue.
@@vumba1331 that's what I thought/ remembered/ wondered thanks 😊
I recall that this fact was mentioned in an earlier episode.
I love the sound of Rolls-Royce Merlins in the morning.
Sounds like..sounds like victory.
If you hear an airworthy Spit or Mustang its got a Griffon engine.
@@zoiders and if you hear a plane that actually helped win the war in europe, its in a soviet vehicle.
and/or and allison v1710
Hearing the 4 RR Merlins on the Lancaster overhead here always makes me happy and gave my mom goosebumps.
@@zoiders BULL$HIT they do !!!! ALL Mustangs use the Merlin engine, the Griffon was only installed in a couple of racers, and only 1700 Griffon $hitfires were ever built as only 8,000 Griffon engines were ever built !!! Stop with the lies and BS and get the truth !!!!
@@daslynnter9841 BULL$HIT !!!!! it was an ALLIED effort and Russia had a lot of lend lease help !!!!
And two Merlins powered the versatile de Havilland Mosquito - hated by the Luftwaffe as it was so successful.
Hate or jealous Hermann goering actually said he was green with envy and jealousy that every piano make it was knocking it out he actually use those words
Mosquito was made of wood great aircraft.
The wooden wonder 🥰
Lightweight wood plane with 4000 combined hp, my grandfather was a RAF flight LT, said they could simply outrun the germans
@@macthemec only the very last mozzy had that much hourse power early ones had 1700 odd but yes if the saw a German they just opened up the throttle
Back in the day, boat builders used Merlin Engines in Hydroplanes for racing. I can still hear the classic sound of low RPM's and lots of pistons. There were surplus engines after the War, so smart boat builders switched to Merlin's. They dominated in Unlimited Hydroplane class for years. It wasn't until there were lots of surplus turbine engines from helicopters after Vietnam that Gas Turbine Engines would dominate.
Gas turbines killed unlimited hydroplane racing. No thunder. Just woosh. Allison V1710's were used about equally in unlimiteds, and the Griffon was used in the rear-engine configuration of Miss Budweiser before they designed the turbine boat.
@@andyharman3022 agree 100 percent. Miss the 'Thunder' Boats. I used to live in Seattle and always went to Sea Fair.
Great engine used by so many legendary planes. I will always admire De Havilland Mosquito, wooden plane with two Merlins protected by speed.
The Mosquito had problems in hot damp climates the glue used to construct the aircraft would cease to work.
One of the greatest piston engines ever. Yay getting closer to the video I want to see you make. Please do one on the P-51. Love what you do , much love from WV USA 🐈🐾
Hell yeah me too! I'm close to D.C. well relatively. What about you?
yea thats what we need a MUSTANG VIDEO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im in Carolina Bois
@@nicholascorbett1256 Mid-Ohio Valley there abouts. Right on 🤘
I'm from the UK and I too would love a video on the Mustang. I mean Spitfires are OK but the P51 is just awesome.
@@GeoffTV2 P51 Spitfire Merlin Variants
Service Ceiling 40900ft 43000 to 45700ft
Climb 3475 f/m 4800 to 5500 f/m
Roll Rate 94 Deg/sec 78d/s@ 400mph 105 to 150 d/s 220 Mph
Turn Radius 883 ft 700 ft
Range 1300 miles w drop Tanks 1150 miles with 90 Gal Belly tank
Speed 437 mph @ 25000ft 424mph 29500ft MkVII
Armament 6 x50 cal/ 2 x20mm and 2 x50 cal
So where do you get awesome about a plane that was beaten comprehensively by your own Spitfire ?
Would have loved to hear about their testing process. They would run the Merlin flat out until it broke, then open it up and inspect what broke. They they would make an improvement to make it stronger and run the test all over again.
That's almost a direct quote of Henry Royce's design philosophy: "Test it until it breaks, and then fix what broke."
The proper way to produce long lasting things. Something they all need to relearn across the board...... Fridges to vehicles and beyond.
@@dillonpierce7869 - Henry Royce was an insanely brilliant engineer who would be right at home in today's quality-driven manufacturing environment. He designed a test fixture for his cars that mounted a rolling chassis (which is what RR made, the bodies were added later by custom coach builders) at the wheels and then pulsed each corner independently with randomized cams. This would force every resonance of every component to reveal itself by breaking something. Royce expected his chassis' to survive a day or more of this punishment. He would sometimes mount a competitor's car to the rig to compare, and they generally didn't last an hour. Some were shedding pieces after only a few minutes!
@@dillonpierce7869 I have heard that Henry Ford said something along the lines of (paraphrasing perhaps here)
-I could build a car to last forever, but why would I do that? You wouldn’t need to buy another one, and that’s not good for business-
Sadly today items seem to be designed to last 3 years (surprisingly the length of a standard car lease) and then deteriorate rapidly.
