Rover V8 engined Chipmunk
 

Can anybody refreash my memory on this. A brave chap was trying to get the Rover V8 (lovely engine) certified for aircraft usage. This was 10 or more years ago.

The original installation was a direct drive setup so that the V8 was only producing around 110-120 hp at 2,800 or so rpm instead of its more normal 160 hp at 4,500 (approximate figures dulled by time :D). He had plans to fit a belt drive reduction unit in the future but initially was concentrating on getting the engine approved.

The test pilot in Pilot ( the only mag available then) likened the modified Chipmunk to a mini-Spitfire.

The project seems to have faded into the past like the Phillips Speedtwin which is extremely unfortunate.

Sorry. But I flew a Chippie with a Rover gas turbine (about 100 bhp) in 1965. Basically the same engine they used as an APU in the Vulcan. It flew very well and MOD were interested because at that time Gypsy spares were becoming difficult - problem later solved when main spar fatigue halved the fleet-size. CFS felt (and I agreed with them) that the acceleration from idle rpm in event of a botched landing was too slow. A Continental or Lycoming solution was the most favoured.

I've got a hunch that it did fly, but in an Auster. I'll have to do some reading! (Any excuse)!

Spiney

The gentleman in question was Bill (?) Bonner and the Chippie was G-ARWB. Saw it at Farnborough in probably '78 or '80 and also at Shoreham. Think there was also an article about it in Air Pictorial around then. Seem to recall the name "Sapphire" connected with it and was under the impression that it was based on the Ford Granada engine, though may well be wrong. The Chippie is still around and is Gispy powered once more.

Remember reading about the gas-turbine Auster at Fairoaks, and also Viv Bellamy and his mates at Eastleigh sticking one in a Currie Wot!

Thanks all, it was Bill Bonner and I'm reasonably sure it was the Rover rather than the Ford. The Rover has a (relatively) light ally block vs the very heavy cast iron block of the Ford for pretty much the same hp.

Pity it's reverted to Gypsy power again, it looked very nice with the Rover engine. Because it has been done I would assume that it is now an approved major mod. Got to be cheaper than replacing a Gypsy that's put a rod through the block.

It was Viv Bellamy that put the Rover gas turbine in the Auster as well. From a brief article in the Auster Club mag it performed better than the Wot installation. Must have put big tanks in it though, those Rovers guzzled a lot of Avtur for the 100 or so shaft hp they produced. V. noisy to. Must have been fun to taxi to the pumps and give people the frights when filling up with Avtur instead of 100LL though :D

Hang on though, 85p/litre 100LL, 35p/litre Avtur as long as the consumption is less than 9 imp gal/hour it's a winner. Anybody selling a Rover gas turbine out there!!

I remember in the late 70's one Nigel Brendish had a Chipmunk (G-MUNK) in which he installed a Lycoming 260 GTSO. Took about a foot off the wings too!

Then went to Calais, inverted all the way, from Southend, to set up a new record across the oggin.

A couple of years later he was killed doing hairy aeros over Ipswich airfield in the same aircraft I think.

Come to think of it, the Chippie was a lovely aeroplane.

I'll defer to you superior knowledge on the Rover block! Lovely engine, I had the pleasure of driving several Rovers made in the days of real Motor Cars! Says on the CAA register that it's Gypsy powered these days, assume that it is right.

If you want to "acquire" a Rover Gas Turbine, hide until closing time with your toolbox in the Car Museum at Syon Park - there's a Rover in there with one under the bonnet - or there was twenty years ago!! Dunno what it was rated at...

Nigel Brendish was lost in an Aerobat (G-XUSA) the reasons for the hairy aerobatics is not something I should discuss on an open forum. His Lycoming Chipmunk was G-IDDY which went to the USA. Not sure what happened to G-MUNK, it was destroyed, Gypsy powered though... useful thing the G-INFO database...

Nice aeroplanes, Chippies, my dad learned to fly on them in Kenya, and I got the odd ride in the back!

Gipsy? Gypsy? Let's call the whole thing off!

