Rolls Royce Avon
Discussion
Can anyone tell me where the the Avon engines were built that went into the Lightning?
I see from Wiki and other pages that the Avon was built in many locations and I know it went into many aircraft types but I can't anything that ties down which manufacturing plant supplied to which aircraft.
I see from Wiki and other pages that the Avon was built in many locations and I know it went into many aircraft types but I can't anything that ties down which manufacturing plant supplied to which aircraft.
KieronGSi said:
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
I think you will find that RR made a point of naming its jet engines after rivers, eg Derwent, Welland, Nene, Avon, Spey, Trent. Even the turboprops got river names, eg: Dart.
IIRC the only RR jet not named after a river was the RB211.
IIRC the only RR jet not named after a river was the RB211.
RR Viper?
The Viper was an Armstrong-Siddeley design.
The Olympus was a Bristol Aero Engines (B.E.) design.
The Pegasus was a Bristol-Siddeley design.
Armstrong-Siddeley merged with Bristol Aero Engines to form Bristol-Siddeley, which later became part of RR.
Hence the monikers: RR Viper, RR Olympus and RR Pegasus.
The Olympus was a Bristol Aero Engines (B.E.) design.
The Pegasus was a Bristol-Siddeley design.
Armstrong-Siddeley merged with Bristol Aero Engines to form Bristol-Siddeley, which later became part of RR.
Hence the monikers: RR Viper, RR Olympus and RR Pegasus.
As part of the amalgamations forced on the British aviation industry in the early 1960s by the UK government, Bristol were more or less forced to hand over their jet engine manufacturing to Rolls Royce.
Bristol had always named their engines (jet, turboprop or piston) after Greek and Roman mythological names or places. So you get Bristol engines named Jupiter, Perseus, Pegasus, Hercules, Centaurus, Olympus etc.
Rolls Royce named their piston engines after birds of prey (real or mythical) - Eagle, Goshawk, Peregrine, Vulture, Merlin, Griffon.
They named their gas turbines after rivers - Derwent, Nene, Avon, Conway, Spey, Dart, Trent etc.
The only two Rolls Royce jet engines that I can think of that received a type number only were the RB162 and the RB211.
The RB162 was a vertical lift engine used in the Shorts SC1 vertical take off test aircraft and was later used as a fourth "booster" jet in the Trident 3 airliner.
Bristol had always named their engines (jet, turboprop or piston) after Greek and Roman mythological names or places. So you get Bristol engines named Jupiter, Perseus, Pegasus, Hercules, Centaurus, Olympus etc.
Rolls Royce named their piston engines after birds of prey (real or mythical) - Eagle, Goshawk, Peregrine, Vulture, Merlin, Griffon.
They named their gas turbines after rivers - Derwent, Nene, Avon, Conway, Spey, Dart, Trent etc.
The only two Rolls Royce jet engines that I can think of that received a type number only were the RB162 and the RB211.
The RB162 was a vertical lift engine used in the Shorts SC1 vertical take off test aircraft and was later used as a fourth "booster" jet in the Trident 3 airliner.
Eric Mc said:
As part of the amalgamations forced on the British aviation industry in the early 1960s by the UK government, Bristol were more or less forced to hand over their jet engine manufacturing to Rolls Royce.
Not true. Rolls Royce wanted to buy Bristol and Bristols' Chairman Sir Reginald Verdon-Smith was in favour of the deal as were the Ministry of Avaition but as it turned out RR paid too much which along with the development problems of the RB211 contributed to RR's collapse in 1971.
All examined in detail by Peter Pugh in his trilogy of books about Rolls Royce 'The Power of a Name'
Tango13 said:
Eric Mc said:
As part of the amalgamations forced on the British aviation industry in the early 1960s by the UK government, Bristol were more or less forced to hand over their jet engine manufacturing to Rolls Royce.
Not true. Rolls Royce wanted to buy Bristol and Bristols' Chairman Sir Reginald Verdon-Smith was in favour of the deal as were the Ministry of Avaition but as it turned out RR paid too much which along with the development problems of the RB211 contributed to RR's collapse in 1971.
All examined in detail by Peter Pugh in his trilogy of books about Rolls Royce 'The Power of a Name'
'The Magic of a Name'I believe all RB-designated engines were designed at Barnoldswick. Hence the RB tag. Similarly when RR bought out Bristol Siddeley all the de Havilland engines continued their naming trend of Gs - Gnome, Gem, Ghost etc.
If you PM me a serial number I can try and dig up some history for the engine(s) you're talking about.
If you PM me a serial number I can try and dig up some history for the engine(s) you're talking about.
sebhaque said:
I believe all RB-designated engines were designed at Barnoldswick. Hence the RB tag. Similarly when RR bought out Bristol Siddeley all the de Havilland engines continued their naming trend of Gs - Gnome, Gem, Ghost etc.
If you PM me a serial number I can try and dig up some history for the engine(s) you're talking about.
The precious stone names originated with Metropolitan Vickers (Metrovick). Metrovick designed engines called the Beryl and Sapphire. The Sapphire ended up with Armstrong Siddeley.If you PM me a serial number I can try and dig up some history for the engine(s) you're talking about.
De Havilland engines were called after "spooks" of various sorts - Goblin, Ghost etc.
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