I have also been told that here in the UK, Swinton near Manchester to be precise, a bunch of eggheads built a 12v car battery that would never decay/degrade in its ability to be recharged and hold that charge (obviously alluding to the fact that most car batteries lose the ability to hold charge after a few years, maybe up to 10 if you’re lucky and it is used often). The old boy that told me about it has since passed but he said they had it in a glass case in the factory but never produced it commercially, most likely using the same business practise as Ford.
@@Morris2182 well everything will break eventually regardless how it was made but say from the time steel frames came out instead of wood they lasted ( 30's-90's before major crumple zones into play ruining cars in one crash now ). Like my current 98 ram.... Found a telephone pole in a ditch in the snow in February and knocked out the headlights and ruined the fenders. 🤷🏻♂️😅 Big deal. New truck would've been mangled to oblivion.
The Merlin is probably the best (and most iconic) aircraft engine of all time, the sound of it is absolutely magical to me.🇬🇧🇬🇧✌✌
Next do a video on the Pratt & Whitney R2800 double wasp
Good engine in work horses
Imagine being at pilot and getting behind a Rolls-Royce engine for the first time. That had to be quite a rush.
considering the average age of pilots during the battle of Britain was just 20 years old, some not even old enough to drive a car. i would heartily agree.
That thunder as it cranked over.
27 litres of displacement, near enough two thousand horsepower, enough torque to reverse the rotation of the earth, and no muffling whatsoever on the 12 individual flame belching exhausts.
It would be like letting hell itself loose... and then realizing it was entirely at your command. Yours alone to unleash with the throttle lever.
@@VeraTheTabbynx Sir, I'm a car guy, and you just whispered sweet nothings into my ear 😅
@@StrangeTerrorheh, I too am a car enthusiast. Love crazy engines,no matter their application.
Especially since some people were mad enough to put Merlins in cars.
@@VeraTheTabbynx No bullshit, i have a 92 camaro (third gen f body) I want to put one in.
I was riding my bicycle on a undeveloped barrier island in Florida. I took a break, parked the bike, and was walking toward the shoreline when I heard a most wonderful sound. It was approaching rapidly.
I sprinted toward the shoreline. I got there as a P-51 flew by about 50 ft off the water, well in excess of 300mph. Wow... I will never forget that moment, or that sound.
I'm sure the video for the spitfire at the start is a hurricane... my immersion REEeeeeee :p
It was lol!
@@iCrapBubbles it was x 2, film repeated later :-)
first thing I thought
One of many errors in clip selection. Several of the planes shown are fitted with air-cooled radials.
Yep, spotted that too. Immediately. A small hiccup.
I admire your accurate description of how everything combined won the war. It was not just the M-1 Garand, the M4 Sherman or any one aircraft. It was the allies fighting the axis. A war of good against evil. And yes, when the British realized they could squeeze a Merlin into the P-51, the Mustang finally became a thoroughbred.
Yeah but without those M1's, M4's, P-51's, and Liberty ships the world would be TOTALLY different. An had both France an the Brits not fell asleep at the wheel countless lives could have been saved. But, Chamberlain made sure we had "Peace in our time" but hindsight is 20/20 an I'm being rude.
@@nicholascorbett1256 Lol for sure. I don't think he was downplaying the garand (*ping!*) or any of those other engineering marvels though. But you are correct regardless. Sucks how many lives were lost needlessly, stupidly, or because someone was backed into a corner
dwightminnich BULL$HIT !!!! The Brits only converted 4 Mk I Mustangs to merlin power as test mules, actually hashed them up and they NEVER saw combat. It was North American that engineered and installed all the PACKARD built in America merlins in ALL the production merlin Mustangs !!! Facts of history less the lies, hype and BS !!!
@@nicholascorbett1256 The Brits set up the armastice in WW I and could not enforce the terms and Hitler thumbed his nose at the Brits and French, who were helpless to stop him !!!
An interesting video. You should consider doing one on the other "war winning" aircraft engine. The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial powered multiple aircraft types and saw similar developmental improvements throughout the war.
Your P/W 2800 in the west was the work Horse where less efficiency did not matter
And after the war Merlins were tuned to around 3800HP for Air racing, that takes a slick P51 to 540mph
Bloody hell. As a car guy, numbers like that make me swoon
They were also widely used in marine racing after the war. When I was a kid a guy brought a rare wood boat to have my dad work on. He was one of the few people who knew how to work on the old wooden boats. The boat was a high-speed launch(HSL) used by the RAF to pick up downed pilots in the English Channel during WWII. It was built with twin Merlin V-12's that we're both supercharged and turbocharged. It was very fast for a boat of that size/weight and one of the coolest boats we had come through the marina. We had cigarette boats that were cool but this was history and stupid fast. At just under 50ft it was a good bit smaller than the 64ft Whaleback that was most commonly used at the time. We couldn't find much information at the time about it. It was odd that it used the Merlin engine but it had all the plaques and paperwork for it. The Merlin wasn't widely used in the marine environment at the time. The owners and my dad believed it must have been a prototype of some sort. It was seized in the late 80s from some Columbians that were about to use it for a run. The owners bought it at an auction and couldn't find out much about it then. The funny thing was when they went to bid on it they had been outbid. However, the government refused to sell to the higher bidder because they were Columbians too. 🤣
Another cool bit of info. My best friend's dad was asked to come give the motors a tuneup. He had been the mechanic on the original Miss Budweiser(late 70's- early 80's). It was using a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine at the time. My friend's dad was considered to be one of the best mechanics when it came to Rolls-Royce engines in boats. If you have never seen or heard one in person, then you are missing out! When fully equipped they are the size of a small car and as heavy as a half dozen Ford Fiestas. 😄
The Merlins and Allisons have also been used extensively in tractor pulling. Allisons more in the US and the Merlin/Griffin in Europe. Both can be a sight to behold when two or THREE are stacked onto an 8,000 pound homemade chassis and hooked to a 60,000 pound sled.
