Rolls-Royce Meteorite
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The Rolls-Royce Meteorite, also known as the Rover Meteorite, was a post-war British Template:Cvt V8 petrol or diesel engine was derived from the Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine.Template:Sfnp
Development
In 1940 William Robotham who led a chassis design and development division at Clan Foundry in Belper, and Henry Spurrier, a director Leyland Motors, began investigating the use of Rolls-Royce aero engines as tank power-plants.Template:Sfnp Both men felt that continued use of the War Office's preferred Nuffied Liberty to be a retrograde step in the development of British tanks.Template:Sfnp The Liberty had been designed in 1917 and by this time was only able to produce a maximum power output of Template:Convert.Template:Sfnp Their requirements were the engine had to fit into the same engine compartment as the Liberty, and their aspiration was it would offer a power-to-weight ratio of Template:Convert for the proposed British tank designs.Template:Sfnp
Initially Robotham and Spurrier investigated the use of a naturally aspirated version of the Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine.Template:Sfnp The Kestrel presented a number of advantages, it was not in great demand by the Royal Air Force and it occupied less space than the Liberty, although bench tests showed it would fall short of their desire power requirements.Template:Sfnp
The next engine investigated by Robotham and Spurrier was a modified version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin, which had the same displacement as the Liberty, due to its different bore and stroke it was more compact.Template:Sfnp This was to become the Rolls-Royce Meteor which went on to power the Cromwell tank.Template:Sfnp
In 1943 design and production leadership responsibilities for the Meteor were transferred to Morris and at the end of the war, all Meteors were produced by Morris.Template:Sfnp After the war, Rover wanted to develop a range of heavy duty engines using common parts, so they devised the Meteorite by removing four cylinders from the Meteor.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
Meteorites were produced alongside Meteors in Rover's Ministry of Supply factory at Acocks Green.Template:Sfnp
Design
The Meteorite was a Template:Cvt V-8 engine. It retained the 60° V and Template:Cvt bore and Template:Cvt stroke of the Meteor.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
The Meteorite's crankcase, cylinder block and cylinder heads were all cast from aluminium alloy.Template:Sfnp The engine was lubricated from a dry sump, this had the advantage of allowing the engine to be operated at extreme angles without starving for oil.Template:Sfnp
Like the Meteor, originally the Meteorite ran on petrol, but when fitted with CAV indirect-injection equipment and with a higher compression ratio it was converted into a diesel engine.Template:Sfnp Diesel versions were fitted with a flame heater to permit starting in cold conditions.Template:Sfnp
Applications
The Meteorite is principally remembered for powering earlier versions of the Thornycroft Antar. The prototype Antar produced in 1949, and the first production Antars produced from 1950, were built for operation in the Middle East by the Iraq Petroleum Company.Template:Sfnp These trucks were powered by the Meteorite Mk 101 diesel which produced Template:Cvt at 2,000 rpm.Template:Sfnp In testing conducted in 1950 at Bagshot Heath, the engine was said to perform extremely well.Template:Sfnp In practice, when operated by native Syrian drivers who were said to be without any mechanical knowledge and merciless in their operation of the trucks, the engines soon suffered from poor reliability.Template:Sfnp After Rover compiled a report that detailed serious neglect of the engines, including being driven too fast and sometimes being operated without any oil or coolant, a rigorous maintenance schedule was introduced and reliability was restored.Template:Sfnp
The first version of the Antar operated by the British Army, the Antar Mk 1 (designated FV12001), was a tank transporter powered by the twin-carburettor Mk 204 petrol Meteorite.Template:Sfnp Designed to operate on 68/70 octane petrol, the Mk 204 produced Template:Cvt at 2000 rpm and Template:Cvt of torque at 1200 rpm.Template:Sfnp Fuel economy of the Mk 204 Meteorite powering a fully loaded Antar Mk 1 was as little as Template:Convert.Template:Sfnp The Meteorite Mk 204 also powered the Antar Mk 2 (designated FV12002/FV12003), but it was replaced in the Antar Mk 3 from 1961 by a Rolls-Royce Template:Cvt IL8 cylinder supercharged diesel engine which offered improved economy and performance.Template:Sfnp
The Valiant II assault tank was to be powered by a petrol Meteorite of between Template:Cvt.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
In 1947–1948 a powerful land clearing bulldozer was developed at the Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment for the Tanganyika groundnut scheme. It utilised Centurion tank automotive components and was powered by a Meteorite engine.Template:Sfnp
The single Leyland FV1000 'Brontosaurus' heavy tank transporter prototype produced in 1951 was powered by a Template:Cvt petrol Rover Meteorite Mk 202A.Template:Sfnp
The two Leyland FV1200 series FV1201 heavy artillery tractor prototypes produced in 1953 were each powered by Template:Cvt petrol Rover Meteorite.Template:Sfnp
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
Template:Rolls-Royce aeroengines Template:Aero-derivative engines