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).
The development of 40mm and half-inch guns for installation in aircraft.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 176\3\ img080 | |
| Date | 30th October 1940 | |
| - 2 - Cont'd.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} 4. INSTALLATION OF THE 40 mm. GUN IN BEAUFIGHTER. The necessary design work is going ahead. It is considered that the installation bits will be available by the time there is a satisfactory automatic gun in existence. HALF INCH GUN. The half inch gun has now fired bursts up to 25 rounds. The main troubles which have been overcome are misfires, pierced caps, separated cases and failures to extract and eject. The problems now centre round the feed. When the automaticity of the gun is satisfactory, it is proposed to modify the design to make it more accessible and easier to instal in wings and turrets. He. was not impressed with the need for accessibility and he said he anticipated that whenever there was trouble the complete gun would be changed. 1. EXPERIMENTAL GUNS. At the present moment, two Experimental guns are being used. It was agreed that the number would be increased to three. 2. RANGE. Modifications to the Range are required. It was stated that EJJ. had asked for the Range to be closed for three weeks while he put a roof over the sand-butt. It was agreed that we could not afford to have the Range closed and Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} will take the matter up with EJJ. 3. CONTRACTS. It was agreed that we should ask the Admiralty for a contract for the tracings and Instruction Books but nothing else. Arrangements have already been made to recover most of the expenditure which has been incurred on the prototype Naval gun and mounting, from the B.U.S.M. and L.M. & S. respectively. It was thought that there would be no difficulty in getting reimbursed for the power driven mounting which is at present being developed, as we still have a Contract for 25 guns for the Air Ministry. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||