Hi Gang,
Somewhat recently I've been spending my Tuesdays out at the Canadian Museum of Flight, at Langley Airport, BC.
Every Tuesday is volunteer day, where a good two dozen eager volunteers show up and take on whatever projects and/or tasks that need to get done.
My first day back to the volunteering world I helped put sealing tape in the gaps of the ailerons of our 1930 Waco INF, which will probably make it's first post restoration flight when the weather gets better. That was a fairly simple task, so when it was completed I walked around the museum to see what else I could do.
I came across a Packard (Rolls-Royce) Merlin 224 and figured I'd take a shot at cleaning it up, seeing as how it was looking really grimy and dirty.
The story of how the CMF acquired the engine is an interesting one, and maybe some of you out there can fill in the names.
There was a gentleman from the East Coast of the USA who contacted us about getting an aileron off of our static display DH100 Vampire for use on his flyable example. In return he gave us a non-airworthy aileron off of his Vamp, and then asked if there was anything we could use at the museum. Our Executive Director responded that "We have an old Roll-Royce Merlin that we could use some parts for to make it more displayable." In response the gentleman said, "How about I send you a Merlin that I've got?" Who were we to argue, so very soon after, a Merlin showed up at our doorstep. Sadly, relatively soon after we received the engine we learned that the gentleman had an engine failure in his Vampire and it was written off. (Can anyone remember his name?)
The above image was taken a short while into the clean-up. I began working on it with soapy water, a rag, and a scotch-brite pad. It was slow work, but I was making progress.
The next week I got a hint from Dave Beales, a CMF pilot and airplane owner. He suggested I use solvent made of Varsol and Mulsinex. It worked like a dream, and combined with the use of a toothbrush, work carried on much faster!
As I cleaned up the old engine I started becoming familiar with the motor, it's components, and all the little "accessories" attached to it. It was a real learning experience. I kind of got inspired to see if I could eventually get it to ground running condition. There are a number of parts missing, but I checked out a maintenance manual for the Merlin 224 from the CMF library, so I could learn more about it, and see exactly what parts are missing, and potentially track some down.
For those that don't know, the Merlin 224, was a Canadian built example of the engine, with a two-speed, single stage supercharger. This specific engine was used on the Avro Lancaster Mk X.
Below are some more pictures of the work that I did on the engine. I mentioned it was kinda grimy. Some sections were really filthy, as if it had lived in a barn for a while.
I hope you all enjoyed my story. It certainly was fun working on it. Does anyone know a good source for Merlin parts? And does anyone out there have experience with restoring engines to ground-running condition?
Peace,
David M
Vancouver, BC
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