A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft . It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, whereas bombers and attack aircraft are developed specifically for bombing and attack roles.
123-435: FBW may refer to: Fighter Bomber Wing , a unit of the U.S. Air Force Fly-by-wire , a kind of aircraft flight control system Franz Brozincevic Wetzikon , a Swiss manufacturer of trucks, motorbuses and trolleybuses Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (FBW) (formerly Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden), a German federal state authority which evaluates films Fleet Base West ,
246-592: A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress or 10 five-inch (127 mm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets . The first pilots to fly the Thunderbolt from England were Americans who had been flying Spitfires in the RAF before the U.S. joined the war. They were not impressed initially; the Thunderbolt lost out to the more nimble Spitfire so consistently in mock dogfights that these encounters were eventually banned. But by November 25, 1943 Thunderbolts had found their true niche, attacking
369-479: A "universal" propeller shaft, allowing either de Havilland or Rotol manufactured propellers to be used. The first major version to incorporate changes brought about through experience in operational service was the XX, which was designed to run on 100- octane fuel. This fuel allowed higher manifold pressures , which were achieved by increasing the boost from the centrifugal supercharger . The Merlin XX also utilised
492-544: A Luftwaffe airfield at Saint-Omer near Calais, France. On October 13, 1944, a Thunderbolt from 9th Air Force damaged the German Torpedoboot Ausland 38 (formerly the Italian 750 ton torpedo boat Spada) so badly near Trieste with gunfire alone that the ship was scuttled. The Vought F4U Corsair was built around the same Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine as the Thunderbolt, but for
615-891: A Merlin X with a two-speed supercharger in high gear generated 1,150 hp (860 kW) at 15,400 feet (4,700 m) and 1,160 hp (870 kW) at 16,730 feet (5,100 m). From late 1939, 100-octane fuel became available from the U.S., West Indies , Persia , and, in smaller quantities, domestically, consequently, "... in the first half of 1940 the RAF transferred all Hurricane and Spitfire squadrons to 100 octane fuel." Small modifications were made to Merlin II and III series engines, allowing an increased (emergency) boost pressure of +12 pounds per square inch (183 kPa; 1.85 atm). At this power setting these engines were able to produce 1,310 hp (980 kW) at 9,000 ft (2,700 m) while running at 3,000 revolutions per minute. Increased boost could be used indefinitely as there
738-616: A Red Cross flag painted on at least one funnel. The previous day the Captain of the Cap Arcona refused to take any more inmates on board. On return to shore in longboats they were gunned down by Hitler Jugend , SS Guards and German Marines . Of an estimated 14,500 victims in the area two days earlier only 1,450 survived. The Hawker Tempest was a development of the Typhoon using the thin wing with an aerofoil developed by NACA and
861-490: A Royal Australian Navy major fleet base near the city of Perth Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title FBW . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FBW&oldid=916262534 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
984-685: A Soviet boycott of the United Nations , a vote was carried without Soviet veto, to intervene in support of the South. Most readily available were U.S. and British Commonwealth forces occupying Japan and the Pacific fleets. The first arrivals were fighter-bombers, which helped to repulse the Northern attack on the vital port of Pusan , the last small territory held by the South. Some strategists felt that air and battleship strikes alone could halt
1107-621: A build-up of lead in the combustion chambers, causing excessive fouling of the spark plugs . Better results were achieved by adding 2.5% mono methyl aniline (M.M.A.) to 100-octane fuel. The new fuel allowed the five-minute boost rating of the Merlin 66 to be raised to +25 pounds per square inch (272 kPa; 2.7 atm). With this boost rating the Merlin 66 generated 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) at sea level and 1,860 hp (1,390 kW) at 10,500 ft (3,200 m). Starting in March 1944,
1230-595: A crew of three, and its payload was just 1,200 lb (540 kg) of bombs. The Blenheim suffered disastrous losses over France in 1939 when it encountered Messerschmitt Bf 109s , and light bombers were quickly withdrawn. In contrast, the Vought F4U Corsair fighter —which entered service in December 1942—had in common with its eventual U.S. Navy stablemate, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and
1353-633: A dive bomber almost as fast as the Mustang itself. By April 1943 USAAF Apaches were in Morocco supporting Operation Torch , and they continued bombing trains and gun emplacements northwards through Italy. When Soviet-backed North Korea attacked South Korea on June 25, 1950, their forces quickly routed the South Korean army which lacked tanks, anti-tank and heavy artillery. Its Air Force had 22 planes, none of which were fighters, or jets. During
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#17327730413161476-618: A fighter bomber, where one tried skip-bombing a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb through the door of Field Marshal Günther von Kluge 's OB West HQ. A Lightning squadron also killed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto over Bougainville in the Pacific acting on an Ultra intercept. The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a larger, evolutionary development of the P-43/P-44 fighter undertaken after the United States Army Air Forces observed Messerschmitt Bf 109s performing in
1599-805: A flag stuck into a shingle beach. Both WW1 fighter bombers were used with novice and experienced pilots. The best results were achieved with a vertical dive into the wind using the Aldis Sight to align the aircraft. But they were not considered good enough to justify the expected casualty rate. When war broke out in Europe, Western Allied Air Forces employed light twin-engined bombers in the tactical role for low-level attacks. These were found to be extremely vulnerable both to ground fire and to single-engine fighters. The German and Japanese Air Forces had chosen dive bombers which were similarly vulnerable. The Ilyushin Il-2
1722-461: A higher altitude of over 19,000 ft (5,800 m); and also improved the design of both the impeller, and the diffuser which controlled the airflow to it. These modifications led to the development of the single-stage Merlin XX and 45 series. A significant advance in supercharger design was the incorporation in 1938 of a two-speed drive (designed by the French company Farman ) to the impeller of
