andym Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Ok, not really Naval, but it is powered by a Meteor "borrowed" from a Cromwell ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19960892 Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordenj Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 and another clip here: http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-10-15/bluebird-flies-again/ Shame about the propshaft, as it completed a few runs at Bewl in June ....but with no publicity then as that was its first time under power in the water since renovation. 3 photos from June runs: The meteor sounds great and is connected to the prop via dog-clutch. So as soon as engine starts ... off she goes. Even with a slower pitched prop the speed at only 1500rpm is surprising. I was there on Monday manning one of the safety boats. Expect more trials once a more substantial prop is built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddy Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 So have they swapped from the original Rolls Royce 'R' type engine to a Meteor? That's one hell of a power drop....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 So have they swapped from the original Rolls Royce 'R' type engine to a Meteor? That's one hell of a power drop....... I don't think their 'R' is in running condition, or ever likely to be. Mind you, I had to find that out by Googling as their website is uninformative to say the least. I'm also not convinced about some of their technical information - a propeller speed of 9500 rpm? At that speed it would just cavitate itself to pieces. I think they mean a 3:1 gear down from crankshaft speed, not gear up! Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddy Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) I don't think their 'R' is in running condition, or ever likely to be. Mind you, I had to find that out by Googling as their website is uninformative to say the least. I'm also not convinced about some of their technical information - a propeller speed of 9500 rpm? At that speed it would just cavitate itself to pieces. I think they mean a 3:1 gear down from crankshaft speed, not gear up! Andy Nominal governed speed for a meteor is 2,550 rpm. That's a ratio of 1:3.725 to achieve 9,500 rpm, unless they've played with the govenor (or removed it completely). A reduction by 3 would give a propeller speed of 850, so by playing with the govenor it should give 900 - 950 rpm. Would that be a more suitable speed for a propeller? Wouldn't a Griffon engine be a better choice? Same displacement as an 'R', roughly the same power...... Edited October 23, 2012 by Caddy Can't spell for toffee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 I've just found that the Bluebird Supporters Club site says K4 had a gearbox reduction of 2.85:1 on a crankshaft speed of 3150 rpm. That gearbox was apparently taken out of K3. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddy Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 That's quite an increase in revs, I don't think a Merlin revs that high (I think 3,000rpm was the figure I was told by a merlin engineer). I wonder how much they've played with it to get the induction system to breathe properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 That's quite an increase in revs, I don't think a Merlin revs that high (I think 3,000rpm was the figure I was told by a merlin engineer). I wonder how much they've played with it to get the induction system to breathe properly. According to some original reports contained in the RR Meteor book published by RR Heritage Trust, the Merlin had been run up to 3,600 rpm and acheiving 1,200hp. Obviously reliability can be reduced if run at this speed , but as the vessel is a one-off speed boat and not driving a heavy transmission, then these are risks that are taken in the racing world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Don't forget that K3's original engine was a Rolls-Royce "R", not a Merlin. The "R" produced 2350 hp at 3200 rpm. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.