- Rolls-Royce Ltd
Derby, Derbyshire
In 1904 Henry Royce, engineer and owner of Royce Ltd (est. 1884), Manchester, electric components and car manufacturer, came together with Charles Stewart Rolls, motoring and aviation pioneer and owner of motor car dealership C S Rolls & Co (est. 1902), London. The collaboration was orchestrated by Claude Johnson, former secretary of the Royal Automobile Association and company secretary of C S Rolls & Co. Impressed by Royce’s car Rolls and Johnson agreed to take as many cars (10, 15, 20 and 30hp models) as Royce could make. All were to be badged as Rolls-Royces and to be sold exclusively by C S Rolls & Co. The venture was a success and in 1906 Rolls-Royce Ltd was formed and further capital raised by offering £100,000 new shares to the public. That year Royce developed an improved six-cylinder 40/50hp model. In 1907 Rolls-Royce Ltd acquired C S Rolls & Co in its entirety, although the non-motor car interests of Royce Ltd continued to operate separately. Subsequently, in 1908, Rolls-Royce built a large new factory, designed by Royce, in Derby.
Rolls promoted the cars, by competing in trials and races, Johnson deputised for Rolls and looked after sales and business organisation, whilst Royce was responsible for production. Johnson, an astute businessman, focused production on the luxury 40/50 model only, which he named Silver Ghost, and kept the company on course following the death of Rolls in a flying accident in 1910 and the subsequent breakdown in Royce's health. During the First World War, at the government's request, Rolls-Royce manufactured 50 air-cooled V8 aero-engines engines under licence from Renault and in 1915 designed a new 200hp engine for the Royal Aircraft Factory: the Rolls-Royce 12-cylinder Eagle developed from the Silver Ghost engine. In 1916 Robert Harvey-Bailey, who had joined the design team in 1910, scaled the Eagle engine down to produce the Falcon fighter engine and later created the Buzzard. Rolls-Royce ended the war as Britain’s largest supplier of aero engines having produced, with Brazil, Straker & Co of Bristol, more than 7,000, mainly Eagles.
After the war Royce continued to control the design and production of aero engines, assisted by A J Rowledge, formerly chief designer at D Napier & Son, who had joined Rolls-Royce as Royce’s chief assistant in 1921. Rowledge designed the Condor III, the Kestrel and developed the Buzzard into the R racing engine which was used with success at the 1929 and 1931 Schneider Trophy races. Meanwhile, the car element of the business was also developed. In 1921 Rolls-Royce opened a new factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, run until 1931 by a subsidiary, Rolls-Royce of America Inc. At home, however, the depression of the 1920s reduced demand for the 40/50 Silver Ghost which was replaced by the Phantom alongside a smaller Rolls-Royce Twenty model. In 1931 Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley Motors (1919) Ltd, as well as its London showrooms, service station and Cricklewood factory and the services of designer W O Bentley, and formed a subsidiary styled Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. Royce died in 1933. After his death Rowledge was appointed chief consultant and worked on the development of the innovative Exe and Merlin engines, before retiring in 1945, and Ernest Hives, who had worked on the design of many Royce engines since joining the firm in 1908, joined the board in 1937 becoming managing director in 1946 and chairman in 1950.
During the Second World War Rolls-Royce operated a government shadow factory in Crewe, created in 1938, where it built its Merlin and Griffon aero engines. The Merlin aero engine, flown in prototype in 1935, had developed from the R engine which had powered the record-breaking 1931 Schneider trophy Supermarine S.6B seaplane. It was fitted in many wartime aircraft including the Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito, Avro Lancaster and Vickers Wellington. Over 160,000 Merlin engines were produced, during the war, including over 30,000 by the Ford Motor Co in Manchester. The company also developed a variant of the Merlin engine for tanks, later known as the Rover Meteor, in 1943. Also in 1942, through an exchange of assets, it was agreed that Rolls-Royce would take over Rover Co’s secret work, in partnership with Frank Whittle’s Power Jets Ltd, on the development of the jet engine at Barnoldswick.
