One never knows what is behind the barn door… that is until your grandpa fires up his Rolls Royce Merlin V12 engine! His neighbors must love him dearly.
But seriously, this video is one of the most badass examples of the engine that won WWII for the good guys. While we honor our service members, we need to also remember some of the technology that changed the landscape of the war against Hitler.
Our hero nearly singed the rest of his hair off as he fired up his classic Merlin V12 for our viewing pleasure.
While most people associate Rolls Royce with ultra-luxury cars, they also had a big hand in aviation during both World Wars in Europe. In the 1930s, Rolls Royce had a secret project engine they were developing called the PV-12, which stood for “private venture” because it was solely funded by the British company without any governmental help for aerospace use.
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a 27-liter liquid-cooled V-configuration 12-piston engine that first ran in 1933. But the engine was far from its best in the beginning. It was designed with an evaporative cooling system that proved to be far too finicky for the air. It wasn’t until the Americans developed ethylene glycol liquid-cooling systems that the engine finally started to produce reliability. The engine was later named Merlin to keep in line with Rolls Royce’s tradition of naming its four-stroke piston aero engines after birds of prey.
Merlin-powered aircraft are still in service for the Royal Air Force in historic flyover events.
Several iterations later, the first Merlin V12s were ready for production in 1936. The first aircraft to use the Merlin engine in service were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane, and Supermarine Spitfire.
Merlin V12s have enjoyed a resurgence lately as showpieces to run on an engine stand, like the old guy in the video above, and are owned by some celebrities like Jay Leno and Isle of Man motorcycle racer Guy Martin.
Some collectors also own them to run in their garages. As one commenter said: “That is a beast. If one day I hit the jackpot, I’ll buy one and put it in my living room.”
Fortunately for neighbors everywhere, these engines are rare and expensive to maintain. To rebuild one requires a lot of specialty tools, according to Jay Leno, who owns a couple of Merlins.
The Merlin V12 was initially meant to replace the smaller Kestrel engine before the second World War broke out. The British government contracted Rolls Royce to build the Merlins for the Royal Air Force (RAF), and the decision to put them into large-scale production was Henry Royce’s last one before he died. Over 17 years of Merlin engine production, 168,039 were produced and fitted into 40 different types of aircraft.
Eventually, about 50 versions of the Merlin were built by Rolls-Royce, as well as Ford of Britain. A de-rated version was also used as a tank engine.
An early version of Rolls Royce’s PV-12 that eventually become the almighty Merlin V12.
Post-war, the Merlin was mostly replaced by the Rolls-Royce Griffon for military use. Merlin engines were later relegated to airliners and military transport aircraft.
In the U.S., the Packard V-1650 was a Merlin variant, where almost 150,000 engines were built and delivered during the war and the ensuing years until 1950.
Following World War II, it became a tradition for Spitfires and Hurricanes to lead the Victory Day flyovers in the UK. The classic aircraft were so popular and loved that the RAF created a historic collection of flyable aircraft to commemorate major battles such as the Battle of Britain.
A WWII mechanic works on the cannons of a Merlin V-12-powered Spitfire in the UK.
Commemorating the RAF’s involvement in all the campaigns of World War II, the Historic Aircraft Flight was formed in 1957 at RAF Biggin Hill with one Hurricane and three Mk XIX Spitfires to lead what had become a predominantly jet-powered air force.
The Merlin V12 was one of the most important aircraft engines in history, and even today is beloved by grandfathers everywhere, who hopefully won’t blow their hair off trying to start one.
