48-532: The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a British 37- litre (2,240 cu in ) capacity , 60-degree V-12 , liquid-cooled aero engine designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited . In keeping with company convention, the Griffon was named after a bird of prey , in this case the griffon vulture . Design work on the Griffon started in 1938 at the request of the Fleet Air Arm , for use in new aircraft designs such as
96-621: A Griffon 101 was fitted to the Supermarine Spiteful XVI, RB518 (a re-engined production Mk.XIV); this aircraft achieved a maximum speed of 494 mph (795 km/h) with full military equipment. Pilots who converted from the Merlin to the Griffon-engined Spitfires soon discovered that, because the Griffon engine's propeller rotated in the opposite direction to that of the Merlin, the fighter swung to
144-483: A change in the disposition of the engine accessories to reduce the frontal area of the engine as much as possible. As a result, the frontal area of the bare Griffon engine was 7.9 square feet (0.73 m) compared with 7.5 square feet (0.70 m) of the Merlin, despite the Griffon's much larger capacity. This redesigned engine first ran on 26 June 1940 and went into production as the Griffon II. In early 1940, with
192-523: A gallery in the crankshaft itself. The crankpin was second in line to the main bearing in oil flow and pressure, with oil having to flow through the main bearing first. The Griffon improved on this arrangement being the first Rolls-Royce production aero engine to use a hollow crankshaft as the means of lubricating the main and big end bearings, with oil being fed from each end of the crankshaft giving even flow to all bearings. In another change from convention, one high efficiency B.T.H -manufactured dual magneto
240-533: A juice carton). In 1990, the International Committee for Weights and Measures stated that it was too early to choose a single symbol for the litre. Prior to 1979, the symbol ℓ came into common use in some countries; for example, it was recommended by South African Bureau of Standards publication M33 and Canada in the 1970s. This symbol can still be encountered occasionally in some English-speaking and European countries like Germany, and its use
288-408: A litre, known as one millilitre (1 mL), of water has a mass of about 1 g; 1000 litres of water has a mass of about 1000 kg (1 tonne or megagram). This relationship holds because the gram was originally defined as the mass of 1 mL of water; however, this definition was abandoned in 1799 because the density of water changes with temperature and, very slightly, with pressure. It
336-499: A millilitre or mL) is a unit of the cgs system, which preceded the MKS system , which later evolved into the SI system. The abbreviation "cc" is still commonly used in many fields, including medical dosage and sizing for combustion engine displacement . The microlitre (μL) has been known in the past as the lambda (λ), but this usage is now discouraged. In the medical field the microlitre
384-414: A set of "Low Supercharger (L.S)" gears to the already existing Medium and Full Supercharger (M.S and F.S) gears. Another modification was to increase the diameters of both impellers, thus increasing the rated altitudes at which maximum power could be generated in each gear. While the 101 continued to drive a five-blade propeller, the 121 and 130 series were designed to drive contra-rotating propellers. In 1946
432-424: Is "a litre of water's a pint and three-quarters"; this is very close, as a litre is about 1.76 imperial pints. A cubic foot has an exact volume of 28.316846592 litres. Originally, the only symbol for the litre was l (lowercase letter L), following the SI convention that only those unit symbols that abbreviate the name of a person start with a capital letter. In many English-speaking countries, however,
480-508: Is "litre", a spelling which is shared by most English-speaking countries. The spelling "liter" is predominantly used in American English . One litre of liquid water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram , because the kilogram was originally defined in 1795 as the mass of one cubic decimetre of water at the temperature of melting ice ( 0 °C ). Subsequent redefinitions of the metre and kilogram mean that this relationship
528-411: Is a metric unit of volume . It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm ), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm ) or 0.001 cubic metres (m ). A cubic decimetre (or litre) occupies a volume of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm (see figure) and is thus equal to one-thousandth of a cubic metre. The original French metric system used the litre as a base unit . The word litre is derived from an older French unit,
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#1732780076153576-787: Is a notable current operator of the Griffon. The sole remaining technically airworthy Avro Shackleton is based at the Air Force Base Ysterplaat . However, at least one further airframe is in running condition at the Gatwick Aviation Museum and another is in running, taxiing condition at Coventry Airport , intended to be flown in a short time. Preserved Griffon engines are on public display at the: Data from Lumsden and The Aeroplane. Comparable engines Related lists Litre The litre ( Commonwealth spelling ) or liter ( American spelling ) (SI symbols L and l , other symbol used: ℓ )
