Wow

[pistonbroke 2]

In the 50,s / 60,s My brother and I lived close to the American air base in Burtonwood.

3 Vulcans landed there one time,when they took off the sound and noise levels where Glorious.

Made all the USA Stuff there sound punitive by comparison. " Best of British I say "( cant beat it you know )

:d

[ajpearson]

I used to live near what was De Havillands in Broughton Chester which is now BAE and doing the airbus wings. They used to have a Mosquito, I think the only flying one in the world, until it crashed quite a few years ago at another airshow in Barton 1996. The sound of that with its two merlin engines screaming at 50 ft was unbelievable. I am totally dismayed as to why this plane or a replacement has never been rebuilt it was absolutely beautiful to see it doing its circuits before the shows. They should get one into the battle of Britain Flight.

Another one I am pleased to say has been resurrected is the Vulcan, whilst on a course in Lincoln they would fly over every morning over the hotel. What a wake up call. They went on to bomb the airstrip on the Falklands.

Must be the patriotism kicking in.

Bob

The vulcan wont be flying for a while, it blew an engine on the runway last week, so i am guessing that will be out for a while

And technically they bombed the airfield, they missed the runway

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

A senior manager at one of our suppliers used to work on the Vulcans, quite high up on the avionics team IIRC; he used to cross himself everytime the restored Vulcan flew. while he loves the enthusiasm for the aircraft, he reckons the shear effort, cost and insane amount of specialised tools that had been made by the various maintenance crews to do otherwise impossible jobs means that without them all, it's just not possible to run properly and safely. He struggles to understand how they've even got it airborne, I've seen him go physically pale at the thought of how it must have been bodged together. Calls it the flying coffin now and secretly gives a prayer of thanks everytime its grounded.

[M444TTB]

You hear bad things about the funding for the Vulcan too. Definitely my fav military aircraft having seen one at an airshow in the mid-80's (when I was somewhere under 5!). It was like an earthquake. The Falklands bomb run story is legendary too. Always found the insight into the minds of the crew (in terms of it's nuclear bomber role) fascinating too.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I saw the Vulcan and an English Electric Lightning flying at one of the last airshows at RAF Abingdon in 1985. The Lightning passed at very nearly Mach 1 - noisy? You wouldn't chuckle it was!

Someone has built a replica Messerschmitt 109 and it was flying at the airshow that happens every year at Eastbourne and they staged a mock dogfight with a Spitfire...

[chazpowerslide]

There are too Mosquito replicas in production at the monemt.

That will both be airworthy.

Can't wait for that..

Miss Shilling's Orifice was a very simple technical device made to counter engine cut-out in early Spitfire and Hurricanee fighters. It was officially called the R.A.E restrictor, but was normally referred to under various names, such as Miss Tilly's Diaphragm or the Tilly orifice in reference to its inventor, Beatrice "Tilly" Shilling.

The early versions of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine came equipped with an SU carburettor. When these aeroplanes performed a negative G force manoeuvre (pitching the nose hard down), fuel was forced upwards to the top of the float chamber of the carburettor rather than into the engine, leading to loss of power. If the negative G continued, the fuel would collect in the top of the float chamber, forcing the float to the floor of the chamber. This would in turn open the needle valve to maximum, flooding the carburettor with fuel and drowning the engine with an over-rich mixture.

This would lead to a rich mixture cut-out, which could shut down the engine completely (a serious drawback in combat)

Negative G commonly occurs when manoeuvring to fire on an enemy aircraft in a dogfight. Moving the stick forward would starve the engine of fuel, producing a sudden loss of power. This would let the enemy get away, and if continued the manouver would cause the carburettor valve to open, provide far too rich a mixture and kill the engine. During the Battles of France and Britain the German fighter aircraft had fuel injected engines and therefore did not suffer from this problem as the fuel injection pumps kept the fuel at a constant pressure whatever manoeuvre were made. The German pilots could exploit this by going into a steep dive while pushing the throttle wide open, the pursuing British aircraft being left flat footed since trying to emulate the manouver would result in loss of power, or fuel flooding and engine shutdown.

