Enginefest

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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,435

The Guy Martin thread prompts me to ask if an Enginefest has been considered? I wonder just how many engines running on trailers there are out there. The 'daddy' for me would be the RB211 (jet) and the R-3350 (piston). Merlin Pete, do you have an online diary of events you expect to attend?

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16 years 4 months

Posts: 2,094

Would love to hear a Jumo diesel engine! -if someome could please make that happen-thanks!

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15 years 10 months

Posts: 582

That's a great idea! The Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre (Near Lincoln) open Weekend is held on the 3rd/4th May 2015. There is already a ground running Jet Provost and hopefully a RR Griffon booked in so it might be nice to see what else we can gather. If any engine owners are interested then it would be great to hear from you. There is camping available all Weekend plus bar and evening entertainment on the Sunday night and BBMF fly past on both days. Likewise if any Stall holders are interested then more the merrier. Last year was a great turnout.

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16 years 2 months

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I've plans to get an engine or two running at some time in the future but with the number of projects I have on the go it won't be soon.

However, I'd like to bring a static engine or two along if an event is planned, if that would be acceptable? I have an oily R-2800 Double Wasp and a tidy R-1830 Twin Wasp with their respective propellers which I could bring.

A friend and occasional Forum contributor has rebuilt an ex-Avro 19 Cheetah with a fully restored and working undercarriage behind it, currently just being fitted to its running/transit stand. That should be ready for next year, all being well.

Anon.

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13 years 8 months

Posts: 48

Flying Legends makes a pretty good stab at an engine fest - the number and variety of running engines seems to grow every year. The engine runs there are very well attended and much appreciated by all.

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 1,270

Agreed, Flying Legends usually has the best collection, we had 7 engines in 2013.
There is also an "Enginefest" at the Halfpenny Green airfield fly-in, but I don`t know if it could work as a free-standing event, much as I would personally love to attend a show consisting solely of engines, I think it will always have to be an offshoot of an existing show.
I tried to make inroads into the 1000 engine rally in Cheshire, for stationary engines, but that came to nothing.
Lord March expressed an interest in having the Merlin at the Goodwood Revival, and I`m sure that would be a perfect venue, although it is usually a sell-out.
Forgetting the aviation connection for a moment, the Anson (not Avro!) engine museum in Cheshire, or the Internal Fire Museum in Cardigan would both be good venues too.
When the question has been raised in the past, we have got as far as suggesting it should be a central location, but that`s about it. The engines attend a whole range of events, plus the owners are naturally not always free, myself especially, and so it can be difficult to organise.
I know of at least 7 Merlins and 3 Griffons on trailers in the UK which run, plus 2 or 3 under construction, plus another 3 we are doing at work for customers to ground run, but at present, you only see 2 Merlins and 1 Griffon regularly in public.

Pete

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 1,270

Seafuryfan. I haven't posted an events list for about 10 years. It used to be simple, as there were 3 or 4 of us who used to attend the same events, but now it has diversified so much that, although we all keep in touch, and some of us meet up at Legends, I don't know who is displaying where.
I could post a list of my own events, but that would often mean just the Merlin.

What kind of truck would you mount an RB211 on?! I haven't come across any R-3350s over here, but I did a nice wartime R-2800 many years ago, the owner didn't top up the oil and it seized, a real shame.

I would like to hear a Sabre and a Jumo 211 or Jumo diesel as mentioned.

Pete

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,435

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes, probably a bit ambitious expecting the RB to be mobile, still, impressive to watch on youtube. Good luck with Metherington. austernj673. It looks like Metherington, Legends and Halfpenny Green then, for what appears to be a growth activity. Plus of course, the events where we stumble across you guys. Best wishes to all, it's really great to watch.

Member for

15 years

Posts: 1,712

Agreed, Flying Legends usually has the best collection, we had 7 engines in 2013.
There is also an "Enginefest" at the Halfpenny Green airfield fly-in, but I don`t know if it could work as a free-standing event, much as I would personally love to attend a show consisting solely of engines, I think it will always have to be an offshoot of an existing show.
I tried to make inroads into the 1000 engine rally in Cheshire, for stationary engines, but that came to nothing.
Lord March expressed an interest in having the Merlin at the Goodwood Revival, and I`m sure that would be a perfect venue, although it is usually a sell-out.
Forgetting the aviation connection for a moment, the Anson (not Avro!) engine museum in Cheshire, or the Internal Fire Museum in Cardigan would both be good venues too.
When the question has been raised in the past, we have got as far as suggesting it should be a central location, but that`s about it. The engines attend a whole range of events, plus the owners are naturally not always free, myself especially, and so it can be difficult to organise.
I know of at least 7 Merlins and 3 Griffons on trailers in the UK which run, plus 2 or 3 under construction, plus another 3 we are doing at work for customers to ground run, but at present, you only see 2 Merlins and 1 Griffon regularly in public.

Pete


That would be a brilliant venue at the Museum of internal fire. I was up there earlier in the year and the owner is a real enthusiast, I'll bet he'd be up for an enginefest if it could be arranged.

