Someone on Facebook just posted the question of how many Merlins are available to airworthy warbirds.
Given the number of airworthy Merlin-engined aircraft still flying (over 200 Mustangs, 40+ Spitfires etc, etc), the number of these engines must be comparatively high, no?
I thought I saw once that the estimate was in the region of 700 surviving engines – not necessarily for flying purposes.
By: Mike J - 7th January 2015 at 10:58
Probably not far wrong, although (as with Spitfires) not all of them are necessarily actively flown at any given time. I think we got nearly 80 together at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends in Ohio in 2007, and another 20 or so of the West Coast ones that I used to see fly regularly didn’t make the trip due to the loss of the event’s fuel sponsor.
By: DazDaMan - 7th January 2015 at 10:53
I didn’t know there were over 200 Mustangs, interesting.
I’m sure the total flying Spitfire population is more than 50, but someone on here will know the actual number.Pete
The “200 Mustangs” was a rough guess. The type’s Wikipedia entry has a long list of flyable examples, all listed alphabetically by country. There is a lot!
By: Mike J - 7th January 2015 at 10:36
I’m sure the total flying Spitfire population is more than 50, but someone on here will know the actual number.
The number seems to hover at around 50 active examples in total at any given time, with 10 or so of these being Griffon-powered ones.
By: Mike J - 7th January 2015 at 10:32
Ken certainly has an impressive stock of Merlin cores and parts, I visited his operation at San Martin a few years back. Not to mention the various aircraft restoration projects he has in storage (from memory these included Corsair, Spitfire, Hurricane, B-25, L-39s, CAC Mustang wings)
By: TonyT - 7th January 2015 at 10:23
Don’t forget
http://www.51-factory.com/merlin_overhaul.html
nigh on 60+ there alone in parts etc and complete engines
By: D1566 - 7th January 2015 at 10:19
I’m sure the total flying Spitfire population is more than 50, but someone on here will know the actual number.
Quite possibly is if you include the Griffon powered ones?
By: MerlinPete - 7th January 2015 at 10:11
I didn’t know there were over 200 Mustangs, interesting.
I’m sure the total flying Spitfire population is more than 50, but someone on here will know the actual number.
Pete
By: DazDaMan - 7th January 2015 at 08:23
300+ was my guess, but obviously I’m not that well versed in these things!
By: MerlinPete - 7th January 2015 at 06:56
My estimate is around 300 engines in airworthy condition at any given time.
There are definitely more than 700 complete surviving Merlins, I would guess well over 1000, but 700 might be closer if you are talking easy candidates for flight rebuild.
Griffons are another matter, but then they built so few in the first place, relatively speaking.
Pete
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January 6, 2015 at 11:31 pm