Rolls-Royce R Engines
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The Rolls-Royce 'R' was a racing aero engine. Developed from the Buzzard it was a 36.7 Litre V12. There were 19 made between 1929 and 1934. It was capable of producing over 2,500 hp and weighed 774 kg. It was used for Schneider Trophy seaplane racing and for land and water speed record attempts.

Serial numbers were odd, Rolls-Royce practice being to have odd numbers for anticlock-wise rotating engines when viewed from the front. The R engine with the serial number R27 broke the world air speed record in a Supermarine S.6B seaplane traveling at 407.5 mph, was subsequently fitted in George Eyston's Thunderbolt land speed record car, and is now in the Science Museum, London. This engine produced 2,530 hp on avgas and 2,783 hp with methanol.

The design was later used as the basis for the Rolls-Royce Griffon.

The First configuration drawing of the "Racing H" engine based on the Buzzard (itself a 5:6 scaled Kestrel) was sent to R.J. Mitchell of Supermarine on 3 July 1928 to proceed with the new S6 Schneider Trophy seaplane layout. The previous year's S5 had used the Napier Lion engine.

Note - all serial numbers are odd. This was Rolls Royce convention when the propeller rotated anticlockwise when viewed from the front.

R1
7 April 1929 Development engine. First test, neat benzole fuel
25 April 1929 8 hours running so far. High oil consumption. Build up of fuel in the supercharger volute during warm-up - cured by machining
1 May 1929 1400 hp after 13.5 hours running. Crankcase mods have
decreased over oiling by 75%, new scraper ring suggested for the rest. Distribution problem due to new manifold - back to original Buzzard manifold suggested
7 May 1929 1500 hp at 2750 rpm. Briefly 1686 hp at 3000 rpm
Engine stripped, forked conrods cracked. Redesign rods and crankcase machined

R3
15 May 1929 Development engine. Completed 15 min acceptance test. 1500 hp at 2750 rpm
26 Feb 1931 Back in devel. Spot reading 2300hp at 3200 rpm
21 March 1931 First test with articulated conrods
23 March 1931 1900 bhp at 3200 rpm for 17 minutes. Longest time at this power with new rods
25 March 1931 2120 bhp at 3200 rpm but lost oil pressure after 22 min
14 July 1931 Running with sodium filled valves
28 July 1931 2360 hp at 3200 rpm prior to crankshaft failure

R5
18 Jun 1929 Development engine. Completed 15 min acceptance test. 1500 hp at 2750 rpm
23 July 1929 Ran for one hour, 1537 hp at 2750 rpm
7 Aug 1929 Completed first 1 hour full throttle test 1568 hp at 3000 rpm
25 Feb 1931 Back in development for 1931 race. Probably this engine that blew up at 2000 hp after reduction gear failure

R7
6 July 1929 Passed acceptance test, 1552 hp. Issued to Calshot for test flying with minimum use of full throttle
Mid Sep 1929 Post race, installed in S6 N.248 for speed record attempt

R9
4 August 1929 Installed in S6 N.247. All mod's to date are in this engine
10 August 1929 Flown in S6 N.247
22 August 1929 Returned to Derby having run 4 hr 33 min on ground and 2 hr 52 min in air Overhauled and refitted to N.247 for the race
Jun 1931 Rebuilt to 1931 spec. 2165 hp at 3200 rpm. Cleared at Calshot for short full throttle use
12 Aug 1931 Back at Derby with new design crankshaft. 2350 hp at 3200 rpm for full hour

R11
Aug 1929 Development engine
1930 Redesignated "R-MS-11" for Buzzard MS (moderately supercharged) development

R15
7 Sep 1929 Probably in S6 N.248 for race
Sep 1931 Prepared as "sprint engine" for speed record attempt post race - opened up to run on high methanol fuel
9 Sep 1931 Produced 2783 hp at 3400 rpm, a record for an R engine .

R17
April 1930 Direct drive engine for Sir Henry Segrave's water speed record boat "Miss England II", sponsered by Lord Wakefield
2053 hp at 3000 rpm. Had water cooled exhaust manifolds. This was the only R engine orignally made as a counter-clockwise unit - hence it had different crankshaft, camshaft and ancillaries. Strangely it was still given an odd engine number contrary to RR convention.
1935 Lent by Lord Wakefield to Sir Malcolm Campbell as spare for land speed record attempt
Lent by Sir Malcolm Campbell to George Eyston as a spare for land speed record attempt

