Pic of the Day

[Renegadenemo]

I'm still chuckling at it myself. You're a good sport Checkie!

I'll second that. A good sport indeed.

Anyone else would've dived for cover at the first blast of talc and, if it's any consolation, I first started laughing at John when he threw the first lot at the centre of the engine where the start turbine lives but it exhausts forwards so he got it straight back.

On a serious note, the development and testing on Saturday saw the system comfortably holding 1600psi after we'd snagged most of the leaks and reworked a component or two to squeeze in some extra o-rings. Then at 1650psi a small defect in the fitting on the left-hand bottle showed itself so that put an end to inching up the pressure but we did get the compressed air down to a reasonable temperature by going to 1500psi then blowing off 500psi to chill the bottles then topping them off again quick as you like. With denser air in the bottles and a tweak on the PRV we finally managed to match the performance set out on the old test sheets from Haywards heath in 66 for air consumption so that was a great result. We've the issue on the left-hand bottle fitting to sort and two minor leaks above the main air valve still outstanding then we'll be pushing on to 2000psi. We're not sure until we put it to the test but that ought to give us four healthy starts as long as the engine is warm for the final one. From there we can pare our requirements down as far as possible for operating purposes and hopefully end up with WP of only 1000psi and two good starts for K7's return to the lake.

[mtskull]

"This is the old engine being used to try out the systems but we might get a tune out of it just to thank it for all its self-sacrifice and let it feel the heat of combustion one last time before it goes in the skip."

You aren't really contemplating junking that engine, are you?

[Renegadenemo]

You aren't really contemplating junking that engine, are you?

It would need a bit of work to make it tip top and we already have a mint engine wrapped up and waiting so this one will likely be retired once we get all the systems up.

[ace_chris]

Could any bits be auctioned off/sold off for the Bluebird project Tea and bikkies fund..?

[wbjohn]

Quick clarification, all monies gratefully received are ploughed straight back into the project, tea and bikkies are provided by the team and if we are lucky, visitors to the workshop. Although as the festive season is nearly upon us, hampers and liquid refreshment never go a miss, only joking.

[Dangermouse]

You aren't really contemplating junking that engine, are you?

It would need a bit of work to make it tip top and we already have a mint engine wrapped up and waiting so this one will likely be retired once we get all the systems up.

Yep, but you've evidently put a lot of work into it and ended up with an engine which looks excellent even if it isn't perfect mechanically. There must be a museum who'd be interested, or auction it to a collector and put the funds back into the project?

Definitely too good to skip, even if you end up selling it off in bits!

[ace_chris]

Could the engine be run statically in K7, even if just once, then there would be some credibility in selling off '100% genuine K7 turbine blades', like how you used to sell the paint fragments? Looks like someone connected with PDS engineering in Lancashire doing something similar on Ebay. I remember Novie Dzinora purchasing said K7 mounted turbine blade at a Speed Record Club meeting a few years back.

[Renegadenemo]

Could any bits be auctioned off/sold off for the Bluebird project Tea and bikkies fund..?

We'll likely hang onto it and rebuild it as and when and build ourselves a boat to play with at records week. That looks like fun.

[klingon]

Specially if it DOESN'T sink---

[Renegadenemo]

Yes... it would be annoying if she sank again but not a showstopper. We'd soon have her back on the surface.

Getting back to the old Orph' one or two folk thought it was the original engine from the boat and were most upset that we threatened to put it in the skip. Firstly, it's NOT the old engine from the boat, that's already in the museum. Secondly, it won't end up scrapped but it may end up retired because, though it's all there, it would need some work to make it reliable as a runner and it's a question of whether we choose to tackle that work.