Warbirds and Airshows- WWII US Aircraft Engine Manufacturing Sites

WWII Aircraft Manufacturing Sites-Home Canada Aircraft US Aircraft US Cross Reference US Airships US Engines USA Gliders Propellers Plant Photos US WWII Aircraft Costs WWII Aircraft Manufacturers' Literature US Aircraft Assembly Plant Numbers US Aircraft Modification Centers WWII US Aircraft Engine Manufacturing Sites This includes both reciprocating and jet engines.
Company	Location	Engine Quantities and Types	Applications	Remarks
Air Cooled Motors	Syracuse, NY	(178) O-805, (6,044) O-405	L-6, others
Allison (GM)	Indianapolis, IN	(69,305) V-1710, V-3420, (297) J-33, (16) J-31	P-38,P-39, P-63, P-40, P-51, A-36, P-59, P-80	Cost was approximately $19,000 in WWII dollars. Multiply by 12.5 for today's cost.
Buick (GM)	Melrose, IL	R-1830. A portion of (74,198) total engines built by Buick.	B-24	In 1945 International Harvester (now Navistar) bought the plant for the production of 6 cylinder Diesel Engines. It is still in production. As of July 13, 1944 50,000 of the total engines had been built and they were all B-24 bound R-1830s.
Buick (GM)	Flint, MI	R-2000. A very small portion of (74,198) total engines built by Buick.	Unknown	This was a late WWII contract signed in April of 1944. By the time the tooling was completed not many engines would have been built.
Chevrolet (GM)	Tonawanda, NY	(60,766) R-2800and R-1830	Various	Returned to civilian V-8 automotive production after WW II and is still in operation.
Chrysler	Chicago, IL	(18,413) C-W R-3350	B-29	This plant was built from the ground up with the express purpose of producing the new R-3350 for the B-29 program.
Continental	Muskegon, MI	(797) V-1650, (23) I -1430, (11,828) R-670, (16,977) O-170, (5,100) R-1340, (19) R-975		Continental built license built engines from Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney, and Wright along with its own designed engines.
Curtiss Wright	Paterson, NJ	(77,554) R-3350, R-2600, R-1820, R-975, R-760		Cost of a an R-2600 was approximately $16,500 and an R-1820 was approximately $10,000 in WWII dollars. Multiply by 12.5 for today's cost. 50,00 employees.
Curtiss Wright	Lockland, OH	(61,940) R-3350, R-2600		Government built plant. Unfortunately this plant has become synonymous with wartime shoddy workmanship, quality, corruption and shipping defective engines to the USAAF. After WWII the plant was turned back over to the government and then in 1949 GE took it over for production of its J-47 jet engine. The plant still exists today as a GE jet engine plant.
Dodge (Chrysler)	Chicago, IL	(18,349) R-3350	B-29	This plant was built from the ground up with the express purpose of producing the new R-3350 for the B-29 program. There is a book published by Chrysler after WWII that give a very good narration on this plant and is available. More information is available at:
Ford	Dearborn, MI	(57,178) R-2800
General Electric	West Lynn, MA	(40) J-33, (337) J-31,	J-33 for P-80, J-31 for P-89
General Electric	Syracuse, NY	(211) J-33	J-33 for P-80,
Jacobs	Pottstown, PA	(5,759) R-915, (14,746) R-755, R-985, R-1340	AT-17, T-50, UC-78	The company produced a total of 32,160 engines.
Kinner Motors	Glendale, CA	(2,356) R-540, (802) R-440	R-740 for PT-22, PT-25 and R-440 for PT-20, PT-24
Lycoming	Williamsport, PA	(12,476) R-680, (12,395) O-435, O-290, O-235, O-145, (4) H-2470	L-5 and others
Menesco	Burbank, CA	(525) L-365
Nash-Kelvinator	Kenosha, WI	(17,012) R-2800	F4U(R-2800-8), F6F(R-2800-10), P-61(R-2800-65)	Production of the R-2800 actually began in the former Reo Truck plant at Mt. Hope Ave and Washington Street in Lansing, MI in late 1941. However, due to increased production demand for both Hamilton-Standard Propellers also being built by by Nash-Kelvinator in Lansing the engine manufacture was transferred to Kenosha, WI and Lansing concentrated on propeller production. In Kenosha the Defense Plant Corporation spent $31.4 on a new 204,800 square foot plant and equipment to produce the Double Wasp engine. An average of 9,125 employees worked at the plant during the war with peak employment reaching 11,500. See more at: Engine Production
Naval Aircraft Factory	Philadelphia, PA	(1,385) R-975, R-760
Packard		(54,714) V-1650	See below for more Packard engine information	Returned to civilian automotive production and went out of business in 1956 when it could not get bank financing for the new model year.
Pratt-Whitney	East Hartford, CT	(122,302) R-2800, R-1830, R-1340, R-985		Still operating today. The company also built R-1535, 1690, 2000 and 4360 engines.
Pratt-Whitney	Kansas City, MO	(7,815) R-2800	Various	This was a 3 million square foot facility that was built on a former race car track with production starting in 1943 and ending in 1945. After WWII it was re-opened and used by Westinghouse to produce jet engines and then later Bendix utilized it for the manufacture of nuclear weapons parts. The plant is now run by Honeywell after it was acquired by Allied-Signal and assembles 85% of the non nuclear parts for the bombs. This complex today is called the Bannister Federal Complex, is the area's third largest employer with 2,500 employees and will be moving to a new facility 8 miles away in 2014.
Ranger	Farmingdale, NY	(2,748) V-770; (11,617) L-440	AT-21, PT-19, PT-26
Studebaker	South Bend, IN	(63,789) R-1820	B-17	Studebaker was a prime provider of powerplants for the B-17 and its advertising during the war emphasized its role in this endeavor.
Warner	Detroit, MI	(184) R-550, (1,704)R-500, (127) R-420	R-550 for R-4
Waukesha	Waukesha, WI	45 O-805

