BBMF - grounding of aircraft
Just heard on the news that several aircraft including the Lancaster have been grounded because of mechanical (engine ) problems ,is this the end?
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I sincerely hope not. The problem appears to be connected with the RR Merlin engines fitted to the Lancaster, Hurricane and early marks of Spitfires. (later ones had the RR Griffon Engine).
As far as i am aware the BBMF have had no accidents so it is likely that an engine has developed a fault on a test flight, or a fault has been discovered during maintenance. What is interesting is that the BBMF appear to have grounded all their Merlin engined aircraft, but the CAA have not put out a similar edict, or warning even, to the owners and operators of other Merlin engined machines.
So why does this appear to be affecting only the BBMF? They are a branch of the RAF and have always had a reputation for 1st class engineering and maintenance!.
The issue was discussed on the Jeremy Vine show between 12.00 and 1.00pm today and I have never heard such drivel in my life. One person a Vintage railway enthusiast said that all of the older aircraft should be put into Museums because like his railway engines these aircraft must be worn out by now. He obviously had no idea at the level of maintenance these machines have and the detailed inspections given to them at frequent intervals.
I suspect that this may be due to a faulty batch of materials used, and might be limited to one operator.
If the CAA issue a warning to other operators, this issue might be more extensive, but we will soon know.
TF
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The latest clarification confirms my suspicion> A fault was discovered in some planetary gears in the Merlin Engine of a Hurricane aircraft owned and managed by the BBMF. Being the RAF, and their maintenance regime is maintained to such an impeccable standard, they immediately grounded all of their aircraft using the same engine. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that the fault may exist in other engines but their regime is so tight that they will not fly them again until all engines have been checked & cleared.
There is no compulsion on other operators to follow suite. Neither is there any real likelihood of the fault being replicated in other engines. But the RAF just don't take any chances with their flagship historical flight!
These vintage aircraft will soon be in the air again! They are all maintained to a standard far exceeding that when they were new. Sadly nearly all of the accidents - worldwide, have been due to errors of judgement by the aircrew rather than faults in the aircraft themselves.
TF
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