The story of the Merlin begins in the early 1930s. Rolls-Royce, already a respected name in aircraft engines, was looking to develop a new high-performance liquid-cooled V12 engine. Initially, the company worked on an engine called the PV-12—'PV' standing for Private Venture, since it was developed without government funding. #ww2 #Aviation #military | Jets 'n' Props

Anyone remember the Tempus Tunnel boat? Chuck Hickling’s final entry into Unlimited Hydroplane racing was also the only Unlimited Hydroplane ever built that was a tunnel boat powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin engine. Tempus continued to be a West Coast only team, scoring a surprising third place at San Diego when all the turbine entries succumbed to the saltwater spray. Tempus only entered the Washington races in 1987 and 1988, failing to score points in any of them and the team was discontinued.