Engine Collecting for Adults
There's a good chance that you, as a reader of these pages, either has, wants, or knows someone who has a collection of model airplane engines. I've seen several ranging from drawers full of gungy old gems, to whole rooms, barns and even "granny flats" dedicated to display cases of beautifully prepared and presented engines and modelling memorabilia. Well, let me introduce you to an allied fraternity who do a similar thing, except the engine(s) in their collection came from full sized aircraft!
I'm looking forward to coaxing my 0.92 cuin Morton M5 to life someday soon. This will be a thrill and a great sound, I'm sure. In Volume 1, Issue 1 of Torque Meter is an article describing how Kevin Cameron set about locating some Pratt & Whitney 4360s. P&W's designations are based on the engine capacity in cubic inches. This makes it nearly 5000 times larger than my little M5, so you can imagine the noise Kevin is looking forward to when he cranks that little fella' for the first time. I think the thrill factor will be about equal for us though 
This allied addiction of full size engine collecting is neither new, nor an isolated phenonima. My pal Eric Offen in the UK bought himself a small radial toy some time back, and I remember seeing a monster water cooled Mercedes from World War I brought to an airshow here in Australia back in the 1970's. Another picture in Torque Meter Number 3 shows a Rolls Royce Merlin restored to better than new condition by author Graham White. It is mounted on a four wheel trailer that is as much a show piece as the engine. The 16 foot, 3 blade buzz saw was been cut back, but must be balanced because Graham takes this trailer to air shows where he runs up the Merlin up for the enjoyment of the crowds--not all that different to what we do with our model engines, although I suspect his croud is a bit larger than the one that gathers to listen (and sniff) one of my little diesels running.
Content wise, Torque Meter ranges from historical to technical to whimsical. The standard of the material is excellent. The quality of the publication is more than adequate for a start-up, special interest publication. About equal or better than the early editions of SIC, before Bob went to full color covers. The issues so far range from 40 to 48 pages with black and white photographs and line drawings. The technical article in #3 on radial engine design by HCI R-220 designer Jack Hereford, is of particular interest to me right now, given that I'm building a small one, and photos of the monster Wright 3360, (radial: four banks, 28 cylinders) are an inspiration. So what more can I say? Visit their web site and spend a few $$'s on a subscription. With more budget, the magazine can go to better paper and maybe some color pages. If you can help with content, you should also contact them. Now, where can I get hold of a cheap Bristol Hercules and an even greater problem, where will I put it!
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