Actually, they could very well do so, if the maintenance crews were able to spot and resolve the leaks. If not then they either smashed a rod when trying to start with a cylinder full of liquid, or coughed and spluttered a lot more than the pilot liked.
I see the eternal wisdom - pilots
and mechanics flew in Hurricanes, and when pilot wanted 1000 HP or more, he 1st nudged the mechanic to do his work, then pushed the throttle 'though the gate' in order to obtain rpm and manifold pressure needed/required/available.
Looks legit.
Do you get this hysterical often?
Why go ad hominem? Putting the words in my mouth?
The BMW 801, DB 603A/605A equal rushed jobs, or the Jumo 222?
The point I was trying to make was that Rolls-Royce eagerly chose to inflict a completely unnecessary wound on themselves and turned what should have been a perfectly routine bit of R&D into a long and painful saga that cost them and the RAF considerable more time and money than it should have. A minor bit of common sense would have put those separate-head Merlins into mass production in the shadow factories in 1938 - instead they had to wait for the Packard factory to set up before they became available in 1941, and then re-jig the UK factories in 1942.
The Packard Merlin was produced in grand total of 45 copies in 1941. That is barely equales to a drop in a sea, not that engine is available in 1941.
Everybody knows that RR didn't went into a perfect start with Merlin, but they got the engine to work well, provide the power needed and to be available in quantities equal to Jumo 211 and DB 601 put together, that is before the combined bomber offensive set off.
... Come to think of it, I'm not sure Lockheed even flew a military aircraft before the XP-37.
The Lockheed XP-37 was an exceptional aircraft
