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).
Lack of an experimental road wheel dynamometer and the resulting issues with testing.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 143\1\ scan0170 | |
| Date | 27th May 1936 | |
| X1209 To Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Mx.{John H Maddocks - Chief Proving Officer} Experimental Road Wheel Dynamometer. We are not doing our job properly owing to having no experimental road wheel dynamometer. Since the axle and gearbox rig has been turned down on the grounds of it being too ambitious, we have no means of testing axles and gearboxes for durability other than the road wheel dynamometer. At the present moment the position is - (1) To test the transmission of a car at all we are dependent upon the goodwill of production. (2) At the present moment as they are running a day and night shift we definitely have to hold up production in order to carry out a test. (3) Most of our work is of necessity full throttle bottom gear torque, for which the production dynamometers are entirely unsuitable. Mx.{John H Maddocks - Chief Proving Officer} will agree with this. When the Prony brake seizes up, as often happens, the weights are flung all over the dynamometer house and the men on the other drums are objecting to working while our tests are in progress. Recently we have discovered a failure in the Ph.III differential which ought to have been found out earlier. We believe we are not doing our job properly because it is such a business to get any road wheel dynamometer work. We have had many promises with regard to when our own dynamometer will be ready again, but none of them seem to have materialised. It is now over two years since it was dismantled to make room for the lead bronze plant, and we still see no signs of its being re-installed. We drew the Plant Dept's. attention to the situation verbally a number of times, and in memos. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}24/KW.17.1.36 and Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}24/KW.25.3.36. | ||