Rolls-Royce Griffon

The Rolls-Royce Griffon was a 2,240 in³ (36.75 L), 60-degree V-12 aero-engine, developed from the earlier Rolls-Royce R racing engine used in the Schneider Trophy races. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2370x1355, 416 KB) This picture may have usage restriction Rolls Royce Griffon Source: own picture File links The following pages link to this file: Rolls-Royce Griffon ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2370x1355, 416 KB) This picture may have usage restriction Rolls Royce Griffon Source: own picture File links The following pages link to this file: Rolls-Royce Griffon ... A V12 is an internal combustion engine with 12 cylinders in V configuration. ... The term aircraft engine, for the purposes of this article, refers to aircraft reciprocating, or rotary, internal combustion engines as opposed to jet engines or turboprops. ... The Rolls-Royce R was a racing aero engine. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...

Development

The Griffon was designed prior to World War II and was originally intended as a low-altitude engine for naval aircraft such as the Fairey Firefly but a formal suggestion to fit a Griffon in a Spitfire was made by Joe Smith, who had taken over as Chief Designer at Supermarine's after Mitchell's death, in October 1939. However, work by Rolls-Royce on the engine had been halted temporarily to concentrate on the smaller 1,640 in³ (27 L) Merlin which had already surpassed the output achieved with the early Griffon. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Fairey Firefly in flight, Oshkosh, 2003. ... The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell, who continued to refine it until his death in 1937. ... Joseph Smith was a British aircraft designer who took over as Chief Designer for Supermarines upon the death of R. J. Mitchell and led the team responsible for the subsequent development of the Supermarine Spitfire. ... Reginald Joseph Mitchell (20 May 1895-11 June 1937) was an aeronautical engineer, most notable for his design of the Supermarine Spitfire. ... Rolls-Royce plc is the second-largest aircraft engine maker in the world, behind General Electric Aviation. ... The Merlin was a 12 cylinder, 60° V, 27 litre, liquid cooled piston aircraft engine built during World War II by Rolls-Royce and under licence in the United States by Packard. ...

When the development work on the Griffon was resumed, it was decided to fit the engine to a Spitfire. The first example of this was a single Spitfire Mk.IV, DP845, a modified clipped-wing Spitfire Mk.III which flew with a Griffon RG 2SM on 27 November 1941. November 27 is the 331st day (332nd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1941: Events Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean. ...

The first Griffon-powered Spitfire, DP845

Pilot conversion from Merlin-engined to Griffon-engined Spitfires was not without teething troubles, the most common problem being the ingrained habit of applying a starboard trim to the aircraft's rudder to offset the tremendous torque produced at takeoff power. As the Griffon's crankshaft rotated in the opposite direction to that of the Merlin (a legacy of its intended use for naval aircraft), a starboard bias increased, instead of compensating for, the undesirable effects of torque. This problem was never fully overcome in land-based Spitfires, although the Seafire FR.47 was fitted with a contra-rotating propeller as standard, thus negating airscrew torque. Image File history File linksMetadata Spitfire_IV_XII_DP845. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Spitfire_IV_XII_DP845. ... The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell, who continued to refine it until his death in 1937. ...

Rolls-Royce applied the advances in supercharging used on the Merlin to the Griffon, and later Griffon versions featured two-stage supercharging and finally a two-stage, three-speed supercharger.

The two-stage, three-speed Griffon 101 was fitted to the two Supermarine Spiteful XVIs (re-engined production Mk.XIVs) with one of these aircraft, RB518, achieving a maximum speed of 494 mph (795 km/h) with full military equipment. The Supermarine Spiteful was a British Rolls-Royce Griffon engined fighter aircraft designed by Supermarine to Air Ministry specification F.1/43 during World War II as a successor to the Spitfire The 494 mph Spiteful XVI RB518 In late 1942 it was feared that the Spitfire wings drag...

The Griffon was also used in the Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft. The Shackleton was a Royal Air Force long-range patrol bomber developed from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage. ...

Variants^[1]

