Rolls-Royce Limited increase its own production rates. By the late 1920s, aero engines made up most of Rolls-Royce's business. Henry Royce's last design was the Merlin aero engine, which was first flown in prototype form in 1935, although he had died in 1933. This was developed from the R engine, which had powered a record-breaking Supermarine S.6B seaplane to almost in the 1931 Schneider Trophy. The Merlin was a powerful supercharged V12 engine and was fitted into many World War II aircraft: the British Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito (twin-engine), Avro Lancaster (four-engine) (a development of the Avro Manchester with
Rolls-Royce–Bentley L-series V8 engine Rolls-Royce–Bentley L-series V8 engine The Rolls-Royce–Bentley L-series V8 engine was introduced in 1959 and is still in production. Built in Crewe, it was used on most Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles in the four decades after its introduction and is still used in the Bentley Mulsanne. With BMW's acquisition of the rights to use the Rolls Royce name in 1998, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars began using BMW supplied V12 engines but Bentley Motors Limited under Volkswagen ownership continued to use highly modified versions of the L series on its Arnage, Brooklands and Mulsanne models, with VAG W-12 engines being used in its