1845-470: A larger airframe than the nimble Hurricane. At the prototype stage, there were problems with the new engines and stability of the aircraft itself, which led the Minister of Aircraft Production , Lord Beaverbrook to decree that production must focus on Spitfires and Hurricanes. The Typhoon disappointed as a fighter, especially at altitude but found its true niche as a fighter bomber from September 1942. It
1968-793: A last-ditch attempt to destroy Allied planes on the ground in support of the Battle of the Bulge . Allied fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber losses were downplayed, at the time. Seventeen airfields were targeted, of which seven lost many aircraft. The surprise was complete as the few Ultra intercepts had not been understood. At the worst hit, the Canadian base at Eindhoven , 26 Typhoons and 6 Spitfires were destroyed and another 30 Typhoons damaged. In total, 305 aircraft, mostly fighters, and fighter-bombers were destroyed and another 190 damaged. The Luftwaffe lost 143 pilots killed, 71 captured and 20 wounded, making
2091-485: A later version could carry eight rockets or 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) of bombs. The massive, powerful 18-cylinder Double Wasp engine weighed almost a ton—half as much again as the V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin and twice as much as the 9-cylinder Bristol Mercury that powered some heavy fighters . Increased engine power meant that many existing fighter designs could carry useful bomb loads, and adapt to
2214-537: A more powerful version of the Napier Sabre engine, giving a top speed of 432 miles per hour (695 km/h). At a low level, it was faster than any other Allied or German aircraft, but slower than the Spitfire above 22,000 ft (6,700 m). Fitted with four 20mm cannon it was a formidable fighter, respected even by Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter pilots as their most dangerous opponent. At its debut over
2337-520: A new 1,100 hp (820 kW)-class design known as the PV-12, with PV standing for Private Venture, 12-cylinder , as the company received no government funding for work on the project. The PV-12 was first run on 15 October 1933 and first flew in a Hawker Hart biplane ( serial number K3036 ) on 21 February 1935. The engine was originally designed to use the evaporative cooling system then in vogue. This proved unreliable and when ethylene glycol from
2460-493: A problem after some months due to the physical and mental effects of wartime conditions such as the frequent occupation of air-raid shelters . It was agreed to cut the punishing working hours slightly to 82 hours a week, with one half-Sunday per month awarded as holiday. Record production is reported to have been 100 engines in one day. Immediately after the war the site repaired and overhauled Merlin and Griffon engines, and continued to manufacture spare parts. Finally, following
2583-488: A specific prescribed role. Engine power grew dramatically during the early period of the war, roughly doubling between 1939 and 1943. The Bristol Blenheim , a typical light bomber of the opening stages of the war, was originally designed in 1934 as a fast civil transport to meet a challenge by Lord Rothermere , owner of the Daily Mail . It had two Bristol Mercury XV radial engines of 920 hp (690 kW) each,
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#17327730413162706-523: A stable aircraft like the Typhoon. But soft targets were simpler. When the 51st Highland Division moved to block German panzers reaching Antwerp in the Battle of the Bulge Tommy Macpherson saw a half-track full of SS soldiers. All were uninjured, powerful men over 6 ft (180 cm) tall. All were dead, killed by the air blast from a Typhoon rocket. The Bristol Beaufighter was a long-range twin-engine heavy fighter derived from
2829-547: A target tug role, where it could match the speed of the German bombers whilst towing a drone. In 1934, the British Air Ministry called for a carrier aircraft that could combine the roles of the dive bomber and fighter, to save limited space on small carriers. The Blackburn Skua was not expected to encounter land-based fighters but was to intercept long-range bombers attacking the fleet and also to sink ships. As
2952-644: A two-seater, it could not fight the Messerschmitt Bf 109 on equal terms. But the second seat carried a radio operator with a homing device that could find the carrier even when it had moved, in foul North Sea weather. It achieved one of the first kills of the war, when three from HMS Ark Royal downed a German Dornier Do 18 flying boat over the North Sea. On April 10, 1940, 16 Skuas operating from RNAS Hatston in Orkney under Commander William Lucy sank
3075-421: A very fast radial engine fighter over France. First thought to be captured French Curtiss 75 Mohawks , they turned out to be Focke-Wulf Fw 190s , slightly faster and more heavily armed than the current Spitfire V. Kurt Tank had designed the aircraft when the Spitfire and Bf 109 were the fastest fighters flying; he called them racehorses, fast but fragile. As a former World War I cavalryman, Tank chose to design
3198-443: A warhorse. With a BMW 801 radial engine , wide-set undercarriage, and two 20mm cannons as well as machine guns it became a better fighter-bomber than either of the pure fighters. By mid-1942, the first of these "Jagdbombers" (literally "fighter" or "hunter" bomber, known for short as "Jabos") was operating over Kent . On October 31, 60 Fw 190s bombed Canterbury with only one aircraft lost, killing 32 civilians and injuring 116, in
3321-529: Is a heavily armoured two-seat single-engine ground-attack aircraft. It first flew a month later although few had reached the Soviet Air Force in time for Operation Barbarossa . Naval forces chose both torpedo and dive bombers. None of these could be considered as fighter bombers as they could not combat fighters. During the Battle of Britain , the Luftwaffe conducted fighter-bomber attacks on
3444-559: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fighter-bomber Although still used, the term fighter-bomber has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial warfare . Modern aircraft with similar duties are now typically called multirole combat aircraft or strike fighters . Prior to World War II , general limitations in available engine and aeronautical technology required that each proposed military aircraft have its design tailored to
