Hi All,
Just came across this article courtesy of:-https://www.facebook.com/warbirdsonline/ It seems the guys have taken delivery of a cashe of engine parts/spares that will serve projects downunder :applause:
We know you want to know news about the restoration of the Bristol #Beaufighter engines. Did you know that 16 tons of Bristol Hercules spare parts arrived from New Zealand recently? This purchase has been some time in the making and is a major milestone in the restoration of several engines for the Beaufighter by Peter Brooke at Historical Aircraft Engines in Brisbane Queensland for the Bristol Beaufighter project of the HARS Aviation Museum (HARS). One of the greatest finds in the tons of spare parts has been the number of new Sleeve valves available for use in the rebuilds as these are very scarce especially in serviceable condition. Many other parts were contained in the spares holding including pistons, rings and bearings, however, there now has to be a complete stock take and inventory of the parts to determine the full extent of what has been acquired. There is no doubt however, that sufficient parts are now to hand to allow the rebuild of the Hercules engines with sufficient redundancy to allow for ongoing serviceability of a Beaufighter. Peter has recently been busy on other projects such as the rebuilding of 3 x Jacobs R-775 A2, 7 cylinder 12.4 L 300 bhp air-cooled radial engines from the replica of the famous record breaking Southern Cross Fokker FV11B of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Want to know more and see more images of the Beaufighter spare parts? Go to our news website at
Web page full article:-http://bit.ly/beaufighter
Me thinks the TFC boys may be on the phone soon….:D
Geoff.
By: Denys Jones - 5th July 2018 at 08:46
Correct Beaufighter VI and we also retained stocks ourselves of similar items plus prop components (interestingly both 3 and 4 bladers) plus heaps of assorted bearings.
Lots of AGS nuts, bolts, studs etc were kept to find use in our assorted projects.
I’d have to conclude that this aforementioned acquisition came from Dwen and for some reason was not acquired by the group returning the a/c to the UK.
By: Beaufighter VI - 4th July 2018 at 08:04
TFC purchased the Bristol tools and spares ex SafeAir/Ferrymead some time ago, included 50+ sleeves, so no shortages on that front.
By: OZFURYFAN - 4th July 2018 at 04:38
Pretty sure the Herc sleeves are shorter than the Centaurus ones, same bore size though, all these goodies are ex Freighter so late Hercules model, still great to have them saved
By: DH82EH - 4th July 2018 at 01:48
Wow!
That’s a total score!
Almost like finding a Unicorn.
Andy
By: Arabella-Cox - 3rd July 2018 at 22:46
Wow, so nice to see this stuff turning up when it was all feared scrapped years ago. I’ll presume the spares are post-war, ex-Freighter engine?
The sleeve timing changed on the Hercules (without checking, I think it was the post-100 series models) so there may not be compatability with earlier Mk’s such as the Herc XIV. XVI’s used in most Beau’s, for instance.
If they are the earlier sleeves then the Sea Fury/Centaurus boys will be very interested as they are the same, and there is a shortage. They aren’t easily manufactured so could be valuable. Just make sure there are enough left for the Bristol Freighter!
Anon.
By: Sabre VII - 3rd July 2018 at 15:26
Maybe the same place as the Bristol Freighter that recently arrived in the UK from NZ?? Looks like a Freighter prop blade there.
By: KurtB - 3rd July 2018 at 13:41
This is a BIG deal! Excellent for Beau restorations. Where did all the bits come from?
By: Brenden S - 3rd July 2018 at 12:11
Of the TFC Beau may be on it’s way down under 😉
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July 3, 2018 at 7:52 am