After the war Rolls-Royce made significant advances in gas turbine engine design and manufacture. In 1939 Rolls-Royce had brought a specialist coachbuilder, Park Ward Ltd, in-house. Previously the company had built only car chassis, but when car production moved to Crewe in 1946 complete Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars were assembled with body pressings made by Pressed Steel Co. With austerity undermining the luxury car market Rolls-Royce began to produce diesel engines in 1951. By 1955 it was manufacturing diesel engines for automotive, railway, industrial, earth-moving and marine use. Sentinel (Shrewsbury) Ltd, maker of machine tools and industrial locomotives, was bought in 1956 Rolls-Royce’s diesel engine production moved to Sentinel's Shrewsbury factory.
In 1966 Rolls-Royce acquired Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd of Bristol, military and locomotive engine manufacturers, which became the company’s Bristol Siddeley division. By 1971 Rolls-Royce Ltd was in financial difficulties, largely due to its development of the new RB211 turbofan engine for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, and entered voluntary liquidation. That year the business, given its importance to national defence, was nationalised as Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd. In 1973 Rolls-Royce Motors was separated out of Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd which was renamed Rolls-Royce Ltd in 1977. Rolls-Royce Motors Holdings meanwhile was listed as a separate company on the London Stock Exchange until it was sold to Vickers Ltd in 1980 to allow the nationalised parent to focus on jet engine production. The aerospace business returned to the stock market as Rolls-Royce plc in 1987.
Piston engines: Eagle I 225hp (1915); Eagle II 250hp (1916); Eagle III 250hp (1916); Eagle IV 270-286hp (1916); Eagle V 275hp (1916); Eagle VI 275hp (1917); Eagle VII 275hp (1917); Eagle VIII 300hp (1917); Eagle IX 360hp (1922); Eagle X (n.d.); Eagle XV (1924); Eagle XVI 500hp (1925); Hawk I 75hp (1916); Hawk II 90/100hp (1917); Falcon I 230hp (1916); Falcon II 253hp (1917); Falcon III 285hp (1917); Condor I 600hp (1920); Condor II 650hp (1921); Condor III 670hp (1924); Condor III 650-670hp (1923); Condor IIIA 650-665hp (1925); Condor IIIB 650hp (1930); Condor IV 750hp (1925); Condor IVA 750hp (1927); Condor VII (n.d.); Condor C.I. 480hp (1932); Rolls-Royce F.X 460hp (1927); Kestrel IA F.XIA 490hp (1927); Kestrel IB F.XIB 480hp (1929); Kestrel IB3 F.XIB3 480hp (1934); Kestrel IB4 F.XIB4 480hp (1934); Kestrel IB5 F.XIB5 480hp (1934); Kestrel IMS, F.XIMS 525/535hp (1929); Kestrel IS, F.XIS 480hp (1928); Kestrel IIA, F.XIIA 490hp (1927); Kestrel IIB, F.XIIB 480hp (1933); Kestrel IIMS, F.XIIMS 525/535hp (1928);Kestrel IIMS.2, F.XIIMS.2 525/535hp (1933); Kestrel IIMS.5, F.XIIMS.5 525/535hp (1934); Kestrel IIMS.6, F.XIIMS.6 525/535hp (1935); Kestrel IIIB, F.XIIVB 480hp (n.d.); Kestrel IIIMS, F.XIVMS 515/535hp (1933); Kestrel IIIMS.2, F.XIVMS.2 515/535hp (1933); Kestrel IIIMS.4, F.XIVMS.4 515/535hp (1934); Kestrel IIIMS.6, F.XIVMS.6 515/535hp (1935); Kestrel IIIS, F.XIVS 480hp (1930); Kestrel IIIS.3, F.XIVS.3 480hp (1934); Kestrel IV 665/695hp (1935); Kestrel V, V Spl. 665/695hp (1933); Kestrel VDR 492hp (1937); Kestrel VI 665/695hp (1934); Kestrel VII 675/700hp (n.d.); Kestrel VIII 675/700hp (1934); Kestrel IX 675/700hp (1934); Kestrel X 520/545hp (1934); Kestrel XDR 500/525hp (1937); Kestrel XI 520/545hp (1935); Kestrel XII 520/545hp (n.d.); Kestrel XIV 640/670hp (n.d.); Kestrel XV 640/670hp (n.d.); Kestrel XVI, XVI Spl. 640/670hp (1936); Kestrel XVI(DR) 640/670hp (1937); Kestrel XVI(VP) 640/670hp (1936); Kestrel XXX 720hp (1938); Goshawk I (1932); Goshawk II 600hp (1935); Goshawk III 600hp (1935); Goshawk VI 660hp (n.d.); Goshawk VII 660hp (n.d.); Goshawk VIII 660hp (n.d.); Peregrine I 880hp (1938); Buzzard IMS, H.XIMS (1927); Buzzard IIMS, H.XIIMS 825hp (1932); Buzzard IIIMS, H.XIVMS 825hp (1931); R-type racing engine (1929); Vulture I 1800hp (1939); Vulture II (n.d.); Vulture V (n.d.); Exe 1150hp (1936); Merlin prototype (1935); Merlin B (1935); Merlin C 890hp (1935); Merlin E 890hp (1936); Merlin F (1936); Merlin G (1936); Merlin I 1,030hp (1937); Merlin II 1,030hp (1937); Merlin Special 2,1600hp (1939); Merlin III 1,030hp (1939); Merlin IV 1,030hp (1939); Merlin V 1,030hp (n.d.); Merlin VIII 1,275hp (1939); Merlin X 1,145hp (1938); Merlin XII 1,175hp (1940); Merlin XXI 1,390hp (1940); Merlin 21 1,390hp (1940); Merlin 22 1,390hp (1942); Merlin 22A 1,390hp (n.d.); Merlin 23 1,390hp (1942); Merlin 23A 1,390hp (n.d.); Merlin 24 1,610hp (1944); Merlin T.24-1 & 2 1,610hp (1944); Merlin T.24/4 1,610hp (n.d.); Merlin 25 1,610hp (1943); Merlin 27 1,390hp (1943); Merlin 28 1,390hp (1941); Merlin 29 1,390hp (1941); Merlin 30 1,300hp (1940); Merlin 31 1,390hp (1941); Merlin 32 1,620hp (1942); Merlin 33 1,390hp (n.d.); Merlin 35 1,390hp (n.d.); Merlin 38 1,390hp (n.d.); Merlin 45 1,230hp (1941); Merlin 45M 1,580hp (n.d.); Merlin 46 1,190hp (1941); Merlin 47 1,100hp (1941); Merlin 50 1,230hp (1943); Merlin 50A 1,1000hp (1942); Merlin 50M 1,230hp (n.d.); Merlin 55 (1943); Merlin 55A 1,230hp (n.d.); Merlin 55M 1,580hp (1943); Merlin 55MA 1,580hp (n.d.); Merlin 56 1,580hp (1942); Merlin 60 1,280hp (1941); Merlin 61 1,280hp (1942); Merlin 62 (1942); Merlin 63 (1942); Merlin 63A 1,280hp (1943); Merlin 64 1,280hp (1943); Merlin 65 1,315hp (1943); Merlin 66 1,315hp (1943); Merlin 67 1,315hp (1943); Merlin 68 1,315hp (n.d.); Merlin 68A 1,315hp (n.d.); Merlin 69 1,315hp (n.d.); Merlin 70 1,250hp (1944); Merlin 71 1,250hp (1944); Merlin 72 1,280hp (1944); Merlin 73 1,280hp (1942); Merlin 76 1,280hp (1944); Merlin 77 1,250hp (1944); Merlin 85 1,635hp (1944); Merlin 85B 1,635hp (n.d.); Merlin 86 1,635hp (n.d.); Merlin 100, 101 (n.d.); Merlin 102 1,635hp (1944); Merlin 102A 1,635hp (n.d.); Merlin 104 1,635hp (1945); Merlin 110, 112 1,225hp (n.d.); Merlin 113, 113A 1,535hp (1944); Merlin 114, 114A 1,535hp (1944); Merlin 130 1,670hp (1945); Merlin 131 1,670hp (1945); Merlin 132, 133 1,670hp (1946); Merlin 134 (1950); Merlin 135 (1949); Merlin 140 1,725hp (1947); Merlin 150 1,610hp (n.d.); Merlin 224 1,610hp (n.d.); Merlin 225 1,610hp (n.d.); Merlin 228 1,320hp (n.d.); Merlin 266 1,315hp (n.d.); Merlin 300 1,660hp (n.d.); Merlin 301 1,660hp (n.d.); Merlin 500 1,660hp (1947); Merlin 500/45 