Brooklands Aviation Day, Sunday 15th October

Andy has added his second video of the aero engine run ups.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggmvP3Faa50
mmitch.

I wonder what brought on the excessive oil consumption and starter problems… long periods of inactivity maybe?!

The oil consumption was a simple case of seals having deteriorated over time. IIRC the starters were corroding as their casings are made of something that’s pretty soft and corrosion prone. As you mentioned, standing idle is also a contributing factor but initially the plans were to keep here ‘live’ for up to two years or so. The fact that they managed to do that for 10 years (or pretty close to it) is quite a feat.

Great video of the Tigers at Brooklands Andy! Looking forward to part 2.

I’m pleased to read that. I was very excited to see photos on Facebook of the Vimy living again.

Thanks Propstrike.

I did not use a drone for this all the aerial shots were done from Gary’s helicopter, it would have been very difficult to operate the drone legally with the public around etc.

I will be editing and posting the second video soon, this one shows the aero engine runs and we were able to establish a sterile area to launch the drone and I got some great aerial shoots of the Vimy running albeit from a long way away.

Really good video, very well put together, and lots of imaginative footage, including a drone (?) and helicopter.

That strip looks bit undulating, not very flattering for smooth arrivals, but they all managed very well.

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Here’s at photo or two from the event. It was particularily good to have the mighty Vimy out and to welcome seven Tiger Moths.[ATTACH=CONFIG]256372[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]256373[/ATTACH]

Regards – J

Quite a few good photos on Facebook, good turnout, vintage gliders, and runs by Camel and Vimy!

FB

Thanks for the explanation Archer, as it’s a bit more than I was originally told. I wonder what brought on the excessive oil consumption and starter problems… long periods of inactivity maybe?!

But regardless, for a small museum such as Brooklands to run something like the Vanguard (Merchantman) must be quite a drain on resources. I guess it was good while it lasted!

Rob

Good to see the site coming back to life with aircraft landing on the grass strip. Did anyone take any photos ? Thanks

The situation with the Vanguard is a bit more complicated than that. Having performed its last flight in 1996, the team managed to keep the aircraft taxiing until 2004, when the runway was closed. After that the engines were run for a few more years but by that time they were going through oil at about the same rate as through Jet A-1. They were also running into problems with the starters on the engines and spares for this aircraft were completely non-existant by then. So unless someone can find a couple of new starters and arrange for an overhaul for one or more Tynes, running the engines is not an option I’m afraid.

I hope it’s a success, but they would get my attention more if the Vanguard was going to run its engines again. Always thought it a shame that this spectacle stopped, apparently due to a pump failure or something.

Rob