3567-495: Is not the case because the output of the engine depends solely on the mass of air it can be made to consume efficiently, and in this respect the supercharger plays the most important role ... the engine has to be capable of dealing with the greater mass flows with respect to cooling, freedom from detonation and capable of withstanding high gas and inertia loads ... During the course of research and development on superchargers it became apparent to us that any further increase in
3690-625: The Air Ministry had provided a total of £1,927,000 by December 1939. Having a workforce that consisted mainly of design engineers and highly skilled men, the Derby factory carried out the majority of development work on the Merlin, with flight testing carried out at nearby RAF Hucknall . All the Merlin-engined aircraft taking part in the Battle of Britain had their engines assembled in the Derby factory. Total Merlin production at Derby
3813-457: The Air Ministry , the Ministry of Aircraft Production and local authority officials. Hives was an advocate of shadow factories , and, sensing the imminent outbreak of war, pressed ahead with plans to produce the Merlin in sufficient numbers for the rapidly expanding Royal Air Force. Despite the importance of uninterrupted production, several factories were affected by industrial action . By
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3936-414: The Battle of Britain . It was a massive aircraft built around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine and weighed up to eight tons with ordnance. The P-47 was twice as heavy and had four times the fuselage size of a Spitfire. Armed with eight .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns it could outshoot any enemy fighter, and as a fighter-bomber, it could carry half the bomb load of
4059-473: The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight , and power many restored aircraft in private ownership worldwide. In the early 1930s, Rolls-Royce started planning its future aero-engine development programme and realised there was a need for an engine larger than their 21-litre (1,296 cu in) Kestrel , which was being used with great success in a number of 1930s aircraft. Consequently, work was started on
4182-664: The Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber but with the 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) Bristol Hercules radial engine to give it a top speed 50 mph (80 km/h) faster. By late 1942 the Beaufighter was also capable of carrying torpedoes or rockets. The main user was RAF Coastal Command although it was also used in the Royal Australian Air Force with some aircraft assembled in Australia and by
4305-638: The German cruiser Königsberg which was tied to a mole in Bergen harbour. The Germans recorded five hits or near misses and as the ship started to sink, electric power failed, dooming the ship. The German cruiser Köln had departed during the night. With the failing of the Hawker Henley and the gradual fading of the Hawker Hurricane 's performance compared to the latest German fighters, it
4428-615: The Gestapo HQ in Oslo was attacked by four de Havilland Mosquitoes , which had flown over the North Sea below 100 ft (30 m) by dead reckoning navigation from RAF Leuchars , Scotland, carrying four 500 lb (230 kg) bombs each. The next day the RAF unveiled its new fast bomber. On December 31, 1944, the same aircraft was used against the same target, this time from RAF Peterhead in Scotland, flying high and diving onto
4551-631: The Normandy Beaches on D-Day +2, Tempests shot down three German fighters, without loss. Tempests supported the ambitious attempt to capture the bridge at Arnhem in Operation Market Garden in mid-September 1944. David C. Fairbanks , an American who joined the Royal Canadian Air Force was the top Tempest ace with 12 victories including an Arado Ar 234 jet bomber. General Henry H. Arnold , Chief of
4674-829: The North American F-100 Super Sabre and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II , each of which was widely used during the Vietnam War . An example of a modern purpose-designed fighter bomber is the Sukhoi Su-34 . Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litre (1,650 cu in) capacity . Rolls-Royce designed
4797-696: The North American F-86 Sabre was rushed to Korea to combat the MiG-15s. There is much debate as to which was the better fighter. Recent research suggests a 13-10 advantage to the Sabre against Russian pilots, but the US pilots were mostly WWII veterans whilst the Russians were often “volunteers” with only a few hours aloft. The Australians converted from Mustangs to Gloster Meteor fighter-bombers,
4920-590: The Royal Australian Air Force soon also flew across from Japan. Vought F4U Corsairs and Hawker Sea Furys from U.S., British and Australian carriers in the Yellow Sea and later from Korean airfields, also attacked the Pusan perimeter. The Sea Fury, a development of the Hawker Tempest had a Bristol Centaurus engine of 2,480 hp (1,850 kW) giving a 485 mph (781 km/h) top speed, one of
5043-610: The Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) also began using 100/150 grade fuel. This fuel was also offered to the USAAF where it was designated "PPF 44-1" and informally known as "Pep". Production of the Rolls-Royce Merlin was driven by the forethought and determination of Ernest Hives , who at times was enraged by the apparent complacency and lack of urgency encountered in his frequent correspondence with
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5166-535: The Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane ; the latter designed in response to another specification, F36/34. Both were designed around the PV-12 instead of the Kestrel, and were the only contemporary British fighters to have been so developed. Production contracts for both aircraft were placed in 1936, and development of the PV-12 was given top priority as well as government funding. Following
5289-567: The U.S. Navy . Difficulties with carrier landings meant that the first aircraft were used by the United States Marine Corps from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal from February 12, 1943. In its first combat action, the following day over Kahili airfield two Corsairs and eight other aircraft were lost when attacked by 50 Mitsubishi A6M Zeros . This became known as the St Valentine's Day massacre. Despite this initiation
5412-627: The USAAF . Over 30 Beaufighters flying from RAF Dallachy in Scotland from Australian, British, Canadian, and New Zealand squadrons attacked the German destroyer Z33 sheltering in Førde Fjord Norway. They were escorted by only 10 to 12 North American P-51 Mustangs . German destroyers escorted convoys of Swedish iron ore, which in winter were forced to creep along the Atlantic Coast by night, hiding deep inside fjords by day. Z33