1,660hp (n.d.); Merlin 501 1,660hp (n.d.); Merlin 502 1,660hp (n.d.); Merlin 600 1,725hp (n.d.); Merlin 600A (n.d.); Merlin 604 1,720hp (n.d.); Merlin 620 1,725hp (1946); Merlin 621 1,610hp (1946); Merlin 622 1,725hp (n.d.); Merlin 623 1,610hp (n.d.); Merlin 624 1,610hp (1948); Merlin 626-1 1,760hp (1948); Merlin 626-12 1,760hp (1949); Merlin 631 (1947); Merlin 641 (1947); Merlin 722 (n.d.); Merlin 724-1 (n.d.); Merlin 724-1C (n.d.); Merlin 724-10 (n.d.); Griffon I (1933); Griffon II (1939); Griffon II 1,735hp (1942); Griffon IIB 1,720hp (1939); Griffon III 1,720hp (1942); Griffon IV 1,720hp (1942); Griffon VI 1,815hp (1944); Griffon VIII (1945); Griffon XII 1,815hp (1945); Griffon 26 (n.d.); Griffon 29 1,815hp (n.d.); Griffon 35 (n.d.); Griffon 36 (n.d.); Griffon 37 1,960hp (1946); Griffon 56 2,000hp (n.d.); Griffon 57 2,000hp (1947); Griffon 57A (1953); Griffon 59 (1951); Griffon 61 1,540hp (1942); Griffon 62 1,540hp (n.d.); Griffon 64 (1945); Griffon 65 (1943); Griffon 66 (1944); Griffon 67 (1945); Griffon 68 (n.d.); Griffon 69 (1945); Griffon 70 (n.d.); Griffon 71 1,765hp (1943); Griffon 72 2,100hp (1943); Griffon 73 1,765hp (n.d.); Griffon 74 2,245hp (1946); Griffon 83 1,935hp (1944); Griffon 85 (1944); Griffon 86 (n.d.); Griffon 87 1,765hp (1945); Griffon 88 1,765hp (n.d.); Griffon 89 1,765hp (1945); Griffon 90 1,765hp (n.d.); Griffon 91 (n.d.); Griffon 92 (n.d.); Griffon 94 (n.d.); Griffon 101 2,440hp (n.d.); Griffon 105 2,440hp (n.d.); Griffon 121 2,440hp (n.d.); Griffon 122 2,440hp (n.d.); Griffon 130 2,440hp (n.d.); Rolls-Royce 46H Eagle I (1944); Eagle 46H Eagle I (1944); Eagle 46H Eagle II (1944); Eagle 46H 22 (1947).
Gas turbine engines: Welland (1942); Derwent (1943); Nene (1944); RB.50 Trent (1944); Clyde (1945); Dart (1946); Avon (1947); RB.44 Tay (c.1940s); Olympus (1950); Conway (1952); RB.106 (1953); Soar (1953); Tyne (1955); RB.108 (1955); Gnome (1959); Pegasus (1959); Medway (1959); RB.145 (1961); RB.162 (1962); RB175 (1962); RB181 (1962); MAN Turbo RB.153 (1963); Spey (1964); RB.207 (1966); RB.203 Trent (1967); MAN Turbo RB.193 (1967); Turbomeca Adour (1968); RB211 (1969); SNECMA M45H (1970); RB401 (1975); Gem (1970s); Turbomeca RTM322 (1984); RB.183 Tay (1984); RB529 Contrafan (c.1986); T406 (1986); Trent (1990); AE 3007 (1991); Trent 700 (1992); Trent 800 (1993); BR710 (1995): BR715 (1999); Trent 500 (1999); Trent 900 (2003); Trent 1000 (2006); RR300 (c.2008); BR725 (2009); Trent XWB (2010); RB282 (2012); Trent 7000 (2015); Pearl 700 (2019).
Rocket engines: Larch (1965); Rolls-Royce RZ.1 (n.d.); Rolls-Royce RZ.2 (n.d.).
Bill Gunston, Rolls-Royce aero engines (1989); A A Rubbra, Rolls-Royce piston aero engines: A designer remembers (1990); Peter Pugh, Magic of a name: The first forty years of Britain’s most prestigious company 1904-1944 (2000); Peter Pugh, The magic of a name: The Rolls-Royce story. Part 2: The power behind the jets (2001); Peter Pugh, The magic of a name: The Rolls-Royce story: Part 3: A family of engines 1987-2002 (2002); David Robinson, Rolls-Royce aero engine advertisements: Vol.1 1917-1949 (2023).
The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust
Personal papers, technical reports and manuals 1906 on.
