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 to the Ministry of Aircraft Production clarifying the development of .5' and .55' machine guns.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 176\1\ img208 | |
| Date | 8th July 1941 | |
| C C P Y. Ve/NP.8/CB. 8th July, 1941. Group Captain Bilney, Ministry of Aircraft Production, MILLBANK, S.W.1. Dear Group Captain Bilney, In reply to your letter of the 1st July referring to the use of .55 ammunition in our .5" machine gun, we fear the O.B. have given you a rather wrong impression of our intentions. Work on the .5" recoil operated machine gun for use in aircraft is proceeding without interruption. Simultaneously, we are developing on a low priority, a .5" gas operated weapon and it is this latter which we wish to try out as a .55". The work involved is small as the conversion is made simply by changing the barrel and ejectors and inserting a packing piece in the feed block. We presume that as this in no way interferes with the .5" recoil operated gun, you will have no objection to us proceeding with this development which, despite certain obvious drawbacks, may yield useful results. Yours faithfully, (S.M. Viale) | ||