Loctite of the ages
- Thread starter vibrac
- Start date
- Status
Tony won't ride with me in the Mini, he says he made that decision the second time we were airborne within about 10 seconds!
When I first joined this club someone mentioned they had just seen Robert in a mini. I really wondered what kind of club I had joined up with.
I just didn't think he had the legs for it.
Glen
I just didn't think he had the legs for it.
Glen
My brother always told me I had lovely girls legs, but I won't go there.
Loads of British machinery when I grew up in NZ, half the cars I worked on were British. On weekends i'd spend some of my time at a local museum MOTAT (museum of transport and technology) where we had a small group of volunteers playing with a Lancaster bomber........every now and then, we would start up the two inboard engines and taxi it around.......The youngest member use to get up on the nose turret and have a lovely time rotating it back and fourth, up and down.......the smile on his face was a classic.
And just for the moderators.... We are waiting for that same smile on Tim's face!
Greg,
your story reminded me of just that situation at MOTAT. I worked all of 1982 in Auckland, a work mate from my former company too and we had a flat in Asquith Ave. not far from MOTAT. When we studied all of that Lancaster which had sort of maintenance or restauration done outside and I was standing under the wing looking at the open engine compartment suddenly the starter engaged and the Merlin roared into life a few meters from me . This came as a shock to me never thinking that engine was able to run !
Twenty years later, back in Bavaria, we, Helga and myself each had a half hours ride in a Mustang over the Swiss mountains, over the Aletsch glacier , a looping there and two rolls later, last one over the Vierwaldstätter lake. Man, we were green in the faces, extremely short from vo****** but it was heavenly ! In fact, that flight was the first one with a single engine prop aircraft for us, should have had some flights before to enjoy the Mustang a bit more without getting airsick so much . About three years later we did the pilots licence and got the radial engined Yak 18 T soon after.
Vic
your story reminded me of just that situation at MOTAT. I worked all of 1982 in Auckland, a work mate from my former company too and we had a flat in Asquith Ave. not far from MOTAT. When we studied all of that Lancaster which had sort of maintenance or restauration done outside and I was standing under the wing looking at the open engine compartment suddenly the starter engaged and the Merlin roared into life a few meters from me . This came as a shock to me never thinking that engine was able to run !
Twenty years later, back in Bavaria, we, Helga and myself each had a half hours ride in a Mustang over the Swiss mountains, over the Aletsch glacier , a looping there and two rolls later, last one over the Vierwaldstätter lake. Man, we were green in the faces, extremely short from vo****** but it was heavenly ! In fact, that flight was the first one with a single engine prop aircraft for us, should have had some flights before to enjoy the Mustang a bit more without getting airsick so much . About three years later we did the pilots licence and got the radial engined Yak 18 T soon after.
Vic
Last edited:
We had three Spifires over a few days ago, based in Hull they were doing a flyover around the regions hospitals, so West as far as Barnsley, South past Chesterfield, East across Lincolnshire and back North to Hull.
Many many years ago I had been to Brands Hatch to a classic meeting and on the way back stopped at Duxford, they were having a Spitfire fly in day, there were about a dozen zipping in and out, magic.
Last year another member of the Brough club was desperate for a mag bevel drive gear for his 11-50, I had a new spare and sent it to him, we got to exchanging emails, turns out he's the pilot of the Red Bull Flyers P38 Lightening, WHAT A JOB.
Many many years ago I had been to Brands Hatch to a classic meeting and on the way back stopped at Duxford, they were having a Spitfire fly in day, there were about a dozen zipping in and out, magic.
Last year another member of the Brough club was desperate for a mag bevel drive gear for his 11-50, I had a new spare and sent it to him, we got to exchanging emails, turns out he's the pilot of the Red Bull Flyers P38 Lightening, WHAT A JOB.
Last edited:
The P 38, one of the best looking aircraft of WW2........ Initially a bit dismal when first used in the UK, as they had no cabin heating, and due to patent issues......General Electric refused to supply Alison with Turbocharges for the engines and thus they were very under powered. Interestingly, Rolls Royce were so caught up with mechanical supercharging that they dismissed the concept of turbocharging unlike the Americans who's planes used them most widely. Rolls Royce claimed that the later Merlin's created approximately 150 Lb's of rearward thrust from their ejector exhaust stubs.......Even if this was so, the benefit of a turbocharger with hindsight might not have been a bad idea. My father grew up in North London, and he can remember the difference from the allied planes verses the German planes from the sound of their engines........Most all the German aircraft having much bigger capacity engines over the "smaller Merlin" and thus lower revving. Back in 96 at an air show in the South Island in NZ, I got to hear the difference myself, when Mark and Ray Hanna where flying in a Mk 16 Spitfire and a "G" model ME 109.........a sight and sound I'll never forget.........Sadly both father and son no longer with us........Aside from working on our Vin's full time, my other wish list if I had a choice would be working on these type of aircraft.......They are an engineering masterpiece.
It was suggested that the P38 Lightning should be tried out with Merlins but, as the plane used a lot of Allison engines, the response from Allisons was not favourable so the idea was dropped. Similarly, the idea of the Westland Whirlwind fitted with Merlins was put forward but it would have meant too much re-development at a time when all efforts were going into building Hurricanes and Spitfires. Cheers, Stu.
- Status