The Rolls-Royce Hawk was a British aero engine designed by

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

in 1915. Derived from one bank of six cylinders of the

Rolls-Royce Eagle The Rolls-Royce Eagle was the first aircraft engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce Limited. Introduced in 1915 to meet British military requirements during World War I, it was used to power the Handley Page Type O bombers and a number of oth ...

, it produced 75

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

at 1,370 rpm. Power was progressively increased to 91 hp by February 1916, and 105 hp by October 1918. After Rolls-Royce made the prototypes, the Hawk was manufactured under licence by

Brazil Straker Straker-Squire (also known as Brazil Straker) was a British automobile manufacturer based in Bristol, and later Edmonton in North London. The company was formed in 1893 at St Philips, Bristol, as Brazil, Straker & Co by the Irish engineer J.P. ...

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

* Avro 504F *

Farman MF.7 The Maurice Farman MF.7 ''Longhorn'' is a French biplane developed before World War I which was used for reconnaissance by both the French and British air services in the early stages of the war before being relegated to service as a trainer. D ...

* Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 *

SS class blimp SS (''Submarine Scout'' or ''Sea Scout'') class airships were simple, cheap and easily assembled small non-rigid airships or "blimps" that were developed as a matter of some urgency to counter the German U-boat threat to British shipping during ...

(1 example) * SSP class blimp * SSZ class blimp *

SST class blimp The SST (Sea Scout Twin) class of non-rigid airship or "blimp" was developed in Great Britain during World War I from the earlier SS class airship. The main role of these craft was to escort convoys and scout or search for German U-boats.

Post war one engine (serial number 332) was fitted into a specially built hull and launched on

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...

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 ''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.

Specifications (Hawk I)

References

Notes

Bibliography

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

External links

RR-Hawk at Shuttleworth Collection in the UK

RR-Hawk at USAF museum
{{RRaeroengines

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...