Merco Engines

So sorry to read of Bill's passing. Although I never knew Bill, I did benefit from him and his work because, like many others, I had a number of Merco engines in the past. RIP Bill, enjoy that big Flying Field and Thank You.

Sad to hear of Bill's passing, though he appears to have had a fine innings which many would envy. Another chapter of model engineering now in the history books.

People sometimes disparage Merco engines, but they were leaders when they first appeared and something for Bill to be proud of. As often seems to be the way with British innovations, they did not ultimately keep pace with development enough compared to the Japanese and German offerings. The 61 in particular will still pull an appropriate model around the sky with decent vigour though.

I believe when Gerald Smith became "old " his friend John Scott Scott of Skylon fame helped Gerald finish off his final batch of engines ,

John was a fine engineer and had a workshop to be envied . Now he did convert many Mercos as well as many other makes to petrol, and worked with ED in the early days .May be one of his ????

cheers

Sorry to hear of the passing of another of the "old guard". Not many left now.

I had a Merco 35 back in the late 60s. It was a good engine, unlike the .49 that I bought a year or two later, which was a disaster! Ran fine on the ground, but would die without warning in the air - usually on take-off. Model went into the hedge many times as a result before I got shot of it. None of the local experts managed to sort it.

Bought Webra 61 as a replacement (late 67 or early 68), and it flew just fine in the same model, with the same plumbing!

Its still flying my classic aerobatic model today!

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Pete

I had a Merco 61 that did the same thing . I cost me a nice model Spitfire . I tried everything with that engine to no avail . I decided it was just scared of hieghts . I converted it to a water cooled engine as they are excellent boat engines .

For those of you who may be interested 2 Merco 61 engines are for sale on the model engineer website ,no price advertised ,these are not from me.

John

I bought 2 Merco 61s on a charity stand at a dog show for a tenner the pair. Took 'em apart and there appears to be nothing wrong with them. I was always jealous of Merco owners as a kid.

Martin

Hundreds if not thousands were sold (.61 size) to the Army, and fitted in models that were used as targets. Whist serviing BAOR, I used to book the team that used to fly them, and scrounge as many bits of them as I could. (11 x 7 blue props, skyleader gear, plugs etc. etc.). In the event of them being shot down, I had to sign them written off. More searching in the woods until the bits were found. Never had so many Mercos in my life!.

I have to say my experience of Merco engines was mixed, I had a 35 RC which was great and a twin plug .61 that was rubbish. I was so pleased when HP engines appeared.