@@jonathanstancil8544 That is a sight to see! They always seemed to have the tractor pull on the coldest night of the year when I was a kid. It didn't matter. My grandfather would get all of us kids together to go watch. They always had the tractor pulls and mud dragsters on the same night. I was just thinking about taking my kids the next time. It was canceled last time but I hope it won't be this time.
I have the pleasure of getting to hear 4 of these roar overhead most weekends during the summer, I live not to far from one of only 2 Lancasters left flying in the world.
Lucky you!!
Me too!
When the P-51 first came out it was generally considered a mediocre aircraft. It wasn't until the Merlin engine was installed in it that it came out as one of the finest piston-engined aircraft of WW2. Eventually the USA did produce Packard designs that were the equal of the Merlin but it took until almost the end of the war to happen. The USA did produce the best radial engines of the war though, eventually surpassing 3000 HP with the P&W compound radials.
I think that the P-51's original Allison engine (another V12 with a supercharger) was actually a bit better than the Merlin *at low altitude*. Thing is, low altitude performance was never going to be relevant. The marriage of North American's design (especially that wing) and the Merlin was brilliant.
Packard license built Merlins, but you suggesting that they also developed their own engine design. That sounds interesting! I guess it got swamped by the emergence of jet engines...
@@abarratt8869 You are correct but the aircraft was originally designed as an interceptor fighter so high altitude performance was a requirement and it failed to meet that requirement, even with the laminar flow wing design (which was supposed to help at altitude the best). When we sold some to the British they actually had the idea of adding the Merlin to it and that as they said 'made history'. Allison and Packard both built the Merlin under license but both had developed engines of similar output nearer to war's end but as you stated, the jet age overtook any further military interest in them. I believe it was Packard that was developing a V16 that would have been even more powerful but it was cancelled at the end of the war.
I came across this just the other day, he explains it pretty well, it's less about the actual engine than it is the use of dual staged turbos and/or superchargers and logistics.
ruclips.net/video/oJPGFcXRZZI/видео.html
@@kl0wnkiller912
I think you might be thinking of the Chrysler XIV-2220, an inverted V-16 intended to produce over 2500hp. Aluminum block and hemispherical heads, it was so long that they decided to use a driveshaft in the V of the block, taking power off the center of the crankshaft to reduce crank flex.
Packard did work on trying to build an X-pattern engine before the war, the 1A-2775, basically 2 V-12s Siamesed at the crankcase, but it wasn't successful.
By far, Packard's most successful aircraft engine was the V-1650, which was the Merlin, with some modifications to improve mass-production (the original RR version was more of an artisanal affair, the makers more like craftsmen than factory workers).
@@chrisvandyk6807
Yes, the basic Allison V-1710 was considered at least the equal of the Merlin/V-1650, but was always let down by a single-stage, single-speed supercharger. The addition of a turbocharger, as in the P-38, really brought out the potential of the Allison, but at the cost of a lot of excess weight and complexity.
I love the sound of these Merlin's and the Daimler-Benz Bf-109 inverted V-12's on low fly by in WWII vintage fighters!
When I work at a Boeing plant building the apache. The nearby airfield had a wwii aircraft museum. And the p-51 with it merlin had a unique sound that set it apart and was only eclipsed by the b-17 four engines.
Listen to four Merlins then! Music!
I lived for a few short months in the old RAF Married quarters opposite Duxford. Spitfires doing test flights in the evenings, Merlins backfiring on the circuit to land with such a gorgeous crackle.
Then stepping out into the garden one Sunday as their B-17 sideslipped low over the house sounding like the biggest bee you've ever seen.
Great as always. You could have touched upon Miss Shilling's Orifice too, as well as the Mosquito as had already been mentioned. That was a hugely significant aircraft, worthy of its own film 😊
Miss Shilling’s orifice, I think you will find.
@@jerry2357 slip of the thumb; thanks.
wings Miss shilling "orfice' was a non player as PACKARD solve the problem from the start using a Bendix pressure carb !!! Problem REALLY solved !!!
