No wonderful air-to-air shots I'm afraid.. just a few of us shoehorning a replacement starter motor into EP's engine#1. Note the high-tech lifting equipment John did the lifting.. Brian did the placement/fitting from above and I was on placement/fitting from below. We discovered a great bit of Vickers engineering strategy when taking the old one off. The starter has splines on the one end that have to mate with a respective hole in the rear of the gearbox so it can't be pushed in flush. In order to take the old one out, we found an oil feed pipe in the way.. fitted in such a way that IT wouldn't come out unless the starter motor was moved. The starter motor won't come out unless the oil feed is removed! Much swearing ensued
Anyway, enough waffle.. here are the shots (courtesy of John Downey - One-Eleven crew and UAS member - these shots due for publishing in their next issue) ;-)
It's fortunate that the museum has a 'Display' Tyne as this is where the replacement starter was 'liberated' from It's been tested electrically and functions so fingers crossed it'll work in situ ;-)
Well, that doesn't surprise me. When I came to visit I heard more swearing over making a cup of coffee than I've ever heard in running a train service! And that takes a fair selection of swear words, I can tell you!
I'd actually moved out of the way so that JohnD could take a shot.. as soon as he'd finished, I was back up on a set of steps with my arms covered in lovely Castrol98
Yup.. it doesn't look too bad in there all things considered. It's the rest of the aircraft we have a problem with
No firm dates for an engine run as yet I'm afraid. Many of the volunteers are now unvolunteering should something go wrong (fear of H&SE!) :roll: In reality.. we need to run for in excess of an hour just to burn off the fuel we have onboard :o :o
Ian..
You heard JohnT (green jumper and cream slacks) running at normal speed. You can imagine how blue the air gets when things go wrong
[quote="DaveBNo firm dates for an engine run as yet I'm afraid. Many of the volunteers are now unvolunteering should something go wrong (fear of H&SE!) :roll: In reality.. we need to run for in excess of an hour just to burn off the fuel we have onboard :o :o [/quote]
Dave I would like to try to get there for that one; so I would be very pleased if you kept me advised on dates :flying:
Yes, certainly I quoted an hour though I doubt very much we'd run for that long in one run.. exciting as it'd be for us all ;-) While they're pondering the future of engine runs for EP, with over 800gallons of fuel onboard and useage at around 80galls per 10min run (plus or minus).. we could run for an hour and still have a wee bit left. Having been responsible for tanking much of that 800gallons, I'd hate to have to detank it again :roll: Fingers crossed all goes well with the new starter and we can get something planned soon ;-)
Further to Peters' enquiry can you also let me know well in advance (if possible) when you plan to do an engine run as I would also like to come down but due to working nights and if it is on a Saturday, I need to find someone to cover my Friday night shift, a Sunday should be OK depending on what the good lady has in mind!!
Regards
NIgel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.
John did the lifting.. Brian did the placement/fitting from above and I was on placement/fitting from below. We discovered a great bit of Vickers engineering strategy when taking the old one off. The starter has splines on the one end that have to mate with a respective hole in the rear of the gearbox so it can't be pushed in flush. In order to take the old one out, we found an oil feed pipe in the way.. fitted in such a way that IT wouldn't come out unless the starter motor was moved. The starter motor won't come out unless the oil feed is removed! Much swearing ensued 
