The Rolls Royce Merlin: WWII Fighter Plane Engines Modified For Hydroplane Racing!
How were these engines modified and upgraded to excel in boat racing? Rolls Royce never intended these engines to turn 4,000 rpm and ingest Nitrous Oxide but these guys did it... Let's find out how! Back from the 1950s-1980s there was a whole segment of motorsports based around using leftover WWII Fighter Plane engines like the Rolls Royce Merlin, Griffon, and Allison made V12 engines. Some smart dudes in Seattle grabbed one of these engines and jammed it into a special boat hull designed to skim over the water. Some of the most recognizable raceboats of the day like Bernie Little's Miss Budweiser, The Squire Shop, Atlas Van Lines, and Miss Bardahl are on display at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum in Kent Washington. They are the only facility in the world restoring, showing and operating these classic beasts.
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I feel we need a Burt Reynolds “Stroker Ace” style advertisement for Good Chop!
Now THAT would make a suitable motor for your Rolls! kzhead.info/sun/gZRvj8h_mJdohps/bejne.html 😁
Btw. Since you were talking about the production processes involved…. kzhead.info/sun/YMqoZ7elhaeLiGw/bejne.html
I did watch that video when doing research!
@@Stapleton42 One of the Arfons brothers built a dragster with a Merlin in the late 50s...
Old junk!!? Apart from having such a beautiful sound that makes old guys tear up, they are a masterpiece of engineering.
YES THAY ARE. AND THE USA MADE THEM EVEN BETTER. THATS A FACT .
He was clearly sarcastic, why would he spend all the money on it if not ?
That's not junk. That's Craftsmanship. Just beautiful 😊
Merlin’s such amazing engines that truly changed the world
Absolutely!
Helped flatten a fair bit of it as well.
jim-jam The Merlin did NOT change the world any more than ALL the Wrights or Prat Whitneys and Allisons which 5 times as many were built and used in WWII than the merlin, !!! !
Name another youtube channel who has more info about the RR Merlin WwII engine converted to a friggin' boat. This is 1000× more interesting than another LS build.
We feel the same way. This is historically significant information that is now accessible to anyone where it wasn't before
nunyabinis I Bet those Merlins were the PACKARD versions made in America, not the RR version made in England !! !
@@Stapleton42 Its too bad more info on them is NOT known !!!
I have been learning about hydro's for as long as i can remember, started going to races by 8 years old.
awesome!!
My dad built safety capsules for drag boats, I want to say late 80s, I grew up around the drag boats and all other manner of boats, and the more I've learned more recently about offshore and stuff like this, has been fantastic. Welcome to the rabbit hole lol
It has always blown my mind some of the stuff they had back during WW2. Big centrifugal Superchargers, turbo's, water/methanol injection, fuel injection, 4 valves per cylinder with overhead cams. The Allison engine in the P-38 Lightning has a turbocharged Allison instead of a supercharged one. The giant radial engines were also blown, but some of the later ones built after the war also had a device built into the exhaust that they called a turbo compound, it is a turbine spun by the exhaust gases that spins a shaft that connected strait to the crankshaft thru a fluid coupler, they would have a few of these on each engine and it was said to increase power by as much as 25%
So it takes load off the crank via exhaust pressure? That is very interesting..
Indeed; the Wright R-3350 used the turbo-compound on some models; there were three units, one for each six cylinders, adding at least 500 HP.
Why did turbo compound not drive its own fan? Why would RPM on the huge prop change too fast for a centrifugal compressor?
Nitrous Oxide injection was developed during WWII also
The turbocharged engines used in (American) WW2 aircraft were also supercharged, the turbocharger simply provided the first stage of supercharging, while an engine driven supercharger provided the second stage.
The Merlin has a sound like no other
the Merlin engine is the coolest name for a bad ass engine
Legend has it that when Britain was in peril ,that King Arthur would return,with his guide ,MERLIN,SPITFIRE,LANCASTER,MOSQUITO,HURRICANE,plus tanks,plus p.t.boats,plus pilot retrieval boats,plus fire fighter boats,plus water pumps,and the list goes on,the greatest engine in history!
what makes it cooler is when you say the rolls Royce Merlin engine . actually that's how it should be said. the engine earned it .
