Navy Wings gives up on Centaurus engine, but will display Sea Fury next year.

 Mindful of three engine failures and subsequent damage (2 lost) to their Sea Furies, the historic flight have made the difficult decision to switch to the PW 2800 engine.  The news has provoked some debate, particularly from those who remain loyal to the original engine, as seen on the Navy Wings facebook page.

”We are delighted to announce that the Navy Wings engineering team are now working on returning Sea Fury FB11 VR930 to flight. Work is progressing well and we are hopeful that the aircraft will feature in the 2024 display season”

Following the emergency landing of Sea Fury T.20 VX281 in April 2021, and the aircraft’s subsequent disposal, the charity has debated the best way to proceed with Sea Fury FB11 VR930, “Having taken the advice of engineers, pilots and other heritage aviation experts, the charity has decided that in order to continue to safely fly the aircraft, we need to replace the Centaurus engine with a Pratt and Whitney R2800 engine…”

A controversial decision, sure to provoke strong comment, and recognised by ‘Navy Wings’, who said, “Clearly there are authenticity implications from taking this route so this has been a difficult decision for the charity to make. Nevertheless, we believe this to be the most responsible way of ensuring our FB11 can be enjoyed at air shows around the country. The Pratt and Whitney R2800 is a contemporary engine of the Bristol Centaurus and was used to power aircraft such as the US Navy’s Vaught F4U Corsair, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the US Airforce’s P-47 Thunderbolt. The engine remains in widespread use in the heritage aviation world, so we anticipate certain sustainability benefits in taking this option, as well as safety ones.

We are expecting delivery of the engine in October and will be working over the winter to fit it to the aircraft. This is a complex, bespoke piece of work and will also impact other parts of the aircraft such as the instruments, throttle etc. We will keep you up to date on the progress we make over the winter months.”