More plane old common sense
Hey Morley, love your articles mate and happily peruse them whilst contemplating life going through nature’s motions as t hey ca ll. In t he last issue you wanted to know about some interesting repurposed car donks. Well, you’ll love t his.
Ever y t wo years, t he litt le countr y airstrip at Tyabb, on the Mornington Peninsula near where I live has an absolutely k ick-arse airshow t hat pulls about 15,000 people. Two shows ago they had a loca l identit y show of f his just completed f ive-year project, a t hree-quartersca le Spitf ire (Supermarine, not Triumph!). And lack ing both the space in the airframe and bucks to get a Rolls Royce V12 Merlin, he shoved a 351 Cleveland up
its snout and went f ly ing! The sound of this thing when he wound it up for take-off was awesome and a couple of f ull t hrott le r uns overhead confirmed it was a thing of beaut y and a joy to behold. But you could a lso not mista ke that sound of our beloved Ford doing what it does best.
I’ve seen rea l Spitt ies and Mustangs running the Merlins and t hey ratt le your innards when they start up but t his was a sweet familiar sound that just made ya grin like an idiot! I’m prett y sure the boys at Broady never v isua lized t heir love-child executing barrel-rolls and mock straf ing runs in t he sk ies over Melbourne on a beautif ul autumn day like t hat one.
Marc Williams, Near Tyabb, Vic
I HOPE you just read the previous letter Marc, because it seems like using car engines in planes is a real `thing’ these days. While the LS in the previous letter is a nice lightweight unit, I reckon the cast-iron heft of the Clevo must have caused a few more headaches. Then again, it’s two-thirds of a V12 in a plane that’s three-quarters of a Spitfire, so maybe the maths adds up better than it looks on the surface.
Until you look at the Merlin’s specs, that is. Because that’s when you realise that it was 27 litres, weighed about 750kg and made just on 1300 horsepower at 3000rpm at sea level. The 351 Clevo, meantime, weighed about half as much and, in a tune that would be compatible with aviation requirements, would probably be good for about 300 horsepower. Okay, so the three-quarterscale replica won’t be as fast as the real Spitfire and it won’t sound the same, but then it doesn’t have to defend Queen and country, does it?
By the way, a mate of mine has a backyard that faces the Tyabb airstrip, so I’m no stranger to sitting in his backyard in a deckchair, chilled beverage in hand watching the action unfold before me. And you’re dead right, Marc; it’s a ripper little air-show.
“USING CAR ENGINES IN PLANES IS A REAL THING THESE DAYS”