@@rickherman4539 Rolls Royce tradition was to name their aero piston engines after birds of prey. Hence the Merlin, Griffon (which is actually a vulture), Eagle, Falcon, Hawk, Kestrel, etc. Their gas turbine engines used to be named after (British) rivers, such as the Avon, Spey, Trent, Derwent and Nene. However, that system has somewhat broken down and the B-52 is to be re-engined with rather boringly named Rolls Royce F130 (but to be built in Indianapolis). nb. the Merlin engine Spitfire was originally to have been named "the Shrew", which I'm not sure has quite the same effect.
@@roserado8228 Did you know Packard Motors in the USA during WWII built 37,137 Merlin engines for the Brits ???? Plus 18,000 for the USA ??? and those engines in the PT boats in US and UK were NOT Merlins but PACKARDS M2500 V12' purpose built for the US Navy and the UK's Navy ????? 14,000 of them ????? Bet you didn't know that??? Also 1/2 of ALL UK's Lancaster bombers the Mk BIII were powered by only the PACKARD Merlin as were 1500 Canadian Mosquitos and 1200 Canadian Hurrycanes !!! ! Facts of history !!!
The common underlying theme of your videos are people that have a tremendous wealth of knowledge and their passion of passing along what they can. Yet another great video Mitchell!!
Wow, thank you!
Living in Detroit one of the coolest times of summer growing up was the hydroplane races. There was a restaurant even called The Rooster Tail on the water.
Almost all the "Merlins" used in the boats were actually the Packard V-1650 version of the engine. This was due to greater availability of the US built engines and not having to pay to get them shipped across the pond. The Packard Merlin was also used in Canadian-built Mosquitos and Lancasters as well as the P-51.
lawrencemarocco Damn another guy that knows the facts of the Merlin !!! Good show !!!
lawrencemarocco about 1/2 of all Lancaster built 7700 of them, 3440 , all but 400 built in England, the Mk BIII were powered by the Packard built merlins !!
Use to love the sound of these engines running on the Columbia in the Tri Cities in the 60-70s.
I could listen to Dan all day, he gets an A+ with his simple to understand explanation of these engines. Excellent video!
I agree!
You're preserving history Mitch, that alone is worth a thumbs up.
thank you rob!
Thank you for covering these amazing engines converted to racing boats. Us nerds thank you.
I've seen Miss Supertest III with the Griffon. Freaking amazing.
I loved this video, as well as the previous one about hydroplanes! I grew up in Kent, WA, and fondly remember the Thunderboats every year at Seafair on Lake Washington. We could actually hear them during the week and on race day. Hydro racing was a really big deal back then....all three of the local TV stations would carry the races live. Watching your videos was a great walk down memory lane for me. I've been to the hydro museum once on a recent visit back there (I live on the east coast now). They've done a really good job with that facility, and the folks that run it are top notch. I got a quick tour through the engine shop when I went - seeing the insides of a Merlin was fascinating, especially when you consider its basically a late 30s/early 40s design. And seeing the boats i rooted for (and against) was really cool. Great work! Keep 'em coming!
I remember those days as well. Now, sadly, it isn't shown on tv at all. The first year it wasn't televised, I was unaware and turned on the tv to... an infomercial.
Thanks Mitchell and Logan for bringing this. A special thank you to Dan for his knowledge of these power plants. It is amazing how the reliability of these mechanical pieces, that were designed and built in WWII, were used years later. Pushing the limits (with some beefing up) higher than the were initially intended for, is crazy. A testament to their advanced engineering. Tangible history is cool!
thanks man!
The Rolls Royce Merlin engine series has become immortalized in human history for the contribution it provided during the early years of our fight against evil. It stood ready to fight from the start till well after the end. Like any engine it needed developing further after its initial inception to overcome a few nuances associated with fuel system etc. While contributions from Prat & Whitney, Allison and others was just as significant overall it is the Merlin that stands out as the greatest engine of its era.
kiwidiesel Are you aware of the fact PACKARD Motors inn the USA contibuted to the development of the Merlin ??? RR contracted in 1940 PACKARD to build the Merlin FOR THE BRITS 37.137 of them were delivered. the USAAF got 18,000 and several changes and developments were done by PACKARD to mass produce RR's hand built engine. PACKARD used the Bendix pressure carb same as Allison used to overcome the stalling problem RR had when the plane was quickly pushed into a dive, RR's float carb would flood. Pressure carb had no float, similiar to a throttle body injection !!!
