Re: Galloping Ghost Website
By "for Rolls-Royce" I didn't mean they sent finished engines back to Rolls. I meant Rolls-Royce sought out Packard to help them make production quotas. Later searching tells me that it was the British government that sought out Packard (as noted in the next quoted text).
By "Packard built Merlins for Packard" did you mean Packard built them for themselves, or for American aircraft companies? I'm researching it, and data favors the latter. I've never heard of Packard making aircraft requiring engines, nor putting these beasts in Packard automobiles. so why would they be making huge V-12s for themselves?
...And as to the question WHY Packard did some re-engineering, besides trying to make them easier to mass-produce?...
The last quote mentioning the blueprint's lack of info I have seen mentioned on/in several websites and in a few books.
As a plus, I found this:
So, it wasn't just American aircraft that Packard made them for, and the Packards may not be able to interchange parts with Rolls-Royce versions. This ol' AirDOGGe learned some new "tricks" today...
Originally posted by Skyracer
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By "Packard built Merlins for Packard" did you mean Packard built them for themselves, or for American aircraft companies? I'm researching it, and data favors the latter. I've never heard of Packard making aircraft requiring engines, nor putting these beasts in Packard automobiles. so why would they be making huge V-12s for themselves?
Probably the best liquid cooled engine ever developed was the Rolls Royce Merlin. Since 1935 the British had the engine under continuous development. designed to be hand made, however, the engine did not lend itself to mass-production techniques.
On June 24, 1940 Packard was asked by the British government to redefine the engine and make it practical for American mass-production. The process required a complete set of new drawings which Packard prepared under the direction of Jesse Vincent.
On June 24, 1940 Packard was asked by the British government to redefine the engine and make it practical for American mass-production. The process required a complete set of new drawings which Packard prepared under the direction of Jesse Vincent.
The Rolls Royce drawings from which Packard worked lacked details and specifications and were not in the third angle projection as is the American practice. The Rolls Royce drawings also omitted tolerances which Packard had to develop from an actual engine.
It became a matter of taking an actual engine apart and going backwards to develop the needed drawings and specifications. Packard, under the direction of William H. Graves, chief metallurgist for the company, also had to develop the foundry specifications for the Packard-made engine.
It became a matter of taking an actual engine apart and going backwards to develop the needed drawings and specifications. Packard, under the direction of William H. Graves, chief metallurgist for the company, also had to develop the foundry specifications for the Packard-made engine.
As a plus, I found this:
In September 1940 the Packard Co. agreed to build the Merlin engine for both the American and the British governments, and adapted it for American mass-production methods.
The Army Air Forces used the engine almost exclusively in the famed P-51 Mustang, for it provided greatly improved high-altitude performance over the Allison V-1710 engine used in earlier series of that airplane. The V-1650 Merlin also replaced the V-1710 in the F series of the P-40.
The British also used PACKARD-built Merlins during the last three years of the war in their Spitfire, Mosquito and Lancaster airplanes.
The Army Air Forces used the engine almost exclusively in the famed P-51 Mustang, for it provided greatly improved high-altitude performance over the Allison V-1710 engine used in earlier series of that airplane. The V-1650 Merlin also replaced the V-1710 in the F series of the P-40.
The British also used PACKARD-built Merlins during the last three years of the war in their Spitfire, Mosquito and Lancaster airplanes.
, that old girl will turn a few eyeballs that's for sure!! 
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