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I love history, particularly the first 50 years of the 20th century. While reading about aircraft in WWII, I noticed something interesting, a good proportion of the best aircraft on the allied side were powered by the same engine: the Rolls Royce Merlin.

Why was the engine so important? It controls the speed that an aircraft could fly at, the range of the aircraft and to a lesser extent the ceiling. A faster aircraft can attack and quickly reposition for another attack, a faster aircraft can escape attacks.

Among the fighters: Spitfires, Hurricanes and probably the greatest fighter of the war, the P51 Mustang (powered by a Packard-built Merlin). Among the bombers: Lancaster, probably the greatest heavy bomber of the war (with the possible exception of the B29).

Most of the aircraft listed here were pivotal in their own way.

The Battle of Britain was won by Hurricanes and Spitfires (and to a certain extent the small fuel tanks of the German fighters crossing the channel). The Spitfire went through 34 revisions and was still in service by the end of the war, an icon of the battle of Britain.

The P51’s performance made it one of the best fighters of the war, but more importantly, with drop tanks, had the range to go all the way to Berlin from England. This enabled the allies to fly escort on the day bombing missions, drastically reducing losses.

The Mosquito was one of the most versatile aircraft of the war, remaining the fastest aircraft in Bomber command until the end of the war. The Mosquito was used extensively in reconnaissance, as a medium bomber, for marking targets and even as a nightfighter. The Mosquito could fly at close to the performance of most of the axis fighters and still deliver 4000lbs bomb of bombs.

The Lancaster was the backbone of the British night bombing offensive. The Lancaster was famous for the dam buster raid and the sinking of the Tirpitz.

The Rolls Royce Merlin was certainly the best engine from among the allied forces. It isn’t inconceivable that course of the war might have been different had the engine not been built. Of course there were other interesting aircraft to come out of the war.