That two speed blower drive carries a huge amount of power. It indicates how epicyclic gears are so much better than the parallel shaft type used in today’s cars & trucks.
Kennewick Wa has one of the best spectator courses for watching hydroplane racing. Watching the Budweiser running full song down the backstretch sponson walking and feeling the rumble in your tummy was unreal. Also got to see one of the first competitive turbines, the Pay ‘n Pak, take off like an airplane and do 2.5 flips on one of its first runs. The boats still race and test here every year, the boat are more competitive and reliable with the turbines, but just aren’t the same without the ground thumping rumble.
They were called "Thunder boats" because of the magnificent noise the old piston engines made. The turbines may be more reliable and faster, but they certainly don't make the same noise.
I think the turbines ruined powerboat racing. Instead of thunder they now sound like angry bees.😢
Got to tour this museum about seven years ago. My daughter lives in WA state and took me. It was great to see all of this history. Thanks for taking me back.
this is probably one of my favorite videos. I grew up watching tractor pulling mostly the allisons but all 3 are used in pulling. The bad thing is here in the states there dieing out in pulling because parts and rules, but in europe there all over. Those engines are imprinted in my mind the sound, the feeling of them as they roared past you and the history of them hit me right in the heart. Great vid and the best feeling and sound is a 3 Allison mod tractor going by you at full song with headers.
The 1940s is when mechanical engineering reached its pinnacle, the power race in WW2 did bring us all those inventions which only 30-40 years later would reach the automobile we can buy from a dealership. It's only in the electronics where the further advancements have been made to give us the efficient and clean burning engines of today. It's even more amazing how well built the merlin was considering the numbers that were produced under less than ideal conditions, no shortcuts were taken to speed up production. It's nice to see this element of post war usage of those engines preserved.
This is awesome - guys that race boats are another breed, the fatality rate was so high = brass balls.
Excellent job 👏 The secret horsepower race is an excellent book on WW2 aircraft engines.
I grew up in Washington, I remember watching Hydro's as a kid. I had no idea there was a museum till your last few videos. I am going to make a trip up there to check it out. Thanks for this content.
Been though "vintage V-12's here in Tehachapi on a tour. Saw actual Miss Bud engines. Blocks and parts still painted red. Saw these boats racing at pudding stone resovoir back in the 60's what a sound! Beautiful design and machine work on every part.
Awesome!
So many childhood memories. Going to lake Washington on race day and watching Blue Angels practicing sitting on the roof of our house. Great fun!
A whole series on hydroplanes both early and current would be great Fascinating technology especially for 1936
What an informative show. I've been a Hydro fan my whole life, but didn't know the engineering aspects of the Piston engines. and I learn how the turbine engine works.. Great video..
thanks man! I learned everything fr the first time in this video too!
Blows my mind when I look at those engines and see the design and detail and craftmanship on something made years and years ago. Its just crazy how someone could design and build such an awesome piece of machinery.
Such cool stuff! When i was a kid, my Dads business partner had a brother that crewed the Miss Bud U-1...a few years back, hahaha. Anyhow, they stopped by our place in Porterville, Ca on their way...somewhere, i was too young to remember the details...but I was absolutely amazed by her, sitting on that huge trailer, canted up to clear traffic on the road. The truck had a few engines ready to go inside it, and everything was spotless, as Budweiser always did back in the day. Bobs brother pumped a gallon of a rather secretive, heavy and dark liquid into a can for my Dad as "octane booster" (Dad was a multi time California state 4WD pulling champion). Ahhh...what a childhood🙏👍
I've always been interested in the old school huge engines, Packard, Merlin's and so forth. Thanks for always going that extra mile for some of the more in depth looks on things.This was another awesome video guys!
Thank you very much!