5535-514: The United States Army Air Forces , urged the adoption of the Mosquito by the U.S. but was overruled by those who felt that the as yet untried Lockheed P-38 Lightning also twin-engined, could fulfill the same role. Although Lightning got its name from the RAF, the British eventually rejected it. Too slow and cumbersome to match Bf 109s as an escort fighter over Germany, it did fly over Normandy as
5658-503: The time between overhauls (TBO) was typically 650–800 hours depending on use. By then single-stage engines had accumulated 2,615,000 engine hours in civil operation, and two-stage engines 1,169,000. In addition, an exhaust system to reduce noise levels to below those from ejector exhausts was devised for the North Star/Argonaut. This "cross-over" system took the exhaust flow from the inboard bank of cylinders up-and-over
5781-526: The 1,700 hp (1,300 kW) 42-litre (2,560 cu in) Rolls-Royce Vulture used four Kestrel-sized cylinder blocks fitted to a single crankcase and driving a common crankshaft, forming an X-24 layout. This was to be used in larger aircraft such as the Avro Manchester . Although the Peregrine appeared to be a satisfactory design, it was never allowed to mature since Rolls-Royce's priority
5904-528: The 1950s and 1960s, as new jet engines dramatically improved the power of even the smallest fighter designs. Many aircraft initially designed as fighters or interceptors found themselves in the fighter-bomber role at some point in their career. Notable among these is the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter , first designed as a high-performance day fighter and then adapted to the nuclear strike role for European use. Other U.S. examples include
6027-569: The Bentley marque and the factory. Today it is known as Bentley Crewe. Hives further recommended that a factory be built near Glasgow to take advantage of the abundant local work force and the supply of steel and forgings from Scottish manufacturers. In September 1939, the Air Ministry allocated £4,500,000 for a new Shadow factory. This government -funded and -operated factory was built at Hillington starting in June 1939 with workers moving into
6150-756: The Corsair soon proved to be an effective fighter bomber, mostly flown by the Marine Corps, but also by the United States Navy , Fleet Air Arm and Royal New Zealand Air Force in the Pacific theater. When the British Purchasing Commission invited James H. Kindelberger , President of North American Aviation , to assemble the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in an underutilized plant, he promised a better fighter on
6273-492: The French and Belgian coasts, targeting mostly oil and gas works. Losses were heavy, often more than the numbers of enemy fighters destroyed. By May 1942 Hurricane IICs with 40-imperial-gallon (180 L) drop tanks were intruding at night over France. On the night of May 4–5, Czech pilot Karel Kuttelwascher flying from RAF Tangmere with No 1 Squadron shot down three Dornier Do 17s as they slowed to land at Saint-André-de-Bohon after raiding England. On September 25, 1942,
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#17327730413166396-595: The Germans, only 10 were found to be due to rocket-firing Typhoons. At Mortain, where the German counter-offensive Operation Lüttich came within 2 miles (3.2 km) of cutting through US forces to Avranches , Typhoons destroyed 9 of 46 tanks lost but were more effective against unarmoured vehicles and troops and cause the armoured vehicles to seek cover. General Dwight D. Eisenhower , the Supreme Allied Commander, said "The chief credit in smashing
6519-421: The Merlin 130/131 versions specifically designed for the de Havilland Hornet . Ultimately, during tests conducted by Rolls-Royce at Derby , an RM.17.SM (the high altitude version of the Merlin 100-Series) achieved 2,640 hp (1,970 kW) at 36 lb boost (103"Hg) on 150-octane fuel with water injection. With the end of the war, work on improving Merlin power output was halted and the development effort
6642-462: The Merlin 60 series gained 300 hp (220 kW) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m) over the Merlin 45 series, at which altitude a Spitfire IX was nearly 70 mph (110 km/h) faster than a Spitfire V. The two-stage Merlin family was extended in 1943 with the Merlin 66, which had its supercharger geared for increased power ratings at low altitudes, and the Merlin 70 series that were designed to deliver increased power at high altitudes. While
6765-425: The Merlin 66-powered Spitfire IXs of two Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) squadrons were cleared to use the new fuel for operational trials, and it was put to good use in the summer of 1944 when it enabled Spitfire L.F. Mk. IXs to intercept V-1 flying bombs coming in at low altitudes. 100/150 grade fuel was also used by Mosquito night fighters of the ADGB to intercept V-1s. In early February 1945, Spitfires of
6888-408: The Merlin X. The later Merlin XX incorporated the two-speed drive as well as several improvements that enabled the production rate of Merlins to be increased. The low-ratio gear, which operated from takeoff to an altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m), drove the impeller at 21,597 rpm and developed 1,240 hp (920 kW) at that height; while the high gear's (25,148 rpm) power rating
7011-553: The Merlin ran only on 100-octane fuel, and the five-minute combat limitation was raised to +18 pounds per square inch (224 kPa; 2.3 atm). In late 1943 trials were run of a new "100/150" grade (150-octane) fuel, recognised by its bright-green colour and "awful smell". Initial tests were conducted using 6.5 cubic centimetres (0.23 imp fl oz ) of tetraethyllead (T.E.L.) for every one imperial gallon of 100-octane fuel (or 1.43 cc/L or 0.18 U.S. fl oz/U.S. gal), but this mixture resulted in
7134-408: The Merlin were the Fairey Battle , Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire . The Merlin remains most closely associated with the Spitfire and Hurricane, although the majority of the production run was for the four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. The Merlin continued to benefit from a series of rapidly-applied developments, derived from experiences in use since 1936. These markedly improved
7257-465: The Merlin's components itself. Hillingdon required "a great deal of attention from Hives" from when it was producing its first complete engine; it had the highest proportion of unskilled workers in any Rolls-Royce-managed factory”. Engines began to leave the production line in November 1940, and by June 1941 monthly output had reached 200, increasing to more than 400 per month by March 1942. In total 23,675 engines were produced. Worker absenteeism became
