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 Goshawk 11 magneto, discussing the choice between magneto and battery ignition systems.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\I\October1922\ Scan56 | |
| Date | 12th October 1922 | |
| To BJ. From Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to SG.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} ORIGINAL Note Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}1/LG12.10.22. GOSHAWK 11. MAGNETO. Our recommendation contained in Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}5/T4.10.22. makes it much easier for the customer to fix up the magneto than the scheme set out by Mr. Royce which was that the magneto and its drive should be carried in a box on the car with the spares. The Sales made no protest against Mr. Royce's scheme so we hoped we were helping them considerably in making the job so that it required much less skill and time in connecting up. We cannot see that any advantage can be gained by taking up the question of fitting the magnetos with R.{Sir Henry Royce} again. All the designs are available for the car to run with a magneto. The position briefly is that cars can be supplied to run on either magneto or battery ignition. It has been decided that the battery ignition gives the best all round results under all conditions we are familiar with. We can only despatch car with the ignition we know to give the best results. There is no suggestion that we should insist on the battery ignition being used if the conditions are such that the magneto is obviously the best ignition for that particular conditions, but the people on the spot, either our own Officials or the customer must take the responsibility of deciding that the battery ignition is not suitable. We are quite prepared to admit that we no nothing at all about the conditions that exist in the colonies. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} | ||