Check out the Ford GAA engine. It's pretty cool as well.
squire brannon Are you aware that During WWII PACKARD built 14,000 of their M2500 PT Boat engines, yes 2500 cubic inch displacement and they were also contracted with by Rolls Royce to build the Merlin engine FOR THE BRITS ???? They delivered 37,137 to the Brits, and The USAAF got 18,000 of the PACKARD built and modified V1650 Merlins mostly for the P51B/C & D/K H Mustangs, ALL the 2 stage 2 speed supercharged version and the USAAF's firs 3,000 of the PACKARD V1650-1 The early Merlin with the SINGLE stage supercharger, USAAF had no plane for them so they put them in 1300 P40 F & L models, but it made no difference in performance over the Allison !!!
That was awesome. I've always thought of the Rolls Royce Merlin as the greatest engine ever designed. To answer your question about fork and blade connecting rods, I do know they have been used in cars in the past, but I can't remember where. Probably the most famous place where they were used, other than the Merlin, was in Harley Davidson V-twin motorcycle engines. GM's Electro-Motive Diesel division, or EMD, produced 2 stroke locomotive engines that had fork and blade rods, and Detroit Diesel's 71 series engines, found in a ton of different buses and trucks back in the day is basically a scaled down version of the EMD engine, however the fork and blade rods were not included in the smaller engine, only the locomotives. One benefit of the fork and blade is that the rocking couple created with offset cylinder banks is eliminated. Plus both rods typically share a single bearing, which reduces the forces exerted on the bearing, however getting proper lubrication is a bit more tricky compared to a traditional side by side rod setup. A somewhat similar setup would be a master and slave connecting rod, found in some vee and inline engines, but more well known in radial aircraft engines. In a master and slave setup, the master connecting rod would be the only one making contact with the crankshaft, and each slave rod pivots off the master, rather than the crankshaft. Also, you sort of touched on it briefly, but the Allison V-1710 was made by the Allison Engineering Company, what is today known as Allison Transmission. It was founded in 1915 by James A. Allison, one of the founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and was located at 1200 N Main Street, in Speedway, Indiana. The building is still there today, and is often referred to as Allison Plant One. When the US joined in World War I, the Allison Engineering Company made parts, tooling, and masters for the then new Liberty L-12 aircraft engine. In 1928, the company was sold to WWI flying ace Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who had also purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway down the street the year prior. Shortly afterward, and following Allison's death in 1928, the company was sold to the Fisher Brothers (Body By Fisher) and their parent company, General Motors. After GM took control, work was begun on a new V12 to replace the then outdated Liberty engine, and the new engine became the Allison V-1710 you saw at the museum. Over 70,000 of them were built over the course of WWII. Allison built 2 new plants to handle the demand, Plant 3, which was on 10th street just south of Plant 1, and a second factory, Plant 5, which was located at 2355 S Tibbs Ave. Unfortunately, both of those buildings are now gone. Plant 3 was leveled in the late 1980s to make way for the current World Transmission Facility at the same location, and Plant 5 stuck around until several years ago, but is sadly now gone. The aircraft engine business was sold by GM to Rolls Royce in 1995, and Rolls Royce is in the process of modernizing the Plant 5 site, and currently manufacturers the lift fan for Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II. Ironically, the original Lockheed P-38 Lightning, was powered by 2 Allison V-1710 engines.
Interesting! I have actually driven by Allison plant one by accident. Didn't know it was historically significant I just remember the big Allison logo on the side.
@@Stapleton42 Oh, that was probably the former Plant 3 site you are thinking of, which is down the street from Plant 1. You probably drove right by Plant 1 and didn't even realize it was there. I don't think I've ever seen any Allison branding on it. It is not quite across the street from the Dallara factory on Main Street, and doesn't really stand out much, other than a historic marker on the street corner describing what it is. Sadly, I think the building is in a bit of disrepair these days, but I really hope it can be saved. I got a private tour from the previous tenant maybe 10 years ago, and there is a ton of history that happened there. There are a couple brick dyno cells, where they used to test the aero engines, but the walls of them are filled with asbestos, so they were essentially sealed off when I went. The story I heard was that during WWI, planes would land on the backstretch of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, taxi over to the alleyway behind the building, they'd swap engines, and the planes would taxi back over to the speedway to take off again. There is still an old anti-aircraft gun in the back parking lot, I assume to protect the plant from enemy bombing. I'm not sure when Allison moved out of the building, but it has been used by several race teams and at least 1 private car collection since then. To my knowledge it is vacant now.