7380-425: The Merlin's technical improvements resulted from more efficient superchargers , designed by Stanley Hooker , and the introduction of aviation fuel with increased octane ratings . Numerous detail changes were made internally and externally to the engine to withstand increased power ratings and to incorporate advances in engineering practices. The Merlin consumed an enormous volume of air at full power (equivalent to
7503-400: The Mosquito I am yellow and green with envy. (The British) have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops.” Initially used for high-level photo-reconnaissance, the Mosquito was adapted to precision bombing, night fighter, and fighter bomber roles. It was built in Canada and Australia as well as the UK. Fitted with a British Army Ordnance QF 6 pounder (57 mm) gun it could sink U-boats found on
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#17327730413167626-402: The Peregrine and Vulture were both cancelled in 1943, and by mid-1943 the Merlin was supplemented in service by the larger Griffon . The Griffon incorporated several design improvements and ultimately superseded the Merlin. Initially the new engine was plagued with problems such as failure of the accessory gear trains and coolant jackets. Several different construction methods were tried before
7749-520: The Spitfire used a variation of this exhaust system fitted with forward-facing intake ducts to distribute hot air out to the wing-mounted guns to prevent freezing and stoppages at high altitudes, replacing an earlier system that used heated air from the engine coolant radiator. The latter system had become ineffective due to improvements to the Merlin itself which allowed higher operating altitudes where air temperatures are lower . Ejector exhausts were also fitted to other Merlin-powered aircraft. Central to
7872-444: The U.S. became available, the engine was adapted to use a conventional liquid-cooling system. The Hart was subsequently delivered to Rolls-Royce where, as a Merlin testbed , it completed over 100 hours of flying with the Merlin C and E engines. In 1935, the Air Ministry issued a specification, F10/35 , for new fighter aircraft with a minimum airspeed of 310 mph (500 km/h ). Fortunately, two designs had been developed:
7995-416: The United Kingdom from September to December 1940. A larger fighter-bomber campaign was conducted against the UK from March 1942 until June 1943. These operations were successful in tying down Allied resources at a relatively low cost to the Luftwaffe, but the British Government regarded the campaign as a nuisance given the small scale of the individual raids. In August 1941, RAF pilots reported encountering
8118-477: The altitude performance of the Merlin engine necessitated the employment of a two-stage supercharger. As the Merlin evolved so too did the supercharger; the latter fitting into three broad categories: The Merlin supercharger was originally designed to allow the engine to generate maximum power at an altitude of about 16,000 ft (4,900 m). In 1938 Stanley Hooker, an Oxford graduate in applied mathematics, explained "... I soon became very familiar with
8241-429: The basic design of the Merlin was set. Early production Merlins were unreliable: common problems were cylinder head cracking, coolant leaks, and excessive wear to the camshafts and crankshaft main bearings . The prototype, developmental, and early production engine types were the: The Merlin II and III series were the first main production versions of the engine. The Merlin III was the first version to incorporate
8364-422: The building. In February 1941 the Mosquito with two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and a streamlined wooden fuselage achieved 392 mph (631 km/h), 30 mph (48 km/h) faster than the current Spitfire. It was used on all kinds of missions, including silencing Hermann Göring 's Berlin Nazi anniversary broadcast on January 20, 1943, leading him to tell Erhard Milch, Air Inspector General that “when I see
8487-419: The company convention of naming its piston aero engines after birds of prey, Rolls-Royce named the engine the Merlin after a small, Northern Hemisphere falcon ( Falco columbarius ). Two more Rolls-Royce engines developed just prior to the war were added to the company's range. The 885 hp (660 kW) Rolls-Royce Peregrine was an updated, supercharged development of their V-12 Kestrel design, while
8610-488: The construction of the Merlin supercharger and carburettor ... Since the supercharger was at the rear of the engine it had come in for pretty severe design treatment, and the air intake duct to the impeller looked very squashed ..." Tests conducted by Hooker showed the original intake design was inefficient, limiting the performance of the supercharger. Hooker subsequently designed a new air intake duct with improved flow characteristics, which increased maximum power at
8733-435: The design of the two-stage supercharger forged ahead, Rolls-Royce also continued to develop the single-stage supercharger, resulting in 1942 in the development of a smaller "cropped" impeller for the Merlin 45M and 55M; both of these engines developed greater power at low altitudes. In squadron service the LF.V variant of the Spitfire fitted with these engines became known as the "clipped, clapped, and cropped Spitty" to indicate
8856-538: The end of its production run in 1950, 168,176 Merlin engines had been built; over 112,000 in Britain and more than 55,000 under licence in the U.S. The existing Rolls-Royce facilities at Osmaston, Derby were not suitable for mass engine production although the floor space had been increased by some 25% between 1935 and 1939; Hives planned to build the first two or three hundred engines there until engineering teething troubles had been resolved. To fund this expansion,
8979-410: The enemy's spearhead, however, must go to the rocket-firing Typhoon aircraft of the Second Tactical Air Force . The result of the strafing was that the enemy attack was effectively brought to a halt, and a threat was turned into a great victory". The disparity between claims and actual destruction at about 25-1 owed much to the difficulty of hitting a fast-moving tank with an unguided rocket, even from
9102-510: The engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12 , it was later called Merlin following the company convention of naming its four-stroke piston aero engines after birds of prey . The engine benefitted from the racing experiences of precursor engines in the 1930s. After several modifications, the first production variants of the PV-12 were completed in 1936. The first operational aircraft to enter service using