@@wilburfinnigan2142 I think you're applying a confused timeline or revisionist history here: The earlier Mks of Spitfire were already deployed long before Packard starting building the Merlin under licence. What was needed was a cost effective retrofit solution and that which Mrs Shilling invented fitted that bill completely. I believe the pressurised carbs came later.
The Merlin was detuned by removing the supercharging. The engine was then made under licence by Rover, named the Meteor, with it being used in tanks like the Cromwell, Comet and Centurion. It was the best tank engine of WW2. The engine had to be detuned as the Cromwell went too fast reaching over 50mph. One jumped a canal in Holland.
Came to the comments to make this exact point. The Meteor was undoubtedly just as amazing as the Merlin, but far less well known since its most famous application was a largely post-war tank.
@@firewall2302
It was made until the 1960s
Many of the Metor engines were Merlin engine with no supercharger. The reduced power meant that these tanks did not need radiators to control the engine temperature that would have been much bigger.
@@walkergarya
That is what basically I wrote.
Didn't they take a good look at that canal jumping tank later and find out that it was a lightweight mild steel prototype that should never have been issued for service? Suspicions were raised after small arms fire made little pits instead of bouncing off...
For some reason, this episode really grabbed me. Most of your program content is really good.
But some thing made this one outstanding!
Keep it up and thanks.
The Meteor, used in a number of British tanks, is derived from the Merlin as well. It was used up to about 1960.
have the pleasure to hear that amazing noise regularly as live down the road from an ex RAF station where somone own a spitfire
Another thing going on with the supercharger development was fuel improvements, mostly by US oil companies. Octane ratings for AvGas went from 87 to 115/150.
At the start yes but Shell Oil and BP were making their own
Great vid......love the subject! and love the way you performed and produced it! 👍😃
An excellent read about the Lancs during WWII is "Lancaster Target" by Jack Currie. He goes to great lengths about harmonizing the Merlins and how reassuring their purring sound was to him and his crew.
I must say this was the most comprhensive coverage of the Merlin I have seen and you actually recognized PACKARD as one of the Major suppliers of merlin and the Merlin Mustang and its role in the war, Most just gloss over the Packard roll and also the Mustang but you nailed it. Good show !! !
Wow Wilbur no swearing cussing or similar Packards were good just not as good as the Merlin
Unfortunately the Spitfire shown at the beginning of this video is actually another Hawker Hurricane - I thought you ought to know....
And the Beaufighter was built using Sleeve valve.. radial engines quieter ...hence its japanese nick name whispering death the big Short Sunderland flyingboat also used radials .... but no mention of the fastest most versatile aircraft of the war ...the wooden wonder... and chief pathfinder the Mozzi.
And the beginning of the Merlin line like the spitfire itself was in the Supermarine Schneider trophy float planes and the ultimate development was the actually the Gryphon, bigger capacity and brutally more powerful..requiring contra rotating props.
@@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665 Contra-rotating props were trialled in some Griffon-powered Spitfire models - XIV and 21 - but not used operationally. Five-blade propellors were sufficient.
The Mark 47 Seafire, however, used contra-rotating propellors:
ruclips.net/video/_YioXYhbVPA/видео.html
Have no idea who you are but you're work is great to watch thank you
Simon, you ought to have mentioned the Schneider Trophy Races, where the RR engine and the airframe of R.J.Mitchell (Supermarine) wed to beat everyone. It was almost a Spitfire prototype.
I’m not sure the s-6b used a merlin, could be wrong though
@@massmike11 The Supermarine racing seaplanes had virtually nothing in common with the Spitfire - except that they were metal monoplanes. The engine used in the S6B (which eventually won the Schneider Trophy in 1931) was the Rolls Royce "R" (for "Racing") which was later developed into the Griffon. The Merlin had few connections to the R.
Thats what I thought but I wasn’t sure. Thank you for explaining.
Story Of The Spitfire
ruclips.net/video/oNPvQMNjJIo/видео.html
I get to hear that sound (X4) several times each summer when the CWH Lancaster flys over my house.
Nothing like lunch with #factboy. I love when his clone army and basement "employees" upload 18 videos in 3 minutes. All hail our RUclips overlord.
It would have been useful to mention the contribution Packard made to detailed redesign on the engine to improve manufactuability. Also the carburettor, engine cut out, victory roll vs fuel injection by the axis powers.
Rubbish Packard made no redesign All improvement were by Rolls Royce with a few minor mods by Packard I have the Mod Numbers if you like
@jacktattis You have completely misunderstood me. I was not denegrating Rolss Royce, who improved the performance of the engine enormously when it qas most needed. I am talking about changes which made it easier to manufacture. That is well documented.
@@richardparkersmith4810 ok let us know what they were.
The indescribable rush of emotion, adrenaline and pride when you see a spitfire in the flesh with it's engine roaring.
A thing of beauty
Thank you for highlighting Stanley Hooker's role; brilliant engineer, really good.