Quality of the machining: realized by very skilled machinists, a generation gone by. We'll not see the like again...
All our "performance parts" were around since the 1940's, roller rockers, the blower that looks like a turbo driven off the crank, NO2, Safety wire, looks like a hemi head, overhead cam, no new ideas guys. Props to the old school guys without computers, or a CNC, they had a slide rule and were brilliant engineers , amazing!
I’m not into powerboat racing and this just popped up on my YT . Love your work , as an engineer myself and like many others we understand the complexity of maintaining , designing and manufacturing awesome items like this . Total respect to you guys and for your knowledge that is hopefully being passed down to younger generations. It is absolutely vital that engineering skills and people like ourselves are not lost . In a disposable world with little regard by the clones of society for anything manufactured , it is of upmost importance that this skill and mindset is cherished. Be it motorsports, aviation, powerboats and many others people like us have made life as we know it possible. 😇🇬🇧👍
Amen! Seen a mobil home from the 50's last week. Original fridge and gas oven still work... These days you get lucky if appliances last more than 5 years!
I’m a Seattle native and have been to the Seafair races and there was nothing like it when they were all piston powered. To bad you couldn’t do a show about the log boom during the race that was legendary!! The museum is a great place to see all the history of the sport. Back in the day Seattle was all about the race with so many people on the log boom and the shoreline plus the pits. The race is empty now days and not much interest in it anymore. Very sad to see. When I was a little kid we rode our bikes 15 miles just to watch them practice on the lake. Another great video thanks
in the old days anybody could tie their boat up on the log boom for free, but then they started to charge and today it is so expensive to tie up to the log boom that few people are willing to pay. it also used to be very common for boats to anchor behind the log boom north of the andrews bay line, now you get a ticket and a big fine if you do. in the old days you could wander through the pits and talk to the drivers and crew, not anymore. concessions used to be affordable, last time i went a hot dog was $12 for a plain dog on a bun. a bottle of water was $5. seafair is dying mostly because it's too expensive to experience it and the idiots who run it are too blind to notice......
Those Merlin powered hydros would almost shake the ground as they went by (Seafair races). The gas turbine hydros just are not the same.
The fact that these engine were designed and machined back in the 1930's makes my brain hurt. Fascinating !
completely!
it takes a wizard to work on a merlin, these guys are wild.
That was very interesting. What amazes me is the level of skill that engineers and machinists had back in the 30s and 40s. Thanks for posting this!
I love WWII airplane engines and what people did with them after the war. Thank You for showing me parts I had never seen before.
thanks man!!
Thank you for this! I grew up in the Detroit area in the 50's & 60's & sure miss these boats! The races were a BIG deal back then. Still cool ,but not enough boats right now.
The loss of piston engine sounds is a big difference. Turbines aren’t as fun to listen to
Thank you for covering the U boat history!
I grew up racing Hydroplanes. It’s as fascinating as auto racing I’ll give it that there are things I’m still learning about. I was glad to see you do videos about it. Honestly you where probably the best person for it outside of hydroplane racing itself. If you get a chance check them out in your area I’m sure they have the smaller classes I.e. inboard and outboard hydros. Thanks again for the coverage and content.
thanks man!!
45 year THUNDER BOAT MEMBER!!!🎉. These engines are why they called them “THUNDERBOATS”!!!!💪🏼🔥😎
Harley engines use that same rod design, but I'm not aware of automotive engines using it. Great vid, I love all this engine tech!
Living in Evansville IN I grew up watching these race, also drag and dirt racing. I am sad to say that without support people who want to race like me never get a chance. Those who do give me hope for the next generation! Keep rooting for the kids!
thanks man!
I love this , great big engines and tech.. Great job Mitchell….and Logan !
Thank you very much!
I grew up watching the miss budweiser team travel past my house to run races as a kid. It sparked my interest in this form of racing and still actively follow it because of my connection to the bernie little team. I would love to see a video on bernie little and his team for sure
thanks man we will work on it!