9225-472: The engine before discharging the exhaust stream on the outboard side of the UPP nacelle. As a result, sound levels were reduced by between 5 and 8 decibels . The modified exhaust also conferred an increase in horsepower over the unmodified system of 38 hp (28 kW), resulting in a 5 knot improvement in true air speed. Still-air range of the aircraft was also improved by around 4 per cent. The modified engine
9348-676: The engine's performance and durability. Starting at 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) for the first production models, most late war versions produced just under 1,800 horsepower (1,300 kW), and the very latest version as used in the de Havilland Hornet over 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW). One of the most successful aircraft engines of the World War II era, some 50 versions of the Merlin were built by Rolls-Royce in Derby , Crewe and Glasgow , as well as by Ford of Britain at their Trafford Park factory , near Manchester . A de-rated version
9471-489: The fastest piston-engined aircraft ever built. Initially, United Nations air forces using piston-engined fighter-bombers and straight wing jet fighters easily drove the North Koreans out of the sky and so disrupted logistics and hence the attack on Pusan. All changed when the Soviet Air Force intervened with swept-wing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s flown by Russian pilots on November 1. The planes had Korean markings and
9594-577: The fighter-bomber role, especially where longer ranges were needed for naval strikes. Examples include the Lockheed P-38 Lightning , the Bristol Beaufighter (developed from a torpedo bomber ), and de Havilland Mosquito (developed from an unarmed fast bomber). The Beaufighter MkV had a Boulton-Paul turret with four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns mounted aft of the cockpit but only two were built. Bristol's Blenheim
9717-580: The fighter-bomber role. Notable examples include the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 , Hawker Typhoon and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt . Various bombing tactics and techniques could also be used: some designs were intended for high-level bombing , others for the low-level semi-horizontal bombing, or even for low-level steep dive bombing as exemplified by the Blackburn Skua and North American A-36 Apache . Larger twin-engined aircraft were also used in
9840-457: The first Allied jet fighter of WWII but no match for a MiG-15. It was pressed into combat but after four were lost when the squadron was bounced by 40 Mig-15s, reverted to ground attack, carrying 16 60 lb (27 kg) rockets. Although Meteors shot down 6 MiG-15s, 30 were lost, but mainly to ground fire. Both Corsairs and Sea Furies also shot down MiG-15s, but were vulnerable to the faster jet. Fighter-bombers became increasingly important in
9963-428: The fuel supply line together with a diaphragm fitted in the float chamber, jocularly nicknamed " Miss Shilling's orifice ", after its inventor, went some way towards curing fuel starvation in a dive by containing fuel under negative G; however, at less than maximum power a fuel-rich mixture still resulted. Another improvement was made by moving the fuel outlet from the bottom of the S.U. carburettor to exactly halfway up
10086-537: The great Ford factory at Manchester started production, Merlins came out like shelling peas ...". Some 17,316 people worked at the Trafford Park plant, including 7,260 women and two resident doctors and nurses. Merlin production started to run down in August 1945, and finally ceased on 23 March 1946. Total Merlin production at Trafford Park was 30,428. As the Merlin was considered to be so important to
10209-640: The invasion. USAF North American F-82 Twin Mustangs had the range to reach the front line from Japanese bases. The last piston-engined aircraft, produced in the U.S., it looked like two Mustangs, with two pilots in separate fuselages, bolted together. Initially intended to escort bombers over Japan from remote Pacific island bases, hence its long-range, it missed WWII and first saw action in Korea. Plain North American P-51 Mustangs of
10332-751: The jets of its main British and US opponents, which used the older Rolls-Royce Derwent design. Only the Navy Grumman F9F Panther used a version of the Nene and could match the MiG-15, accounting for seven during November. Daylight heavy bomber raids over North Korea ceased and the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and its all-weather variant the Lockheed F-94 Starfire were focused on bombing missions whilst
10455-736: The largest raid since the Blitz . Flying at sea level, under the radar, these raids were hard to intercept. The Jabos reached the Eastern Front in time to bomb Russian positions in Stalingrad . By July 1943 Fw 190s were replacing the vulnerable Stukas over the Battle of Kursk : although winning the air war, they were unable to prevent subsequent Red Army advances. On New Year's Day 1945 in Operation Bodenplatte , over 1,000 aircraft (including more than 600 Fw 190s) launched
10578-428: The level maximum speed of the Spitfire by 10 mph (16 km/h) to 360 mph (580 km/h). The first versions of the ejector exhausts featured round outlets, while subsequent versions of the system used "fishtail" style outlets, which marginally increased thrust and reduced exhaust glare for night flying. In September 1937 the Spitfire prototype, K5054 , was fitted with ejector type exhausts. Later marks of
10701-578: The massive, seven-ton USAAF Republic P-47 Thunderbolt —a single Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine of 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) in a much smaller, simpler and less expensive single-seat aircraft, and was the first aircraft design to ever fly with the Double Wasp engine in May 1940. With less airframe and crew to lift, the Corsair's ordnance load was either four High Velocity Aircraft Rockets or 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs;
10824-481: The maximum boost pressure at which the engine could be run using 87-octane fuel was +6 pounds per square inch (141 kPa; 1.44 atm ). However, as early as 1938, at the 16th Paris Air Show , Rolls-Royce displayed two versions of the Merlin rated to use 100-octane fuel. The Merlin R.M.2M was capable of 1,265 hp (943 kW) at 7,870 feet (2,400 m), 1,285 hp (958 kW) at 9,180 feet (2,800 m) and 1,320 hp (980 kW) on take-off; while
10947-553: The most successful Allied aircraft of the First World War with 1,294 enemy aircraft downed, was losing its edge by 1918, especially over 12,000 ft (3,700 m). During the final German offensive in March 1918, it dropped 25 lb (11 kg) Cooper bombs on advancing columns: whilst puny by later standards, the four fragmentation bombs carried by a Camel could cause serious injuries to exposed troops. Pilot casualties were also high. The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 .