For further information about records held contact The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust.
Various records (2,000+ items) 1906-2008
For information about records held search TNA Discovery at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ (search Rolls-Royce).
For Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust records, incl reports, plans, photographs, etc, mostly re aero engines and rockets 20th cent. (9,851 items) [PA1716], see online catalogues at Coventry Archives https://www.coventrycollections.org/search/search.aspx (search PA1716) or TNA Discovery at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ (search Rolls-Royce + PA1716).
Directors’ committee minutes (12 vols) 1919-44 [RR AD1/22-34]; Olympus 593-4 engine manual 1971 [RR ADD/1]; photographs 1980s-90s [RR ADD/29].
Statements of accounts and directors’ reports 1959-69; review of activities 1968-69; Rolls-Royce News 1963-70; internal publications: careers 1960s, flight development department, Hucknall 1966, aero engine division 1965, internal telephone directory 1970, report on North American visit 1958; notes re transfer of staff from Hucknall to Derby 1969-72; Rocket department, Derby: written reports and handbooks 1958-68, technical drawings 1959-60s, illustrations and photographs 1960s, correspondence and drawings of employee, M Brassington, technical illustrator 1956-69, register of technical drawings issued 1957-59, published reports, articles and lectures on rocketry 1957-67, photographs, flight establishment at Hucknall testing n.d., drawing of RB.128 jet engine 1960s, Rolls-Royce school, Littleover, Derby postcard 1960s; employee papers: Leslie Oscar Wright, car chassis tester 1908-38, Antony Thorpe bomb disposal unit 1942-54 [D567, D5290, D4660, D4772].
Merlin 85 or 68 engine specifications and performance data for Lincoln bomber n.d. [YA1987.159/MS0032/5]; Air Publication (AP102B-0357-16A) for Griffon MK57A and 58 aero engines on Shackleton aircraft 1958 [YA2005.134]; Civil Aviation Authority engine log books (CA 28, CAP 391), service tracking cards, worksheets and engine/auxiliary power unit in transit sheets 1975-99 [YA2003.16].
British Motor Industry Heritage Trust
Agreement and licence with Joseph Lucas Ltd re lubricating system 1929; correspondence: with chairman of Morris Motors 1942-47, re Harold Johnson's retirement 1933; model range technical specification 1977; salesman's guide to cars n.d.; catalogue of publicity materials for dealers 1977; booklets re exterior colour and interior trim options n.d.; price lists: n.d., 1970, Silver Wraith 1958, Silver Cloud 1958; marketing leaflet 1969; information booklet on car range n.d.; Bentley colour range leaflet n.d.; booklet on Spirit of Ecstasy mascot story n.d.
Tyne and Wear Archives
Online catalogue at https://calmview.twmuseums.org.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DS.CC1.Clarke Chapman Ltd, Rolls-Royce Industrial Power Group, records re governance, shares and debentures, finance, legal matters, correspondence, patents, specifications, tenders, orders, contracts, patterns, outfits, maintenance instructions/parts, costs and outputs, plans and sketches, agency agreements, employees, property, publicity and marketing and subsidiary companies 1884-1986 [DS.CC1].
Engine maintenance manuals n.d.; brochures re engines and Rolls-Royce n.d.; photographs, engines n.d.; design report re Avon engine n.d.; engine data pocket cards n.d.; site plans, Brockworth works n.d.; technical notes, various engines n.d.; engine drawings, large arrangements n.d.
University of Bristol Special Collections
Papers of Peter Howard Fowler, physicist, Rolls-Royce consultant 1985-92 [DM1946, DM1967]; papers and correspondence of Robin Ralph Jamieson, Rolls-Royce gas turbine aero-engine department 1939-91 [NCUACS 60.3.96].
Correspondence with Rolls-Royce re BS605 rocket engine for Bluebird project 1968-72. DAW/3/3].
V & A Archive of Art and Design
Ogle Design sketchbook incl Rolls-Royce design 1987 [AAD/2015/14/1/58].
Kenneth Richardson’s taped interview with William Henry Lindsey, director Engineering Division and Marine Gas Turbine Division, Rolls-Royce n.d. [RIC/1/29].
Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation
Catalogue at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/lists/GB-2333-Rolls.htm.Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars made records (c.500 boxes) 1904-60s; guarantee books: Rolls-Royce cars (14 vols) 1905-67, Bentley cars (6 vols) 1933-66; sales catalogues 1905 on; technical correspondence (c.180 boxes) 1907-c.45; depot sheets (3 vols, 8 files) 1920s-30s; technical drawings (c.30,000) n.d., early 20th cent.; experimental car test record (392 vols) 1923-72; Rolls-Royce instruction school reports (12 vols) 1929-39; photographs and glass plate negatives of Rolls-Royce cars (c.30,000) n.d.; Shrewsbury factory records 1955-60.
University of Brighton Design Archives
Design Council awards: booklets: Rolls-Royce wide-chord fan blade 1985, Pegasus turbofan engine 1983; photographs: turbine blades 1986, Sentinel shunting locomotive design 1968, Rolls-Royce Eagle 220 MKIII diesel engine 1975, wide-chord fan blade 1985 [DES/DCA/30/7/].
Modern Records Centre, Warwick University
Rolls-Royce joint shop stewards' combine minutes 1953-92 [RRJ].
Ephemera 1895-1900 [MS/2079]; dealer agency agreements with Joseph Cockshoot & Co Ltd, Manchester n.d. [YA1970.36]; advertisements, Manchester Guardian 1928 [YA1970.36]; letter to Barnes Wallis re risks of methane ignition when carried by airship transporters n.d. [BNW/G6/10]; papers re manufacture of Spitfire at Ford works, Trafford Park 1941-47 [YA1996.234]; technical publications re Merlin 621 n.d. [YMS0060]; Rolls-Royce Bulletins 1951-55 [MS/1765]; report A/24 on military type test re Avon Mk 1 engine 1950 [MS/0614];
technical drawings of Conway engines 1951-58 [MS/0615]; manual and notes re Avro 748 series 1 aircraft 1954-64 [YA2010.9/2]; aviation manuals 1959-69 [YA1987.254]; spare parts catalogues 1962-70 [GEC/4/7/3, 26];
manuals 1962-75 [GEC/3/6/1]; brochure produced with British Aerospace re HOTOL (Horizontal Take-Off and Landing) spaceplane 1980s [ADS/B/01/06].
Letter to G W Gregory, enclosing technical reports, Rolls-Royce Ltd aero engine division, re radioactive contamination of aircraft engines 1962-63 [U DGR/3]; Rolls-Royce Trade Union Committee Bristol papers re introduction of wages structure programme at Bristol engine division 1969-70 [U DTO/6/88].
Claude and Basil Johnson of Rolls-Royce correspondence with Viscount Northcliffe 1902-22 [Add MS 62279 A-B].
Silver Wraith car sales brochure n.d. [2011/152.28].
Tangmere Military Aviation Museum
Rolls-Royce Merlin XX, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 engines, AP1590 G&N, manual, 1940.
Notes re faulty running engines and their cures 1917 [basement pamphlet]; consultant reports: no.1322 re Condor engine 1922 [ogi/6/12], no.1385 re gear ratios 1923 [ogi/7/75]; reviews: Rolls-Royce piston engine 1945 [5e pamphlet], wartime engine production, repair and factory expansion 1945 [m historic pamphlets 8]; report on special category test of Curtiss electric airscrew serial no.1676 1941 [f pamphlets 6a]; arrangement diagram and performance data for 'F' series aircraft engines 1929 [f historic pamphlets 21]; technical drawing of medium-range supersonic VTOL transport aircraft 1956 [f historic pamphlets 62]; general arrangement re RB108 lift engine and propulsion engine (2) 1956 [f historic pamphlets 62]; technical specification for TMH Merlin power plant 1945 [m historic pamphlet 65]; specifications: 360hp 1920 [CH bookcase R], 270hp 1920 [s historic pamphlets 29], F type 1929 [basement pamphlets], 46-H-24 1943 [f historic pamphlets 21], Spey RB 183 and 163-25 1963-64 [nal hub]; installation and maintenance instructions: Kestrel and Buzzard 1932, Kestrel series XVI 1936, Kestrel series IV and XII 1937 [CH bookcase R]; installation notes: Dart RDa6 rating engine 1954 [5e, nal hub], Derwent