Here we have a collection of engines for ground running or on test for flight, from around the world. I have concentrated mainly on Merlins. There are various radial engines on similar stands used as wind-machines both for film work and for testing the structural integrity of new buildings. A large engine like a Griffon or Pratt & Whitney R2800 can inflict a 600mph wind! If you come across any more installations, particularly Rolls-Royce V12s, we would love to hear about it, you can use the link below to contact us.

Packard Merlin V1650-1 owned by prolific collector and author Graham White, Florida.

Graham Hope from Stockport is well on the way to completeing his Packard Merlin 68A from an Avro Lincoln.

A Dwight Thorne racing two-stage Packard Merlin on test. Looks like a cropped airscrew which may indicate the engines 3600 rpm rev limit.

The now disused aero engine dynamometer test cell at Ricardo, Shoreham airport with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 500 in "Ricardo blue". This picture was taken in the 1990s.

Bob Eastgate uses this genuine WW2  mobile test bed to ground run Merlins for the P51 aircraft operated by the family in Melbourne.

Another one from down under, this time a Rolls-Royce Merlin 25, ex-Mosquito on a running rig.

Christian Aegerter keeps this Griffon 58 in running order in Switzerland and occasionally runs it up at public events.

Tony Frostick in Essex has been working on this Griffon 58 for the past couple of years and is almost ready to run it, complete with contra-rotating propellers.

This Meteor Mk4B belongs to Neil Butler in Scotland. A nicely finished engine and running trailer, now on its third owner!

A museum in Ostersund, Sweden keeps this Meteor 4B in working order, the Swedish army used this engine in large numbers, including doing their own overhauls.

Allison V-1710 on a substantial military-looking trailer in New Zealand. The link below details this project from the beginning and includes a downloadable video clip.

How they used to do it! I assume they are just testing the compression or something, as there dont appear to be any brakes on the trolley, however, it certainly is intended for test running, hence the radiator. Rolls-Royce Eagle, July 1918.