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By: - 28th July 2022 at 18:05 Permalink - Edited 28th July 2022 at 18:27
AA, I have been collecting photos of many of those engines, and other of the period, for years. FLIGHT’s glass plates and negatives are stored (unindexed) in a warehouse near Swindon. The owners offered me access about three years ago, but following a company merger and internal politics, they changed their mind. The people I dealt with left soon after.
If you are willing to pay, you will find many of what seek at the NAL, Farnborough. I’m sure you will know that the catalogue is available online.
By: - 28th July 2022 at 19:28 Permalink
I'll have a trawl through my pics, AA. I might possibly have one or two of those.
You're welcome to this one if any use to you- JAP J-99 on a Luton Minor -
By: - 28th July 2022 at 21:29 Permalink
Thank you, both of you, for your responses.
I don't know what the NAL fee structure is but, if it's anything like the National Archives, then the photographic reproduction fees are likely to be in excess of the fee that the article will generate. That, Oracal, has put the kibosh on more than one article that I've written!
I shall look forward, with interest, to know what is the outcome of your trawling, Mothminor.
I did approach the Shuttleworth Collection. Apparently for reasons of security, it was less than helpful. Other museums and collections may have examples of the engines in which I am interested. But as they don't provide online listings, it's difficult to know who has what and where.
By: - 28th July 2022 at 23:34 Permalink
I should be able to photograph the Tomtit that's displayed at Newark Air Museum for you tomorrow.
Here's their engine list as well: http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/aero_engine
By: - 29th July 2022 at 07:07 Permalink
AA, your Douglas engine request sounds very 1923 light aircraft comp? C F Caunter covered most of all the engines on your list in his various books about aero engines and 2-strokes. Many of the books are difficult to find these days.
By: - 29th July 2022 at 09:39 Permalink - Edited 29th July 2022 at 09:42
Thank you, Twin Otter. I'm very grateful to you for that offer. Thank you also for the hyperlink to the list of engines displayed at Newark. But at the risk of being pedantic, contrary to that which the list suggests the Tomtit was a product of Burney & Blackburne (with an e) rather than Blackburn (without an e) Aircraft.
I have to admit to being hitherto unaware, Oracal, of C.F.Caunter's engine series of small/light aero engine books, published by Pitman in the thirties. So thank you for drawing those to my attention. I am aware of Brian Thornby's book on Douglas aero engines and Alec Lumsden's book on British piston aero engines, both of which are sitting on my desk at present.
As may be evident, what interests me, and what is the focus of my article, are light aero engines derived from or produced by companies that manufactured motorcycles and/or motorcycle engines. Period photographs of these are relatively easy to find. In many cases, survivors are rare and recent photographs of these are what interest me most.
By: - 29th July 2022 at 10:35 Permalink
I'm afraid I've drawn a blank, AA. My Flying Squirrel photos are of the Scott variety and my memory of having an ABC of some sort was correct but it is indeed fitted to a motorcycle!
Brian Thornby is a member of the forum (engineman) though I have not seen him on here for a while. If he still looks in he may take an interest in your thread.
By: - 29th July 2022 at 11:48 Permalink - Edited 29th July 2022 at 12:00
Thank you, Mothminor, for taking the trouble to go through your photographs. I've sent you an e-mail (I had your e-mail address from our exchange of messages some two years ago) about the J-99 in the Luton Minor.
Curiously, where I'm off to on Sunday - to gather material for another article - there are two UK based Flying Squirrels, of the two wheel variety, registered as entries. Sadly there are no ABC or ABC powered motorcycles on the entry list.
Staying with Flying Squirrels, but of the aero engine variety, am I correct in recollecting that there is/was one in the Yorkshire Air Museum, at Elvington, attached to a Pou du Ciel? If so, I think that it was Blue_2's 'baby'.
Finally if engineman is still about on this forum, I'd be glad to make contact with him.
By: - 29th July 2022 at 11:55 Permalink
AA, can I draw your attention to the RAE Interdepartmental Report E 2264 of October 1923? The report gives good reasons why converting motor cycle engines to aircraft use didn’t work at Lympne 1923. Can’t recall if I obtained my copy from FAST or TNA.
By: - 29th July 2022 at 12:03 Permalink
Thank you, Oracal, but I'm rather a long way from both institutions!
By: - 29th July 2022 at 16:04 Permalink
Staying with Flying Squirrels, but of the aero engine variety, am I correct in recollecting that there is/was one in the Yorkshire Air Museum, at Elvington, attached to a Pou du Ciel? If so, I think that it was Blue_2's 'baby'.
