Following its success as an automobile manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, Ltd. began design and development of aircraft engines at the request of the British Admiralty at the beginning of World War I. The Rolls-Royce Condor was a large and very powerful engine developed at the end of the war in 1918 for use in long-range heavy bombers, principally for bombing Berlin, Germany. Design work was begun at the end of 1917 and retained the same cylinder construction of earlier types. A total of 327 Condors were recorded as having been built.
The Condor Mk IA (also referred to as the Condor II) was built in 1921. It succeeded the Mk I and incorporated several design changes, increasing the power and speed. Only 34 of these engines were built by Rolls-Royce at Derby. The Condor Mk IA powered the Beardmore BeRo.1 Inflexible, Fairey N.4 Atalanta, and the Hawker Horsley aircraft.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.