Even my aviation history geekery has its limits

[major_clanger]

I was pointed to this eBay listing but I think, on reflection, I'll confine myself to building this.

Comments

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

I wonder if engine 002 is out there somewhere was well...

With engines and airframe what's the prospect of getting one to fly again? And in what circumstances would it be necessary?????

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Think 'Vulcan to the Sky' and add a zero. Or two.

As for why - well, sometimes even 666 Sqn need help...

[non-trivial.livejournal.com]

It would never happen, as there's no aircraft with the paper trail that would allow certification, let alone any other documentation that was stuck on the bonfires. IIRC, XH558 (Vulcan to the Sky's aircraft) was the only Vulcan that had a full set of maintenance paperwork, having been sealed in a hangar with a full set of spares. Even then, convincing BAe to provide engineering support for the project was a non-trivial task.

[ricdavis.livejournal.com]

Could you treat it as a new build from a paperwork POV?

Alternatively, looking at the government financial situation, I'm sure a bribe would be acceptable, and might be cheap compared to the engineering work.

[quercus.livejournal.com]

That guy on eBay does offer some startling prices... Few hundred quid for a compressor stator ring. My ejector seat (MB H7, ex Phantom) he reckons at about 3-4k, with all the trimmings. Even though I tend to acquire them as bare metal and without the parachute packs, I've never had to pay over £100. I just wish I knew what (non-bang) I was sitting on right now. I think it's '50s UK, might be a Valiant rear, but I've never been able to identify it.

[non-trivial.livejournal.com]

Where do you get them from? It's always been a plan of mine to have a go at converting an old bang seat into an armchair once I have the time and the space.

Regarding the prices, they can get very silly very quickly. There was an antiques shop in Chelsea that sold a lot of aerospace-pieces-as-sculpture, and I once went in and had a chat with the owner. He said that getting hold of genuine pieces was getting harder, as the disposal regs were tightened, and that a large chunk of the cost was in labour - if you're spending hundreds of hours stripping and polishing components, then that can easily add a couple of grand to the cost. But these guys do seem very pricey.

[quercus.livejournal.com]

Bruntingthorpe, or generally anywhere close to Lincolnshire. The further from grimy hangars and the closer you get to Camden, the more the price goes up! Dig the motherlode and it's sensible. I used to get mine from Haningfield Metals in Essex, but they're increasingly just dealing with the film props people these days. It's a long hike over there for me, they're not open weekends any more, so I just don't get the chance for a pre-arranged visit as often as I'd like. Chelmsford Metals is gone now (lovely radar waveguides, from Marconi next door) and even Fred Dash is looking a bit run-down.

This is my current typing chair (keyboard's on the top floor, too far to carry the heavy stuff). I'd be interested to know what it was.

At the moment I've got a couple of Mk4 pans under conversion to armchairs, a couple of folding Wessex seats and a couple of '60s flight engineer seats. Also a pile of Tornado thrust reverser brackets - couple of foot long, solid unobtainium, look like they ought to be chair backs in a remake of Dune. I'm not really making or selling anything these days though - too busy hollowing out volcanoes to make more workshop space. I used to do mirrors from compressor stators and I know what you mean about polishing. Nearly 100 vanes per, and each one needed to be polished with a rubber gritblock on a stick. Took ages those did.

One of these days I might even finish off the Vulcan radome garden summerhouse...

[non-trivial.livejournal.com]

£2M? They're taking the mick, even if they can provide full provenance, which the initial listing seems to be a little cagey about. But then I suppose 'eccentric millionbillionaire' is pretty much your only market...

[quercus.livejournal.com]

No, that guy's market is selling them on a handshake, using eBay as a shop window.

[non-trivial.livejournal.com]

Sure, but even at a non-inflated price you're looking at the cost of a house rather than the cost of a car; how many buyers are when you're talking that kind of money?

[quercus.livejournal.com]

So you go home with one of his bargain-basement Avons instead, or even a dead-simple Palouste that you might even get running again. Still a result for him.

[non-trivial.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok - that hadn't occurred to me. How much *is* a bargain-basement Avon then? (I'm safe for the moment - no space for one!)

[quercus.livejournal.com]

Runnable gas turbines start with the Rover waterpump at £300 for a basket, £600 with gauges and ready to start. Bit more for a Palouste / Artouste which looks less like an accident in a plumbing works and is probably the simplest and most reliable to operate.

Couple of grand gets you an ex-aircraft engine that's capable of being started again (with work) and run. Thrust producing jets are a PITA as they don't like running at low thrust, but you can't hold them down if you open the fuel cocks up. Something '50s and centrifugal would be cute.

Double everything for an ex-helicopter turboshaft (i.e. shaft drive output), because now you're up against people who watch too much Scrapheap.

Avons are getting rare now post-Lightning and post PR9, and it's starting to be just the museum pieces that change hands. Haven't seen one on eBay in ages that didn't have obvious major pieces missing. Supposedly there are cheap(sic) Adours starting to appear now, post Jaguar.

[non-trivial.livejournal.com]

Although having a runnable gas turbine would be fun, I'd leave that to people with more time, space, and money than myself. What I'd like more realistically is a compressor disk or centrifugal impeller, as they're such wonderfully-shaped objects...

[quercus.livejournal.com]

I've got a few small centrifugal impellers (some small Yank APU) that I use as candlesticks. They look great, but the labyrinth seals are also razor-sharp!