Packard Merlin Engine Usage in WWII

Most sources available are claiming that Packard built over 16,000 Rolls-Royce Merlin engines during WWII, which is true but grossly misleading. The expression "over 16,000" implies that the number built is between 16,000 and 17,000. This totally under states by over three times the contribution to the war effort by Packard, which produced 54,714 engines, as referenced from: United States Army in World War II - Special Studies - Buying Aircraft: Material Procurement for the Army Air Forces by Irving Brinton Holley, Jr. This was last published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C. in 1989 and is the source for not only engines but aircraft produced for the US Army during WWII.

Another way to look at this is to determine how many engines were required just to meet the demands of the aircraft the Packard Rolls-Royce went into. We have done that analysis below and determined that Packard (and Continental, as it also produced 797 V-1650 engines) needed to supply just short of 22,000 engines just to get the aircraft listed below out of the factories they were built in. This does not take into consideration the world wide supply network that was required to keep the aircraft flying. When an engine went out on an aircraft in WWII, unless it was considered to be minor and repairable in a short time, it was more expedient to pull the engine, return it to the repair depot, and replace it with a new or rebuilt engine.

Packard also took the V-1650 Merlin, which was essentially a hand built and hand fitted engine at Rolls-Royce in England and made it into mass produced with interchangeable parts in the US.
Cost was approximately $25,000 in WWII dollars. Multiply by 12.5 for today's cost.

Manufacturer Aircraft Aircraft
Quantity Engines
per Aircraft Total Engines Required Comments

Canadian Car and Foundry Lancaster 430 4 1,720

Canadian Car and Foundry Hurricane MK X 1,291 1 1,291

Curtiss P-40F 1,082 1 1,082

Curtiss P-40L 600 1 600

DeHavilland-Canada Mosquito 1,133 2 2,266

North American P-51 13,903 1 13,903

Supermarine Spitfire MK XVI 1,054 1 1,054

Total OEM Engines required 21,916

Packard WWII Aircraft Engine Production

Packard Designation RR Equivalent Application Comments

Merlin 28 Merlin XX Lancaster III, Canadian Lancaster X R.M. 3 S.M. Single Stage 2 Speed Blower

Merlin 29 Merlin XX Canadian Hurricane

Merlin 31 Merlin 21 Canadian Mosquito Reversed Coolant Flow

Merlin 33 Merlin 23 Canadian and Australian Mosquito

Merlin 38 Merlin 22 Lancaster III, Canadian Lancaster X

Merlin T38 Merlin 22 Lancaster III, Canadian Lancaster X Modified Packard 38

Merlin 68 Merlin 85 Lincoln II R.M. 10 S.M. Two Stage 2 Speed Blower Merlin 67 which was similar to the V-1650-7

Merlin 69 Merlin 67 Canadian and Australian Mosquito

Merlin 224 Merlin 24 Lancaster III, Canadian Lancaster X R.M. 3 S.M. Single Stage 2 Speed Blower

Merlin 225 Merlin 25 Canadian and Australian Mosquito

Merlin 266-P Merlin 66 Spitfire16LF R.M. 10 S.M. Two Stage 2 Speed Blower

Merlin 300 Merlin 100 Lincoln R.M. 14 S.M.

Merlin 301 Merlin 100 Lincoln R.M. 14 S.M. Reversed Coolant Flow

V-1650-1 Merlin XX P-40F Warhawk Single Stage 2 Speed Blower

V-1650-3 Merlin 61 P-51B/C, CA-17 MK 20 Mustang Also served as replacement for P-51D and V-1650-7

V-1650-5 P-63 Kingcobra Not produced. (Now this would have been one high performing aircraft!!)

V-1650-7 P-51D/K, CA-18 MK 21 Mustang R.M. 10 S.M.

V-1650-9 P-51H R.M. 16 S.M.

V-1650-9A P-51M(1), P-51D R.M. 16 S.M. Also served as replacement for P-51D and V-1650-7

V-1650-11 P-51L (Cancelled), XP-82 R.M. 16 S.M.

V-1650-13 Not produced. Modification of V-1650-3 to use Simmonds boost control.

V-1650-15 Not produced. Modification of V-1650-3 to use Simmonds boost control.

V-1650-17 Not produced. Modification of V-1650-3 to use Simmonds boost control.

V-1650-19 Not produced.

V-1650-21 XP-82 Same as V-1650-11 but with left hand prop rotation

V-1650-23 P-82B/C/D Same as V-1650-11

V-1650-25 Same as V-1650-23 but with left hand prop rotation but with left hand prop rotation

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