Fredbargate

THE ROLLS-ROYCE TOP TEN

1. SILVER GHOST: This was the reason Rolls-Royce first came to Derby. The firm, which at the time was solely a luxury car-maker, had run out of capacity at its Manchester factory and in 1908 started producing the Silver Ghost at a purpose-built factory in Nightingale Road.

2. EAGLE: The first aero engine built by Rolls-Royce. The First World War saw it develop a water-cooled engine for the Royal Flying Corps. Introduced in 1915, it powered Handley Page and Vickers Vimy bombers and later the 1919 first crossing of the Atlantic by Alcock and Brown.

3. KESTREL: The engine that kept Rolls-Royce ticking over between two world wars. It powered a number of British fighters. It was also sold to international air forces, and was even used to power prototypes of German aircraft that were later used in the Battle of Britain.

4. MERLIN: It powered Spitfires and Hurricanes in the Second World War. In 1939, Rolls-Royce decided to stop making cars in Derby and focus on aero engines. Many variants of the Merlin were made in Derby, Crewe, Glasgow and Manchester and 32,000 were made in Derby.

5. WELLAND: Designed by Sir Frank Whittle, it was the first jet engine made by Rolls-Royce and Britain's first production jet. It entered production in 1943 for the Gloster Meteor, the UK's first jet fighter. It marked the start of jet engine production at Rolls-Royce.

6. RB50 TRENT: The first Rolls-Royce turbo-prop engine. It was based on a concept by Sir Frank Whittle and was essentially a Derwent Mark II turbo-jet engine connected to a five-bladed propeller. It flew on the Gloster Meteor jet fighter for the first time in 1945.

7. DART MK510: A prime example of the longevity of Rolls-Royce's engines. First produced in the late 1940s, it powered the maiden flight of the first Vickers Viscount turboprop airliner in 1948. By 1987 it was still being produced – and Dart engines are still in use today.

8. RB211: The engine that almost broke Rolls-Royce but ultimately provided the platform of the success the firm enjoys today. Escalating costs forced the company into receivership in 1971. The Government stepped in and bought Rolls-Royce's assets. It proved a sound move.

9. BR710: This engine, used to power corporate jets, marked the start of the globalisation of Rolls-Royce. It was developed with BMW in 1990. Rolls-Royce eventually took full control of the operation, now known as Rolls-Royce Deutschland. It is made in Dahlewitz, near Berlin, Germany.

10. TRENT 1000: The latest passenger jet engine to go into production in Derby. It powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It powered the first commercial Dreamliner flight in 2011 with Japanese airline All Nippon Airways. It is the fifth generation of the Trent engine family.

Full story :-
Rolls-Royce shows off its 10 Derby crown jewels to energise a generation | Derby Telegraph

jimenato

Interesting Fred - thanks for that.

Fredbargate

Family business

scot47

Like the rest of the family silver, long since flogged off.

Dick Dasterdly

Thanks for that Fred, filled in a few empty spaces regarding my knowledge of RR.

Fredbargate

Who owns RR's aero division?

jimenato

Incidentally they have (or had) a huge facility in Filton, Bristol with an airport jointly owned with British Aerospace.

I drove around there the other day and the runway, nearly 2 miles long, has been broken up - it's going to be a housing estate.

I remember Concorde flying over me in Portishead on its maiden flight - I was 13. There is a Concorde alongside what is left of the runway, I think it's going to be a museum.

Fredbargate

Also Hucknall in Notinghamshire

ARCING in the air over Nottingham, the RAF bomber, on the clear, sunny Good Friday of 1968, was unmissable – white and clear in a bright spring sky.

Beneath the Vulcan was the powerful Rolls-Royce Olympus engine, slung experimentally beneath the aircraft's fuselage for testing purposes.

Then there was the deep, powerful sound of the engine that would be destined to loft the Concorde at supersonic speeds into the transatlantic skies.

This was the high-point of the engine's testing. When the Vulcan lifted off from Rolls-Royce's flight test centre at Hucknall you could hear the take-off as far away as Beeston

New book about Notts connection to Concorde | Nottingham Post

It flew over my childhood home, a one engined Vulcan ( well only whilst in the air )

For the uninitiated that was a single Concorde engine.

pedro pete

Fred, my dad's last aircraft to fly was the Vulcan. We lived in Lincoln and he moved between Scampton and Waddington on various squadrons. He loved that aircraft and the Olympus was the power house of those delta winged behemoths. I got a couple of sixth seat taxi runs in one when I was a teenager and hearing the four engines roar into life from the cockpit is a life changing experience!

When there was a squadron scramble at Waddington and six or seven of them racing down the runway, you could feel the shockwave in Lincoln High Street!

Fredbargate

Unfortunately this one was scrapped due to corrosion.

Vulcans in Camera - Vulcan K2 XM571 at RAF Gibraltar.

pedro pete

Such a shame. That one in the photo still has the 50 Sqdn Dingos on the tail, just below the city of Lincoln coat of arms. Undoubtedly, Dad would have flown that aircraft.