Thank you for the production numbers- somehow I had got the idea Packard had finished up building better than half- the Mustang was a huge user, but many were installed on Canadian built Spitfires and other license built British air frames. Not given much coverage was Packard's through going re engineering to gain a more readily producible and maintenance friendly finished product, much of which was taken back to Crewe and incorporated in the home built RR versions. BTW, the Packard contract contained a royalty agreement which Packard readily signed of on- Allison's engineers for the V 12 they were building had the opportunity to gain access to the new two speed, two stage SC but felt the idea of royalties was outrageous. Post war experiments with Allison V12's being built for unlimited hydroplane racing showed much the same improvement in sea level hp as the Merlin gained. Most of the military surplus converted to air racers were Merlin powered and also never flew above 1500 feet, so no final info, but many strong hints.
Also not mentioned was RR practice of pass/fail testing both parts and finished assemblies; the successes went on to be installed on many aircraft, while the operational failures were down rated and made engines for British tanks and motor torpedo boats- a practice Packard followed- many "not aircraft quality engines" becoming powerplants for US torpedo boats.
Simon- in your list of successful aircraft using the Merlin, you didn't mention Britain's "second darling" the De Havilland Mosquito- I'm wondering why. Without a doubt the most successful medium bomber/scout plane/night fighter of the European Theater if not the war. FR
There are 2 Lancasters in flying condition in the world. One is in Canada, where it was built, and is fitted with Packard Merlins.
Correction: Spitfires were never built in Canada, but about 1400-1500 Hurricanes were.
@@CaptHollister TY- I am very "armchair" on much of this and "popular publications" play to big a place in my info stream about warbirds and their stories. Again, TY! FR
Packard had been building V 12 aircraft engines since WWI. The V 12 used in PT boats had no connection to the RR designed V 12.
@@nickdanger3802 The M2500 and other Packard engines of the time were "kin" to the Liberty" aircraft engines of WW1- but were much re engineered to fulfill the marine roll based on the joint product of RR and Packard. Several of the same engineers are signed on to both projects- their names can still be seen on photos of factory drawings. BTW, neither the Liberty based nor the RR Merlin were any kin to the flat head Packard V12. FR
@@fredericrike5974 The PACKARD M2500 was being delivered to the US Navy and to the Brits long before RR came to Packard to build the Merlin. The PACKARD M2500 PT Boat engine has NOTHING to do with the RR Merlin, and RR engineers had NOTHING to do with its design or production. Packard built 55.525 Merlinsand 14,000 M2500 during the war !!! Facts of history less the hype, lies and BS you spout !!!
In my opinion the greatest engine ever produced. Certainly one of the best sounding.
Merlins absolutely are the best, but I have to admit, the old British standard hardware makes them a pain to work on. we have the in the newly rebuilt prototype XP-82 twin mustang!
My Grandpa would have loved this.. He was a air force mechanic working on these beasts during WW2.
After that they tried to drag race them failed due to weight then put one in about I remember the amazing roar & flames .
In Australia or New Zealand someone cut 2 Cylinders off one made a 5 liter V twin bike.
Not practical still worthy of honorable mention..
This engine is one of the reason we are speaking English today instead of German and I'm so grateful for the forgotten worker bee's who built these monsters.
I had to pay respect as you always hear about the hero's, But hardy about the worker who kept production going as London was getting the crap bombed out of it.
I'm fortunate to live near Hamilton Ontario and get to hear four Merlins in the 1 of 2 flying Lancaster bombers on a regular basis in the summer
I never realized the Lancaster used Merlins... and I've been on an airstrip when a Lancaster came screaming by below treetop level, not 50 meters away. (Private airstrip holding an airshow, after the guests had gone home, so no FAA violations. But cool as Hell.)
An Avro Lancaster flew over my home today, the Merlin sound is easily recognizable.
@@RayleighCriterion The vast bulk of Lancasters used Merlins although a couple of hundred were fitted with Bristol Hercules air cooled radials (the Lancaster MkII).
@@EricIrl Also fun fact that about 1/2 of ALL Lancasters used the Packard, built in AMERICA merlins, 3,040 Mk BIII's built in England and 400 Canadian built Mk X of the 7700 built, and ALL were the Merlin 20 series SINGLE STAGE supercharged version, why a loaded Lancaster was lucky to get to 22,000 ft !!! B17 and B24's went 10,000 ft higher loaded!!! They were 2 stage with the turbo being the second stage !!
I was at an air show back in the 70's when a Lancaster, Spitfire, Mosquito and Hurricane flew together in formation. All those Merlins, it was just wonderful.
malahammer and did you know most all of those Merlins were Made by Packard In the USA ??
Goering on seeing Mustang's over Berlin. "The war is lost".
Of course he would say this in german
@@SRW_ "Der Krieg ist verloren." Although I suspect there was some cursing involved.
