Discussion
Some of the Merlin powered car were not the aero engine but Tank engines. Same basic engine - guessing that tank engine would have been far cheaper and easier to source than Merlin, but perhaps built more for torque than outright power. Interesting that the larger capacity Packhard marine engine pre-dated the licensed Merlins that Packhard and Allison produced.
aeropilot said:
You'd need very deep pockets for that. There only one remaining and restored PT boat still with its trio of Packard V12's, PT-658, and that's owned and operated by a charity/trust in Portland, Oregon.
That trio of V12's gobble almost 500 gals of Avgas per hour at full chat, and an engine rebuild is probably in the region of 50k+.
Oh------- Maybe i'll just slum it in a Sunseeker instead, That trio of V12's gobble almost 500 gals of Avgas per hour at full chat, and an engine rebuild is probably in the region of 50k+.
roscobbc said:
Some of the Merlin powered car were not the aero engine but Tank engines. Same basic engine - guessing that tank engine would have been far cheaper and easier to source than Merlin, but perhaps built more for torque than outright power.
The Meteor tank engine (most of them were made by Rover) was essentially the same as a Merlin, but without the supercharger assembly, so only about 600hp compared with about 1300hp in supercharged Merlin form. It also rotated in the opposite way to a Merlin, and the later new build Meteor engines dispensed with the lightweight high grade magnesium and alloy engine components of the Merlin, these parts being made of steel as weight wasn't an issue with a tank engine!The Meteor came about as a way of making use of rejected for flight, Merlin engine components rather than just scrapping them, and that's how RR came up with the idea of the Meteor as a tank engine, and once developed by RR, Rover were then contracted to manufacture them from scratch.
aeropilot said:
roscobbc said:
Some of the Merlin powered car were not the aero engine but Tank engines. Same basic engine - guessing that tank engine would have been far cheaper and easier to source than Merlin, but perhaps built more for torque than outright power.
The Meteor tank engine (most of them were made by Rover) was essentially the same as a Merlin, but without the supercharger assembly, so only about 600hp compared with about 1300hp in supercharged Merlin form. It also rotated in the opposite way to a Merlin, and the later new build Meteor engines dispensed with the lightweight high grade magnesium and alloy engine components of the Merlin, these parts being made of steel as weight wasn't an issue with a tank engine!The Meteor came about as a way of making use of rejected for flight, Merlin engine components rather than just scrapping them, and that's how RR came up with the idea of the Meteor as a tank engine, and once developed by RR, Rover were then contracted to manufacture them from scratch.
rat rod said:
I can't keep up with you guys, Collectively this forum is a minefield of knowledge,
No matter what subject comes up there's always tons of information ,beats me how you remember it all.
Hmmmm - me, my mind is full of inconsiquential information, most of it is crap and of no relevence to anything whatsoever. I bow down to your knowledge and experience of so many cars No matter what subject comes up there's always tons of information ,beats me how you remember it all.
roscobbc said:
rat rod said:
I can't keep up with you guys, Collectively this forum is a minefield of knowledge,
No matter what subject comes up there's always tons of information ,beats me how you remember it all.
Hmmmm - me, my mind is full of inconsiquential information, most of it is crap and of no relevence to anything whatsoever. I bow down to your knowledge and experience of so many cars No matter what subject comes up there's always tons of information ,beats me how you remember it all.
haved loved at all " should have something to do with woman i gather but in my case it's motor cars probably no different to
most of us on here. My car history is quite modest compared to a few people i know having as many as 20 or 30 cars in there collection and
as many bikes which they've owned for a number of years. You only need two things,space and money.
.
mercedeslimos said:
aeropilot said:
roscobbc said:
Some of the Merlin powered car were not the aero engine but Tank engines. Same basic engine - guessing that tank engine would have been far cheaper and easier to source than Merlin, but perhaps built more for torque than outright power.
The Meteor tank engine (most of them were made by Rover) was essentially the same as a Merlin, but without the supercharger assembly, so only about 600hp compared with about 1300hp in supercharged Merlin form. It also rotated in the opposite way to a Merlin, and the later new build Meteor engines dispensed with the lightweight high grade magnesium and alloy engine components of the Merlin, these parts being made of steel as weight wasn't an issue with a tank engine!The Meteor came about as a way of making use of rejected for flight, Merlin engine components rather than just scrapping them, and that's how RR came up with the idea of the Meteor as a tank engine, and once developed by RR, Rover were then contracted to manufacture them from scratch.
Theres a guy down here who used to run a Gasket manufacturing business , he had and maybe still does a pair of New Ford Sherman Tank engines,
they are huge, absolutely complete sitting in a equally large tubular steel cages, the things people have just lying about
Probably long gone now, not seen Chris for a few years and he's new retired .....................................
