With 1390 hp, Jay demonstrates the power and engineering of the Merlin 1650-1 engine that was the heart of the P-51 Mustangs and the Lancaster bombers in World War II. WATCH h/t NAAC.
The Engine That Won World War II
30 Comments on The Engine That Won World War II
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That’s Jay Leno?
That needs to be in my next truck.
@ Irish
Yup.
Has Jay started coverin’ his privates with peanut butter?
And wrastlin’ tigers?
Packard power!!!
WWII aviation is fascinating. A very good film to watch (available on YT) is Leslie Howard’s “The First of the Few” (an alternate title is “Spitfire”), which chronicles the development of the Spitfire.
One of my CO’s at McChord AFB (I still refuse to call it Joint Base Lewis McChord) used to tell great stories about airlift sorties out of England where he was a young 1st Leiutentant in the American Army Air Corps.
If you’ve ever heard a Merlin wound up to angry going over your head at a hundred feet you’ll never forget that sound.
I have a Veteran friend Jimmie Robinson age 101 who was a Mustang plane captain in England in WWII and we had a discussion about the P-51. He said when they pulled the Allison V-12 engines and replaced them with the Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 he said the pilots got an erection the first time they flew the upgraded aircraft! I’ve heard them up close and personal in flight and there is now way to describe that beautiful noise.
The Merlin was better at altitude. The Allison was a very good engine. Just wasn’t as good in thin air.
There used to be power boat racing in the St. Clair river when I was little. I remember those with the Allisons and they sounded incredible.
Got to go up in a Lancaster, hearing four of those beasts go from idle to take off speed was glorious. Once in a lifetime experience.
The Allison got a second life powering the big unlimited class hydroplanes, they were a good hearty engine at sea level!
And the Allisons did well enough at altitude when they got the supercharging worked out. They powered the P-38, one of our best at the time as well as the PT boats.
@ Different Tim FEBRUARY 28, 2022 AT 8:48 PM
pride of Pay-N-Pak, Miss Thriftway, Miss Madoson, U-9, Atlas Van Lines, Miss Bardahl, Gale V etc
I said the sound is a big part of the experience and turbines would be the death of the sport and I was right.
Wow, what a piece of machinery! I’m also fascinated with radial airplane engines.
P38s had a pair of turbocharged Allisons and acquitted themselves quite well. Lockheed experimented with a pair or Merlins but saw little improvement. Besides, all the Packhard production was needed for the Mustang.
I think Pratt & Whitney would beg to disagree about being the engine that won the war.
A guy I worked with had an Allison in a pull truck.
We had a favorite, George Henley from Eatonville won the Sea Fair races in the Pay-n-Pak one year and we were all thrilled. ’ Unlimited boats were all over the place in the Puget Sound area back in the 1060s and 70s, money ruined the sport. Budweiser poured tons of money into Bull Muncy and it was no longer competitive. When I was a kid people were building boats in their back yards and garages and if they didn’t have money for an Allison or Merlin they would run two big block V8 engines in tandem.
Crank the sound up.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6DWBkF7NUI
@Hambone. Those radials where great, when we were up in the lanc we were escorted by a harvard/texan. Check the penny for the rebuild date on the engines.
@ Huron I got to see a Lancaster fly at an airshow on RAF Alconbury in 1975. It was an awesome sight and loved seeing it in person. A Spitfire also put on quite a show on the same day. I loved how it sputtered when it went inverted. I took Super 8mm movies of the show but was later stupid enough to loan the movie to a trusted Air Force buddy. I never saw it again. GRRRR! (Wayne Murphy from Olean, NY)
@Huron
I got to go up in a B-17 Flying Fortress (Thunderbird) in 2013. What an experience! What a privilege!
JDHasty — My older brothers built (or tried to build) their hydro in our garage! LOL!
Loved the hydros on Lk WA. You could hear them all over the city on race days. The Bardahl and Slo-Mo-Shun (which Stan Boresen named his iconic bassett hound after) are a proud part of Seattle’s history. The last race on the lake I went to was in 1990 or ’91. In addition to the Blue Angels, there was a dynamic Harrier display that year. We always look forward to the Blue Angels practice flights during Seafair. They come right over the house.
The Merlin may have won the war, but the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone ended it.
And it’s nice to see some respect for the Allison here.
@Hambone. I got to climb through a b17,a b29,Fi Fi if my memory serves me, a few light bombers, Spits, Corsairs hurricanes, very early jets and modern. Hamilton ontario air show is top notch. London ontario air show had a raptor doing low fly bys and then on static display, roped off no getting closer than about thirty feet.
Check out the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton Ontario.
I invented the airplane …
AND designed the Merlin 1650-1.
“P-51, the Cadillac of the sky” – from Empire of the Sun
My dad was a F4U Corsair mechanic in the Marines. Hard to beat that P & W Double Wasp engine. First engine in history to create more horsepower than it’s own weight in pounds.
@ Doc: ” He said when they pulled the Allison V-12 engines and replaced them with the Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 he said the pilots got an erection the first time they flew the upgraded aircraft!
Thus the COCKPIT?