FROM A PURR TO A GROWL

摘要

Supermarine's Spitfire was originally designed around the Rolls-Royce (R-R) PV-12 engine, which was subsequently branded Merlin following the company's convention of naming its powerplants after birds of prey. The Merlin is a 27 lit (l,650cu in) capacity V-12, liquid-cooled (water/ glycol mix), supercharged, 'right tractor' aero engine (the propeller rotates clockwise when viewed from the cockpit). Designed by R-R as a private venture, the PV-12 engine first ran in 1933 and, after several modifications, the first production variants were introduced in 1936. The Merlin was one of the most successful powerplants of the World War Two era, with more than 60 different marks built by R-R in Derby, Crewe and Glasgow, Ford of Britain at its Trafford Park factory near Manchester - and produced under licence by Packard in the US. In total more than 200,000 had been constructed by the time manufacturing ceased in 1956.