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BBMF Grounded!!


tonyot

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I don`t know the in`s and out`s but it appears to be a fault with the Merlin engine,...... so whether the Griffon Spit`s are serviceable and currently airworthy I`m not sure,..... here is a link;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-lincolnshire-40902497?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=59946003e4b094949457daa9%26All+Battle+of+Britain+Memorial+Flight+aircraft+grounded+after+inspection%26&ns_fee=0#post_59946003e4b094949457daa9

 

I dare say that we shall find out more soon,

Cheers

         Tony

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Thanks for the link Tony :thumbsup2: 

 

It's odd that the article says;

"affects all current and serviceable display aircraft".

 

As you point out, not all the aircraft have the Merlin :shrug: 

 

I hope they can overcome the problem and get the aircraft back to safe, airworthy condition without excessive expense or difficulty. The BBMF is a national treasure.

 

Best regards 

TonyT

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I saw a mention of this on the BBMF Facebook page,.... it was in reply to a query as to why an aircraft had not displayed recently,..... it was a rather low key comment saying that they had found a fault and were waiting for industry to comment,...... so wonder what it is?

 

Is this a BBMF only grounding or are other Merlin engined aircraft in the UK grounded too?

 

Cheers

         Tony

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29 minutes ago, TonyTiger66 said:

Thanks for the link Tony :thumbsup2: 

 

It's odd that the article says;

"affects all current and serviceable display aircraft".

 

As you point out, not all the aircraft have the Merlin :shrug: 

 

I hope they can overcome the problem and get the aircraft back to safe, airworthy condition without excessive expense or difficulty. The BBMF is a national treasure.

 

Best regards 

TonyT

Just bad reporting - they have said that their Griffon Spit will still fly.

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Just a thought. I wonder if it has anything to do with outsourced maintenance and the sourcing of parts by the contractors at "competitive" prices.

I've worked with companies who outsourced their maintenance to save money, but the subsequent requests for any repairs had to have three quotes and I was always pressured to select the cheapest. 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

darn, and they are supposed to be at Eastboune this weekend!

 

Does sound weird,   not like the Merlin is new technology,   so wonder what the problem is?

 

It's probably an incorrect assembly of some item that's been overhauled by the samr people on all of their Merlins, or some seal or gasket or similar they've used on all of their Merlin systems that they've found to have failed prematurely.

 

I highly doubt there's anything suddenly breaking on the engine core itself, but more something relatively small they've found that's nevertheless incorrect and which would be unsafe/irresponsible to fly which happens very frequently in aviation. The slightly more unusual part here is that someone has pointed out that whatever issue they've discovered is applicable to all of their Merlins.

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Could be something like..... If we were running a fleet of cars with the same engine and we found that the cylinder head gaskets were not up to the standard we would expect and they could blow, we would stop using them until the problem was fixed.

 

Cheers

 

Dick

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Is this issue just affecting the BBMF?

 

The Spits from Biggin Hill were up and about as usual yesterday so it appears their Merlins are ok. 

 

I'm going to the Biggin Hill air show this weekend and will be gutted if the Lancaster etc. can't make it, but I suppose safety must come first. 

 

If all Merlin engined aircraft are affected it might be a quiet air show!

 

As a side note, there's just been a short bit on the BBC morning news showing clips of a... Griffon Spitfire, Blenheim and Duxford's Spit Mk1s.

 

*facepalm*

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Re the latest BBc reports on Tv, clearly they used some stock footage that don't all include to BBMF aircraft. BBc producer: "Somebody, lets find some airworhty Spitfire film for the viewers..."  On the radio I heard a better report where thye quoted the Spits, Hurricanes and LAnc and said 3 of them are the Griffon Spits but also said they were unserviceable or words to that effect.

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11 hours ago, cngaero said:

Just a thought. I wonder if it has anything to do with outsourced maintenance and the sourcing of parts by the contractors at "competitive" prices.

I've worked with companies who outsourced their maintenance to save money, but the subsequent requests for any repairs had to have three quotes and I was always pressured to select the cheapest. 

 

 

 

Considering BBMF outsource to ARCo, I very much doubt that.

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1 hour ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

Considering BBMF outsource to ARCo, I very much doubt that.

Don't get me wrong on this. In no way am I suggesting that there is anything untoward with this, but all contractors and subcontractors are under tremendous pressure to come in on budget. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that somewhere along the supply chain that an option to obtain/manufacture a certain part made with material A at X cost, or material B at Y cost may have been considered.

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34 minutes ago, melvyn hiscock said:

One XIX is in deep maintenance, the other is on a 50 hour check as I understand. The problem is being investigated to see if it is likely to be occurring across all Merlins

 

Here ya go guys, posted in "Real Aviation"

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I heard from a former UK aerospace friend/enthusiast  friend to whom I sent this topic; his reply stated that there was an issue with one of the Merlin engines that was in maintenance/overhaul/ inspection by the firm that the BBMF outsources their engines to, and they wanted to make sure that the problem was isolated to the one powerplant and not the others in the fleet. Does not affect any of the Griffon-powered Spits, according to him.

Mike

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Not wishing to be selfish, but I hope it is only the BBMF aircraft. There is a display near here on Sunday which is advertised to include a Spitfire and they're a bit thin on the ground in these parts, so I was eager to see ( and hear ) one again.

 

John

Edited by Biggles87
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  • 2 weeks later...

This is from the RAF BBMF website.

 

29 August 2017

News articles by date

Following the recent pause in flying our Merlin-powered aircraft for safety reasons, OC BBMF said: “Please see below the MOD’s latest release on the subject of BBMF Merlin engines. As I hope you all know, my aim is to keep these vital and unique artefacts of Britain’s proud history in the sky forever. To do that we sometimes have to take extra precautions, with our eye sharply on continuing safety, to ensure that we can keep them flying for future generations. I thank each and every one of you who has voiced their support and shown their understanding. We will get them back into the blue as soon we can.

Lest We Forget."

The update from the MOD:

"Our investigation has confirmed an issue with a pinion gear in a Merlin engine. With the precise cause of the problem known, each pinion gear is now being inspected to confirm it meets our exacting standards, with the BBMF and industry putting all of our efforts into getting these beautiful aircraft safely back in the air as soon as possible."

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