Rolls-Royce Vulture
| Vulture | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | X-24 Piston aero engine |
| Manufacturer | Rolls-Royce Limited |
| First run | May 1937 |
| Major applications |
Avro Manchester Hawker Henley Vickers Warwick |
| Number built | 538 |
The Rolls-Royce Vulture was a British aero engine developed shortly before World War II that was designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. The Vulture used the unusual "X-24" configuration, whereby four cylinder blocks derived from the Rolls-Royce Peregrine were joined by a common crankshaft supported by a single crankcase. The engine was originally designed to produce around 1,750 horsepower (1,300 kW), but continuing problems with the Vulture design meant that the engines were derated to around 1,450-1,550 hp in service by limiting the maximum rpm.
Although several new aircraft designs had been planned to use the Vulture, work on the engine's design ended in 1941 as Rolls-Royce concentrated on their more successful Merlin design. Another 24-cylinder engine, the Napier Sabre, would prove more successful after a lengthy development period.
The supercharged Rolls-Royce Kestrel, and its derivative, the Peregrine was a fairly standard design, with two cylinder banks arranged in a V form and with a displacement of 21 litres (1,300 cu in). The Vulture, in effect, was two Peregrines joined by a new crankcase turning a new crankshaft, producing an X engine configuration with a displacement of 42 litres (2,600 cu in). Although the Vulture used cylinders of the same bore and stroke of the Peregrine, the redesigned cylinder blocks had increased cylinder spacing to accommodate a longer crankshaft, necessary for extra main bearings and wider crankpins.
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