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18 years 3 months

Posts: 2,025

I would suggest Damyns Hall as a venue, (hardly central, but not far for me!) an up and coming event, who are keen to enlarge the aviation content of the show, and they love a bit of noise as well!

Member for

16 years 4 months

Posts: 2,094

Dunsfold would be good-u could hang the RB from the 747 that's already there!

Member for

13 years

Posts: 302

Just found this thread after returning from California. I help organise the Halfpenny Green events, and we have tried to have static engines running on most occasions. We would like to expand this if the interest is there.

In Napa Valley I came across a guy who has his own EngineFest, I nearly crashed the car in St,Helena, when I passed a parking lot with a VW Beetle with a 440 hp Continental radial mounted on the back. He must have a helluva lot of ballast in the boot at the front. A placard on the nearby wall said the engine drives the VW forward at a yet to be determined top speed, and also says it it the most dangerous VW in the World. I believe him. He also had a trailer mounted P & W R4430 (if I have the numbers correct, ex-B-36). There were also about ten other radials in the workshop at the back of the lot and in his garden on the other side of the railway track which ran behind that.

I don't know how to post Photos on here, but I will add an album to the Tettenhall Transport Heritage Centre's Facebook Page if anyone is interested enough to Google it

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 2,841

Would be great to see any photos you can post, Wulfie, if you work out how to do it.

The B-36 engine will be an R-4360 Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major. It's a monster. The 4360 part of the designator indicates its displacement to the nearest ten cubic inches, that makes it around a 70-litre displacement. Big!

Author and P&W engine enthusiast Graham White in the US has a running one, amongst other similar projects.

Anon.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,208

If you want to have a successful event, you need to attract people with something different. Quite frankly, one V-12 chugging away looks and sounds pretty much like another, as does one round engine to another.

I've seen some great engines running on stands, mainly in the US, that to me really had that 'wow factor' by being something different. For example, a Gnome rotary, a Liberty, an Anzani, and, most memorable of all, a V-1 pulsejet. Another memorable engine was the early jet that was run at Flying Legends about 5 years ago. I'd travel a fair way to see (and hear) things like that close-up. A bunch of Merlins, Griffons and Leonides would not provide sufficient attraction to tempt me beyond my front door. The Napier Lion that has been run at some events is very nice though!

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 2,841

I'm sure that if an Enginefest event began to catch on then this would encourage the more rarer and exotic engine types to see the light of day and hopefully run.

I think the thread is about establishing such an event, the rest following on. This happened with Newark Air Museum's Cockpit Fest; the event, at first, attracted the few cockpit owners that were about but its continuation encouraged others to follow suit, acquire cockpits and projects and for these eventually to be displayed at the event. It is now a fixture on may people's calendars and has seen a minor explosion in not only the number of cockpits doing the rounds but in a greater awareness of the hobby and it becoming a discipline in its own right.

It was certainly a stimulus to those who may not have otherwise have got around to restoring something - and increased the numbers of preserved cockpits accordingly. I'd anticipate the same happening if Engine Fest was started.

Anon

Member for

10 years 7 months

Posts: 188

Speaking as an aviation enthusiast (and a newly retired person looking for a way to go forward), could any of you engine experts give me some idea (feel free to PM me to avoid cluttering up the thread) as to the work and costs associated with an engine project?

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 2,841

I'd say the man to ask would be Merlin Pete due to his wealth of experience and expertise in the field of ground-runner engines.

For my two pennor'th; several factors will decide how much you pay and for what, when looking to acquire a (potential) ground-runner engine. In varying degrees the rarity, spares availability, general condition and completeness of a particular engine will markedly affect its acquisition price. Add to that the purpose-made trailer and instrumentation package that will be required to carry out the task safely and easily.

The type of engine you want will also affect its price. For instance, set your sights on a Napier Sabre and you might find yourself considerably out of pocket - if you find one at all (though they are rumoured to be about). Generally, there are a few time-ex'd or scrapped examples of larger radials to be found, many from the Eastern Bloc.

A V-12 you might find a little challenging. The most common are Merlins and Griffons, though as alluded to above, any more of these on the engine display circuit may not create the interest that you may desire. Start with something simple (a nice IO-360 might be nice) to gain experience and get to know people -you never know what others in the field may have stashed away. Engines like this come up on e-Bay quite often.

It never fails to amaze me though just what is out there. If the though of setting something up appeals to you, then don't set your sights on a particular engine type, just something that is a little different or under-represented on the circuit could be a broad enough brush.

Anon.

Member for

11 years 3 months

Posts: 55

These the Napa engines you mean?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]232592[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]232593[/ATTACH]
Shame they are not in the UK.

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Member for

13 years

Posts: 302

Those are the engines. If you Google Tettenhall Transport Heritage Centre and click on our Facebook Page you will see more pictures, including the P & W with a prop fitted, and the other engines he has

Member for

18 years 4 months

Posts: 241

The engine in the Beetle looks like a W-670 to me, more like 250 hp.

Member for

13 years

Posts: 302

I think the engine is actually an ex-tank engine, from what I have seen of it running on You Tube. Mike Nieman is the owner's name, and a glance at some of his engines running is very interesting, especially when the P & W 4460 backfires. The garden hosepipe he had ready hardly looked enough