Big boat fan from Seattle. Love this piece. Hydroplane racing is the most beautiful and aesthetic in all of motorsport! I actually got a run in the Wahoo in Lake Chelan. What a thrilling and scary experience!
Absolutely incredible!!! The interviews and education you are doing is fantastic.
These airplane engines always fascinated me, theyre so simple and yet rugged and advanced for the era...imagine being 21 in 1944 and being able to do 350mph in a dogfight while making 2000+ hp at 8000ft altitude in the Spitfires with the RR Griffon. The exhaust gases alone increased the top speed of the plane by 10mph at that 350+
Well said sir!!
For a long time Merlin’s we’re limited to 3000 rpm even then, they would “randomly” throw a con rod. Many modifications were tried to no effect. Then Harry Ricardo suggested it might be the oil pump. His V twin test engines (1/6 of a Merlin) ran at much higher revs with no problems. It was discovered the crank centrifuged oil out of the bearings faster than the pump could supply. Bigger oil pump - big end destruction stopped.
@@davidelliott5843 I've read the RR Merlin book from the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust Library which goes into great depth about the Merlin development. There's nothing in there about problems with conrods, I can assure you. The book. ''The Merlin In Perspective - The Combat Years'', by Alec Harvey-Bailey.
@@davidelliott5843 Been known for a long time RR had problems with the rods, oil pump was too small. interesting the Allison has a stronger rod assembly and a larger capacity oil pump !!!!
@@Slaktrax Also I understand the RR Heritage Trust does NOT want to acknowledge or recognize the 55,515 Merlin Engines that PACKARD built during the war either. The Brits are embarassed to talk about all the manufacturing help they got during WWII.
Wicked! More Hydro plane content wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit. We grew up/live about 40 miles from that place. There is one team currently running a piston boat. Turbines are cool I guess, but don't have near the soul of a big v12! Thanks again!
Stapleton nailed it when he said the high performance car industry was born from WW2 aircraft engine technology. Supercharging, turbocharging, hemi heads, 4-valve heads, high octane fuel, water-methanol injection, nitrous oxide. All of it was top secret technology, required to win the war. When the war was over engineers applied it to our cars, and when the aircraft mechanics came home, they started building race cars from what they learned in the war.
Yes sir!
Maybe in design phase but once aircraft flown over territory held by enemy not so much. Everyone sent engineers to look over shot down aircraft.
Garwood the guy that invented the trash compacting truck was the first I know of to build a gearbox to hook multiple engines together. In this case it was to pair up some 2000hp each 2500cid packard v12's. That was around 1930.
bcbloc YES !!!! Those engines were the basis for Packards M2500 PT Boat engines that they built 14,000 of them for the US Navy and the UK Navy, yes the Brits used them too !! he had 4 of them in one boat !!!
Great content Mitch, you took this one to a whole new level, thanks for sharing your experience with us!!👍
thanks man!!
Interesting engines.
Great interview I agree...
passionate people who know the subject are so rewarding to listen to, thanks for this video!
I agree! Glad you enjoyed it!
Dude you asked all the questions that were popping in my head, love the engine specialist. excellent video!!
Dude those Merlins are absolute works of art. I dig the engine history vids more and more with each one you put out. Keep it up Mitch!
Glad you like them!
jtyoung I bet the Merlin available in this country were the Versions made by PACKARD during the war !!! Did you know PACKARD made the Merlin, for the Brits and USAAF ????
19:00 starts one explanation of why a planetary gear set is such a versitile and fascinating mechanism. Getting your head around its operation, much less designing one is no small feat.
totally!
I was a shop assistant for Ed Pink, Keith Black, and E.J. Potter when they were building up Merlins, Allisons, Griffons and Pratt Whitney R2800s. E.J. Potter loved the "Double Allison" V-3420 for tractor pulling.
Ed pink built these engines?
@@Stapleton42 '64 to '72 yes he did. Two Reno champs won with them.
What a great video, I grew up watching unlimited hydroplane racing on tv in the 1970's. Those Merlin engines are amazing.
ABSilverback the PACKARD version or the RR version ????
