Guess it should read ‘Pointe Alberte’ – this is a rock formation on the Ile-de Noirmoutier.
(The only source for the location ‘Pointe Alberte’ is an official French document from 2004)
Sadly these vintage light twins do not seem to have a great longevity and this C310, which may well be G-BPIL, is now likely to go for scrapping, as is N438DD the other one currently at Bourn and stored outside.
Wicked Willip :diablo:
Or do you mean the ‘Herbitus’ plant at Munich-Milbertshofen? Long gone … ‘From 1944 onwards the BMW 003 unit was also tested in the
low-pressure chamber codenamed “Herbitus” at BMW’s Munich
plant. The Herbitus facility could simulate altitude conditions up to
11,000 metres and flying speeds of Mach 1. The pressurised chamber
of the test rig was effectively a horizontal cylinder 3.8 metres
in diameter and 8 metres in length. In order to simulate conditions
at various altitudes, fresh intake air was first compressed and then
cooled. This made it possible to achieve different atmospheric densities
and temperatures ranging from +55° Celsius to -70° Celsius.
As operation of the test facility required an extremely high energy
input of up to 30,000 kW, testing was restricted to the night hours.
In addition to testing BMW engines, the facility also conducted tests
for the company’s competitor, Junkers. Even in international terms
the Herbitus facility was a pioneering achievement. Unsurprisingly,
the Allies used the low-pressure test rig to inspect their own and
expropriated German aero engines after the war. To begin with this
testing was carried out at the BMW plant in Munich. Then in 1946
the entire test facility was dismantled and shipped to the USA.’ http://www.bmwclub.ca/IC/MT/mtl0207_01_64.pdf
Great to see the rare Heston Phoenix G-AESV (only six ever built), later impressed as X2891 and based at Hendon, survived the war until 1952 and the first public demonstration of an Arado Ar95 See V3 seaplane D-ODGY.
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