Fairey Prince (V-12)

Prince P.12
Type	Piston V12 aero-engine
Manufacturer	Fairey Aviation Company Limited
First run	1933
Major applications	Fairey Fox
Number built	3

The Fairey P.12 Prince was a British experimental 700 hp (520 kW) class V-12 aircraft engine designed and built by Fairey in the early 1930s. The engine did not go into production.

Design and development

The Prince was a privately funded project designed by Captain A.G. Forsyth, who had joined the Fairey company in 1931 as their chief engine designer. The company had hoped to obtain Air Ministry orders for the engine but faced opposition, with the ministry favouring Bristol and Rolls-Royce engines instead.

Three prototypes were built in secrecy; with the engines running by 1933, a single Prince was installed and test flown in a Fairey Fox II biplane in 1934, but no orders materialised.^[1]

Applications

• Fairey Fox

Variants

• P.12 Prince I or Prince V-12

650 hp (485 kW) - Unsupercharged

• P.12 Prince II or Super Prince V-12S

720 hp (537 kW) projected - Fully supercharged

Specifications (Prince I)

Data from Lumsden.^[2]

General characteristics

• Type: Liquid-cooled 60-degree V12 engine
• Bore: 5.25 in (133 mm)
• Stroke: 6.0 in (152 mm)
• Displacement: 1,558.62 in³ (25.54 l)

Components

• Cooling system: Liquid-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 670 hp (500 kW) at 2,500 rpm at 2,000 ft

See also

Comparable engines

• Packard 1A-1500
• Rolls-Royce Kestrel

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References

Notes

1. Gunston 1989, p. 56.
2. Lumsden 2003, p. 149.

Bibliography

• Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9
• Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.

External links

• Flightglobal archive - Image of Prince installed in a Fairey Fox