The standard engine for the P-51D Mustang was the liquid-cooled, l2-cylinder, Packard-built, Rolls-Royce Merlin V-1650-3 or -7 developing 1,400 hp at take-off. Later models of the Curtiss P-40 were also powered by Packard Merlins. In Canada, the Packard Merlins were designated Merlin 28 and 29. The first Mustangs were powered by the Allison V-1710 engine, but by 1943, the Mustang P51B & C, (RAF Mustang III) were powered by a V-1650-3 Packard Merlin engine producing 1,520 hp. The majority of Packard built Merlins were destined for what is considered by most to be the best fighter of World War II, the North American P-51 Mustang. In early 1941, Packard Motors was licensed to build Merlin engines. In 1939, a Rolls-Royce Merlin MK II engine, producing 1,030 hp, was selected to power the first production Spitfire. The Merlin engine was developed in England in 1936, and was used in the prototype Spitfire F39/34. Hawker Hurricane, DeHavilland Mosquito, P-51 Mustang, and the Avro Lancaster. During World War II, thousands of Rolls-Royce Merlin engines powered several famous aircraft such as the
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