Filching facts

Filching facts

Sir, I was delighted to read Gordon Cruickshank’s excellent article about the Filching museum,

having only recently learned of its existence via the presence of the K3 Bluebird at the Goodwood Revival. There was one minor error in the article: he repeated the old canard that the R-type engine used in K3 Bluebird led to the development of the Merlin. In fact it came from a different branch of the RR aero engine family and went on, after re-engineering, to become the Griffon. As this powered many of the later marks of Spitfire, the confusion is understandable. The R-type was a highly modified development of

the Buzzard, originally developed for the later Schneider trophy planes. Thus it became probably the most successful ‘speed record’ engine, powering record holders in the air, on land and on water. Mike Higton, Chobham, Surrey