Thompson refueler!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: New Zealand
Age: 77
Posts: 519
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thompson refueler!
The latest addition to our aviation museum, one Thompson Brothers refueler c1948. The motor runs and it does move under it's own power!
Does anyone have any experience of these?
Thompson refueler by aardvark_akubra, on Flickr
Does anyone have any experience of these?
Thompson refueler by aardvark_akubra, on Flickr
`John the Fuel` at `The Squadron,`North Weald would know all about it.....
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: UK
Age: 76
Posts: 620
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
JH,,google `Northwealdflying services`,as a short answer for phone/email...
our aviation museum
It's the wonderful Ashburton Aviation Museum, south of Christchurch, NZ:
Home - Ashburton Aviation Museum - Ashburton Aviation Museum
I visited the museum last year on my way down to Omarama. Due to a communications mixup, I didn't meet John but I met several of his colleagues who very kindly showed me around some of the restoration areas, after I had looked at all the great aircraft on display.
However, the most impressive and totally unexpected exhibit in the museum was what confronted me when I walked into the first hangar:
Last edited by India Four Two; 17th Jul 2013 at 14:58.
Thompson refueler in the 1950s
Thought you might like this old slide of Indian "Connie" and refueler at Hong Kong in the 1950s
I had to work hard with my Nikon 5000ED scanner together with photoshop to get this result.
The original slide is a very faded shade of red , but after a lot of work I was able to restore it and was quite pleased with the result.
It very much reminds me of the old Shell "Ads" in the 1950s Flight and Aeroplane magazines , very nostalgic .
(Please note I request strict copyright on this image)
OPF
I had to work hard with my Nikon 5000ED scanner together with photoshop to get this result.
The original slide is a very faded shade of red , but after a lot of work I was able to restore it and was quite pleased with the result.
It very much reminds me of the old Shell "Ads" in the 1950s Flight and Aeroplane magazines , very nostalgic .
(Please note I request strict copyright on this image)
OPF
Last edited by Old Photo.Fanatic; 18th Jul 2013 at 10:51.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: ascot berks uk
Age: 93
Posts: 251
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
They were used for oil replenishment not petrol at LHR in the 40s and 50s, oil tanks on piston engines were large in those days they needed them as they threw and burnt oil around in large quantities
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: GB
Posts: 54
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
There is a Thompson Mobile Refuelling Unit at the Bull Creek Museum, Perth WA, built in 1938 by the Thompson Brothers (Bilston), Staffordshire, England.
Has a 4 cylinder 10 HP engine and 2 x 250 gallon tanks with a refuel rate of 18 galls per min. Marked up as 'Shell Aviation Service'. Have a picture somewhere but can't find at the moment.
Has a 4 cylinder 10 HP engine and 2 x 250 gallon tanks with a refuel rate of 18 galls per min. Marked up as 'Shell Aviation Service'. Have a picture somewhere but can't find at the moment.
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: England
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
When I've learned how to do it I'll try posting a few photos from 1960/61 when on occasion I drove a Shell Tweed (refuelling DC3s), and operated Shell hydrant fuellers at Accra (C130s on the Congo airlift) and Lungi (MEA Comet). Then there is fuelling a Dragon Rapide of Sierra Leone Airways at Bo, but the photo I never took and I've kicked myself ever since is fuelling a Dragon Rapide at Kenema, hand pump from a 44 gal drum, through a very large funnel with a super size chamois leather as suspended water filter.
