Hi
Can anyone please help with the identity of this Merlin engine part? The black and white photos shows the part showing some sort of drive mechanism (photo with the 3 nuts showing this part in question) my guess is it is some kind of crank as I have seen a diagram that shows this part with a handle so possibly manual engine starter crank.
What confuses me is the other photos from a crashed Merlin shows some kind of chain spool, would anyone know also what this may of driven?
Any help as always will be very much appreciated.
By: hawker1966 - 8th May 2018 at 20:34
I believe that these were only fitted to the early Merlin’s probably one of the reasons why.
By: Peter - 8th May 2018 at 14:37
Would be a hell of a lot of cranking to fire a merlin up we used ours for minor adjustments and oiling rather than hand swinging the prop with the plugs out
By: hawker1966 - 7th May 2018 at 19:43
thanks Ian for clearing that up.
That prop was certainly a little to close for comfort.
By: ian_ - 7th May 2018 at 19:02
It is part of the handle starter mechanism, with the chain and sprocket taking the power from handle to merlin. The erk winding the handle was supposed to be tied to an undercarriage leg to prevent him being pulled into the prop when it fired up.
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May 7, 2018 at 5:52 pm