Merco 61 - carbon date it?  
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Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 6/1/2006 2:35:05 PM   
bepnewt


 

Posts: 4
Joined: 5/16/2006
From: Broken Arrow, OK, USA
Status: offline 		( I posted this in another forum and it was suggested I post it here )

Hello, all. New member here - new to both RC and rcuniverse.com.

I'm a Big Brother in the BBrother / BSister organization and my 'little' mentioned that RC planes was something he was interested in. I had a friend that had 2 old planes ( trainer types ) so I called him and he donated them to us. We've spent some time cleaning them up, getting new batteries, etc. and we finally got to the point where we were ready to fire the engines over. A local RC club member was kind enough to help us out; he bolted the engines down, fed them some gas and they both fired up with very little trouble. After some adjustments, they were purring like a bees nest.

One of them is an old Merco 61 ( dual glow plug ) and I was wondering how I would find out how old this thing is. I found a site that had some Merco engine history and it looks like they started producing this Mark II in '63-'64, but I don't see anything that says when they stopped making this model or if there's a way to date it. Here are two pics of the engine:

Off the plane, no muffler

Off the plane, muffler on, fired up

Any clue how to find the age on this thing?

TIA,
-BEP
       Post #: 1

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 6/1/2006 3:10:49 PM   
GoldenAge



Posts: 450
Joined: 11/27/2002
From: Va. Beach , VA, USA
Status: offline 		BEP,

Here is a website that has the info you're looking for and more!.........

http://www.iroquois.free-online.co.uk/merco/index.htm

I have the Merco .49 Mark 2 which is one well made and sweet running engine. Yours appears to be a .61 Mark 2.
Not as powerful as the newer engines of today with comparable displacement, but pretty respectable for its time. If the compression is good and the bearings aren't worn or corroded, you should have a great running engine that will give you a long service life provided you don't run it too lean!

I run Omega 10% nitro and run it on the rich side. Adding some castor oil to the fuel would help if you are going to be running the engine at full throttle a lot. Sig still sells castor, I believe. I don't add it because I do most of my flying at 1/2 throttle or less with this engine

Good luck!

Scott

Here's a pic of my .49 Mark 2...

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(in reply to bepnewt)
       Post #: 2

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 6/2/2006 3:15:28 AM   
Mike Denest



Posts: 725
Joined: 5/21/2002
From: Newark, DE, USA
Status: offline 		Merco engines were once very popular here in the U.S. along with Super Tigre and Veco. You have a good engine but remember that parts may be very hard to find unless you get them from a collector. There are a number of products available you can use to remove all that varnish build up from the castor oil. Doing so will help your engine cooling. Definitely use castor oil based fuel.

_____________________________

Mike Denest
R/C as it used to be: http://www.vintagercsociety.org

(in reply to GoldenAge)
       Post #: 3

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 6/2/2006 4:25:34 AM   
rainedave



Posts: 4590
Joined: 7/21/2005
From: Greensboro, NC, USA
Status: online 		On that Merco web site Peter Chinn stated that Ralf Brooke won the '65 World Champs with a Merco. Anyone know what the plane was? Was it his Crusader?

(in reply to Mike Denest)
       Post #: 4

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 8/9/2006 11:05:54 PM   
RHarding


 

Posts: 93
Joined: 4/9/2003
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Anyone out there know where I can get a gasket set for a Merco 61 dual plug? Also would like to get a copy of an instruction manual with a exploded view of the engine if possible. The head on my engine looks black, but someone told me it could be dark purple. Anyone know? Was it paint or anodized?

Thanks,
Richard

(in reply to bepnewt)
       Post #: 5

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 8/24/2006 1:47:58 AM   
kdc



Posts: 302
Joined: 11/21/2002
From: Shenfield, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		I would be very wary of flying a model with old radio gear. In particular black wire corrosion is likely and nicads often have one dud cell (low voltage )after disuse. Safety is paramount, so consider replacing the radio with new gear - just a cheap basic radio would be better than anything more than a few years old.
My club has had several people turn up with old radio gear which then crashed mysteriously, so we would ban any such gear now.
Also remember the Merco twin plug may be fairly valuable to a collector if undamaged. Using an old radio may crash the plane and damage the Merco.

