Hi Chris,
Chuffed to bits you made it and yes.. I was on the flightdeck filming away like a good 'un
Things were not quite so rosey for the 1100 run (which was late!) as engines 1 and 4 refused to light. A subsequent bleed of both engines had 4 turning over nicely but No.1 is tight anyway and needed another go with the spanners.
We went back onboard for the 1400 run more than a little dubious as to what you guys would actually see but as 4 engines had been promised.. that was the plan. You will have noted the lack of GPU so all this was being done off the batteries and come 1400, they were more than a little tired so.. the plan was to light 2 and 3 (these go online
very easily)
then have a shot at No.1 (in order to bring the generator online). If No.1 failed again, it was unlikely there'd be enough juice left to start No.4 but it had to be tried. As it turned out.. 2 and 3 ran up (as always) smooth as silk, No.1 fired up (and the lights dimmed.. gulp!!) so we went for No.4. Bless it.. No.4 fired
and it's genny came online!!! :dance: Come the end of play.. we'd got 400v and the genny off 4 was giving us a charge of around 23.5v DC.. nothing short of
extremely pleasing
BIG sigh's of releif all round
It is testimony to the accuracy of Frasers Vanguard panel that on 'a number' of occassions, I was able to point out various switch positions/locations to the IC crew which in itself, made it an even more rewarding day for me
On a more serious note.. this will have to be the last engine run for the foreseeable future due to the fact all the remaining oil we have has a 'best before' date of 1963!!!!!!
Some of this had to be used today and even then, we had low oil pressure lamps glowing on 3 of the engines at one point. So.. if anyone out there has or knows of a supply of Castrol 98 (or it's equivalent).. you have a willing recipient. I'll be more than happy to collect
Fuel is not a problem but oil (or lack of) has now become the deciding factor as to how many future runs can be made. We
may have an opening for a 28v capable GPU but this offer (made today) may turn out similar to throwing a handful of grass up into the wind and seeing how much you can catch :roll: A GPU we can get around but lack of oil we cannot :sad:
Sri I missed you Chris as it would have been nice to have met you.. so close and yet so far e t c. I was the old looking git with a beard wearing black leather motorbike trousers. My ZX9 was parked in front of a nice silver Merc to the right of EP (as you look at it nose on)
Glad you had a nice day and thought it worth the effort. Had things gone slightly differently, perhaps only 2 engines would have been lit but the team are always mindful that guys like yourself have travelled a long way to see 4 and with some deft spanner work over lunchtime.. 4 is what you all got to see
I'm going to get hold of another lot of footage taken by one of the team (outside) and splice it into what I took onboard.. that's the plan anyway. I'll see what I can do to make a copy available for you
ATB
DaveB :tab:
Wouldn't be half as exciting if it was a pure jet with no props to watch!
