Title: The Merlin in Perspective
4th edition
Author: Alec Harvey-Bailey
Publisher: Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust
Pages: approx. 200 in A5 format
ISBN: NA
Price: £9.00 non-members, £6.00 members
This small softbound volume is of great value for rivet
counters like me. It describes the wartime experiences on
the Merlin in great detail. It has a short section on the
early development but the main focus is how the Merlin
fared in service, how it was developed, what were the
troubles encountered and what kind of modifications were
required to cure them. Engine installations and their
peculiarities are discussed as well. It is illustrated
with a bunch of technical drawings and photographs. The 4th
edition has numerous appendices. Especially important and
useful are the facsimiles from the RR Aero Engine Data
Book describing the structural and performance
differences of various marks of the Merlin in a very
handy and consistent form. That set of data charts is
continued in the "Merlin 100 srs" volume of the
series. I will review this later.
The
best way to obtain this (and others in the series) book
is to join the RRHT. Current annual membership fee is the
ridiculously low £6. That includes the Archive, a small
A5 magazine appearing three times a year.
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book review (you can even review a book that has been
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