C-124 Globemaster
Vince:
I knew the Aussies were still flying Lancs in the early 60's, but if I had heard this '70s story from anyone else I'd give them strange looks too.
The Merlins were just too expensive to operate. Not only the fuel burn, but they had a rated combat life of 200 hours TBO. I'm sure they would last longer just tooling around, but still way too rich for my blood. Current most common use of the Merlins probably has a TWO hour TBO - the Reno types.
Fly Merlin twins - cost'll put you on your pins.
Bill.