As the historic aircraf we so much love used engine technology of the 1930 and 1940’s it is a fact that these engines are rare. The number of restorations is still increasing so that the demand for new core engines is still high and could be a problem in the forseeable future. It has been discussed before that perhaps the Merlin, Allison V1710, DB-series etc. should be put back into limited production. But there seem to be a lot of engines to be on static display in musea all around the world.
For instance, the Daimler Benz engines are quite scarce but it seems like every museum in the world at least has one or more on show. Same goes for the Merlin. In the early eighties the RR Kestrel was considered to be a rare engine but yet the number of airworthy Hawker biplanes is increasing and the number of engines that have turned up seem to be increasing as well.
Is there a shortage of engines or is this just a matter of supply and demand………….
Don’t know if this has been discussed before but it’s an interesting subject anyway.
Cheers
Cees
By: mike currill - 19th October 2007 at 20:49
As the historic aircraf we so much love used engine technology of the 1930 and 1940’s it is a fact that these engines are rare. The number of restorations is still increasing so that the demand for new core engines is still high and could be a problem in the forseeable future. It has been discussed before that perhaps the Merlin, Allison V1710, DB-series etc. should be put back into limited production. But there seem to be a lot of engines to be on static display in musea all around the world.
For instance, the Daimler Benz engines are quite scarce but it seems like every museum in the world at least has one or more on show. Same goes for the Merlin. In the early eighties the RR Kestrel was considered to be a rare engine but yet the number of airworthy Hawker biplanes is increasing and the number of engines that have turned up seem to be increasing as well.
Is there a shortage of engines or is this just a matter of supply and demand………….
Don’t know if this has been discussed before but it’s an interesting subject anyway.Cheers
Cees
In some cases I fear the mercenary profit margin rears its ugly head. If you can convince potential buyers that the supply is drying up you can persuade said buyer to pay a higher price.
By: OHOPE - 19th October 2007 at 19:15
Slightly off topic but there is a company here which has manufactured a WW1 RAF engine for a BE2 restoration , in their advertising they state that they have a supply of “Unobtainium” .
By: Mark V - 19th October 2007 at 14:10
I am not an engine builder or mender (more on the side of the ‘customer’ if anything I suppose) so I may not be the best person to answer but I would think the answer is both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Yes there is a finite supply of these core engines, even for such a numerous unit as the RR Merlin but perhaps there is not a significant and immediate shortage of units to any extent that there is a supply problem now.
I dare say in the medium to long term future this situation may change but with a lively market the supply chain will hopefully catch up with demand and prevent a future crisis developing. I would also anticipate ‘new’ core engines will be discovered in future years which wil help to keep the problem at bay.
At the P-51 safety seminar at Oshkosh this year Jack Roush presented a selection of new Merlin parts he has had manufactured, some very substantial items and they were very impressive. He is actually running roller bearings on the cam followers of his Merlins!
With regard to certain engine parts and ancillaries, including magnetos, I understand there have been problems in sourcing spares/parts and more than once this has been rectified by limited new production or critical items.
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October 19, 2007 at 1:01 pm