624-400: Is common practice to compare different piston engines and their performance potential by referring to the engine displacement or swept volume , this does not give an accurate reading of an engine's capabilities. According to A C Lovesey , who was in charge of the Merlin's development, "The impression still prevails that the static capacity known as the swept volume is the basis of comparison of
672-481: Is no longer exact. A litre is a cubic decimetre , which is the volume of a cube 10 centimetres × 10 centimetres × 10 centimetres (1 L ≡ 1 dm ≡ 1000 cm ). Hence 1 L ≡ 0.001 m ≡ 1000 cm ; and 1 m (i.e. a cubic metre, which is the SI unit for volume) is exactly 1000 L. From 1901 to 1964, the litre was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at maximum density (+3.98 °C) and standard pressure . The kilogram
720-596: Is now known that the density of water also depends on the isotopic ratios of the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in a particular sample. Modern measurements of Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water , which is pure distilled water with an isotopic composition representative of the average of the world's oceans, show that it has a density of 0.999 975 ± 0.000 001 kg/L at its point of maximum density (3.984 °C) under one standard atmosphere (101.325 kPa ) of pressure. The litre, though not an official SI unit, may be used with SI prefixes . The most commonly used derived unit
768-409: Is sometimes abbreviated as mcL on test results. In the SI system, apart from prefixes for powers of 1000, use of the "centi" (10 ), "deci" (10 ), "deca" (10 ) and "hecto" (10 ) prefixes with litres is common. For example, in many European countries, the hectolitre is the typical unit for production and export volumes of beverages (milk, beer, soft drinks, wine, etc.) and for measuring the size of
816-536: Is the millilitre, defined as one-thousandth of a litre, and also often referred to by the SI derived unit name "cubic centimetre". It is a commonly used measure, especially in medicine, cooking and automotive engineering. Other units may be found in the table below, where the more often used terms are in bold. However, some authorities advise against some of them; for example, in the United States, NIST advocates using
864-668: Is ubiquitous in Japan and South Korea. Fonts covering the CJK characters usually include not only the script small ℓ but also four precomposed characters: ㎕, ㎖, ㎗, and ㎘ for the microlitre, millilitre, decilitre and kilolitre to allow correct rendering for vertically written scripts. These have Unicode equivalents for compatibility, which are not recommended for use with new documents: The CJK Compatibility block also includes U+3351 ㍑ SQUARE RITTORU corresponding to リットル rittoru , Japanese for 'litre'. The first name of
912-505: The litron , whose name came from Byzantine Greek —where it was a unit of weight, not volume —via Late Medieval Latin, and which equalled approximately 0.831 litres. The litre was also used in several subsequent versions of the metric system and is accepted for use with the SI, although not an SI unit —the SI unit of volume is the cubic metre (m ). The spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures
960-518: The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight . According to Arthur Rubbra 's memoirs, a de-rated version of the " R " engine, known by the name Griffon at that time, was tested in 1933. This engine, R11 , which was never flown, was used for "Moderately Supercharged Buzzard development" (which was not proceeded with until much later), and bore no direct relationship to the volume-produced Griffon of
1008-652: The Fairey Firefly . In 1939 it was also decided that the engine could be adapted for use in the Spitfire . Development was stopped temporarily to concentrate efforts on the smaller Merlin and the 24-cylinder Vulture ; the engine did not go into production until the early 1940s. The Griffon was the last in the line of V-12 aero engines to be produced by Rolls-Royce with production ceasing in 1955. Griffon engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with
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#17327800761531056-459: The 16th CGPM conference, the alternative symbol L (uppercase letter L) was adopted. It also expressed a preference that in the future only one of these two symbols should be retained, but in 1990 said it was still too early to do so. In spoken English, the symbol "mL" (for millilitre) can be pronounced as "mil". This can potentially cause confusion with some other measurement words such as: The abbreviation "cc" (for cubic centimetre , equal to
1104-500: The 1940s. In 1938, the Fleet Air Arm approached Rolls-Royce and asked whether a larger version of the Merlin could be designed. The requirements were that the new engine have good power at low altitude and that it be reliable and easy to service. Work began on the design of the engine soon afterwards. The design process was relatively smooth compared with that of the Merlin, and the first of three prototype Griffon Is first ran in
1152-608: The Experimental Department on 30 November 1939. Although the Griffon was designed for naval aircraft, on 8 November 1939 N E Rowe of the Air Ministry suggested fitting the Griffon in a Spitfire . Three weeks later, permission was given to Supermarine to explore the possibilities of adapting the Griffon to the Spitfire; in response, Supermarine issued 'Specification 466' on 4 December. This decision led to
