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chiedo scusa, non sono ancora pratico delle procedure, e quindi scriverò qui il mio commento all'articolo sul Gloster Meteor ripreso da quello di Gibertini. Mi riferisco, in particolare, alla questione del motore RR Derwent, che nasce da un accordo fra i grandi capi di RR e Rover, favorito da quell'allegro matematico, che fu Stanley Hooker, il quale si era occupato di ottimizzare le prestazioni dei turbocompressori, che la Rover fabbricava per i 12 cilindri a V Merlin. Hooker ebbe così modo di conoscere Frank Whittle, il quale era del tutto insoddisfatto della decisione del Ministero dell'Aria i mandarlo a sviluppare il suo turbogetto in un ambiente inadatto. Ecco qui come andarono le cose (copio da Wikipedia su Stan Hooker). Scusate, l'ho trovato solo in Inglese: The mathematics involved in optimising the efficiency of a supercharger, which Hooker developed, were the basis of the mathematics needed to make a gas turbine run efficiently. All jet engines, except for turbineless ones such as ram-jets, are based upon the equations used to develop the Merlin. In 1940 Hooker was introduced to Frank Whittle, who was setting up production of his first production-quality jet engine, the W.2. In 1941 the Air Ministry had offered contracts to Rover to start production, but Whittle was growing increasingly frustrated with their inability to deliver various parts to start testing the new engine. Hooker was excited, and in turn brought Rolls-Royce chairman Ernest Hives to visit Rover's factory in Barnoldswick. Whittle mentioned his frustrations, and Hives told Whittle to send him the plans for the engine. Soon Rolls' Derby engine and supercharger factories were supplying the needed parts. Rover was no happier with the state of affairs than Whittle. In 1942 Maurice Wilkes of Rover met Hives and Hooker in a pub. Wilkes and Hives eventually came to an agreement whereby Rover would take over production of the Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine factory in Nottingham and Rolls would take over the jet engine factory in Barnoldswick. Hooker soon found himself as chief engineer of the new factory, delivering the W.2 as the Welland. Wellands went on to power the earliest models of the Gloster Meteor, and a development of the Welland known as the Derwent powered the vast majority of the later models. Whittle had moved to the US in 1942 to help General Electric get the W.2 into production there, returning in early 1943. Hooker also visited in 1943, and was surprised to find they had made extensive changes and raised the thrust to 4,000 lbf (18 kN). On his return to England he decided that Rolls should recapture the power lead, and in 1944 the team started development of a larger version of the Derwent that was delivered as the 5,500 lbf (24,000 N) Nene. While this proved to be a successful design, it was not used widely on British aircraft, and Rolls eventually sold a licence to the United States, and later, several engines to the Soviet Union, which then went on to copy it unlicensed. This set off a major political row, and soon the MiG-15, powered by a copy of the Nene, was outperforming anything the British or US had to counter it. Meanwhile Hooker's team had moved onto their first axial-flow design, then known as the AJ.65 but soon to be renamed the Avon. This did not turn out well at first, and Hooker felt he was being blamed for its problems. At the same time Rolls decided that their existing piston engines were a dead end, and moved all future jet work from Barnoldswick to Derby, their main engine site. This reduced Hooker's role in the company, and after an emotional falling-out with Hives, he left. Dopodiché, Stan lavorò alla Bristol e ritornò alla RR come salvatore, su richiesta del Governo inglese, dopo il fallimento della società (che venne nazionalizzata) nel 1970, a causa dei ritardi nello sviluppo del primo turbofan ad alto rapporto di diluizione RB211 per il Lockheed L-\011 Tristar. Tutta la storia la si può leggere nel libro autobiografico "Not Much of An Engineer".