Packard V-1650 Merlin

V-1650 Merlin
Packard V-1650-7 Merlin
Type	Liquid-cooled V-12 piston engine
National origin	United Kingdom/United States
Manufacturer	Packard
First run	August 1941
Major applications	North American P-51 Mustang Supermarine Spitfire Avro Lancaster
Number built	55,523
Developed from	Rolls-Royce Merlin

The Packard V-1650 Merlin is a version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine, produced under license in the United States by the Packard Motor Car Company.^[1] The engine was licensed to expand production of the Rolls-Royce Merlin for British use. The engine filled a gap in the U.S.A. at a time when water-cooled engines of similar power, size, and weight, were not manufactured in the U.S.A.

The first V-1650s, with a one-stage supercharger, equivalent to the Merlin XX, were used in the P-40F Kittyhawk fighter and in Canadian-built Hawker Hurricanes^{[broken anchor]}. Later versions based on the Merlin 60 series included a more advanced two-stage supercharger for improved performance at high altitudes. It found its most notable application in the North American P-51 Mustang fighter, improving the aircraft's performance so it could escort Allied heavy bombers from Britain to Germany and back.