11070-424: The number of required sub-contracted parts such as crankshafts, camshafts and cylinder liners eventually fell short and the factory was expanded to manufacture these parts "in house". Initially the local authority promised to build 1,000 new houses to accommodate the workforce by the end of 1938, but by February 1939 it had only awarded a contract for 100. Hives was incensed by this complacency and threatened to move
11193-476: The oil leaks that had been a problem with the early Merlin I, II and III series. The process of improvement continued, with later versions running on higher octane ratings, delivering more power. Fundamental design changes were also made to all key components, again increasing the engine's life and reliability. By the end of the war the "little" engine was delivering over 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) in common versions, and as much as 2,030 hp (1,510 kW) in
11316-553: The pilots had been taught a few Korean words, in a thin sham that the USSR was not fighting. The MiG-15 used captured German swept wing technology and tools and British jet engines, 25 of which had been a gift from Stafford Cripps the president of the Board of Trade and were quickly copied. Josef Stalin remarked “What fool will sell us his secrets?” The MiG's Rolls-Royce Nene had 5,000 lbf (2,300 kgf) thrust, twice as much as
11439-597: The premises in October, one month after the outbreak of war. The factory was fully occupied by September 1940. A housing crisis also occurred at Glasgow, where Hives again asked the Air Ministry to step in. With 16,000 employees, the Glasgow factory was one of the largest industrial operations in Scotland. Unlike the Derby and Crewe plants, which relied significantly on external subcontractors , it produced almost all
11562-473: The production of the Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet and others, the factory was closed in 2005. The Ford Motor Company was asked to produce Merlins at Trafford Park , Stretford , near Manchester , and building work on a new factory was started in May 1940 on a 118-acre (48 ha) site. Built with two distinct sections to minimise potential bomb damage, it was completed in May 1941 and bombed in
11685-454: The prototype high-altitude Vickers Wellington V bomber, Rolls-Royce started experiments on the design of a two-stage supercharger and an engine fitted with this was bench-tested in April 1941, eventually becoming the Merlin 60. The basic design used a modified Vulture supercharger for the first stage while a Merlin 46 supercharger was used for the second. A liquid-cooled intercooler on top of
11808-473: The same month. At first, the factory had difficulty in attracting suitable labour, and large numbers of women, youths and untrained men had to be taken on. Despite this, the first Merlin engine came off the production line one month later and it was building the engine at a rate of 200 per week by 1943, at which point the joint factories were producing 18,000 Merlins per year. In his autobiography Not much of an Engineer , Sir Stanley Hooker states: "... once
11931-610: The same timing. The resulting North American P-51 Mustang powered by a Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine became the outstanding long-range fighter of the war. When Lend-lease funding for the RAF Mustangs was exhausted, Kindleberger tried to interest the USAAC but no funds were available for a fighter; instead, the Mustang was fitted with dive brakes and emerged as the North American A-36 Apache ,
12054-475: The shortened wingspan , the less-than-perfect condition of the used airframes , and the cropped supercharger impeller. The use of carburettors was calculated to give a higher specific power output, due to the lower temperature, hence greater density, of the fuel/air mixture compared to injected systems. Initially Merlins were fitted with float controlled carburettors. However, during the Battle of Britain it
12177-437: The side, which allowed the fuel to flow equally well under negative or positive g. Further improvements were introduced throughout the Merlin range: 1943 saw the introduction of a Bendix-Stromberg pressure carburettor that injected fuel at 5 pounds per square inch (34 kPa ; 0.34 bar ) through a nozzle directly into the supercharger, and was fitted to Merlin 66, 70, 76, 77 and 85 variants. The final development, which
12300-431: The success of the Merlin was the supercharger. A.C. Lovesey , an engineer who was a key figure in the design of the Merlin, delivered a lecture on the development of the Merlin in 1946; in this extract he explained the importance of the supercharger: The impression still prevails that the static capacity known as the swept volume is the basis of comparison of the possible power output for different types of engine, but this
12423-425: The supercharger casing was used to prevent the compressed air/fuel mixture from becoming too hot. Also considered was an exhaust-driven turbocharger , but although a lower fuel consumption was an advantage, the added weight and the need to add extra ducting for the exhaust flow and waste-gates meant that this option was rejected in favour of the two-stage supercharger. Fitted with the two-stage two-speed supercharger,
12546-473: The surface. On April 9, 1945, three were sunk en route to Norway, and in the following month, Mosquitos sank two more. The Hawker Typhoon was being designed as a replacement for the Hurricane in March 1937 before production had even started. The reason was to take advantage of the new 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) engines then being planned, either the Napier Sabre or Rolls-Royce Vulture which required
12669-408: The two-speed superchargers designed by Rolls-Royce, resulting in increased power at higher altitudes than previous versions. Another improvement, introduced with the Merlin X, was the use of a 70%–30% water-glycol coolant mix rather than the 100% glycol of the earlier versions. This substantially improved engine life and reliability, removed the fire hazard of the flammable ethylene glycol , and reduced
12792-403: The volume of a single-decker bus per minute), and with the exhaust gases exiting at 1,300 mph (2,100 km/h) it was realised that useful thrust could be gained simply by angling the gases backwards instead of venting sideways. During tests, 70 pounds-force (310 N ; 32 kgf ) thrust at 300 mph (480 km/h), or roughly 70 hp (52 kW) was obtained, which increased
12915-643: The war effort, negotiations were started to establish an alternative production line outside the UK. Rolls-Royce staff visited North American automobile manufacturers to select one to build the Merlin in the U.S. or Canada. Henry Ford rescinded an initial offer to build the engine in the U.S. in July 1940, and the Packard Motor Car Company was selected to take on the $ 130,000,000 Merlin order (equivalent to $ 2.83 billion in 2023 dollars ). Agreement
13038-488: The whole operation, but timely intervention by the Air Ministry improved the situation. In 1940 a strike took place when women replaced men on capstan lathes , the workers' union insisting this was a skilled labour job; however, the men returned to work after 10 days. Total Merlin production at Crewe was 26,065. The factory was used postwar for the production of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars and military fighting vehicle power plants. In 1998 Volkswagen AG bought
13161-518: The worst one-day loss in its history; it never recovered. The Bristol Blenheim and Douglas A-20 Havoc (which the RAF called Boston) were used as night fighters during the Blitz , as they could carry the heavy early airborne radars. The Hawker Henley , a two-seat version of the Battle of Britain -winning Hawker Hurricane , was designed as a dive bomber. It might have proved to be a capable fighter-bomber but overheating of its Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in this installation led to its relegation to
