A new type on me the wonderful Heston Napier Racer- 2400hp and 480mph in 1940…!

If I remember rightly, the late John Jordan was involved in the Wallace project. Is the fuselage not on display at Old Warden?

Ben. If you want to hear what the Heston racer might have sounded like, try this link. Pure music!!

http://tempest.nerdnet.nl/tempest.wav

And from Flightglobal, this stunning cutaway:

http://www.flightglobalimages.com/heston-napier_racer_cutaway_drawing/print/1570921.html

Yes the fuselage frame & tail feathers are at OW, & have been on display there for a number of years.
I wish that Skysport had been able to find a backer for the Racer, they would have made a fantastic job of her, & what a sight “& sound” she would have made.

Bob T.

Great stuff, thanks guys!

Happy New Year

TT

The Heston Airport Yahoo Group has some mag extracts from AM and Fana on file about the Racer [email]HestonAirport-subscribe@yahoogroups.com[/email]

Good grief! Of all the noises I expected the Sabre to make, that isn’t any of them! The only thing I can think of to compare it with is the vacuum cleaner note of the Tucano… I was expecting something much more like the the Macchi seaplane that JDK provided a link to a while back. How bizarre!

Do I recall reading somewhere that the final test on the bench for every Sabre was ten HOURS at full hun-on-my-backside emergency boost? If so. some piece of kit…

Adrian

If I remember rightly, the late John Jordan was involved in the Wallace project. Is the fuselage not on display at Old Warden?

Ben. If you want to hear what the Heston racer might have sounded like, try this link. Pure music!!

http://tempest.nerdnet.nl/tempest.wav

And from Flightglobal, this stunning cutaway:

http://www.flightglobalimages.com/heston-napier_racer_cutaway_drawing/print/1570921.html

Didnt the same thing happen with there Westland Wallace and DH2 project! No one to fund them.

Dave

I think that is the same fate that befell the DH2, if memory serves me correctly, the Wallace was being sponsored by a TV/film company who now seem to have had a change of heart “mores the pity”.

The Napier powered racer would have been a wonderful sight if she had been built.

Bob T.

Didnt the same thing happen with there Westland Wallace and DH2 project! No one to fund them.

Dave

Didn’t Skysport look into building one some years ago!

Happy Christmas

Dave

Yes they did, but unfortunately they couldn’t find any one to fund the project, I believe the same thing happened to the Miles Hawk rep they talked about.

If they had built it, it would have been a totally new design as they did not have the drawings for it, only some design specs etc.

bob T.

This one comes up here from time to time – see http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=24390 and http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=73288.

Iirc, Skysport were scuppered by funding (and/or engine issues) but they did plan to use a Sabre (no doubt someone will be along in a moment to prove me entirely wrong!)

It must be one of the great “what ifs” of British Aviation.

Hear Hear to that !!!!

One of those aircraft you’d expect to be made entirely of metal but wasn’t. To my mind the deH 91 Albatross and Lockheed Vega fall into that same class.

Planemike

Potentially a great aeroplane but lousy timing and an unfortunate end to the first flight put paid to any chances of ever finding out what the Racer would have been able to acheive. It must be one of the great “what ifs” of British Aviation.
Anyone any idea what happened to the Skysport project? I seem to remember reading that it had been “put on the backburner” a long time ago. I would imagine that it would be difficult to find a suitable engine to replace the Sabre but is it ever likely to see the light of day or has it been abandoned altogether?

Didn’t Skysport look into building one some years ago!

Happy Christmas

Dave

Yes

Didn’t Skysport look into building one some years ago!

Happy Christmas

Dave