Merlins Doing The Rounds…

These have been doing the rounds for a long, long time!
Bruce

Here’s one that I hope continues doing the rounds, from a feature from the Victor Association newsletter. I shot a 15 second movie of it working too, and it had a crowd around it all day looking at the mechanisms as they whirred and clicked away, whilst showing the working innards of this legendary engine.

SUPPORTING REDHILL AEROMART 2007
LOVELY WEATHER AND SOME GOOD AVIATION KIT AND MEMORABILIA (INCLUDING A LOT OF PLASTIC MODELS) WERE TO BE FOUND ON OFFER AT THE FIRST PURE AEROMART AT REDHILL ON 22 SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR – WITH A STAND-OUT ATTRACTION

STANDOUT MERLIN ENGINE ATTRACTION
This revised event replaced the full air show last year and there was a good attendance of dealers. Though not as well attended as would have been liked, it was nonetheless a ‘new’ event and as such needs some time to build up interest.

It is to the credit of the dealers and buyers that did attend that it was still a good day with some good items on offer, though not at the level of Shoreham. Display of the day was an electrically-driven Merlin MK.25 engine that featured exposed working camshafts to port and ‘pots’ to starboard.

This was from Mosquito F.B V1 HJ719 which was flying an “Anti-Diver” patrol on 24th June 1944, two weeks after the first V-1 bombs fell on England. Flown by W/O J.J.P. McGale and his navigator F/O E.J. Story, HJ719 had fired at two V-1 flying bombs without recording hits.

A third was attacked which lost height but the pilot broke off the attack when debris from the V-1 caused the Mosquito’s starboard engine to catch fire. The aircraft subsequently crashed just north of Shoreham, Sussex with both crew members baling out successfully.

In 1990 the starboard engine was recovered by a team led by Steve Hall from 25ft down in the soft clay of the River Adur Valley and in 2001 restoration began on the engine, which is now mostly complete as seen above in pic 1. Some interesting paperwork was also included in the engine display, including a shot of the engine at the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, Salisbury Hall. Beside it was Chantal de Havilland, Great Grand-Daughter of Sir Geoffrey (pic 2).

1) The Mk.25 Merlin with control panel at bottom.
2) Chantal de Havilland stands beside the engine when displayed at a Salisbury Hall event below prototype Mosquito W4050.
3) A lot of flying models were also on display.