R19
April 1930 Direct drive engine for Sir Henry Segrave's water
speed record boat "Miss England II", sponsered by Lord Wakefield. 2053 hp at 3000 rpm.
1935 Lent by Lord Wakefield to Sir Malcolm Campbell as spare for land speed record attempt
30 Jun 1937 Timed at 85 mph in Blue Bird Z-K30 with Sir Malcolm Campbell

R21
6 July 1931 First new 1931 engine "finalled-off". 2292 hp
Installed in S6B, S1596 ready for competition

R23
30 Aug 1931 First 1931 race engine delivered

R25
3 Sep 1931 Second 1931 race engine delivered
13 Sep 1931 Was fitted to the Schneider Trophy winning S.6B S1595 flown by Flt Lt J.N. Boothman
To George Eyston for Thunderbolt land speed record car
To RAF Cranwell. It is now on a stand on display in the RAF Museum at Hendon

R27
Sep 1931 Second sprint engine for record attempt - opened up to run on high methanol fuel29 Sep 1931 Fitted in S.6B S1595 (the Trophy winning plane) and gained the air speed record at 407.5 mph
To George Eyston for Thunderbolt land speed record car
This is now the "standalone" engine in the Science Museum in London

R29
3 Sep 1931 Third 1931 race engine delivered

R31
Last of batch of 6 made for 1931 contest

R33
Development for the last two LSR engines. After extensive development, ended up as space model for display only

R35
Development for the last two LSR engines. After extensive development, ended up as space model for display only

R37
Late 1933 Bought from Rolls Royce for £5,800 by Sir Malcom Campbell for use in Blue Bird car
July/Aug 1937 Swapped into Blue Bird Z-K30 (R19 removed) by Sir Malcolm Campbell , but overheated due to cooling scoop problems
17 Aug 1949 In Blue Bird K4 with Donald Campbell
Now in Filching Manor Motor Museum

R39
1935 "Factory Spare" lent by Rolls Royce to Sir Malcom Campbell as a spare (he already owned R37) for the 1935 land speed record attempt George Eyston has an option to use this engine as a spare for Thunderbolt.
July/Aug 1937 Swapped into Blue Bird Z-K30 (R37 removed) by Sir Malcolm Campbell
1 Sep 1937 Takes water speed record at 126.32 mph
Aug 1939 In Blue Bird K4 raises water speed record again with Sir Malcolm Campbell
10 Jun 1951 In Blue Bird K4 with Donald Campbell
10 Sep 1951 Sank at Coniston Water in Blue Bird K4 with Donald Campbell at the wheel, but salvaged.

NB - No R13 (Rolls Royce never used 13 in any of their numberings).

Where did the funding come from for these extra "post Schneider" engines?
Were they made up from spares from the Schneider Trophy engine" development engines?
Where else did the engines go?

One of these engines (R11) went into the "in-house" Buzzard MS development. Two (R17, R19) were built for Sir Henry Segrave's water speed record boat "Miss England II". Eleven were used for the Schneider Trophy planes and development. However some of these then went on to other users.

Malcolm Campbell, and then his son Donald, used R engines from 1932 till 1950. In 1932, Campbell states that "I was fortunate in procuring a special Rolls Royce Schneider Trophy engine" for the land speed record car to replace the Napier Lion. He was lent this engine, either R25 or R31, by Rolls Royce . By Feb 1933 the car had been rebuilt for the larger engine and was running again at Daytona. In late 1933 he bought engine R37 from Rolls Royce, and had also been lent R17 and R19 by Lord Wakefield and R39 by Rolls Royce. He then lent R17 to George Eyston. Once he had achieved 300 mph, Malcolm Campbell "provisionally retired" from land speed record attempts .

In late 1935 he decided to tackle the water speed record. At that point he had available two Napier Lions and one Rolls Royce R Engine, and it was decided to use the R Engine which was installed in Blue Bird K3. During trials on Loch Lomond in Jun 1937 the engine, R37, was "slightly damaged because of trouble with the circulating water system" . By August 1937 Blue Bird was taken to Lake Maggiore and "the modified [circulation] system worked perfectly with a second engine" . This was R39.

R39 was then used in 1939 in Blue Bird K4. In 1947 Malcolm Campbell unsuccessfully converted K4 to jet power. After Malcolm Campbell's death in 1948 his effects were auctioned. His son Donald Campbell had bought K4 for a nominal sum as well as the 1935 record car. He also purchased an R engine back from a car dealer, and reinstalled it in K4 . Attempts on the record were made in 1949 and 1950. In 1950 the R37 was "damaged beyond any immediate repair" by overheating. Another attempt was made later in the year, with R39, but K4 was damaged and sank in Lake Coniston. It was recovered and broken up on the shore.

