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 unreliability of American-made fibre-link Whittle fan belts compared to standard all-leather or raw-hide alternatives.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 55\2\ Scan110 | |
| Date | 19th July 1920 | |
| R.R. 199 (RyoT) (SDo76 19-7-17) MP18686s x3566 COPY. To R. {Sir Henry Royce} from S. c. to CJ. c. to BN. {W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} c. to CY. c. to WA. {Mr Wallis} c. to L. c. to DA. {Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to BY. {R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} 9FC HS {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} /LC19.7.20. x3897 RE - FAN AND WHITTLE BELTS FOR AMERICAN R-R CHASSIS. We have received some Whittle type belts from America which have links made up of a layer of fibre and a layer of tanned leather. The fibre links form a bearing for the pins on the connecting links and the leather takes the drive in the "V" pulley. We find that this type of belt is not as reliable as the standard Whittle all-leather belt. The fault we find with it is that the fibre does not stand up to tension and that if the belt is over-tightened the fibre links easily break. We have tried other Whittle type belts which have a layer of raw hide in place of fibre and find that this stands up very well indeed. It is necessary that we should have a reliable fan belt on our cars because it can happen that if the fan belt breaks the fan blades may get damaged at the same time. HS. {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} /J | ||