Great stuff! Super humble dudes
If you want more theory on turbine engines, look at the PT-6s on King Airs, Meridians, Pilatus, Caravan, etc…. The PT-6 is a free turbine like the Lycoming for the helicopter, but the RGB is different. Also look at Honeywell TPE-331 for a direct drive turbine used in Conquest II, MU-2, Commander, etc… Turbines changed General Aviation allowing way more HP without super big and complicated piston engines.
At an airshow they started a Centurion tank Rolls Royce Meteor engine without exhaust. It took around 10 minutes to start it, possibly because of fueling or spark problems or maybe because it did not have the clutch mounted so a lot of flywheel mass was missing. When the thing turned on, children where just flying away in every direction in panic because it just jumped to max RPM nearly instantly with fire, smoke and ground shaking thunder.
epic 😂
Fascinating!! Thank you SO much for going into this museum, and thank you to the very knowledgeable gentlemen who spent time to explain the engines and boats! Been a boat racer for all my life, and I was RIVETED. THANK YOU!
Our pleasure! Hopefully you like our four wheeled racing history/tech videos too!
Fantastic! Thank you for the presentation of the history of boat racing. I've been to many airshows where you could hear the Allison's and Merlin's in flight, and have witnessed a couple of boat races. The sounds of those V12s working is an absolute treat. Thank you for your hard work in the presentation of the history of all forms of racing.
Thanks man we appreciate you very much
I've been looking forward to this one!!! Thank you !
Amazing engines. Holy !! That’s a giant power plant
Bernie Little was an amazing individual I was lucky to meet him in mission bay CA
Man you and Logan are friggin AWESOME! I love old Warbirds as much as I love Racing. Can't afford a real Airplane though 🤣 so I fly RC Airplanes. I do love to watch anything about them including what folks did with there Engines. To bad the folks couldn't fit the 18 Cylinder 2,800 Cubic Inch Double Wasp Radial Engines on a Hydroplane 🤣 I like that Matag made engine parts, one of the most expensive and rare 1911 Pistols from WW2 were made by the Singer Sewing Machine Company.
adamrogers.. Rolls Royce in 1940 Contracted PACKARD Motor co to build their Merlin engine for the Brits and the USAAF also got the Merlin from that and yes Maytag the washing machine co sub contracted to supply aluminum castings to PACKARD for the Merlin and some parts had MAYTAG cast into them !! !
Super badass. Love it. Start up is to die for. Earth shattering. ❤️🇺🇸
I’m a retired Delta Airlines engine mechanic. I love these!
This is absolutely fascinating. I'd never thought about it before but it doesn't surprise me that the blower would be the weak link. After all aero engine blower systems are designed to run at 30,00ft, not see level.
I've been waiting for this one, and it did not disappoint. SO fascinating, I really enjoyed it, thanks guys, and big thanks to the gentlemen working at this facility who took all the time to explain & teach us all so much!!!
Great episode SAW...thanks for taking us with you to see these monster engines. So interesting to say the least. I appreciate all your hard work so many great cutaways and very good editing. God bless you both
Glad you enjoyed it!! thanks man
Those Griffon pistons (37:00)... WOW!
I live 10 blocks from the pits in '80, went to watch the new Miss Budweiser do trials after the old one wrecked. Huge sound!
This video kind of picks up where the previous one left off, am enjoying the heck out of it! Love this sort of tech information, and, being a boater myself, it interests me to no end! I appreciate you & Logan taking the time to give us all such great video content, and I'm right there with you guys! Thanks so much, this rocks bigtime!
thanks man! Yeah the other one would have been 2 hours long if we had this part in there too lol
@@Stapleton42 it's all good, Mitch!
The modern rendition of these boats are running in Guntersville this weekend as we speak!! Look up H1 Unlimited if you’re interested. Thank you once again Stapleton for displaying the most under appreciated Motorsport in the world. Amazing content.
Thanks for the info!
I have dabbled in mostly boats and watched my son do amateur race and modern hot rods (LS motor in anything, Porsche, BMW3, etc.). This was great. This guy is going to hate old age. All that stuff in head and shop is going to get reorganized or disappear. The forged, $15,000 steel props are operating at over 50% of it tensile yield strength. Steel has infinite life with stresses and resulting strain below 50% of tensile yield strength. A little “nugget” I picked up in engineering school a few years ago, in the last century. I’m not old, I’m a time traveler.
