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Rolls-Royce Hawk

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Hawk
Preserved Rolls-Royce Hawk
Type Liquid-cooled inline piston engine
Manufacturer Rolls-Royce Limited
First run 1914
Major applications SSZ class blimp
Number built 205

The Rolls-Royce Hawk was a British aero engine designed by Rolls-Royce in 1915. Derived from one bank of six cylinders of the Rolls-Royce Eagle, it produced 75 horsepower at 1,370 rpm. Power was progressively increased to 91 hp by February 1916, and 105 hp by October 1918.[1]

After Rolls-Royce made the prototypes, the Hawk was manufactured under licence by Brazil Straker in Bristol between 1915 and 1918. During this period 204 engines were built, and the Hawk earned a reputation for high reliability.

Many engines of this type were used to power the SSZ class coastal patrol airships of which 76 were built.

Applications

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Post war one engine (serial number 332) was fitted into a specially built hull and launched on Windermere in 1922 with the name Canfly. With a flywheel added it was directly connected to the boat's propeller without a gearbox. Capable of reaching speeds of 26 knots (30 mph; 48 km/h) Canfly was used as the official's boat at several world speed record attempts during the 1920s and 1930s. The boat and engine are now displayed in a working but non-operational state at the Windermere Jetty museum.[2]

Specifications (Hawk I)

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Data from Lumsden[3]

General characteristics

  • Type: 6-cylinder liquid-cooled inline aircraft piston engine
  • Bore: 4 in (101.6 mm)
  • Stroke: 6 in (152.4 mm)
  • Displacement: 452.3 in3 (7.41 L)
  • Length: 46.85 in (1190 mm)
  • Width: 23.5 in (597 mm)
  • Height: 35.5 in (902 mm)
  • Dry weight: 387 lb (175.5 kg)

Components

Performance

See also

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Comparable engines

Related lists

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Pugh 2001, p.78.
  2. ^ "Canfly". Windermere Jetty: Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories. 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  3. ^ Lumsden 2003, p.187.

Bibliography

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  • Flight 7 May 1954
  • British Airships
  • Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.
  • Pugh, Peter. The Magic of a Name – The Rolls-Royce Story: The First 40 Years. Duxford, Cambridge: Icon Books, 2001. ISBN 1-84046-151-9.
  • Taulbut, Derek S. Eagle – Henry Royce’s First Aero Engine, Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, 2011. ISBN 978-1-872922-40-9.
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