Goshawk vehicle's hill climb performance near Grenoble, detailing the gradient, weather conditions, and an issue with the green leather upholstery dye.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 46\2\ Scan337 | |
| Date | 15th June 1922 | |
| COPY! Hotel Lesdiguieres, Grenoble. June 15th, 1922. To Hs {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} , From Hy. {Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} 6-Goshawk(Aero Engine)(Codename for 20HP Car / Aero Engine after Kestrel(Aero Engine))-11. Yesterday we managed to climb the hill out of Vizille the whole way without boiling but the conditions were very favourable - the weather being very cold and a dense cloud was on the hill causing a wet clammy fog. Also visibility was bad and the car had to be taken up slowly. I have looked into the gradient of this hill again and find that my first figures were much too modest. The gradient for the first two miles averages 1 in 128 and for the second two miles 1 in 9.7 making an average for the whole hill of nearly 1 in 11 for the 4 miles. It is a hill which just suits the car on second gear and if the boiling can be avoided it would be a joy to climb it full throttle. Yesterday was a bad day here the clouds being down like a blanket and pouring rain all day. You might complain to Mr. Spinney that the green dye of the leather upholstery goes into solution when it is wet and as a result we have ruined our mackintosh coats. We have green backs and brown fronts! ! The mileage to date is as follows:- June 14th. 179 miles. " 15th. 141 " Previous miles. 12368 " Total since leaving Derby ----------- 12728 " Hy. {Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} | ||
From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).