At this time of year living here , pretty much every week we have Merlin's over head, just a fabulous sight and sound...........................
they are huge, absolutely complete sitting in a equally large tubular steel cages, the things people have just lying about
Probably long gone now, not seen Chris for a few years and he's new retired .....................................
At this time of year living here , pretty much every week we have Merlin's over head, just a fabulous sight and sound...........................
Edited by newsatten on Thursday 29th July 07:41
newsatten said:
Theres a guy down here who used to run a Gasket manufacturing business , he had and maybe still does a pair of New Ford Sherman Tank engines,
they are huge, absolutely complete sitting in a equally large tubular steel cages, the things people have just lying about
Probably long gone now, not seen Chris for a few years and he's new retired .....................................
The Ford GAA V8......they are huge, absolutely complete sitting in a equally large tubular steel cages, the things people have just lying about
Probably long gone now, not seen Chris for a few years and he's new retired .....................................
All ally, 1100 cubic inches, 4 valve per cylinder DOHC and 1000ft/lbs of torque from idle to about 2,000rpm.
I've been lucky enough to have ridden on the back of a Sherman with one of these monsters thrashing away under it.
One nutter in the USA installed one in the front of a Ford Mustang some years ago
Goodwood do flight experiences and when i go to the nearby beach they make that part of their route ,over the sea and I.O.W ,
The Spitfire and the 1943 Harvard Warbird are a fantastic sight doing barrel rolls or what ever the terminology might be for planes,
Never get tired of seeing and hearing them , the Harvard you can almost hear the pistons going up and down, like a giant Harley
in the sky, I thought at £499 for the Harvard and £2,750 for a hour in the Spitfire was good value for a once in a life time experience
although i think you can have 20 minutes for just over £400 at other airfields,
I know what i would like for my 70th birthday present ,are you reading this kids ??? ,strangely enough i'd be more than going up in the
Harvard,
The Spitfire and the 1943 Harvard Warbird are a fantastic sight doing barrel rolls or what ever the terminology might be for planes,
Never get tired of seeing and hearing them , the Harvard you can almost hear the pistons going up and down, like a giant Harley
in the sky, I thought at £499 for the Harvard and £2,750 for a hour in the Spitfire was good value for a once in a life time experience
although i think you can have 20 minutes for just over £400 at other airfields,
I know what i would like for my 70th birthday present ,are you reading this kids ??? ,strangely enough i'd be more than going up in the
Harvard,
rat rod said:
in the sky, I thought at £499 for the Harvard and £2,750 for a hour in the Spitfire was good value for a once in a life time experience
You won't get an hour in the Spit for that price......the £2750 is for 30 mins which is measured from engine start to engine stop, so really just about 20mins actual flying time.Still one hell of an experience though, as I've done 30 mins flights in WW2 aircraft while out in the USA, and I have flown in a B-25J Mitchell and a B-17G Flying Fortress........
I really need to experience a single engine fighter though.......somehow that needs to be ticked off the list while its still possible.
aeropilot said:
rat rod said:
in the sky, I thought at £499 for the Harvard and £2,750 for a hour in the Spitfire was good value for a once in a life time experience
You won't get an hour in the Spit for that price......the £2750 is for 30 mins which is measured from engine start to engine stop, so really just about 20mins actual flying time.Still one hell of an experience though, as I've done 30 mins flights in WW2 aircraft while out in the USA, and I have flown in a B-25J Mitchell and a B-17G Flying Fortress........
I really need to experience a single engine fighter though.......somehow that needs to be ticked off the list while its still possible.
rat rod said:
aeropilot said:
rat rod said:
in the sky, I thought at £499 for the Harvard and £2,750 for a hour in the Spitfire was good value for a once in a life time experience
You won't get an hour in the Spit for that price......the £2750 is for 30 mins which is measured from engine start to engine stop, so really just about 20mins actual flying time.Still one hell of an experience though, as I've done 30 mins flights in WW2 aircraft while out in the USA, and I have flown in a B-25J Mitchell and a B-17G Flying Fortress........
I really need to experience a single engine fighter though.......somehow that needs to be ticked off the list while its still possible.
Living on the eastern borders of London we often see/hear older single engine stuff flying 'up and down country', presumable en-route to/from events in kent and south coast avoiding flying over built-up areas.