If I recall correctly, he actually said that when it was P-38s and P-47s over Berlin, not P-51s. It took some work to add enough inter all fuel to the P-51 so that (with drop tanks) it could get to Berlin and back - but those extended range P-51s were not the first Mustangs in theater, and until they arrived, the Jugs and Lightnings had better range.
The exact quote (according to General Spaatz of the USAAF, who *personally* asked Göring about when he knew the war was lost) was, "When I saw your bombers over Berlin protected by your *long-range fighters* , I knew then that the Luftwaffe would be unable to stop your bombers. Our weapons plants would be destroyed; our defeat was inevitable." This is often *misquoted* in the shorter, pithier (and far more colloquially American), pro-Mustang version.
Note that the first mission (3 Mar 1944) where American bombers were escorted over Berlin by fighters, and it was the *P-38s* that escorted the bombers all the way to Berlin and back.
@@geodkyt first the 38 and 47 couldn't make it that far. Regardless when the Merlin was put in the p51 c and d was when Hermann new the war was over. But General LeMay finally turned them loose. But the Red Trials made there make because of them.
@@christophergoodman404 There are literally file cabinets full of USAAF mission reports that disagree with your claim.
Another excellent episode. Thankyou.
Whenever I hear: "Rolls Royce Merlin Engine" - I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm a Yank, by the way
Nothing like the sound of a Merlin. Was doing parts deliveries when I was in the military to one of the maintenance squadrons at my base, got out of my truck, and heard that roar as a Mustang was taking off.
I wonder how it would feel going to work at Rolls Royce and there's suddenly more guard posts and AAA Cannon positions nearby. Talk about job security.
A very good video, thanks. I was pleased to see that you talked about Stanley Hooker's work on the supercharger but you didn't mention Miss Shilling's orifice in the SU carburettor which prevented engine cut-out during negative G manoeuvres (during a dog fight).
I keep mentioning this, it's such a shame that she is so over looked. I was talking to a member of staff in the spitfire exhibit at the potteries museum, mentioned Beatrice Shilling and didnt get a response.
“The mechanical hardware that’s far less sexy than guns”
…. Psssh! Here is an engine more powerful than some professional devoted racers today, built 80 years ago with restrictions of material, tools, computers, and knowledge…. Oh, and then it is mass produced during a war.
That is sexy!
Hearing the design and development details to achieve such a feat…. That can “turn one’s crank” and get one “revved up”
The amount of power produced by the Merlin is largely a product of its size, but its power output relative to its size is absolutely nothing special by today's standards.
Awesome vid as always. Funny side note though. That Lancaster landing at the beginning of the vid looks like a MKII. That version had Bristol Hercules radials 😂
I was surprised you didn't mention the version of the Merlin that was adapted very successfully for use in tanks over the course of the war!
I think used in PT boats too.
I'm just here to prove that I watch other RUclips videos on the subject and draw attention to myself.
I'm surprise that think that's some new thing. Aircraft engines were used widely in tanks world wide.
We get many merlin power aircraft at the airfield I work at! Always get a shiver as a plane beats up the runway. 👍
You get a shiver as you listen to a Griffon. Merlins can stall when inverted, display aircraft use Griffons.
Darned impressive in Budweiser's hydroplane race boats as well.... sound gets a little kick over the water but I'm certain that Europe heard Freedom as they flew over.... kinda like the whistling Corsairs heard over the Pacific. Sounds play an integral part of taking the fight out of many adversaries...
Just outta the Service at an Air Show... Thud roared in from behind the crowd at treetop, full throttle, level.... I was belly flat to the tarmac and praying that the willy-pete or napalm wasn't gonna fry my butt while laying there on the concrete....
Hats off to all Servicemen and a special gig for the airmen that made the LZs a little more user-friendly for Grunts and those of us attempting to beat the air into submission.
Thanks to each and all.
There is another engine that helped win the war and perhaps had the greatest impact of any machinery. The Soviet Model V-2 engine that powered so many of their armoured vehicles. It was in their one hundred and sixty thousand or more T-34 tanks etc. Considering that the Soviets destroyed about 85-90% of Germany's armies, the V-2 probably can make the claim of winning the war -- if such a claim can be made.
Growing up in England during the 1970-80s, I have seen "the Merlin won the war" claim made a lot. I never questioned it until I got to university. I do not agree now. I think it is national bias to make that claim, which is a common result of war stories focusing on your own country's efforts. The Merlin made a very significant contribution. The Curious Droid channel recently made that claim too, i.e., the English slap head bloke who wears shirts that look like pizza disasters. He tends to get a little misty eyed when talking about England.
Lend Lease contributed to around 10% of Soviet war material. They produced almost everything else themselves. The most useful lend lease item appears to be varieties of 6x6 trucks, which the Soviets needed for logistics, i.e., maintaining supply lines to all those V-2 powered tanks and several million troops.
I see the Americans claiming that nuking two primarily civilian cities in Japan won the war. I am not so sure. I read that Japan had already been trying to surrender multiple times before the nukes, so the costly invasion of Japan may not have been required. Therefore the claim that they had to use the nukes to prevent having to undertake that invasion seems bogus.