13284-426: Was 1,175 hp (876 kW) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m). These figures were achieved at 2,850 rpm engine speed using +9 pounds per square inch (1.66 atm ) (48") boost. In 1940, after receiving a request in March of that year from the Ministry of Aircraft Production for a high-rated (40,000 ft (12,000 m)) Merlin for use as an alternative engine to the turbocharged Hercules VIII used in
13407-522: Was 32,377. The original factory closed in March 2008, but the company maintains a presence in Derby. To meet the increasing demand for Merlin engines, Rolls-Royce started building work on a new factory at Crewe in May 1938, with engines leaving the factory in 1939. The Crewe factory had convenient road and rail links to their existing facilities at Derby. Production at Crewe was originally planned to use unskilled labour and sub-contractors with which Hives felt there would be no particular difficulty, but
13530-758: Was also the basis of the Rolls-Royce/Rover Meteor tank engine. Post-war, the Merlin was largely superseded by the Rolls-Royce Griffon for military use, with most Merlin variants being designed and built for airliners and military transport aircraft . The Packard V-1650 was a version of the Merlin built in the United States. Production ceased in 1950 after a total of almost 150,000 engines had been delivered. Merlin engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with
13653-625: Was concentrated on civil derivatives of the Merlin. Development of what became the "Transport Merlin" (TML) commenced with the Merlin 102 (the first Merlin to complete the new civil type-test requirements) and was aimed at improving reliability and service overhaul periods for airline operators using airliner and transport aircraft such as the Avro Lancastrian , Avro York (Merlin 500-series), Avro Tudor II and IV (Merlin 621), Tudor IVB and V (Merlin 623), TCA Canadair North Star (Merlin 724) and BOAC Argonaut (Merlin 724-IC). By 1951
13776-653: Was damaged and February 9, 1945, became known as Black Friday . Typhoons were involved in one of the worst tragedies at the end of the war when four squadrons attacked the luxury liners SS Deutschland and the SS Cap Arcona and two smaller ships SS Athen and SS Thielbek moored off Neustadt in Lübeck Bay The Cap Arcona had 4,500 concentration camp inmates and the Thielbek another 2,800 as well as SS Guards. The Deutschland had
13899-988: Was designated the "TMO" and the modified exhaust system was supplied as kit that could be installed on existing engines either by the operator or by Rolls-Royce. Power ratings for the civil Merlin 600, 620, and 621-series was 1,160 hp (870 kW) continuous cruising at 23,500 feet (7,200 m), and 1,725 hp (1,286 kW) for take-off. Merlins 622–626 were rated at 1,420 hp (1,060 kW) continuous cruising at 18,700 feet (5,700 m), and 1,760 hp (1,310 kW) for take-off. Engines were available with single-stage, two-speed supercharging (500-series), two-stage, two-speed supercharging (600-series), and with full intercooling, or with half intercooling/charge heating, charge heating being employed for cold area use such as in Canada. Civil Merlin engines in airline service flew 7,818,000 air miles in 1946, 17,455,000 in 1947, and 24,850,000 miles in 1948. From Jane's : Most of
14022-487: Was even pushed into service as a fighter during the Battle of Britain but it was not fast enough. Equipped with an early Airborne Interception (AI) radar set, however, it proved to be an effective night fighter. The first single-seat fighters to drop bombs were on the Western Front , when fighter patrols were issued with bombs and ordered to drop them at random if they met no German fighters. The Sopwith Camel ,
14145-409: Was fitted to the 100-series Merlins, was an S.U. injection carburettor that injected fuel into the supercharger using a fuel pump driven as a function of crankshaft speed and engine pressures. At the start of the war, the Merlin I, II and III ran on the then standard 87-octane aviation spirit and could generate just over 1,000 hp (750 kW) from its 27-litre (1,650-cu in) displacement:
14268-547: Was fitted with racks to carry two 500 lb (230 kg) and then two 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs. By September 1943 it was fitted with eight RP-3 rockets each with a 60 lb (27 kg) warhead, equivalent to the power of a naval destroyer's broadside. Claims of German tanks destroyed by rocket-armed Typhoons in Normandy after D-Day were exaggerated. In Operation Goodwood , the attempt by British and Canadian forces to surround Caen of 75 tanks recorded as lost by
14391-462: Was found that if Spitfires or Hurricanes were to pitch nose down into a steep dive, negative g -force ( g ) produced temporary fuel starvation causing the engine to cut-out momentarily. By comparison, the contemporary Bf 109E , which had direct fuel injection , could "bunt" straight into a high-power dive to escape attack. RAF fighter pilots soon learned to avoid this with a "half-roll" of their aircraft before diving in pursuit. A restrictor in
14514-566: Was intended to have two machine guns jutting through the cockpit floor so as to spray trenches with bullets as it passed low overhead. But this did not work and it was fitted with four Cooper bombs, instead. It was ordered in very large numbers, but most were canceled after the Armistice . In February and April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps conducted bombing tests at Orfordness , Suffolk dropping dummy bombs at various dive angles at
14637-516: Was modified to carry four 20mm cannon and two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs; once bombs were jettisoned the aircraft could put up a reasonable fight. Inevitably the type became known in the RAF as the “Hurribomber”, reaching squadrons in June 1941. It was soon found that it was hardly possible to hit fast-moving Panzers in the Western Desert , with bombs and cannon fire-making little impact on their armour. Daylight bombing raids were made on
14760-415: Was moored close to the vertical cliffside of the fjords so Beaufighters had to attack singly with rockets without the normal tactic of having simultaneous attacks by other Beaufighters firing cannon at the numerous flak gunners. Twelve Focke-Wulf Fw 190s surprised the Mustangs and Norway's biggest ever air battle was soon raging. Nine Beaufighters and one Mustang were lost as were five Fw 190s. The destroyer
14883-430: Was no mechanical time limit mechanism, but pilots were advised not to use increased boost for more than a maximum of five minutes, and it was considered a "definite overload condition on the engine"; if the pilot resorted to emergency boost he had to report this on landing, when it was noted in the engine log book, while the engineering officer was required to examine the engine and reset the throttle gate. Later versions of
15006-600: Was refining the Merlin. As a result, the Peregrine saw use in only two aircraft: the Westland Whirlwind fighter and one of the Gloster F.9/37 prototypes. The Vulture was fitted to the Avro Manchester bomber, but proved unreliable in service and the planned fighter using it – the Hawker Tornado – was cancelled as a result. With the Merlin itself soon pushing into the 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) range,
15129-474: Was used in the same role. The Royal Flying Corps received the first purpose-built fighter-bomber just as the war was ending. It was not called a fighter bomber at the time, but a Trench Fighter as that was what it was designed to attack. The Sopwith Salamander was based on the Sopwith Snipe fighter but had armour plating in the nose to protect the pilot and fuel system from ground fire. Originally it
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