Rolls-Royce Buzzard

The Rolls-Royce Buzzard is a British piston aero engine of 36.7 litres (2,240 cubic inches) capacity that produced about 800 horsepower (600 kW). Designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited it is a V12 engine of 6 in (150 mm) bore and 6.6 in (170 mm) stroke. Only 100 were made. A further development was the Rolls-Royce R engine. The Buzzard was developed by scaling-up the Rolls-Royce Kestrel Engine.

Buzzard
Rolls-Royce Buzzard at the National Air and Space Museum
Type	Piston V12 engine
Manufacturer	Rolls-Royce Limited
First run	June 1928
Major applications	Blackburn Iris Mark V Blackburn Perth
Number built	100
Developed from	Rolls-Royce Kestrel
Developed into	Rolls-Royce R

Variants

List from Lumsden.

Buzzard IMS, (H.XIMS)

(1927), Maximum power 955 hp (712 kW), nine engines produced at Derby.

Buzzard IIMS, (H.XIIMS)

(1932-33), Maximum power 955 hp (712 kW), reduced propeller drive ratio (0.553:1), 69 engines produced at Derby.

Buzzard IIIMS, (H.XIVMS)

(1931-33), Maximum power 937 hp (699 kW), further reduced propeller drive ratio (0.477:1), 22 engines produced at Derby.

Applications

The sole Buzzard-powered Vickers Type 207 circa 1933

• Blackburn Iris Mark V
• Blackburn M.1/30
• Blackburn Perth
• Handley Page H.P.46
• Kawanishi H3K
• Short Sarafand
• Vickers Type 207

Specifications (Buzzard IMS)

Rear view

Data from Lumsden

General characteristics

• Type: Liquid-cooled V12 piston engine
• Bore: 6 in (152.4 mm)
• Stroke: 6.6 in (167.6 mm)
• Displacement: 2,239.3 in³ (36.7 L)
• Length: 75.7 in (1,923 mm)
• Width: 30.6 in (777 mm)
• Height: 44.4 in (1,128 mm)
• Dry weight: 1,140 lb (517 kg)

Components

• Valvetrain: Overhead camshaft
• Supercharger: Single-stage supercharger
• Fuel type: 73-77 octane petroleum
• Cooling system: Liquid-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 800 hp (600 kW)
• Specific power: 0.36 hp/in³ (16.3 kW/L)
• Compression ratio: 5.5:1
• Power-to-weight ratio: 0.7 hp/lb

See also

• Rolls-Royce aircraft piston engines

Related development

• Rolls-Royce Kestrel
• Rolls-Royce R

Comparable engines

• Daimler-Benz DB 600
• Fiat AS.3
• Rolls-Royce Griffon

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References

Bibliography

• Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.
• Rubbra, A.A.Rolls-Royce Piston Aero Engines - A Designer Remembers. Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust. Historical Series no 16. 1990. ISBN 1-872922-00-7]

External links

• Flight magazine - Period Rolls-Royce Buzzard advertisement, August 1933