Jay Leno's Merlin

Pretty cool tour of a Packard Merlin... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYcKdK7hmEo&feature=youtu.be

MTV

Great video Mike. Reminds me when Nelson Ezell was out test flying a P51 we had just finished restoring. We were out on the ramp waiting for the traditional low pass when we heard a drone that sounded like a pack of P51s. All of a sudden the Canadian Heritage's Lancaster appears with Nelson on their wing. Those 5 Merlin's were a sweet sound. They stayed all week between the Houston Air Show and the annual Confederate Air Force show at Midland along with several more Mustangs so we got to climb all over that Lancaster. Did a little after hours work on one of the Mustangs and got a ride out to Midland in the back seat. The Merlin is a PITA to work on as is the Mustange with allthe coolant and oil lines running from the engine down to the oil cooler and radiator in the dog house scoop underneath the fuselage but they sure are cool. 8)

Steve
I am lucky in that a guy on my field rebuilds P-51s. I get to crawl all over them. A ride is a different matter. I HATE YOU.

When I win the lottery that will be my first purchase.

most guys just have to use that crowbar in the front pocket to get a ride.

It's not fair for one man to have that many cool toys!

No other sound than in a 51. don't know exactly why but even in a Spitfire it's different. A few years ago I was working on the Acroduster 2 at 1W3 w/o knowing what was up on the hill at KCBE. All of a sudden I heard multiple radials and observed a B17 take off and fly by, pretty neat. Several minutes later another multi-roar and a B24 went by. A few minutes later THE sound as the P51C went by.....All in all a pretty good day for just working at home.

Jack

tempdoug said:

most guys just have to use that crowbar in the front pocket to get a ride.

Click to expand...

We called those Tuna rides.