The British countermeasure, a half roll so the aircraft would only be subjected to positive G as they followed German aircraft into a dive, took enough time to let the enemy escape in most instances.

Compliants from pilots led to the search for a solution. Beatrice "Tilly" Shilling, a young engineer working at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough, came up with a didarmingly simple solution. She introduced a simple flow restrictor: a small metal disc much like a plain washer. The restrictor orifice was made to just accomodate the fuel needed for maximum engine power, the setting usually used during dogfights.

While not solving the problem fully, the restrictor, along with modifications to the needle valve, permitted pilots to perform quick negative G manoeuvres without loss of engine power, removing the annoying drawback the British fighters had had in comparison to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 which was equipped with fuel injection. Miss Shilling with a small team travelled around the countryside in early 1941 fitting the restrictors, giving priority to front-line units. By March 1941 the device had been installed throughout RAF Fighter Command. The device was immensely popular with pilots, who affectionately named it 'Miss Shilling's orifice' or simply the 'Tilly orifice'.

This simple and elegant solution was only a stopgap, it did not allow inverted flight for any length of time. The problems were not finally overcome until the introduction of Bendix and later Rolls Royce pressure carburettors in 1943.

Chaz.

[ajpearson]

Some good information there Chaz

[GuitarmanUK]

My uncle used to fly Vulcans and I remember going to visit him, I think at Scampton, I can't remember, and he took us to the hanger where there were 3 Vulcans. These were his 'wing' as he was a Wing Commander at the time. I vividly remember climbing up in to the cockpit and being allowed to sit in the pilot's seat. All I remember was that I couldn't see out of the window so wondered how on earth he flew it. Mind you, I was only about 11 at the time! Very happy memories.

[chazpowerslide]

The last airworthy Mosquito along with both of it's aircrew was lost at Barton aerodrome Manchester 21-7-96.

There is a short film of the crash on You Tube that was used in the inquest if you are interested (very saddening considering both the pilot and navigator were killed instantly)

A sad loss of a uniqie aircraft and two professional dedicated airmen.

Chaz.

[s2rrr]

Good info Chaz it was BAE's plane I think and is sorely missed around the factory where it was based. Good to hear theres a couple coming on the scene, then we will be short of Merlin engines I know the mosquito was at one time using a borrowed engine as the original was under maintenance.

Bob

[pistonbroke]

We used to live within spitting distance of Burtonwood airbase , no lancs or Spits , just B29's and superfortress plus C133 C54 transports etc.

Great place to be for a young spotty faced kid, never understood why some folks complained about the "noise"

[SootySport]

I do love the sound of the Merlin engines in the morning.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Had what looked like a Dakota in Normandy landing colours do a very low fly past yesterday, not quite the same but still a stirring sight.

Have been lucky enough to see Spitfires in the air a few times and they always bring goosebumps, but was fortunate a couple of years ago to see a slow fly past by I guess, the BoB flight, a Spitfire and Huricane (I think) escorting a Lancaster we must have been working near one of the markers they were navigating by as they did a slow banked turn in formation almost around us.

Had one of those moments where you realise you've got quite emotional and just a little moist eyed! Then turn round and find that half the building site that had come out to watch too is also just the same and trying not to catch anyones eye. The whole place was buzzing for the rest of the morning.

[s2rrr]

Use to crewchange into Libya down to the mid Sahara in a Dakota, first trip out green as grass bl**dy side door opens mid flight, gosh thinks I, I'm a gonner. Driver up front, calmly walks back and shuts the door. Happens all the time he says. Ex Vietnam US pilots all barking mad one being Bat Mastertons ( famous cowboy/gunslinger) grandson. Anyhow they brought the people in and out and the homebrew ingredients as well, landing on the sand with big balloon tyres on. The Dakota was so slow the Libyan MIGs had big problems trying to shoot them down not that they would of course but the SAM7's were numerous and worrying. Always remember the local dads army having target practise on a crew change day. Firing off 19mm AAA whilst we are trying to fly home or at least to Benghazi. Keep low and GTFOOT. What steps would you take F'in big ones.

I wander.

Bob