merlin III on e bay

Nice looking Merlin, but with no evidence of its internal state and no paperwork, this is just another guy who thinks he is sitting on the bloody Crown Jewels.

It will probably sell now I`ve said that :rolleyes:

Pete

No, it didn’t, no bids at this price!

I was a bit out. it was one of a batch of 820 Merlin IIIs built a Crewe between 23/6/40 and 12/10/40.

Both types of block fitted to it are compatible with the Merlin III, although I still have my doubts that they would have been fitted to either side of the same engine.

Another French-speaking contender outside Canada for a Merlin III is the Belgian Renard R38. I would tend to agree Battle / Hurricane though.

Nice looking Merlin, but with no evidence of its internal state and no paperwork, this is just another guy who thinks he is sitting on the bloody Crown Jewels.

It will probably sell now I`ve said that :rolleyes:

Pete

The re-stamped engine number is a Merlin III, 25049 puts it in early 1941, but in fact it has one Merlin III block and one Merlin II block. Because of the different coolant flows, this cannot be original, therefore it is a “bitza” and I would want to see it stripped before I parted with £25k!

Rant over 🙂

Whichever type it was fitted to had a rear-mounted header tank, ie Hurricane or Battle. I don`t know about the construction of the two French aircraft, but the rotation plate is very interesting. Merlin II / III manuals were also published in French incidentally.

Pete

This is probably an ex Fairey Battle merlin 3, due to the numbers of Battles operating in Quebec and serviced by many francophones, hence the French, chances of it being Dewotine are aweful slim. Large numbers of Battles were scrapped in the Montreal area post war and of course most of Canadian Hurricanes were packards not RR, of course some of our BCATP 700 plus Battles had been Battle of France veterans! unless pictures or documents state otherwise high probability from a Battle.

Is there such a thing as Quantum Mechanics or are they Quantum Physics?:confused:

Blowed if I know. Which pretty much sums up my point about French prototypes!

Adrian

Was the Merlin really used on French prototypes? News to me, though I’ll admit my knowledge of French prototypes is rivalled only by my knowledge of Quantum Mechanics!

Adrian

Yes, one Dewoitine and one Amiot were fitted with Merlins but obviously the supply of Merlins would have been non-existent after France was overrun. Really a bit if a red herring to include that information in the listing. Is there such a thing as Quantum Mechanics or are they Quantum Physics?:confused:

At current exchange rates ( £1 = 1.99 CAD ) the starting (reserve not met) bid is ‘only’ £25,100 , does your ‘wink’ mean you know that to meet the reserve a bid of £36,000 is required ?

You are correct, I did a Euro conversion to get 36G, only 25G for the U.K.:o

The French comes in, as the ebay poster states, from the French notation label on the engine for crank rotation. Being in Canada does muddy the waters. Was it from a French prototype or was it in a training program in the French speaking parts of Canada. It would take backtracking on the serial # to be sure of this assertion.

Non-the-less, pretty looking engine! Bit steep for my pocketbook. Wouldn’t fit in my Ford Focus anyways!

The French could also be explained by the simple fact that in Canada they also speak French??

Merlin 3

A bit on the steep side for an engine that still would need to be overhauled .

cheers dave

Was the Merlin really used on French prototypes? News to me, though I’ll admit my knowledge of French prototypes is rivalled only by my knowledge of Quantum Mechanics!

Adrian

A starting bid of £36,000 required!;)

At current exchange rates ( £1 = 1.99 CAD ) the starting (reserve not met) bid is ‘only’ £25,100 , does your ‘wink’ mean you know that to meet the reserve a bid of £36,000 is required ?

A starting bid of £36,000 required!;)