BBMF grounded

[kevmul]

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight has been grounded 'indefinitely' due to issues with the Merlin engines.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-40957271

No indication of how long they will be out of action,but with the Rhyl air show next weekend, there may be some disappointment.

Kev

[wadoki]

ALL the Merlins have,simultaneously,been deemed non-airworthy! What is going on here?

..............I suspect that some over-zealous type has taken a different view of the elf`n`safety legislation.

The Griffon powered Spits are not affected,however,all three are grounded at the moment anyway.

I blame the EU!!..........................only joking

[Deleted]

Well there's a Spit flying every day over my house at the moment - I live near Sywell. It maybe a Griffon-powered jobbie, though - I don't know, but it sounds like a Merlin. Anyway, how come the DC-3 got involved in all this? The suspicious side of my nature has me wondering whether this is, as ever, is more to do with money. I smell a domestic rodent here...

[cheshireexile]

The story also includes the quote:

Meanwhile, organisers of Biggin Hill's Festival of Flight, which is taking place this weekend, said: "The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will not appear this weekend unless we're told otherwise."

Rats, I was due to see them at Biggin over the weekend. The Lanc cancelled due it's engine problems last year as well. The B25 and swordfish had already cancelled apparently. Britishairshows.com also list a static display Sentinel as cancelled as well.

The report I post next week might not be as interesting as I expected

[ronturner]

Well there's a Spit flying every day over my house at the moment - I live near Sywell. It maybe a Griffon-powered jobbie, though - I don't know, but it sounds like a Merlin. Anyway, how come the DC-3 got involved in all this? The suspicious side of my nature has me wondering whether this is, as ever, is more to do with money. I smell a domestic rodent here

Me too! I have not seen any AD relating to the Merlin engines, and even though these are a non standard item, the number in civilian service would have justified an AD. if for example a remanufactured part was found to be defective.

I think it is more likely that the department of defence needs to save cash to pay for an XP upgrade on HMS Queen Elizabeth, or perhaps a new tablecloth for the officers' mess, or even to save up enough to pay the French next time it has to sail to Toulon for maintenance.

[robaero]

I went on a tour of the BOB flight Hangar last Thursday and the dak had an engine off, also there was mention about the grounding but nothing more was forthcoming from our tour guide. The apprentice mechanics were all servicing the C-47 but nobody was working on any Merlin engines while we were there. The Lancaster was pulled out of the Hangar as we left later on in the afternoon.

[jbmack]

I note a P51 has been displaying at the Eastbourne display maybe Packard merlins are not affected ?

[viscount]

From a thread I've just been reading on another forum, it appears that the BBMF on routine inspection of the oil in one of their Hurricane Merlin's, discovered metal fragments. Until the source within the engine of this contamination is discovered, and a detailed inspection of the oil in all their Merlin engines completed, then the fleet is grounded as safe flight cannot be guaranteed if there is any chance of faulty parts or maintenance procedures within the organisation. This does not include their airworthy Griffon powered Spitfire - it is unclear if their Packard Merlin fitted aircraft is affected or not.

It becoming clear that this is currently just a BBMF fleet safety precaution, not a UK or world-wide air safety directive inspection grounding. No doubt other Merlin engine aircraft owners are monitoring the situation though.

The origin of the metal fragments could be forensically locatable, if not a complete strip-down inspection of the affected Merlin could take some time - therefore the 'foreseeable future' grounding notice until the problem is traced and fixed.