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Wouldn't it be easier and better to perfect the Griffon engine and get it into mass production earlier?
A 2,500 hp engine during 1943 is more useful then a 4,000 hp engine during 1947.Griffon: Wartime potential 2500hp
H-Merlin: Potential: 4000hp
A 2,500 hp engine during 1943 is more useful then a 4,000 hp engine during 1947.
A 2,500 hp engine during 1943 is more useful then a 4,000 hp engine during 1947.
Was the Rolls Royce Vulture not a double Kestrel?
The proposed H-Merlin used Merlin bits - only a few new bits required. The major engine bits - crank, rods, blocks, heads, valve gear, supercharger etc, would be straight off the production line. Would need new reduction gear, new intercollers and new crank case.
A geared together one would need a new supercharger/accesories section, reduction gear and crankcase. Why would it take 5 years to get to work?
Heya, wuzak,
While we can assume more or less accurately what power to expect from double Merlin, how many HP we could expect from a double Kestrel? Of course, with some plausible development.
Thanks.
That would mean like a 1440 HP in 1938, weight cost some 1900 lbs dry for the D.Kestrel?
What were the things that were holding the Kestrels power down, ie. the inability to go above 750 HP?
Thanks.
That would mean like a 1440 HP in 1938, weight cost some 1900 lbs dry for the D.Kestrel?
What were the things that were holding the Kestrels power down, ie. the inability to go above 750 HP?
However it was not long before line improvements increased power dramatically; the V model provided 695 hp at 3,000 rpm with no basic change to the design, while the XVI used in the Miles Master delivered 745 hp. In 1935, Messerschmitt also tested its Messerschmitt Bf 109 V1 prototype monoplane fighter with Kestrel engine.
Increased availability of higher octane aviation fuels in the late 1930s allowed the engine to be boosted to even higher power levels without suffering from ping, and the Kestrel eventually topped out at 1,050 hp (780 kW) in the Kestrel XXX model of 1940.
The Peregrine used the same bore and stroke as the Kestrel so that should help answer the question as to what was needed for a "high power" Kestrel.