Was the merlin used for anything else other than aircraft was it used to power generators, compressors, pumps etc or was this more the meteor engine?
After the war and the late 50’s there was a large number of engines gone for scrap so some must have found there way into other industry the basic heads and block fitted with power take off to run something else?
Can it run ok on unleaded fuel without burning the valves or valve seats?
Does the timing need to be retarded & if so how is this done?
The reason i ask there is a meteor engine for sale on e bay that runs on unleaded & these are of the similar breed just wondered if this will run the same.
Is the aviation fuel 100 octane?
By: Creaking Door - 17th December 2009 at 12:58
http://warbirdsforum.com/showthread.php?p=24354
Air dropped as well form a Lanc !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry I ever doubted you but that was a new one to me!
I still think a Meteor would be a ‘snug’ fit inside a 38 inch diameter torpedo but I’d love to see some drawings of the whole thing.
By: TonyT - 17th December 2009 at 12:29
Why do you think Shell Optimax is sponsored by Ferrari? 🙂
Pete
Trouble is without lead you cannot get the same power output from the fuel, all the fancy cocktails they try to replace it fail to deliver…… did a Shell seminar and they said if you took all the lead emitted to the atmosphere in a year over the whole of the piston powered aviation industry it would amount to a staggeringly small 4 tonnes……. that would be about the size of a large coffee table, running unleaded on something like DC-6 would reduce the liftable load by some 5 ton running unleaded……. additionally and the daft thing, now leaded car fuel is a thing of the past, if aviation fuel failed to make the cut, it would have been diluted to form petrol, now because of no lead it cannot be so they had to pay a specialised firm to come in, take it away and BURN IT!! to remove the lead etc from the discharges…….. odd world isn’t it.
By: MerlinPete - 17th December 2009 at 12:20
How much heavier is leaded fuel compared to unleaded?
Why do you think Shell Optimax is sponsored by Ferrari? 🙂
Pete
By: TonyT - 17th December 2009 at 12:20
Bloody hell!!! 😮 That’s not a torpedo…..that’s a submarine! 😀
http://warbirdsforum.com/showthread.php?p=24354
Air dropped as well form a Lanc !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By: Creaking Door - 17th December 2009 at 11:57
‘Lead’ added to petrol is in very small proportions, less than 1:1000 so the effect will be small (although it is actually tetra-ethyl lead that is added which is about twice as heavy as the petrol it displaces).
By: stuart gowans - 17th December 2009 at 10:56
How much heavier is leaded fuel compared to unleaded?
By: Creaking Door - 17th December 2009 at 10:22
Bloody hell!!! 😮 That’s not a torpedo…..that’s a submarine! 😀
By: Adrian Barrell - 17th December 2009 at 08:16
Merlin / Meteor powered torpedo…..at 21 inches in diameter, surely not? :confused:
I know that the British Mark VIII is a ‘burner-cycle’ torpedo that has a radial engine, fuelled on diesel (?) and compressed air, but surely no torpedo was ever big enough to fit any parts of a Merlin or Meteor inside!
The Meteor Mk50 powered the Helmover torpedo. A 1944 project, the torpedo was 29 feet long, over 36″ in diameter and had a range of 50 miles at 40 knots under radio control. It also weighed 6.5 tons and carried a 1 ton warhead.
Only two torpedos and four engines were built.
By: Creaking Door - 16th December 2009 at 23:04
Nope, it’s me that’s got it ar*e-about-face…..only 37 Barracuda mark V with Griffon the other 2570 with Merlin…
…didn’t know that…..obviously! 😮
By: Creaking Door - 16th December 2009 at 22:58
I assumed it was a Barracuda, now I don`t know!
I thought it was a Barracuda too…..so doesn’t that make it a Griffon engine? :confused:
By: Creaking Door - 16th December 2009 at 22:55
Do the pistons run in liners?
A std piston what is it’s size?
There is a whole load of basic Merlin information on Wikipedia.
By: MerlinPete - 16th December 2009 at 22:53
Bonus Griffon surely? 😉
I assumed it was a Barracuda, now I don`t know!
PP.The Merlin you have seen is exactly the same as is was when it was fitted to the aircraft, except that it has had crash-damage repaired in numerous places and more importantly has not been rebuilt to airworthiness standards.
Otherwise it is just like any other, we do not use anything different or modern on them, even the voltage regulator for the dynamo is original, and it works so why change it?
Within the constraints of the cropped prop it still comes onto boost, you get about +4 at 3000rpm (950 BHP ish) which is plenty enough to get airborne, yes, (even on super unleaded!)
Pete
By: Creaking Door - 16th December 2009 at 22:46
Just in case you didn’t know what it looked like here’s a photo of it complete with bonus Merlin. 😉
Bonus Griffon surely? 😉
By: piston power! - 16th December 2009 at 22:36
Merlin pete.
Hypothetically speaking stick one of your merlins from the trailer into an airframe as it is with the standard carb etc what is the chances of flight?
Will this power up and get to the end of the runway? I very much think so!
What altitude do you think this aircraft would get to without any problems?
Are yours using the standard carbs from the 1940’s? what is used today?
Thanks pp……….
By: piston power! - 16th December 2009 at 22:23
The seat is screwed and shrunk into the alloy head and they do occasionally come loose in operation. I never understood why a positive means of locking them was not used.
The cylinder heads on the rolls royce merlin is alloy? did not know that.
Do the pistons run in liners?
A std piston what is it’s size?
Thanks merlin pete again your tops with the info then again you do have splendid engines and put on a cracking display!! pp………….
By: Arabella-Cox - 16th December 2009 at 21:46
Rocketeer made mention of Boscombe’s Blower Tunnel powered by four Merlins. Just in case you didn’t know what it looked like here’s a photo of it complete with bonus Merlin. 😉
[ATTACH]179740[/ATTACH]
By: Creaking Door - 16th December 2009 at 20:55
Screwed and shrunk-in…..typical Rolls-Royce over-engineering! :diablo:
I wonder how they shrunk them back then; not with liquid nitrogen surely?
By: MerlinPete - 16th December 2009 at 19:34
I would imagine that a Merlin has hardened seats anyway being steel in aluminium heads??
As I mentioned before, the seats are machineable, we use a tool steel cutter and there is no evidence of hardening of the seat, but I have just checked the books and it appears that they are Stellited, if that is the case then UL fuel would probably not bother them at all, except that to run the higher-powered Merlins at +18lb or more the octane would need to be higher.
The seat is screwed and shrunk into the alloy head and they do occasionally come loose in operation. I never understood why a positive means of locking them was not used.
Pete
By: minimans - 16th December 2009 at 19:18
Valve seat damage from unleaded petrol is mostly a problem of High RPM cruise. when used at fluctuating rpm and low RPM it really isn’t an issue. And I should look this up 1st but I would imagine that a Merlin has hardened seats anyway being steel in aluminium heads??
Here in Califronia there is an often quoted rumor of Ford DOHC V8’s being used for agricultural wind machines for keeping the frost off the almighty grape!! I havn’t found one yet though……………………….
By: Denis - 16th December 2009 at 18:34
Merlin / Meteor powered torpedo…..at 21 inches in diameter, surely not? :confused:
I know that the British Mark VIII is a ‘burner-cycle’ torpedo that has a radial engine, fuelled on diesel (?) and compressed air, but surely no torpedo was ever big enough to fit any parts of a Merlin or Meteor inside!
I think the word ‘boats’ as in MTB must surely be missing ?
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December 14, 2009 at 7:39 pm