What's more, the Soviets entered the war against Japan at this time in 1945, launching the 1.6 million strong Manchurian Operation against Japan, which was also a factor in the eventual surrender. They quickly defeated Japan's largest remaining army group and were pouring into the northern Japanese islands, Korea and China etc. The nukes were dropped, Japan surrendered, and the Soviet advance stopped (US forces quickly deployed after the surrender to cut off the Soviets in Korea etc).
In my opinion thre most important part of land lease was the high octane fuel the Russians needed to make use of their aircrafts.
nononono soviets bad british good!
i can't agree more, merlin is such an overhyped engine. the mustang engine, the allison v1710 actually out performs the merlin handedly when in similar applications, i.e. dual stage superchargers.
Sources for "the Soviets destroyed about 85-90% of Germany's armies" and "two primarily civilian cities" ?
You are correct about Japan trying to arrange surrender talks, however Japan asked the USSR to arrange them as they were unaware Stalin had agreed to declare war on Japan within 90 days after Germany surrendered. USSR declared war on Japan 89 days and 23 hours after Germany surrendered.
If you read the Jewel Voice Broadcast you will find the bombs are cited as one of the reasons for surrender. However since the Emperor did not use the word "surrender" the USSR did not stop offensive operations until after all of the territory lost to Japan in the 1904-1905 war had been retaken. see Kuril Islands dispute
Every video Simon post about the history of legendary engines will get a thumbs up from me.
5:37 - Nice picture of a Beaufighter with radial engines 🧐
Very good video.
Engineers and manufacturing are so underrated in modern warfare.
All of us owe more than we realize and certainly, more than we can ever repay, to anonymous nerds, toiling away in dank shops, perfecting these amazing instruments of war.
I do love the way the big V-12’s sound but I think the big radial engines sound better.
Excellent video. thank you!
Thank you Simon that was awesome. I have previously marvelled at this engine, it is an amazing thing and a true feat of Engineering excellence.
The Eagle was also used on the Handley-Page O/400 which was earlier than the Vimy. The V-1650 designation is a reference to it's cubic capacity of 1650 cu in
The Merlin V-12, the M-4 Sherman, the Spitfire, and the M-1 Garand are hands down THE best four things used by the allies during WW2, and what helped win the war probably more than anything else.
You forgot the ubiquitous Bailey bridge
The Sherman? Read _Death Traps_ by Belton Cooper.
A long US rifle? When all were moving to short sub machine guns? Are you kidding?
John Burns I didn’t say the Sherman was perfect by no means, and it had it’s drawbacks like too small of a gun and a bad initial design for ammo storage goes. However, they continued to improve them while making them simple to repair and maintain in a combat/field environment along with being able to go pretty much anywhere under their own power, while being produced in much higher numbers than the over engineered German tanks. Yes, the German tanks were superior due to the aforementioned over engineering in their design, which was also their downfall/drawback(s). Their interleaved road wheels meant that when a rear road wheel had to be replaced or repaired, 4-6 others had to be removed to get to it. Then there the fact that they travel under their own power in many places due to the bridges not being strong enough to support their weight, which meant their tracks and outer road wheels had to be removed and replaced with smaller tracks to fit on a train to be transported which was a VERY time consuming task. The Sherman and the T-34 were overall better.
As for “Everybody was moving to short sub machine guns”, really?? Who was “everybody” and what sub machine guns are you talking about??? The Thompson? It was older than the Garand. The PPSH, Sten gun, or M-3 “grease gun”? All of those were used for short range “spray and pray” clearing of bunkers, trenches, buildings, etc, or as a last ditch, semi-disposable weapon in the case of the M-3 and Sten gun. SMG’s have NEVER been any Infantry’s primary weapon. The Garand was a huge advancement over everybody else at the time, considering it was an 8 shot semi automatic rifle that was tack driving accurate, and able to be quickly reloaded, while everyone else were still using bolt action rifles that usually had a 5 round internal magazine like the K-98, Mosin-Nagant, Carcano, Lee Enfield, Arisaka 99, etc.
Jon Cawte yes I did, along with the Jeep. My apologies
@@bigdaddy7119
Long rifles were dropped post WW2.
The Sherman was not fit for purpose.
An open-top 4x4 car? Please.
The universal carrier was vastly superior.
The licensing to Packard was a huge step - their major contribution was the "standardization" of all the parts used - as a problem RR never quite ironed out early on was replicating the tight tolerances in mass production. In addition to the aviation usage covered, and the tank engine application others mentioned, a whole lot of Packard produced Merlins also saw service in PT Boats with the US Navy in the Pacific. They were truly ubiquitous for the entire Allied War effort. Air, Land, and at Sea.
Or as Rolls Royce would put it - "Adequate"
RR standardised on all parts from all their engine plants. All, but the odd minor few, were interchangeable.