1200-491: The capacity or size of their container, whereas cubic metres (and derived units) are most commonly used for items measured either by their dimensions or their displacements. The litre is often also used in some calculated measurements, such as density (kg/L), allowing an easy comparison with the density of water. One litre of water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram when measured at its maximal density, which occurs at about 4 °C. It follows, therefore, that 1000th of
1248-517: The catch and quotas for fishing boats; decilitres are common in Croatia , Switzerland and Scandinavia and often found in cookbooks, and restaurant and café menus; centilitres indicate the capacity of drinking glasses and of small bottles. In colloquial Dutch in Belgium , a " vijfentwintiger " and a " drieëndertiger " (literally "twenty-fiver" and "thirty-threer") are the common beer glasses,
1296-399: The corresponding bottles mention 25 cL and 33 cL. Bottles may also be 75 cL or half size at 37.5 cL for "artisanal" brews or 70 cL for wines or spirits. Cans come in 25 cL, 33 cL and 50 cL. Similarly, alcohol shots are often marked in cL in restaurant menus, typically 3 cL (1.06 imp fl oz; 1.01 US fl oz). In countries where the metric system was adopted as
1344-482: The custom-built P-51XR Precious Metal (N6WJ) and Mustang/Learjet hybrid Miss Ashley II (N57LR). In all cases, Griffons with contra-rotating propellers, taken from Avro Shackleton patrol bombers were used in these aircraft. The RB51 Red Baron is noteworthy for holding the FAI piston-engine 3-kilometre world speed record from 1979 to 1989 (499.018 mph). The 1980 Miss Budweiser Unlimited Hydroplane dominated
1392-595: The definition relating the litre to mass was superseded by the current one. Although the litre is not an SI unit, it is accepted by the CGPM (the standards body that defines the SI) for use with the SI. CGPM defines the litre and its acceptable symbols. A litre is equal in volume to the millistere , an obsolete non-SI metric unit formerly customarily used for dry measure . Litres are most commonly used for items (such as fluids and solids that can be poured) which are measured by
1440-413: The engine to be reduced as well as making the drive train more reliable and efficient. The drive for the supercharger was also taken from the front of the engine, which required a long shaft to run to its location at the back of the engine. The Merlin engine's crankshaft lubrication was via a gallery cut into the engine block to feed each main bearing and then onto a secondary adjacent big end bearing via
1488-414: The expected Battle of Britain looming, on the orders of Lord Beaverbrook , Minister of Aircraft Production , work on the new engine had been halted temporarily to concentrate on the smaller 27 L ( 1,650 cu in ) Merlin which had already surpassed the output achieved with the early Griffon. Compared with earlier Rolls-Royce designs, the Griffon engine featured several improvements, which meant that it
Rolls-Royce Griffon - Misplaced Pages Continue
1536-440: The initial production versions, the Griffon II, III, IV, and VI series, were designed to give their maximum power at low altitudes and were mainly used by the Fleet Air Arm. The Griffon 60, 70, and 80 series featured two-stage supercharging and achieved their maximum power at low to medium altitudes. The Griffon 101, 121, and 130 series engines, collectively designated Griffon 3 SML , used a two-stage, three-speed supercharger, adding
1584-593: The litre was "cadil"; standards are shown at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris. The litre was introduced in France in 1795 as one of the new "republican units of measurement" and defined as one cubic decimetre . One litre of liquid water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram , due to the gram being defined in 1795 as one cubic centimetre of water at the temperature of melting ice. The original decimetre length
1632-496: The millilitre or litre instead of the centilitre. There are two international standard symbols for the litre: L and l. In the United States the former is preferred because of the risk that (in some fonts) the letter l and the digit 1 may be confused. See also Imperial units and US customary units . One litre is slightly larger than a US liquid quart and slightly less than an imperial quart or one US dry quart . A mnemonic for its volume relative to an imperial pint
1680-535: The most common shape of a handwritten Arabic digit 1 is just a vertical stroke ; that is, it lacks the upstroke added in many other cultures. Therefore, the digit "1" may easily be confused with the letter "l" . In some computer typefaces, the two characters are barely distinguishable. As a result, L (uppercase letter L) was adopted by the CIPM as an alternative symbol for litre in 1979. The United States National Institute of Standards and Technology now recommends
1728-550: The official measuring system after the SI standard was established, common usage eschews prefixes that are not powers of 1000. For example, in Canada , Australia , and New Zealand , consumer beverages are labelled almost exclusively using litres and millilitres. An exception is in pathology, where for instance blood lead level and blood sugar level may be measured in micrograms/milligrams per decilitre. For larger volumes, kilolitres, megalitres, and gigalitres, have been used by
