A most succesful visit was had to RAFM by the above over the weekend. We were accompanied by Child Qty 3 which did not hinder too much discussion of the Glads 3 bladed prop and is it in fact a one piece moulding oh if only we could take the boss off and look or the Beau cutaway actually being a Merlin variant instead of a Herc due to there being blower controls in the cockpit etc.
Von Perthes was not taking photos, as he said, ‘I’ve been here before’. Steve educated his erk, while I took pictures in between worrying where my Child Qty 1 was.
For the experts, the pics were taken with a point and shoot style over substance digital wotsit.
My first contri is the wonderful Supermarine Walrus in the BBMF hangar. There’s just something about it that says ‘Walrus’. Also you can see the Walrus engine, which was next to the plane. It is painted yellow, so as to aid finding it for servicing at night when the Walrus is moored offshore. I am next to it for size comparison.
By: Stuart - 21st February 2005 at 13:50
Isn’t that big yellow engine really a sea Griffon not a Merlin? I think it came out of one of those boats sitting outside.
Stuart
By: Seafuryfan - 21st February 2005 at 13:42
Some very interesting replies- thank you all. It’s amazing isn’t it how rumour and innuendo start legends such as ‘The walrus never had a yellow engine’ started. And here we are, in 2005, being re-educated. As historians will no doubt in the future be poring over my hard drive, I’d better clear up a few points:
‘OK, but how tall are you? 3′ 6″?’ – I can’t help being vertically challenged.
The bloke I was talking too said that the engine had the extra bit on the back as for supercharging the powerplant in high sea states (the hull slowed the ac down in choppy seas). Yellow seems to be a sensible colour for servicing at night, though, and it’s in-line aerodynamics would have helped the ac as well – and let’s face it, the Walrus needs every bit of help it can get!
Mark V, re. type of engine fitted, I don’t want to question your expertise, but remember how surprised many of us were when we discovered that the Merlin as well as the Hercules, was fitted to the Lancaster? As they say, ‘stranger than fiction’.
By: Mark V - 21st February 2005 at 13:31
Do you mean for boats? (Seriously, not taking the weewee here, I mean like Air Sea Rescue launches?)Or could the Merloin i the Mustang be a marine one? Or is this co-incidence?
Noooo 😮
Dave, it just happened to be painted yellow. You can have your Merlin painted any colour you like by the overhaul shop. Some of them have ‘House colours’, Hoveys were usually gold, Nixon engines red for example
By: Dave Homewood - 21st February 2005 at 13:20
The “Walrus Engine” is a Marine Merlin if memory serves me correctly.
Do you mean for boats? (Seriously, not taking the weewee here, I mean like Air Sea Rescue launches?)
Just that is exactly the same colour as the Merlin we saw last week on the P51D at Pioneer Aero in Auckland, and Paul McSweeney there said they were trying to discover why it was that odd colour, and was told because it was built by Buick under license to Packard.
Could the colour actually mean it’s a Buick Merlin? Could that Merlin in the picture be a Buick?
Or could the Merloin i the Mustang be a marine one? Or is this co-incidence?
Imagine if it were a Merlin built for a boat now powering a plane!
By the way, is it seriously that dark in the Battle of Britain Hall or is that part of the wind-up. It took me a while to find the Seagull.
By: Mark V - 21st February 2005 at 13:13
I didnt know that Spitfires could fly under water.
That’s ‘Marine’ not ‘Submarine’.
By: Chipmunk Carol - 21st February 2005 at 13:12
Any more pics Seafuryfan? This is fun!
Robbo: What is the difference between a common or garden Merlin and the Marine version? Let’s see if you can be serious. 🙂
By: Mark V - 21st February 2005 at 13:11
The “Walrus Engine” is a Marine Merlin if memory serves me correctly.
You have to give him a point for getting the colour right though :rolleyes:
By: Manonthefence - 21st February 2005 at 13:07
I didnt know that Spitfires could fly under water.
By: Nermal - 21st February 2005 at 13:03
Mark V, come on mate, you know me better than that (or come to think of it, you might not know me at all :rolleyes: )
It IS a Walrus and here’s the proof – I thought I’d better take a picture of the data plate as this subject just keeps on coming round. Note the first line of text, you can clearly see, ‘Walrus’. They just got the top line wrong, that’s all. Eat that, Nermal! 🙂
Good grief, are you serious? It is a Seagull, just as the sign says: it was purchased by the Royal Australian Navy as a Seagull and the fact that it says ‘Walrus’ in the blurb just shows that you shouldn’t believe everything you read… – Nermal
By: Mark V - 21st February 2005 at 12:57
My first contri is the wonderful Supermarine Walrus in the BBMF hangar. There’s just something about it that says ‘Walrus’. Also you can see the Walrus engine, which was next to the plane. It is painted yellow, so as to aid finding it for servicing at night when the Walrus is moored offshore. I am next to it for size comparison.
OK you were completely serious. What threw me was 1. Its a Seagull V, not a Walrus, 2. Its not in the BBMF hangar, its in the Battle of Britain Hall, 3. That is not a ‘Walrus engine’, the Walrus has a Pegasus VI or IIM2P. Apart from that all spot on :confused:
By: Chipmunk Carol - 21st February 2005 at 12:50
I am next to it for size comparison.
OK, but how tall are you? 3′ 6″?
By: Seafuryfan - 21st February 2005 at 12:47
Not a wind-up.
Mark V, come on mate, you know me better than that (or come to think of it, you might not know me at all :rolleyes: )
It IS a Walrus and here’s the proof – I thought I’d better take a picture of the data plate as this subject just keeps on coming round. Note the first line of text, you can clearly see, ‘Walrus’. They just got the top line wrong, that’s all. Eat that, Nermal! 🙂
By: Mark V - 21st February 2005 at 12:35
My first contri is the wonderful Supermarine Walrus in the BBMF hangar. There’s just something about it that says ‘Walrus’. Also you can see the Walrus engine, which was next to the plane. It is painted yellow, so as to aid finding it for servicing at night when the Walrus is moored offshore. I am next to it for size comparison.
I really hope this is a wind-up :rolleyes:
By: Nermal - 21st February 2005 at 12:17
Not a Walrus…:rolleyes:
Its a Seagull, and it could do with being displayed in its proper Australian colour scheme. – Nermal
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February 21, 2005 at 12:00 pm