wuzak
Captain
When the Air Ministry asked for a fighter engine design in response to the Curtiss D-12 Rolls-Royce produced two designs - the F, which would become the Kestrel, and the Eagle XVI.
The Eagle XVI was an X-16 with a bore of 4.5" and stroke of 4.75" giving a capacity of 1208ci/19.8l (compared to Kestrel's 5"bore x 5.5"stroke for 1296ci/21.25l).
Initial testing was done with an adapted carburettor, but no supercharger. Once the supercharger from the F was adapted the Eagle XVI made approximately 500hp - similar to eary Kestrels.
Airframe manufacturers looked on the X layout unfavourably, expecting that the pilot's view would be compromised by the extra width of the engine, so the F was chisen and became the Kestrel.
What if the airframe manufacturers didn't get a say and the Eagle XVI was chosen instead?
I believe Rubbra stated that Henry Royce preferred the Eagle XVI over the F.
What influence does that have over the subsequent Rolls-Royce aero engines? Bearing in mind that the H was a 6/5 scale of the F, and became the Buzzard and was developed into the R for the Schneider Trophy racers.
Would Rolls-Royce simply scale the X-16 - or would they tack on some more cylinders and make an X-24? Make a bigger bore?
What of the next major development - the PV12/Merlin? Does that go back to the V12 layout, or continue with the X-16/X-24 layout?
Some people may think that the Eagle XVI may have ended up like the Vulture. There is one major difference - the Eagle XVI did not use a master/slave rod system, using a set of fork and knife rods for pairs of cylinders, meaning that the top cylinders were offset from the bottom cylinders.
The Eagle XVI was an X-16 with a bore of 4.5" and stroke of 4.75" giving a capacity of 1208ci/19.8l (compared to Kestrel's 5"bore x 5.5"stroke for 1296ci/21.25l).
Initial testing was done with an adapted carburettor, but no supercharger. Once the supercharger from the F was adapted the Eagle XVI made approximately 500hp - similar to eary Kestrels.
Airframe manufacturers looked on the X layout unfavourably, expecting that the pilot's view would be compromised by the extra width of the engine, so the F was chisen and became the Kestrel.
What if the airframe manufacturers didn't get a say and the Eagle XVI was chosen instead?
I believe Rubbra stated that Henry Royce preferred the Eagle XVI over the F.
What influence does that have over the subsequent Rolls-Royce aero engines? Bearing in mind that the H was a 6/5 scale of the F, and became the Buzzard and was developed into the R for the Schneider Trophy racers.
Would Rolls-Royce simply scale the X-16 - or would they tack on some more cylinders and make an X-24? Make a bigger bore?
What of the next major development - the PV12/Merlin? Does that go back to the V12 layout, or continue with the X-16/X-24 layout?
Some people may think that the Eagle XVI may have ended up like the Vulture. There is one major difference - the Eagle XVI did not use a master/slave rod system, using a set of fork and knife rods for pairs of cylinders, meaning that the top cylinders were offset from the bottom cylinders.