The US licence holder to build the RR Merlin, Packard, changed the threads to US standard, that is all. That is why all Packard produced engines were issued with a socket set, so British and Canadians could work on them.
British engine builders were far more skilled than the line workers at Packard. They could mix and match to get the best fit. Also, many regarded tolerances being too tight, a liability in assembly. RR never mass produced engines, until the Merlin.
The engines used in PT boats were not related to RR designed engines.
The US Navy used Napier Deltic engines in some PT boats. The WW2 US PT boats used the old inefficient Packard V-12 engines.
Rolls-Royce has been selected to provide the engine for the B-52. The decision means the Rolls-Royce F-130 engine will power the B-52 for the next 30 years. The US Air Force made the announcement after a vigorous multi-year competition. The USAF will purchase 650 engines - 608 direct replacements, 42 spare engines - for its fleet of 76 B-52s, in a $2.6 billion deal.
Best megaprojects in ages
Very nice, thanks for sharing!
I love the light color changes in the background. I've seen red, purple, blue, and white. I like the blue the best.
Super megaproject
Excellent video 📹
Watched it 3 times
It's a fairly well documented thing and I love merlin but this is a really good video. Lots of details into a short video. Good work.
Give the r-2800 double wasp some love, it powered the f6f, p47 and the corsair
And only one of those actually had combat with the Luftwaffe
Those numbers !!!! Amazing!!!
A few years ago I heard this noise growing in the distance. It was immense. Then in the sky above our house a Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane swept past. Wow.
That would have been the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Time for that Lancaster megaprojects video!
i love the merling engine sound so good in real life
Great topic Simon
So glad this one finally came up. All the aircraft that you have done that sported this incredible engine, and now the beast itself. Thanks Megaprojects!
This video is exactly the history I was looking for 🤘🏽 thank you
The aircraft you featured at 47 seconds is a Lancaster but is not powered by a merlin, but by 4 Bristol hercules engines.
"Truth is stranger than fiction." You know, after studying a lot of war machine's history, I cannot agree more.
I still believe SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket would make a great Megaprojects! The first privately owned company to not only conduct NASA work to launch satellites, but with the Dragon capsule, was the first private company to fly astronauts to the space station! This also was the first stage 1 rocket to return to earth, at a designated landing space, without being damaged and reusable! You could also make a Megaprojects video on the private space tourism industry that finally happened this year with Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX all introducing space tourism within about of a month of each other to show space tourism is going to be a major mode of transportation in the future and launch a new industry!
Distribution of suspended petrol molecules in atmospheric mix via pressurized manifold downstream of carburetor very important aspect. Various pressure requirements at different altitude and throttle settings. Means to minimize carburetor icing conditions as well.
Interesting to see how basic layout would preform with direct fuel injection with computer control.
What an absolute beast of an engine, makes a noise that shakes you to your core too
years ago (1991) I was working for a maintenance company that had to repair actor Cliff Robertson's MK 9 after it ate a valve at an air show. All the mechanics would gather around the fighter with our morning coffees and worship the engine every morning for the three weeks we had the plane. Hated to see it leave.
1:35 - Chapter 1 - Rolls royce
2:35 - Chapter 2 - Build up to war
4:00 - Chapter 3 - Merlin
5:50 - Mid roll ads
7:05 - Chapter 4 - WWII
10:35 - Chapter 5 - Stateside
11:20 - Chapter 6 - The engine
14:00 - Chapter 7 - Victory
- Chapter 8 -
- Chapter 9 -
- Chapter 10 -
That short clip of a Spitfire in the beginning was actually a Hurricane easily identified by the "hump" behind the cockpit.
I had an RR Phantom 2 model car that was also an AM radio. Recently reappeared in America Science & Surplus catalog as old stock of rejects
The Merlin is truly an impressive piece of engineering.
Would be interesting to see a similar video on the Allison v12, and even the Ford GAA v8, which started out life as a v12 aero engine, but due to various circumstances became a v8 used in tanks.
And if you make a Merlin without a super charger you get a Meteor, which was used in the Centurion tank. The last one of which was decommissioned by the British Army after serving in Desert storm, sometime in the early '90's, so in one form or another the Merlin /Meteor served the UK for over half a century!
I think the internals of the Meteor were of a lower standard as well. It didn't need the high performance material that the Merlin needed, so they saved money. But yes, the Meteor was the N/A tank variant and still an awesome engine
Very cool topic!
That was a great video! Really enjoyed it.
How a bout a video on the major projects like Boeing 747 or 787s? I’m sure there is a lot of information on the processes on how these are designed and made
Awesome, cheers!
Awesome video x
Not wanting to put a downer on this great video, but the “losses” mentioned invariably means a pilot’s death. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to those brave young men of all allied forces that flew these amazing aircraft powered by this brilliant engine. Thank you all 🙏🏻
Brilliant thank you.
I enjoy your work. Please do an episode for JCB.
Fabulous engine, I loved all the details you went into about this. that said, I've got to ask did you happen across Beatrice Shilling?
Awesome video!