Thanks for the correction in regard to the aircraft Nigel Brendish was flying when he crashed on the airfield.

I knew Nigel well. He was one of my team in the Leisure Sport days. His demise is in the public domain as per the AIB report. It is a lesson for all, especially as there are many instances of similar ilk.

However, it is sad that it happened at all, but when a life is beset with other ill fortune, as his was, it will normally take a turn for the worse.

InFinRetirement ,

One of those things not always mentioned in the version of the AAIB report I see... I never could understand why it happened, same with the P-63 - I took issue with several people over that. Life's a ****** sometimes... it's too simple to right things off as "Bloody idiot"...

Thanks

Treadders.

Flatus, you must be one of the very very few who has turbine Chipmunk time in his logbook :cool:

Apparently the Rover engined Auster is being rebuilt, what engine is going to be used I have no idea I'm afraid.

We used to run the single shaft version of the Rover on a test bed in uni many moons ago to learn how to do dyno trials etc. My main memory is that if you had the ciggie in your mouth when trying to light it on the exhaust stack (not tailpipe) your eyebrows singed!
Ingineer last week I couldn't spell it, now I are one :D :D


Back on topic, does anybody know if the Rover V8 was accepted by the CAA as an alternative to the Gypsy(Gipsy, Romany, New Age Traveller ah stuff it!)? :confused:

Re the Gypsy/Gipsy bit, by coincidence I was reading an old copy of Pilot last night (circa 1981!) and there was an article in it by Alan Bramson on the Tiger Moth - he mentions the first Gipsy Moth was powered by the Gypsy 1, then later talks about the Gipsy Major... Ah well... I'll go and make a nice cup of Gipsy Major Rosie Lee I think... The dictionary likes both versions anyway...

Confused of Purley...

Re: Lycoming 'Munks, I'm sure G-IDDY spent a little time at Barton a few years back - dark blue in colour at that time.

Plus, saw Art Scholl in a Lycoming-engined, cut-down 'munk with an Nxxxx reg many years back near Seattle. Had square cut fin/rudder too. Sadly he was lost in an accident too....

Is that Rover alloy V-8 the same as the V-8 Rover bought from General Motors in U.S.? If so, had a 1962 Buick Special (it's an automobile, not an airplane) with one. Worked pretty well (the transmission was s*&^, though) but had to be careful with the aluminium alloy block and head and head gasket so they mated together proper and sealed tight. Understand pistons and rings could cause problems if they were too hard because the cylinder bore was chemically treated for hardness, but ended up still aluminium and relatively soft. Half that engine was in smaller GM cars 10 years later and Cosworth tricked one up and got very good power from it. Not sure what the longevity was, though.

Rover Engined Chippy - wasn't that conversion done at Portsmouth aerodrome ??

Ahhh nostalgia

Iron City

You're right, the Rover V8 was based on the Buick V8 engine.

It was the Buick 215 cu in engine. The Rover engine had cast steel (?) cylinder liners which cured a lot of the cooling/piston problems. The last one I had was still going strong at 160,000 miles when the body let it down.

In an era of fiddly British engines with CB points, valve adjusments etc, the Rover V8 with it's electronic ignition and hydraulic lifters was a maintenance free wonder. Shame about the fuel consumption though!

Sounds like a candidate for an 'LPG' conversion !

Can you imagine the CAA spec for an LPG tank :eek:

It would probably be able to resist a direct hit from a large nuclear weapon and would therefore be heavier than the aircraft itself :rolleyes:

Agreed ! :D

LPG fuel sounds more like an energy density problem than a weight of the tank problem. How much energy per pound (kilo or whatever) of LPG versus 100LL? How much energy per cubic inch (or cc) of LPG at the stored temperature and pressure compared to 100LL or Jet A?

From a weight point of view the tank would likely be heavier and there would need to be pressure regulators and dehumidification for refueling but maybe you wouldn't need a fuel pump (unless you were going to run it in Antarctica or above 20,000 feet) and not sure how you would get a sample from the sumps to see if there was water contamination. Presume LPG powered would mean fuel injected so no carb ice. Land at the nearest caravan park to refuel?