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#1
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Ford Merlin Engines?
Reading a book,Wheels for the World by Douglas Brinkley, Henry Ford, his
company. In it he states that the British government approached Bill Knudsen with "a dire order for production of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine" in 1940. The Ford Motor Company had previouslr accepted a contract to build Rolls-Royce engines for French warplanes. The contract never came to fruition due to the fall of France in June 1940. Henry Ford refused to buld the engine,"we are not doing business with the British government or any other government". Alvin Macauley,president of Packard Motor Company, agreed with Knudsens request to build the engine. I always thought that Packard was chosen because of their expertise in building fine engines. Evidently not? Ron |
#2
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Might have been they hit Ford first because of their massive production
capacity. Packard did have a little experience with aircraft engines- I believe a Packard-powered Lockheed Vega still holds the altitude record for a diesel powered aircraft. -- Jim Atkins Twentynine Palms CA USA "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx |
#3
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My error- checked the source, "Revolution in the Sky' by Richard Sanders
Allen- it's the American record. You're correct, Bill. -- Jim Atkins Twentynine Palms CA USA "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx |
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#6
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Peter Stickney wrote:
snip At about the same time, The Air Ministry approached British Ford to second-source Merlins. This, in fact, was done, after much grunting and swearing. (Rolls really didn't know much about mass production, and the Merlin required a lot of work to build on a high volume basis.) Apparently British Ford had to completely redo the tolerances to permit mass production. RR had very loose tolerances and depended on part selection/hand fitting. regards jc |
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