Warbird Information Exchange

There seems to be a decent population of ground running engines, mainly Merlins, Allisons, Griffins, and some radials. Most of these are from Allied aircraft. There doesn't seem to be any examples of Luftwaffe, Japanese, and Soviet powerplants for display purposes. Are we reaching a point where recent and ongoing restorations are generating enough practical knowledge and interest to inspire a hobbyist to tackle a rare engine? Or are these just too rare and expensive to attempt this? It would appear that there would be some cost reduction by using non-airworthy parts for a ground runner.

Does anyone know of any past or present efforts to create some ground running examples? (It would be nice if some video would surface of the engine runs of Fw190D-9 Yellow 10 from the past.) The restoration work done at MoteBende looks promising for a runner, but I don't know if the restoration work on the Jumo 211s and Jumo 213 were ever completed. I'm hoping soon that a Jumo 211, Jumo 213, or BMW 801 will burst into life again.

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"They done it, they done it, damned if they ain't flew." December 17, 1903

I have some engine run video of Yellow 10 from about 1990. When my video expert brother returns from a shoot in Wyoming, I'll see if I can have him edit and post it for me.

Greg

Wow! That's great!

Please do share it when you have the time. Thanks tremendously!

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"They done it, they done it, damned if they ain't flew." December 17, 1903

at least one japanese engine is currently running the pof a6m5 has an original sakai in it,the raf museum ki100 was ground run in the 90's iirc.
the fw190 white 1 will be flown with a bmw801 and at least one of the flugwerk long nose will hopfully have a jumo213 in it.
paul

I'm quite sure the Me-410 at Cosford used to perform engine runs as well (Perhaps it still does). There must be some video hiding out there somewhere.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Thanks, I forgot about the P.O.F. Sakae.

I'm anticipating the completion of White 1 and the F.H.C. Fw190s. The long-nose Dora projects (w/ original Jumo213) might take a little longer.

My question was more related to ground-running display engines, since I'm under the impression that non-airworthy parts are probably more plentiful and it may be significantly less expensive (relatively) to get a display engine up and running. There are Merlin and Allison ground runners, like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npGAiYLupJA

I admire those who take the time to get these engines running and I was wondering if or when we might see a Jumo 211, Jumo 213, BMW 801, etc.--unless it's still too costly to attempt.

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"They done it, they done it, damned if they ain't flew." December 17, 1903

The Cosford Me410 and the Fw190 I think (now at Hendon?) used to be run occasionally when they were at RAF St Athan, before Cosford opened.

I read recently that they got the Ju87 engine running when they were planning to use it in the Battle of Britain film.

Not Axis, but there are a few ground-running engienes here:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/pwgrieve/index.html

I believe they taxied the Ju 87 as well.