Snowplough Schnowplough!

The SnoBlos were not towed Chris, they were pushed.

Attached to the front of a fuel bowser these machines were pushed up and down runways doing an efficient job of burning out the fuel bowser’s clutch, creating flying chunks of ice and loosening and stripping off lumps of asphalt. Fun to watch though.

Really bad pic of the one at Brunty taken years ago on a disposable 35mm camera.

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Just confiming that the one at Brunty still exists, in very poor condition now around the back of the airfield in the tree’s, I will get an up to date piccy next time I see it/dig it out.

Just a little note you might like to know, me and another once got it running back in about 1993/94, outside the hanger doors where 558 now resides, we plugged it into the bowser and ‘fettled’ with it all day, it was to put it in a word an interesting few hours, but it did run, I can vouch for that, and it wasnt that noisey.
I doubt whether anyone touched it again afterwards, as the runway sweepers are better sutied to Brunty’s needs and the problem of snow has never caused any snags.
Not sure why it was purchased in the first place :confused:

Cheers

Regarding the snowblower at Brooklands Museum, I can confirm that it came from Dunsfold and if You click on this link http://www.brooklands100.org/aviation/aviation_exhibits.htm#1

and look down the list for Aviation Related Vehicles the snowblower is listed there and a picture can be shown..

Cheer’s
GASYD

Anyone prepared to guess whether the use of a Gnat doing touch and goes to clear snow is a tall story (or not)?

There was an article on it recently in either Pilot or Today’s Pilot, I will try and find it.

Camlobe’s post rings so true of my meagre experience with RAF Techs…

Anyone prepared to guess whether the use of a Gnat doing touch and goes to clear snow is a tall story (or not)?

Snow Blower Jets

There’s a fairly intact variant of a similar type of device at the Brooklands Museum, IIRC it was donated to them by BAe Dunsfold.

Sorry no details, but I do porbably have a picture of it somewhere at home.

Paul F

Aaahhh. MRD’s. Les B’s picture brought back deeply hidden memories. MRD’s, ‘Mechanically Redundent Devices’ was one of the more printable names used. Two Derwent Mk 8 engines with the Barimetric Pressure Control Units and Accelerator Control Units removed. Mounted onto a massivly heavy steel frame. Specially shapped exhaust nozzles designed to efficiently direct the controlled flow of hot gasses at the snow and ice, thereby removing this natural hazard from Her Majesty’s runways and taxiways, allowing unhindered operation of the airfields of the Realm in the depths of winter. Yeh, right.

The nose (exhaust end) could be raised or lowered from within the cabin by operating a Nitrogen valve. This acted onto a hydraulic resorvoir which was connected to a hydraulic ram. The Nitrogen/hydraulic unit was called an ‘intensifier’. Run out of Nitrogen and you just burnt the tarmic away. In large chunks. Forgetting to turn on the Nitrogen on the externally mounted bottle was always guaranteed to ensure a p11s-take by all keen observers, as the nose would drop and not recover, trashing even more tarmac. Run he engines at over 70% and the bowser driver paniced as he started going backwards. Get a little carried away with the raw power and the sometimes massive chunks of solid ice would puncture a window hundreds of yards away. Often, there was no communication between bowser driver and MRD operator. You always knew when the bowser driver had enough. The engines would go quiet as he had the lanyard to shut off the fuel feed from the bowser (a Heath-Robinson Low Pressure **** if you prefer). Be a little ham-fisted with the throttle control (slam accel) and the whole device tried to shake itself to pieces. If you had to use a trollyacc instead of a Houchin, you would often fail to get the thing to light. And when you did, the flames out of the front (exhaust) made a Phantom in reheat look tame. The igniter units often needed a tap with a nylon faced hammer to get a response (torch igniters, not HEIU’s). The step-overs were actually containment shields should the turbine decide to let go!!

Training engine bashers to use the thing was easy. But the rules (in those days) said SNCO Electricians and Airframe were also allowed to become operators. Trying to persuade the non-engine types that the engines were old and not self-protected regularly fell on deaf ears. Good entertainment all round watching a crusty old elect or rigger Chief who knew everything about aircraft and their engines, sh1t themselves. Unrepeatable fun.

I used to know the poor welder who made up all the exhaust sets for these. I was shocked to learn that the RAF had 75 MRD’s. His comments are most definately unprintable. Although he did get promoted afterwards.

There is more, but perhaps another time.

camlobe

There’s a pic of a Polish Mig 15 sans tail being used for the same thing.

we had them at Boscombe until quite recently!

I think that a Gloster Meteor (T7?) was adapted for snow blowing at Kemble years ago and the airframe eventually ended up on a scrapyard a few miles from Long Marston.

Not seen the Bruntingthorpe one since about 2001, must have been a noisy environment to have worked in.

The SnoBlos were not towed Chris, they were pushed.

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Ahah…that would explain the position of the cab, I did wonder when I saw it
Thanks for that Les, I knew someone would come up trumps.
I never saw one working and assume from the condition that the Brunters one has never made much noise for a fair few years either.

Cheers
Chris

The MRD, Machine, Runway, Deicer. Two extremely unreliable engines mounted on a frame pushed by a bowser. Spent many a (un)happy hour fixing the damned things.

The SnoBlos were not towed Chris, they were pushed.

Attached to the front of a fuel bowser these machines were pushed up and down runways doing an efficient job of burning out the fuel bowser’s clutch, creating flying chunks of ice and loosening and stripping off lumps of asphalt. Fun to watch though.

Really bad pic of the one at Brunty taken years ago on a disposable 35mm camera.

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I think they’ve got / had a tow along snow blower at Bruntingthorpe with two RR Derwent Engines IIRC (or they could have been DH Engines even?)
Maybe someone there can clarify and post a pic?

Chris

PS..I’ve got a spare Avon if it really starts snowing heavily 😀