Mk 5, 8, 9 and 501 engines [5e]; schedule for Eagle series I-V with addenda VI-VII 1917 [f historic pamphlets 21]; maintenance manual re Merlin single-stage engines 1951 [nal hub 39]; operator’s handbook re Merlin Mks 22,24, T24 for transport aircraft 1947 [archive room]; instructions for Eagle series I-VIII and Falcon series I-III 1917 [CH bookcase R]; tables, factors, definitions conversion booklet 1964 [nal hub, s pamphlets 14b]; papers re ELDO satellite launching vehicle and engines for blue streak 1973 [m historic pamphlets 84]; booklets: unveiling ceremony of F Henry Royce statue 1923 [s historic pamphlets 1], aircraft fitted with Rolls-Royce engines 1935, 1951 [basement folio, f historic pamphlets 21], brief history of Merlin 1945 [m pamphlets 6a], Avon achievements 1953 [5e]; Spadeadam Rocket Establishment 1959 [f historic pamphlets 98], RZ2 Mk II rocket engine 1962 [f historic pamphlets 96], aero gas turbine data TS 162 1972 [CH bookcase R, basement], turbine engine mark numbers 1974 [CH bookcase R, basement], progress on RB211 1974 [m pamphlets 5b], current engine range 1974 [m historic pamphlets 67], development of De Havilland reciprocating engines 1975 [nal hub], vectored thrust jet VSTOL 1980 [m historic pamphlets 8], current engines and future plans 1986 [m historic pamphlets 31], industrial power 1996 [m pamphlets 218], jet engine 1996 [5e], River class turbo-jet aero engines n.d. [m historic pamphlets 8]; pamphlets: aero-engines 1929 [basement pamphlet], modern aircraft fitted with Rolls-Royce engines 1930 [f historic pamphlets 52], single point fuel injection pump 1944 [f historic pamphlets 21], Gloster meteors and Rolls-Royce 1946 [2e pamphlet, Merlin 620 1946 [m historic pamphlets 72], unveiling of a window at the Rolls-Royce factory, Derby 1949 [m historic pamphlets 5, archive room], Dart propeller turbine 1950 [basement pamphlets], Dart propeller turbine engine 1950, 1954 [5e pamphlet], Merlin 620 series 1952 [5e pamphlet], Griffon 57 1952 [5e pamphlet], commemorating meeting of Henry Royce and Charles Rolls 1954 [17e pamphlet], Nene turbo-jet 1954 [5e pamphlet], Derwent turbo-jet 1954 [5e pamphlet], Avon turbo-jet 1954 [5e pamphlet], Soar turbo-jet 1954 [5e pamphlet], Darts 1958 [5e pamphlet], the R engine story 1959 [16e pamphlet], Dart prop-jet 1959 [5e pamphlet], lower operating costs 1959 [5e pamphlet], Tyne prop-jet 1959 [5e pamphlet], Conway by-pass turbo-jet 1959 [5e pamphlet], Avon turbo-jet 1959 [5e pamphlet], Tyne prop-jet in service on two continents 1961 [5e pamphlet], Viper 1973 [m historic pamphlets 31], RB401-07 turbofan engine TS 1936/8 1978 [f historic pamphlets 21]; press releases 1954 [16e folio pamphlet]; pictorial history of Rolls-Royce 1954 [m pamphlets 17a]; commemorative company history 1954 [17e pamphlet]; history of Rolls-Royce test facilities 1963-1965 [f pamphlets]; Allison engine catalogue 1915-2007 2008 [5b]; conference proceedings re European symposium 1985 [m pamphlets 213]; photographs: Merlin 61 1942 [plan box 1], Trent turbofan engine 1967 [M300441], RB211 engine loaded on Lockheed Hercules 1970 [M100152], RB211 53E4 development engine 1982 [M300439], Trent RB-211-535E4 turbofan 1981 [M300438], Trent RB211-524 500th delivery 1982 [M300437], Tay engine on production line 1986 [M101281], Turbomeca Adour n.d. [M300440]; 53E4 engine n.d. [M100410].
Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum
Manuals: Eagle VIII and Falcon III engines AP859 [1986/409.4], Merlin 60 and 61 engines 1942 [2001/38.2], Merlin 60 and 61 engines AP1590K n.d. [1986/411.7], Avon Mk1 engine AP4321A n.d. [2001/271.10], Derwent engine maintenance 1955 [2007/88.15], Avon Mk1 engine AP4321A vol.1 general and technical information n.d. [2025/38.5]; Rolls-Royce engineers’ course notes n.d. [2009/290.1]; Spey engine notes n.d. [2012/35.2].