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Post by Radialicious on Jan 6, 2009 22:34:32 GMT 12
Happy New Year guys. It's a bit of a busy start to the year with old engines etc at Omaka. A friend of mine has been in touch tonight and has offered me access to a couple of Bristol Hercs in his possession. One is a basic engine on a pallet that has already been stripped of a few parts. It does however have a full set of sleeves that may be in better shape than my own ones. To get to these ones however, I need to do the same to it as I am doing to my own engine. It might be slow going! His other engine is a complete and untampered with QEC. There is a good chance that it doesn't need a great deal of work to get it running on a steel frame. We are going to have a look at it closely soon and work out a battle plan to see if it is feasible.
Bring it!
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Post by corsair67 on Jan 7, 2009 11:48:23 GMT 12
That is great news about the engines, Al. How many of these engines are still lying around out there?
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Post by Radialicious on Jan 7, 2009 21:44:16 GMT 12
My girls....
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Post by Radialicious on Jan 7, 2009 22:19:38 GMT 12
Hey Craig, it's hard to say. However, since I needed to look for an oil pump for the STBD Herc, I have seen four Bristol Hercules in sheds within 20 km of Omaka. The Hercules is like the Cheetah engine from the Oxford. When a fleet is disposed of locally, much of the interesting bits stay local. I am the happy owner of one of each!!!
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Post by Radialicious on Jan 12, 2009 21:09:06 GMT 12
I spent a bit of time on Sunday doing a recce on a couple of engines that I have seen in sheds in Marlborough. The first is a possible source of cylinder sleeves and is in pretty good shape. The next was a complete QEC. I wanted to get a feel for her internal condition with a view to getting her running sooner rather than later. I put an old propeller spider and a tractor axle onto the prop shaft. Sadly, she wouldn't budge..... Not yet.
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Post by baz62 on Jan 13, 2009 14:34:17 GMT 12
Nice! Say Al I'm taking a week off work the 26th-30th and am seriously considering coming up to Blenheim firstly to check out the Omaka Museum and of course see CPT in the flesh (again). Any chance you might be around at all? (No worries if you are busy) Cheers Baz
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802gwr
Warrant Officer
Posts: 30
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Post by 802gwr on Jan 15, 2009 10:51:22 GMT 12
We have sleeves, cylinders and heads that were removed from zero time 264's that will fit 735's. l could also find you an oil pump. All for free if you want ! Just a matter of getting them from here to you.
Paul
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Post by Radialicious on Jan 16, 2009 8:37:30 GMT 12
Paul, that is great news. Sleeves are going to be the sticking point of this project (literally). Thank you very much! I have your E-mail and will get in touch after I get back from an overnight duty today and tomorrow.
Thanks again, Al
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Post by woodinhead on Jan 16, 2009 19:16:10 GMT 12
Hi Al, When I was a boy my Father who was in the Airforce was posted to Singapore, (1957) we went by Handley Page Hastings; the first time I had ever flown, I loved it from the first moment. The seats faced backwards, a throwback from the RAF I believe, four Bristol type sleeve valve engines, same as the freighter; it was the biggest tail dragger you ever saw. The trip took 3 days with over nights at Brisbane and Darwin. Later when I joined the Airforce, I once went for a “jolly” in a freighter on a test flight, Hopefully I will make it to the Omaka at Easter to hear those wonderful radials once again.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 16, 2009 19:47:59 GMT 12
The reason that in military transports the seats face backwards is because in a crash impact that is by far much safer than forward facing seats. I don't know why civil aircraft never adopted it.
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Post by FlyingKiwi on Jan 16, 2009 23:01:35 GMT 12
I think facing backwards makes motion sickness worse, and probably airsickness as well, although I'm speculating. Some GA aircraft have rear facing seats, such as the Baron and Seneca.
Edit - Only two of the passenger seats face backwards of course, not all of them.
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Post by lumpy on Jan 16, 2009 23:21:46 GMT 12
Yes , facing backwards is just asking for trouble in turms of motion sickness . ( try riding in the back of a Limo for a couple of hours -you will be lucky to get through the mini bar ) .Its probabaly fine for longer flights , with a view of clouds , but all wrong otherwise .
