Come the weekend some are content with the paper or footie, whilst others like me go for a blast on their sports bikes (loose motoring connection). There are however those who restore 27 litres of Rolls Royce Merlin and the odd 36.7 litre Griffon, mount them in tethered trailers and wind them up!
members.lycos.co.uk/pwgrieve/ aka MerlinV12.com
Talk about Big Boy's toys!
Absolutely wonderful, and a showcase for some superb restorative engineering too.
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"45 cylinders, 90 spark plugs, 162 valves and just short of 6000hp lined up on the disused runway at Carlisle Airport, May 2006."
Those engines are so powerful that they propelled themselves into the future!!.
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Years ago there was an automatic transmission repair specialist called John Dodd who had a car powered by a Spitfire engine and he used to rush all over Europe mending auto trans systems. Unfortunately he chose to have the car fitted with a sort of mock Rolls Royce bodywork and he fell foul of RR with regard to fitting a RR radiator grille and I never did hear the outcome of the legal row or what happened to the car. He was alleged to do utterly phenomenal speeds on the then unrestricted roads.
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I wish I had Googled this BEFORE posting the above! Idiot! There is loads of stuff, here is a link to some pictures and history. www.superjohn.f9.co.uk/thebeast.htm
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Thanks for that Cheddar.
I was sure I had read it somewhere on the site and though the search engine logs - assuming they exist - will show I tried to find it, I didn't.
Still enjoyable reading though.
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Years ago I saw an article in a car mag about John Dodd's car, had pics of it with the later non-RR grille. He relayed how he had recently done over 200mph on the Autobahn with not a lot of fuss, with the engine turning over at ridiculously low rpm! IIRC he may have taken the car to Spain with him.
As mentioned by tr7v8 in the other thread, a writer for PPC magazine is currently putting a Meteor engine in a Rover SD1.
www.ppcmag.co.uk/staffcardetail.asp?id=8
I presume he'll need a big fuel tank if the swept volume of each cylinder is 2.25 litres!
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As I've mentioned before I volunteer at a museum in Leicestershire keeping a collection of aircraft in taxying condition.
Roaring down the runway in a Victor bomber with all four Rolls Royce Conways at full chat is a great experience and satisfying when I have been involved in keeping it operational.
www.coldwarjetscollection.co.uk/
--
Was Charles {P} but someone c o p i e d my name with spaces.
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A nearish neighbour has a Merlin engine, but his is attached to the only (UK, certianly, worldwide, I think) airworthy Battle of Britain service Hurricane. You could eat your meal of the hangar floor, and he's got two Rolls Royce cars, about 1925 vintage. Google Peter Vacher for more info.
His one flies the Hurricane. My dad never thought of getting me one ....
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Chaz, on my morning drive into work (TML!) I pass the local airbase.
It gets quite interesting, as many blokes are too busy watching the planes take off and land, and there are more than a few accidents, as they don't keep their eyes on the road, and tail-end the bloke in front!
The star performer at the base is the last flying Shackleton, with the contra-rotating props, and Rolls Royce engines. Sounds beautiful as it flies over.
Oh, and this crowd are in town as well:
www.thundercity.co.za/
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The star performer at the base is the last flying Shackleton, with the contra-rotating props, and Rolls Royce engines. Sounds beautiful as it flies over.
Is this the Shakleton that was being worked on by the old Aquarium some years ago and was then moved ?
It looked most odd with concrete blocks, instead of engines, to balance it.
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The SAAF had several, and they were in service until early 90s.
Sadly, the flying hours left on the airframe of the 'working' one are all-but-up, so it will become a static display soon.
the one at the aquarium (which you could see as you drove into the waterfront complex) had to be moved back to the airbase, (where it is 'static' but neglected)due to too much vandalism.
Dragging this, kicking and screaming back to motoring, one of the blokes who works as a volunteer on the Shack engines owns and runs a Rolls Royce repair shop about half a mile from the airfield.
I often see some real 'golden oldies' parked up outside.
He doesn't need the cash from the auto business, as he is pretty comfortable - as he says, it is a labour of love.
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I agree you can't beat the sound of a Merlin engined plane flying past.
One weekend about 7 years ago, had nothing to do so went out for a drive in the Peak District with my brothers and ended up at Ladybower Reservoir. We were just walking onto the flat area of grass in front of the Derwent Dam (where they practiced with bouncing bombs in WW2) when I heard a droning aircraft noise which I could tell was WW2 era. A few seconds later the Lancaster/ Spitfire/ Hurricane of the Battle of Britain flight flew over the dam just a few hundred feet above our heads! Absolutely unbelievable but there were less than a hundred people there to witness it. I asked about it and was told they had been at an airshow and detoured on their way home. It had not been publicised because last time they did, 80000 people turned up and the roads were gridlocked for miles!
Went to a WW2 air show years ago at Duxford too, which was amazing: duxford.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conEvent.880
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Rich
Playing golf last year in the run-up to Battle of Britain Week, I had a very similar experience as the same trio flew straight down the 12th at my hilltop club, low enough for my partner and me to wave, and receive a waggle of the wingtips from all three
in acknowledgement.
Fantastic sound indeed, and we had hardly recovered from the thrill when the "Crimson Crabs" *** followed exactly the same line two minutes later!
Jack
*** "Crimson Crabs" is Fleet Air Arm speak for the Red Arrows in view of both the colour of the aircraft and the aircrew's flying suits, further to PU's reference to the RAF as CrabAir, which has itself a very long involved (and rude!)origin ....
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