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).
Letter from C.J. to R. regarding a claim by Mr. Bentley about the introduction of aluminium pistons.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 77\1\ scan0016 | |
| Date | 3rd November 1919 | |
| ✓3774 To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from CJ. Re Aluminium Pistons. CJ15/E.3.11.19 My dear R.{Sir Henry Royce}, A man named Bentley, who was connected with the D.F.P.Company, was an officer under Commander Briggs at the Admiralty in 1915. He is now claiming an award from the Government on the groundthat it was owing to his pressure that we and others adopted aluminium pistons in our aero engines. He does not claim to be the inventor of aluminium pistons, because I believe that, at the time aluminium pistons were introduced to us, they were being used in American cars. His claim is simply that it was owing to his insistence that we and other makers of aero engines adopted aluminium pistons. I am having the correspondence looked up. My recollection is that Briggs asked me whether we would make some experiments with aluminium pistons and then Bentley saw our people at Derby and we did the experiments and eventually adopted aluminium pistons. The second point that Bentley wishes to establish is that aluminium pistons were not generally known much about by aero engine makers at the time that Bentley brought them to our notice. Would you kindly let me know if you would be prepared to submit a statement to the Awards Committee on this matter and, if so, what statement you could make? Yours ever, C.J. | ||