1776-408: The possible power output for different types of engine, but this 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." Unlike the Merlin, the Griffon was designed from the outset to use a single-stage supercharger driven by a two-speed, hydraulically operated gearbox;
1824-441: The race circuit with a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. It was the last of the competitive piston-engined boats, before turboshaft powerplants took over. In modern-day tractor pulling , Griffon engines are also in use, a single or double, rated each at 3,500 hp (2,600 kW). The Griffon engine continues to be used in restored Fireflies and later mark Spitfires worldwide. The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
1872-549: The right on takeoff rather than to the left. This tendency was even more marked with the more powerful 60- and 80-series Griffon engines, with their five-bladed propellers. As a result, pilots had to learn to apply left (port) trim on takeoff, instead of the right (starboard) trim they were used to applying. On takeoff, the throttle had to be opened slowly, as the pronounced swing to the right could lead to "crabbing" and severe tyre wear. Some test Spitfire XIVs, 21s, and 24s were fitted with contra-rotating propellers , which eliminated
1920-453: The temperature of its maximum density (3.98 °C) under a pressure of 1 atm . This made the litre equal to about 1.000 028 dm (earlier reference works usually put it at 1.000 027 dm ). In 1964, at the 12th CGPM conference, the original definition was reverted to, and thus the litre was once again defined in exact relation to the metre, as another name for the cubic decimetre, that is, exactly 1 dm . In 1979, at
1968-664: The torque effect. Early problems with the complex gearbox that was required for contra-rotating propellers prevented them from ever becoming operational in Spitfires, but they were used on later aircraft, including the Seafire FR. Mk 46 and F and FR.47, which were fitted with Griffon 87s driving contra-rotating propellers as standard equipment. The Griffon 57 and 57A series, installed in Universal Power Plant (UPP) installations and driving contra-rotating propellers,
Rolls-Royce Griffon - Misplaced Pages Continue
2016-537: The use of the uppercase letter L, a practice that is also widely followed in Canada and Australia . In these countries, the symbol L is also used with prefixes, as in mL and μL, instead of the traditional ml and μl used in Europe. In the UK and Ireland , as well as the rest of Europe, lowercase l is used with prefixes, though whole litres are often written in full (so, "750 ml" on a wine bottle, but often "1 litre" on
2064-420: Was 44.344 lignes , which was revised in 1798 to 44.3296 lignes . This made the original litre 1.000 974 of today's cubic decimetre. It was against this litre that the kilogram was constructed. In 1879, the CIPM adopted the definition of the litre, with the symbol l (lowercase letter L). In 1901, at the 3rd CGPM conference, the litre was redefined as the space occupied by 1 kg of pure water at
2112-647: Was in turn specified as the mass of the International Prototype of the Kilogram (a specific platinum/iridium cylinder) and was intended to be of the same mass as the 1 litre of water referred to above. It was subsequently discovered that the cylinder was around 28 parts per million too large and thus, during this time, a litre was about 1.000 028 dm . Additionally, the mass–volume relationship of water (as with any fluid) depends on temperature, pressure, purity and isotopic uniformity. In 1964,
2160-401: Was mounted on top of the propeller reduction casing; earlier Rolls-Royce designs using twin magnetos mounted at the rear of the engine. The Griffon 61 series introduced a two-stage supercharger and other design changes: the pressure oil pumps were now housed internally within the sump and an effort was made to remove as many external pipes as possible. In addition, the drive for the supercharger
2208-564: Was moved to the crankshaft at the back of the engine, via a short torsion shaft, rather than at the front of the engine, using a long drive shaft as used by earlier Griffon variants. Production of the aero version of the Griffon ended in December 1955, while a marine version, the Sea Griffon , continued to be produced for the RAF's High Speed Launches. From Jane's and Flight. Although it
2256-406: Was physically only slightly larger than the Merlin, in spite of its 36% larger capacity of 37- litres (2,240 cu in ). One significant difference was the incorporation of the camshaft and magneto drives into the propeller reduction gears at the front of the engine, rather than using a separate system of gears driven from the back end of the crankshaft ; this allowed the overall length of
2304-660: Was used in the Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft. The Griffon was produced in approximately 50 different variants, the Griffon 130 being the last in the series. Details of representative variants are listed below: Note: Several North American Mustangs raced in the Unlimited Class races at the Reno Air Races have been fitted with Griffons. These include Red Baron (NL7715C), as well as
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