One of the original reviews of the Merco 61 described it as the Rolls Royce of model engines!

(in reply to RHarding)
       Post #: 6

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 8/24/2006 5:41:48 AM   
Frank Schwartz


 

Posts: 157
Joined: 5/1/2002
From: Hendersonville, TN, USA
Status: offline 		I have a number of Merco engines, the 61s and also a 49...and parts.... I also have some of the newer 40 Mercos sold by Hobby Lobby and have had no luck in keeping one running...not so with the old 61s and 49. I was in London some years ago at Henry J. Nicholls hobby shop at the old 308 Holloway Road. I was having tea with him (no coffee) and someone came in and said the Merco 49's were "cooming off the line". I told Henry I wanted one and an hour later the fellow came in with it. I still have it... They were not the high speed engines with Schnuerle porting and all that, but they were well made, reliable and had decent power. I have a Senior Telemaster almost ready to go and plan to put the .49 on it...plenty of power for it.

_____________________________

Frank Schwartz

(in reply to kdc)
       Post #: 7

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 8/25/2006 3:50:28 AM   
tailskid



Posts: 5451
Joined: 11/30/2001
From: Tolleson, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		"I also have some of the newer 40 Mercos sold by Hobby Lobby and have had no luck in keeping one running.."

I too had a Merco .61 and it was my first .61...well used, but new to me. And it ran well - no problems - but that was back in the 80's!

I bought one of those .40 Mercs from HL also...sent it back a couple of times - finally used it as a paper weight. Right after that, they weren't being sold by HL....wonder why????

_____________________________

# 93 in Club Saito

(in reply to Frank Schwartz)
       Post #: 8

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 8/26/2006 11:16:35 PM   
boberos


 

Posts: 424
Joined: 4/22/2005
From: peterborough, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		I am running a twin plug Merco 61 in my Pegasus. it was made in 1969 & did not come with a muffler. So aftermarket mufflers were/are used. It is down a bit in compression but still runs reliably with 10% Omega & a 12X6 prop. Not great for RPM but has bags of torque. Nice light 61.
It's a keeper.
Bob G

(in reply to tailskid)
       Post #: 9

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 8/26/2006 11:20:07 PM   
boberos


 

Posts: 424
Joined: 4/22/2005
From: peterborough, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		By the way Bep,
Your appears to have a replacement carb.
The old ones had a wobble plate carb which I find impossible to explain or understand, but it works just fine.

(in reply to boberos)
       Post #: 10

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 10/18/2006 2:05:05 PM   
RHarding


 

Posts: 93
Joined: 4/9/2003
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Status: offline
Frank,

Do you have any gasket sets for old Merco 61 twin plug and Merco 49? Rings also? Copy of owners manuals?

Thanks,

Richard

(in reply to Frank Schwartz)
       Post #: 11

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 10/18/2006 3:38:07 PM   
CoosBayLumber


 

Posts: 2841
Joined: 1/20/2002
From: San Bernardino Calif
Status: offline 		Was at the M.E.C.O.A. site this weekend. Was a fellow there looking for parts, but also he pointed out several web sites with Merco history and model identification.

Wm.


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(in reply to RHarding)
       Post #: 12

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 7/29/2007 4:29:43 PM   
HRBrew


 

Posts: 1
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Lisbon, ME, USA
Status: offline 		Do you still have any of the old Merco .61 engines, or at least a carb? I need a replacement carb.

(in reply to Frank Schwartz)
       Post #: 13

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 7/29/2007 9:29:17 PM   
RFJ



Posts: 300
Joined: 4/20/2005
From: Belfast, IRELAND
Status: online
quote:

ORIGINAL: rainedave

On that Merco web site Peter Chinn stated that Ralf Brooke won the '65 World Champs with a Merco. Anyone know what the plane was? Was it his Crusader?



Sure was - here's a shot of Dr and Mrs Brooke taken at Ljungbyhed, Sweden in 1965.

Ray


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(in reply to rainedave)
       Post #: 14

RE: Merco 61 - carbon date it? - 7/31/2007 1:36:07 AM   
RHarding