Interesting!
I was born in 67 , grew up on Kogarah bay ( Sydney Aust') . Fond memories of the big boys playing at St George Motor Boat Club / " Speed Boat Spectacular" . Boats like Bayswater Bulk and Shamrock bellowing sweet harmony would get me out in my little eight foot three HP boat for a front row seat .Its hard to explain to someone who is not an " Engine Guy "..... The sound is like an orgasm to my ears. I'd love to see you talk to Jack Roush about his P51 . ( Carefull though Once you have flown in one I'm sure you like me would say Merlins belong in the sky , aircraft guys tend to consider a Merlin in a boat Sacriligious) PS: I have a friend who has been struggling with the black dog for many years... when he is really low he goes out to his farm shed and fires up his Merlin and all is well in the world. better than any meds' he's ever tried.
this is Great stuff !! always cool to learn new old stuff !! would be great to learn more about these guys that race these boats !!
Once again great content . Love the narration, like the fact how excited you get when you get right down to the details. Great question about Allison and the transmissions, I wondered the same thing. These engines are still used in pulling tractors. They have a unique sound. Thanks again, keep them coming..
thanks man! I noticed that too. He wasn't expecting to be able to get that detailed lol
@Stapleton42 yo don't give them guys any space, it's the only way we get the info,
stevefairchild Rolls Royce back in the 1980's 1990's Bought out the Allison ENGINE co for it turbo prop engines and a way into the USA market, the Allison Transmission co stayed as a GM subsidery.....
@wilburfinnigan2142 thank you for the information,
@@stevefairchild3337 Just the facts of history !!!!
Mechanical artwork designed with a slide ruler that performed/performs magnificently. Great video!!!
Thank you very much!
I love these old engines! This was cool
thanks man!!
You can find the Allison’s,Rolls engine and turbines in the tractor pulling world too. Multi engine modified tractors had many different engine combinations. Great video!!
Had my eardrums blown out by a merlin v12 tractor last weekend. Totally worth it
Such gearhead eye candy. I found specs for the allison but not the Merlin. Alliison V1710 1250 HP @ 3200 RPM Weight 1595Lbs.
I think probably because there were so many Merlin variants its hard to give them a single number
Seeing all the RC 1/8 scale models sitting around makes me smile. I ran a Miss Circus Circus hydro in the 2000’s and had a blast with it.
I worked with a gentleman named Glen who worked in the tri-cities on these motors he was a retired Honda mechanic and I do believe he works on hydroplanes to this day I grew up watching these rad machines rip the Colombia waters up pasco and kennewicks side I’m definitely showing him this video thank you for bringing some light to these motors and there awesome capabilities! Wish I seen this video sooner :)
Really Interesting Learned a Lot
Roush Aviation would be a great interview. He has lots of stuff to keep Merlins alive.
We would love to do that
I watched these boats race every year in the 70’s at the Madison Regatta when I was a kid, every July 4th weekend. Miss Budweiser, Atlas, Pay n Pak, Etc. Awesome that they are restoring Miss Madison! Thanks for doing these vids, great memories!
Thanks man!
I did some work in the Squire shop warehouse and was treated to a row of these engines and several hulls. I never expected to see anything boat related. Quite a thrill to be up close and personal.
This may be my all time favorite to this point!
My goal is that at least one person says that every time we post something! Thank you!
The sound of a Merlin.... 🤌🤌🤌
headbuttacatus would that be the RR version or the PACKARD version ????? In USA it would be the PACKARD version !!!
I went to the "world championship" tractor pulls in the 70's. The tractor that won was called "double ugly". Flat black, looked unfinished. Powered by an Allison V24 I believe.(two V12's?) Used a 2 cycle snowmobile engine to start the Allison. I'll never forget that. Pretty much once in a life time experience.
These engines really need a fluid drive. They were not built to take the torque impact that boat propellers generate. Power boating in the 1960s is why we now have so few Merlin’s and Allisons.