• Griffon II - 1,730 hp (1,290 kW) at 750 ft (230 m) and 1,490 hp (1,110 kW) at 14,000 ft (4,270 m); used on Firefly Mk.I fighter
• Griffon VI - increased maximum boost pressure, 1,850 hp (1,380 kW) at 2,000 ft (610 m); used on Seafire Mk.XV and Mk.XVII
• Griffon 57 - 1,960 hp (1,460 kW); used on Avro Shackleton
• Griffon 61 - introduced a two-speed two-stage supercharger with aftercooler similar to that on Merlin 61; 2,035 hp (1,520 kW) at 7,000 ft (2,135 m) and 1,820 hp (1,360 kW) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m); used on Spitfire Mk.21
• Griffon 65 - similar to Griffon 61 with different propeller reduction gear; used on Spitfire Mk.XIV
• Griffon 72 - increased maximum boost pressure to take advantage of 150-grade fuel; 2,245 hp (1,675 kW) at 9,250 feet (2,820 m)
• Griffon 74 - fuel-injected version of Griffon 72; used on Firefly Mk.IV
• Griffon 83 - modified to drive contra-rotating propellers; 2,340 hp (1,745 kW) at 750 ft (230 m) and 2,100 hp (1,565 kW) at 12,250 ft (3,740 m)
• Griffon 85 - 2,375 hp (1,770 kW); used on Spiteful Mk.XIV
• Griffon 89 - 2,350 hp (1,755 kW); used on Spiteful Mk.XV
• Griffon 101 - 2,420 hp (1,805 kW); used on Spiteful Mk.XVI

Fairey Firefly in flight, Oshkosh, 2003. ... The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell, who continued to refine it until his death in 1937. ... The Shackleton was a Royal Air Force long-range patrol bomber developed from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage. ... A supercharger (also known as a blower) is an air compressor used to compress air into the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. ... A gas station pump offering five different octane ratings. ... Contra-rotating propellers on a Rolls-Royce Griffon powered P-51 Mustang. ... The Supermarine Spiteful was a British Rolls-Royce Griffon engined fighter aircraft designed by Supermarine to Air Ministry specification F.1/43 during World War II as a successor to the Spitfire The 494 mph Spiteful XVI RB518 In late 1942 it was feared that the Spitfire wings drag...

Specifications (Griffon 65)

General characteristics

• Type: 12-cylinder supercharged liquid-cooled 60° Vee aircraft piston engine
• Bore: 6 in (152.4 mm)
• Stroke: 6.6 in (167.6 mm)
• Displacement: 2,240 in³ (36.75 L)
• Dry weight: 1,980 lb (900 kg)

Components

• Valvetrain: Two intake and two exhaust valves per cylinder with sodium-cooled exhaust valve stems, actuated via an overhead camshaft.
• Supercharger: Two-speed two-stage centrifugal type supercharger, boost pressure automatically linked to the throttle, water-air aftercooler installed between the second stage and the engine
• Fuel system: Triple-choke updraft carburetor with automatic mixture control
• Oil system: Dry sump with one pressure pump and two scavenge pumps
• Cooling system: 70% water and 30% ethylene glycol coolant mixture, pressurized

Performance

• Power output:
  
  • 2,035 hp (1,520 kW) at 7,000 ft (2,135 m)
  • 1,820 hp (1,360 kW) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
• Specific power: 0.91 hp/in³ (41.4 kW/L)
• Power-to-weight ratio: 1.03 hp/lb (1.69 kW/kg)

A V12 is an internal combustion engine with 12 cylinders in V configuration. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sodium, Na, 11 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 3, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 22. ... Overhead camshaft (OHC) valvetrain configurations place the camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters directly instead of using pushrods. ... A supercharger (also known as a blower) is an air compressor used to compress air into the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. ... Cover of Hot Rod magazine showing Ford Flathead V8 engine with centrifugal supercharger (on top) The centrifugal type supercharger is practically identical in operation to a turbocharger, with the exception that instead of exhaust gases driving an impeller, there is only a compressor housing, and that is driven from the... A front-mounted intercooler on a Mitsubishi Eclipse An intercooler is a device used on turbocharged and supercharged internal combustion engines to improve the volumetric efficiency, increase the amount of charge in the engine, and lower charge air temperature thereby increasing power and reliability. ... Stromberg side-draft carburetor The carburetor, carburettor, or carburetter (see spelling differences), also called carb (in North America) or carbie (chiefly in Australia) for short, is a device that mixes air and fuel for an internal-combustion engine. ... A dry sump is a lubricating oil management method for four-stroke and large two-stroke piston internal combustion engines that uses a secondary reservoir for oil, as compared to a conventional wet sump system. ... Ethylene glycol (monoethylene glycol (MEG), IUPAC name: ethane-1,2-diol) is an alcohol with two -OH groups (a diol), a chemical compound widely used as an automotive antifreeze. ... In engineering, specific power (sometimes also power per unit mass or power density) refers to the amount of power delivered by an energy source, divided by some measure of the sources size or mass. ... Power-to-weight ratio is a measure commonly used when comparing various vehicles (or engines), including automobiles, motorcycles and aircraft. ...

References

• Bridgman, L, (ed.) (1998) Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II. Crescent. ISBN 0-517-67964-7
• Quill, J. (1983) Spitfire - A Test Pilot’s Story. Arrow Books. ISBN 0-09-937020-4
• ¹ Spitfire society

External links

• The Spitfire Engines- Rolls-Royce Merlin and Griffon