During the mid 1930's, George Eyton had taken many speed records up to 48 hour and up to 5000 km in his "Speed of the Wind" car, powered by an unsupercharged Kestrel engine. In 1937 he built a massive new car called "Thunderbolt", powered by two R Engines to attempt the absolute land speed record. He actually gained the record in November 1937 and again in 1938. At the time of initial construction at Bean Industries in Tipton "the nearside engine ... {was} fitted to the seaplane which won the Schneider Trophy" ie from S1595. In total he had R25 and R27, he also borrowed R17 from Sir Malcolm Campbell and an option to use R39. From it is very clear that Rolls Royce extended a great deal of support to both Campbell and Eyston.

According to A.A.Rubbra a derated version of the R Engine was tested in 1933. This was the Griffon. Presumably this was R11 used for "Moderately Supercharged Buzzard" development? This was not proceeded with until much later. There was a new redesigned engine, keeping the R engine bore and stroke called the Griffon I, which ran in the Experimental Department in Nov 1939. The production version was the Griffon II and went into service in 1942.

Speed records

Air Speed Record: In Supermarine S6B in 1931

Land speed record: Sir Malcom Campbell used a single R Engine in "Blue Bird" in 1932, 1933 and 1935. George Eyston used a pair of R Engines in "Thunderbolt" in 1937 and 1938.

Water Speed record: Sir Henry Segrave used a pair of R Engines in "Miss England II" in 1930 and 1931 and "Miss England III" in 1932 . Malcom Campbell used a single R Engine in "Blue Bird" K3 in 1937 and K4 in 1939.

Surviving engines: The RAF museum at Hendon has one on display (museum number 65E1139). It came to the museum in Nov 1965 from RAF Cranwell . According to the museum's records before that, it was with George Eyston, one of Thunderbolt's record engines. It's data plate says it is R25 under Air Ministry contract number A106961 . This makes it the second 1931 race engine delivered to Calshot.

The Science museum has one which is catalogued as a standalone item, inventory number 1948-310. This is R27, the second sprint engine for the air speed record attempt, also obtained via Thunderbolt. They have S6B, S1595 (Winner of the 1931 race and the final air speed record plane), which I assume is also "empty".

The Filching Manor Motor Museum has R37 in it's restoration of Blue Bird K3 water speed record boat.

These three engines are the only ones listed by the BAPC/RRHT . The Southampton Hall of Aviation's S6A, N248 (in 1929 race as an S6, spare for 1931 race as S6A) is "empty" and they don't have an R Engine .

The museum "Daytona USA" has recently restored the original 1935 spec Blue Bird car. I wonder if there is an engine in it? It was displayed at Goodwood in 2004 where it had long polished exhaust stubs, not flush ones as in the 1930's photographs normally seen.

Thunderbolt was destroyed in New Zealand in a fire during an aborted world tour in the early 1940's. At the time it had two "space model" engines, which survived the fire and may still be on display. Were these old crankcases from early development engines?

References:
"The Schneider Trophy Story", by Edward Eves published by Airlife Publishing Ltd, ISBN 0760311188. Data for R1 - R29.

"Rolls-Royce Piston Aero Engines - a designer remembers" by A.A.Rubbra published by the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust. Historical Series no 16. ISBN 1-872922-00-7.

"Aeroplane" magazine, Oct 2001. Database section "Supermarine Schneider Seaplanes".

"The Land Speed Record 1899-1936" published by Unique Motor Books, ISBN 1-84155-324-7.

"Wonders of World Engineering" edited by Clarence Winchester, published by The Amalgamated Press Ltd, 1937.

"The Land Speed Record 1937-1961" published by Unique Motor Books, ISBN 1-84155-325-5.
Southampton Hall of Aviation (with thanks to their staff).

RAF Museum, Hendon, catalogue (with thanks to their staff).

"Famous Speedboats of the World" by D.Phillips-Birt, published by St. Martin's Press 1959.

With thanks to Peter Grieve at MerlinV12.com.

"Aero engines exhibited & stored in the United Kingdom & Ireland". Produced for the British Aviation Preservation Council by the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust. May 2003.

"The World Water Speed Record" by Leo Villa and Kevin Desmond.

"Leap into Legend" by Steve Holter published by Sigma Press ISBN 1-85058-804-X.
Further data on R1-R29 plus R37 and R39. Many thanks to Steve for additional comments from his research.

"Rolls Royce - Hives' Turbulent Barons" by Alec Harvey-Bailey published by the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation. Historical Series No 20. No ISBN.