Nimrod XV232.

[Crew chief]

This sounds good....It's getting "Active" out there......

Indeed Ray things are really starting to happen we now have a few ex Nimrod guys working with us and their knowledge and experience has really boasted the teams efforts. We hope to get the bits we need to repair the nose wheel steering and we have a source of cheap fuel so taxying will be a possibility some time in the future. With the aircraft sitting on grass we can only safely run the engines at low power otherwise we will be sending sods of earth everywhere so we hope to get it moved onto a more suitable surface so we can open the taps and hear the intake howl that the Nimrod has with the Spey's at high power..

CC.

[Crew chief]

A good day today Nimrod XV232 lives, all four engines started and ran without fault. I didn't get chance to film it as I was busy doing my crew chief bit on the long lead but it has been filmed and will appear on youtube later on.

CC.

[Ray C]

Great news C-C, I lok forward to viewing the event...

[Vulcan Bomber]

excellent, any major faults??? Not bad going for how long the old girls been asleep.

[Crew chief]

excellent, any major faults??? Not bad going for how long the old girls been asleep.

In a word no VB, we had been building up to this for a while now checking and rechecking everything we need to run the aircraft safely the only thing to crop up were a few minor hydraulic leaks due to 232 lack of use. We are planning to run 232 systems on a regular basis from now on so the leaks should reduce due to her systems being pressurised and seals reinflated although they did leak a lot in service so we shall see. Next Saturday Airbase reopens at Coventry with free admission to their hanger and with a couple of quid charge to get into the shack and 232. We are planning to do a EGR on the Saturday and are hoping to give 10 people a view of the EGR from a different angle. A £25 donation secures this view on a first come first served basis.

CC.

[Crew chief]

The vid is now on Youtube

CC.

[Bovril]

[Richw_82]

Well done to all the Nimrod XV232 team!!!

To put this into perspective - the April 5th date was the target date asked of the Nimrod Preservation Group to put "some sort of life" back into the Nimrod ready for Classic Flight Coventry opening; a date given to them just before Christmas. Many (myself included) wondered if given the deterioration and lack of regular maintenance since 2010 meant it was going to be external lights and at best the APU running.

Not so. The challenge was enthusiastically taken up, met, and exceeded.

April 5th will now see two generations of Maritime Patrol aircraft live and kicking, and I for one am looking very much forward to it.

Regards,

Rich

[Cluny]

[Dougs]

Nice work well done guys

[Sploosher]

excellent stuff guys...................

Super video as usual Cluny,,,,,,,,,,,

how is the fund raising going for the new spars Rich............

must make a point of coming to see these ladies again soon............

[Crew chief]

Great vid as always Paul, it was good to see you and many thanks for your most generous donation towards the up keep of 232

CC.

[Ray C]

Superb stuff...those Shackleton props are "Mesmerising".......

[Richw_82]

Cluny, as always - excellent video.

It was a cracking day, but the Nimrod team activities were hampered slightly by fuel levels, and the fact our MR1 Shackleton nose was too close, feeling more airflow over it than it has done since it flew to Strathallen! Moving the MR1 can be sorted, but for fuel - the Nimrod guys need visitors in order to get donations and keep her running.

How to help?? Come visit! Its free to get into Coventry itself and look around, costs you less than the average pint of beer to get on board Shack or Nimrod, and you have access to them both that isn't to be found anywhere else.

how is the fund raising going for the new spars Rich............

Not too bad at present, though we may not need new ones if the inspections we have planned show no cracking or corrosion. Keep your fingers crossed!

Regards,

Rich

[Crew chief]

Hi all.

With any luck we will be running engines again on the 3rd of May and with me on the throttles it may well get rather noisy.

CC.

[Sooty655]

Hi all.

With any look we will be running engines again on the 3rd of May and with me on the throttles it may well get rather noisy.

CC.

And I can tell you from experience that the smile on those smileys is nothing compared to the grin Mark will have on his face with his hand on the throttles.

[Crew chief]

Hi all.

With any look we will be running engines again on the 3rd of May and with me on the throttles it may well get rather noisy.

CC.

And I can tell you from experience that the smile on those smileys is nothing compared to the grin Mark will have on his face with his hand on the throttles.

As we both know Eric there's nothing quite like it but running a Spey at high power is good, running an Olympus at the governor is something else.

CC.