During WWII, Great Britain’s 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce “Merlin” engine equipped every front-line fighter in the Royal Air Force as well as the twin-engine “Mosquito” and four-engine “Lancaster” bombers. The 1942 marriage of the “Merlin” with North American’s P-51 “Mustang” transformed an acceptable combat aircraft into one of the best piston-engine fighters ever built. Early versions of the “Merlin” produced almost 900 hp, and later models developed over 1,200 hp.

Packard Motor Company built the Merlins for the P-51 “Mustang” in the United States.

Students in the aviation program at Dallas’ Skyline High School refurbished this example of an original British Rolls Royce “Merlin”. In order to see the details in the intake and exhaust valve system, the engine is displayed without the right bank rocker arm cover.