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 17, 2009 8:00:44 GMT 12
I never felt any worse travelling backwards in an Andover, and I hadn't heard abot the motion sickness problem before. It certainly feels very odd taking off but in level flight it's no different than sitting on a train with rare facing seats (many have them facing both ways).
The idea of being safer is in an impact you're thrust back into your seat cushion rather than foreward onto your tray or the hard seat back in front, smashing your face I guess. Also in a high impact the seats often dislodge and all fly foreward, concateenering (sp?). You're better off with your head up and out of that than down in a amongst the squish. This business they tell you in airliners to put your head between your knees in an imminent crash is not supposed to save your life by the way, it's so the air crash investigators are able to identify your body using your teeth, they're no good to them all smashed up. Sick but true.
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Post by lumpy on Jan 17, 2009 8:20:30 GMT 12
I hadnt heard that Dave , but surely if putting your head between your knees stops smashing your teeth , then it would also reduce other head injuries that might occour at the same time . I thought it was to stop your upper body from gaining momentum in a sudden stop , a bit like pretensioning seat belts - its the sudden stop after your body has gained momentum that hurts .
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Post by woodinhead on Jan 17, 2009 9:15:52 GMT 12
Please excuse slightly non aeronautical I enjoy the sound of unusual engines, another eccentric British type from the same era is the Commer TS3 (knocker) engine, 3 cylinder 6 piston 2 stroke, it has ports for the exhaust, and the pistons are apposed in the same cylinder and move apart when the cylinder fires, there is one crankshaft attached to the pistons by rockers Here is a link to one on you tube
And another
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Post by b10m on Jan 17, 2009 16:48:38 GMT 12
That first link is I think, a Knocker Commer that has been repowered, possibly by a GM 6v53. which was a popular repower. The knocker motor never moved them that quick or sounded like that.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 17, 2009 17:24:11 GMT 12
I hadnt heard that Dave , but surely if putting your head between your knees stops smashing your teeth , then it would also reduce other head injuries that might occour at the same time . I thought it was to stop your upper body from gaining momentum in a sudden stop , a bit like pretensioning seat belts - its the sudden stop after your body has gained momentum that hurts . That probably also comes into it of course, but I first heard the reasons for the backwards military seats and the head in lap to preserve teeth when I was in the RNZAF (I haven't the faintest idea who from now but they muit have seemed convincing as I believed it) and the head in lap thing has been confirmed later when I saw a TV programme on air crash investigations mention that dental preservation is the No. 1 purpose of the head in lap. i note tonight a passenger onboard the 'Miracle of the Hudson' A320 yesterday said almost everyone didn't put their heads in their laps and were instead watching out the windows. Sorry about the huge thread drift Al. I hink it is great how this thread keeps coming up with interesting debate and discussion and as - at the top of the page - the excellent connections where people are willingly giving parts and other such help to the project. It's fantastic.
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Post by sleemanj on Jan 17, 2009 17:56:09 GMT 12
That probably also comes into it of course, but I first heard the reasons for the backwards military seats and the head in lap to preserve teeth when I was in the RNZAF Mythbusters did a show on the Brace Position and I think backwards seats are in it too. www.tv-links.eu/show_link.php?data=MTgwMDc=
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Post by Bruce on Jan 17, 2009 20:22:16 GMT 12
Rearward facing seats improve survivability in that deceleration loads are distributed by the seat back evenly over the body, rather than everything going into the seatbelt - trying to cut you in half. Biggest risk of rear facing seats is unrestrained cabin items hitting you in the face. US and european military forces did a lot of research on comparitive safety of seating layouts - I guess on the basis that it doesnt matter if you crash on arrival, so long as you can get out and fight! Civil operators have resisted the idea due to passenger perception issues - the military operators havent had to many airsickness issues in all the years they have been using it (although facing rearwards in a taildragger on takeoff would be odd!). Worth noting that many trains and buses have rear - facing seats and the general public dont have problems accepting that.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 17, 2009 23:48:17 GMT 12
You'll also note in some airliners the cabin crew's seat faces backwards too.
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