One of the most memorable visual and probably more so aural was one of the last fighter meets at North Weald some years back. Scores of WW2 fighters doing circuits. As RR said the sound of a Havard with its radial engine. Its the Corsairs, the Thunderbolts, Buffalo's all with the big radials that sound fantastic. We have a local private flying strip that has offers a wing walk experience using a 30's Buckner Jungmeister biplane. Love the sound of that - its so slow, just hangs in the air with the wonderful radial sound.
One of the most memorable visual and probably more so aural was one of the last fighter meets at North Weald some years back. Scores of WW2 fighters doing circuits. As RR said the sound of a Havard with its radial engine. Its the Corsairs, the Thunderbolts, Buffalo's all with the big radials that sound fantastic. We have a local private flying strip that has offers a wing walk experience using a 30's Buckner Jungmeister biplane. Love the sound of that - its so slow, just hangs in the air with the wonderful radial sound.
rat rod said:
roscobbc said:
rat rod said:
I can't keep up with you guys, Collectively this forum is a minefield of knowledge,
No matter what subject comes up there's always tons of information ,beats me how you remember it all.
Hmmmm - me, my mind is full of inconsiquential information, most of it is crap and of no relevence to anything whatsoever. I bow down to your knowledge and experience of so many cars No matter what subject comes up there's always tons of information ,beats me how you remember it all.
haved loved at all " should have something to do with woman i gather but in my case it's motor cars probably no different to
most of us on here. My car history is quite modest compared to a few people i know having as many as 20 or 30 cars in there collection and
as many bikes which they've owned for a number of years. You only need two things,space and money.
.
P5BNij said:
It's probably because a lot of us in here have a fair spread of interests, so the knowledge just accumulates over time and has to come out somewhere, before we can get any more stuffed in between our ears! Aside from cars I have a lifelong interest in films, music, art, railway history and history in general but I doff my cap to you lot when it comes to the yank stuff. This week's Amazon shopping basket top ten includes books on Brian Jones era Rolling Stones, Indian Tantric / psychedelic art, pre-war Alfas, the West London Railway between Willesden and Clapham Junction (which I now drive trains over) and the DVD boxset of Department S, to replace the one I've already worn out
I remember the father of one of my friends telling us, as daft youngsters, that if you are interested in anything, learn as much as you can about it, because it costs nothing to carry knowledge around. I often get mini-obsessions and will scour the internet or read about things that take my fancy. It may just be for a few days (HMS Erebus recently) or years. (hot rods, photography history etc)roscobbc said:
As RR said the sound of a Havard with its radial engine. Its the Corsairs, the Thunderbolts, Buffalo's all with the big radials that sound fantastic.
Big air-cooled radials do sound great.When I flew in the B-25J, the noise inside was an astonishing racket. The B-25 did have a reputation for being very noisy for the crews, and many ex-B-25 crews suffered hearing loss in later life compared to those that flew other aircraft. It was all down to the design of the engine nacelles and exhausts, which directed the sound straight through the fuselage sides into the crew areas!
When we sitting on the apron waiting to taxi out for take-off with the big R-2600's just at idle there were these enormous loud explosions that sound like someone was outside and hitting the fuselage side with a sledgehammer, and it was just the back fires in the exhaust collector rings being transmitted into the crew areas....
aeropilot said:
roscobbc said:
As RR said the sound of a Havard with its radial engine. Its the Corsairs, the Thunderbolts, Buffalo's all with the big radials that sound fantastic.
Big air-cooled radials do sound great.When I flew in the B-25J, the noise inside was an astonishing racket. The B-25 did have a reputation for being very noisy for the crews, and many ex-B-25 crews suffered hearing loss in later life compared to those that flew other aircraft. It was all down to the design of the engine nacelles and exhausts, which directed the sound straight through the fuselage sides into the crew areas!
When we sitting on the apron waiting to taxi out for take-off with the big R-2600's just at idle there were these enormous loud explosions that sound like someone was outside and hitting the fuselage side with a sledgehammer, and it was just the back fires in the exhaust collector rings being transmitted into the crew areas....
Must make a fast blast in the 32 seem a bit dull,
Somewhere in the eastern Czech Republic, you can fly in an original MiG-15 for about €1800 (20/30mins). I would love it but I get the feeling my stomach wouldn't. I flew once in the DH Dragon Rapide from Duxford, which was fantastic and so serene.
I believe somewhere in Lithuania you can fly in a much newer MiG, and get supersonic but it's a bit more clandestine and expensive. Rumours of €10k, but I can't imagine jet fuel or running ex-Soviet planes is cheap.
I believe somewhere in Lithuania you can fly in a much newer MiG, and get supersonic but it's a bit more clandestine and expensive. Rumours of €10k, but I can't imagine jet fuel or running ex-Soviet planes is cheap.
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