The guy that had the Merlin had it gifted to him when his good friend, who owned it, died of cancer. The Merlin had a gearbox and it was for the left hand (port) wing of a Mosquito fighter bomber. They had props that rotated in opposite directions to offset the massive gyroscopic effects. As you know, the Mossie was made of wood and weighed just about nothing. The old man that died collected all sorts of stuff including Spitfire, P51 Mustang and Mossie bits and pieces. He sourced this stuff from Royal New Zealand Airforce Base Woodbourne, close to where he lived, in the 1950's and 1960's. He even had a coal fired steam train that he bought off New Zealand Railways way back when they converted to diesels. He built and designed his own home on the hills behind the town of Blenheim. About once a year he would fire up his steam train, which was on tracks underneath his house, and would drive (is that the right word?) it 20 yards or so out into the sunshine.
Of course, everyone back then thought he was an eccentric madman, but like us, he knew what he liked and he got what he wanted. If only I had as much foresight as he had. And of course the world needs more people like that.