You are correct, AA. I first saw G-AEJZ back in 2016 when the fuselage was separate from the wings and it was tucked amongst other larger exhibits and looking a little neglected. At our last visit to the museum in 2019 it was good to see it had been moved into a room dedicated to early aviation (along with the Blackburn B.2 fuselage) and it was complete and looking in really fine condition. If it is Blue_2's "baby" then congratulations to him on looking after the Flea so well!
By: - 29th July 2022 at 16:07 Permalink
Anzani at Hooton Park
By: - 29th July 2022 at 19:42 Permalink
Evening avion ancien - I have taken some photos for you at Newark - send an email to admin (AT) newarkairmuseum.org and I will forward them on to you. I don't think that the PMs work on here!
I photographed the Tomtit and the neighbouring Squirrel on the Flea!
Pleased to report the exhibit signage was spelt correctly and the website text has also been corrected.
By: - 29th July 2022 at 21:01 Permalink - Edited 29th July 2022 at 21:02
Thank you, Twin Otter, the e-mail has been sent.
Terry Parker, thank you for uploading the images of the Anzani and the Scorpion. Unfortunately, perhaps because of the way in which this website is formatted, they appear as webp images which are, effectively, unuseable externally by me. I would have sent you a PM but, presumably because of your low post count, this facility is not yet available to you. Thus if you have an e-mail address, and are willing to post that here, perhaps we can make contact outside the forum. If not, I'll have to wait until your post count is high enough to use the PM service!
Mothminor, would I be correct in thinking that the B.2 fuselage at Elvington is that of G-ACBH, the one that spent decades in the branches of a tree in Dixon's scrapyard at Ramsden Heath, Essex?
By: - 29th July 2022 at 21:49 Permalink
You have emails avion ancien!
By: - 30th July 2022 at 08:08 Permalink
Mothminor, would I be correct in thinking that the B.2 fuselage at Elvington is that of G-ACBH, the one that spent decades in the branches of a tree in Dixon's scrapyard at Ramsden Heath, Essex?
It is indeed, AA. It's quite a survivor!
By: - 30th July 2022 at 14:18 Permalink
Finally if engineman is still about on this forum, I'd be glad to make contact with him.
I'd like to make contact with engineman (Brian Thornby) but I can't send him a PM because, it seems, the only way to 'initiate a conversation' is by clicking on the icon alongside a post made by a forum member - and I can't find any posts by engineman (the forum search facility is of no help in this connection - searching against his user name generates a nil response) to enable me to do so. So can anyone provide a link to a post by him or, better still, supply me with an e-mail address for him?
AA
By: - 30th July 2022 at 16:12 Permalink
Here you go with a link, AA. Good luck. We met engineman once at Montrose Air Station Heritage Museum but I believe he ceased working there a few years ago unfortunately.
https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/133464-1914-renault-70hp-v…
By: - 30th July 2022 at 17:11 Permalink
Thank you, MM. I don't know how you did it. Probably, if you told me, you'd have to shoot me! I'll try to make contact with Brian Thornby via the forum's PM system.
Posts: 5,927
By: avion ancien - 28th July 2022 at 17:01 - Edited 29th July 2022 at 11:38
In order to illustrate an article I am writing, does anyone have, and are willing to entrust to me, any relatively recent (by which I mean, say, taken in the last fifty years) photographs of the following aero engines:
ABC
Aero Syndicate
Anzani
Bacher & Hellow
Blackburne
Douglas
Green
Levis
J A Prestwich
Saroléa
Scott
I appreciate that it is likely that examples of many of the engines listed probably are not now extant. But because, unlike vintage aircraft, there is not, to the best of my knowledge, a comprehensive and reliable list of 'vintage aero engine survivors', it seems sensible for me to ask - even if it is more in hope that expectation!
I am not troubled whether photographs show the engine mounted on an airframe or dismounted, but if the former then they need to be with the engine cowlings open or removed in order to show the engine because it is the engines, and not the aircraft, which are the focus of my article.
I am not looking for period photographs of engines or photographs from copyright sources. Naturally any photographs that I use to illustrate the article will be appropriately credited.
The reason why I am making this request through this medium is that I am not now UK resident, and visit the country infrequently, and most of these engines either are or are likely to be in the UK.
Finally I offer my thanks in anticipation of assistance from forum members.