XH558 Vulcan Engine Failure — Military Forum

Sponsor Message:


My Starred Topics \| Profile \| New Topic \| Forum Index \| Help \| Search

XH558 Vulcan Engine Failure

dc10bhx From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 199 posts, RR: 0
Posted (11 months 3 weeks 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 5391 times:

I have just received an e-mail from Vulcan to the Sky (VTTS) advising that XH558 suffered damage to two of her engines during an aborted take-off run yesterday.

The text of the message states:

"As most of you will now be aware, XH558 experienced damage to two of her engines during an aborted take-off run at Robin Hood Airport yesterday.

Our next issue of NEWSBYTES will now be tomorrow, Wednesday 30th May.

This will give us sufficient time to collate the findings of our investigation so far, and to commence the recovery process, in order to give our supporters a more accurate review of the situation. "

Sad news to hear this close to the Airshow season.

I hope the funds are there to remedy whatever damage MAY have been caused to this fantastic piece of flying history.

Should I hear anything further I shall re-post.

I'm lucky my job is my hobby

15 replies: All unread, jump to last

n901wa From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 382 posts, RR: 0
Reply 1, posted (11 months 3 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 5333 times:

Very Sad News. I was planing to see XH558 fly this year, but sounds like it might be the end of her Airshow season. I hope they can recover, and the Damage is not that Bad.

ZANL188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3246 posts, RR: 0
Reply 2, posted (11 months 3 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 5329 times:

Support Airliners.net - become a First Class Member!

My understanding has been that XH558 would only remain airworthy as long as the existing engines had hours remaining & were serviceable. Does this incident mean XH558s flying days are over?

Not a good weekend for warbird bombers with this & Diamond 'Lil suffering a nose gear collapse.....

Legal considerations provided by: Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe

MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10241 posts, RR: 40
Reply 3, posted (11 months 3 weeks 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 5267 times:

I hope something can be done by XH558 engineering team so she can recoop her Olympus engines and fly again during air show season and beyond.

There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde

ptrjong From Netherlands, joined Mar 2005, 3766 posts, RR: 20
Reply 4, posted (11 months 3 weeks 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 5184 times:

As much as I loved to see the Vulcan fly at Volkel in 2009, I think she's just too expensive to keep up.

The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad (Salvador Dali)

MD11Engineer From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 13333 posts, RR: 64
Reply 5, posted (11 months 3 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 5127 times:

AFAIK the owners have managed to get hold of several spare engines. Changing two engines shouldn´t take more than two days.

Jan

MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10241 posts, RR: 40
Reply 6, posted (11 months 3 weeks 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 4979 times:

The Vulcan has engine problems...Bird ingestion seems likely...Quote
Tuesday May 29th
The failure occurred in the two port side engines (1 & 2) on the ground as the aircraft was easing towards full power at the start of her take-off roll. She is now back in her hangar where the technical team will investigate the problem. Our initial thought is that the symptoms are very much like those experienced when something is ingested by an engine so we will be investigating all possible sources. We would like to thank Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield (RHADS) for their immediate assistance and professionalism yesterday.

Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 5):
AFAIK the owners have managed to get hold of several spare engines. Changing two engines shouldn´t take more than two days.
Jan

Would be wonderful. 'G_d' save XH558! May she fly many more years!

There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde

RubberJungle From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2010, 287 posts, RR: 0
Reply 7, posted (11 months 3 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 4747 times:

Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 6):
Bird ingestion seems likely

Not bird ingestion.

Ingestion of silica dessicant bags by No 1 engine, failure of compressor blades, contamination failure of No 2.

Since it's unlikely that silica bags were scooped up during the taxiing, it sounds like they were left in the intakes. Oops.

MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10241 posts, RR: 40
Reply 8, posted (11 months 3 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 4742 times:

Quoting RubberJungle (Reply 7):
Not bird ingestion.

Ingestion of silica dessicant bags by No 1 engine, failure of compressor blades, contamination failure of No 2.

I had the wrong information.

Whatever the cause, I hope the engines will be replaced with the spares. It will be a long time as they will have to replace and then re-test with the spares.

I hope we will see XH558 take back to the Skies without anymore incidents maybe not soon, but better they take all the needed time and do it all properly and keep her flying for a long while.

I trust she will be back and we will hear the roar of her 4 Olympii again and cheer her when she flies!!!!

There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde

MD11Engineer From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 13333 posts, RR: 64
Reply 9, posted (11 months 3 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 4738 times:

Quoting RubberJungle (Reply 7):
Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 6):
Bird ingestion seems likely

Not bird ingestion.

Ingestion of silica dessicant bags by No 1 engine, failure of compressor blades, contamination failure of No 2.

Since it's unlikely that silica bags were scooped up during the taxiing, it sounds like they were left in the intakes. Oops.

Aircraft turbine engines are usually shipped and stored in airtight containers or bags and have bags of silica gel put into the intakes and exhausts to absorb the moisture in the air to prevent corrosion.
It looks as if #1 engine was freshly replaced and somebody forgot to remove the silica gel bags from the intake.

Jan

bennett123 From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2004, 6352 posts, RR: 1
Reply 10, posted (11 months 3 weeks 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 4712 times:

This could be an expensive oversight.

VTTS do not have limitless funds.

moo From Falkland Islands, joined May 2007, 3596 posts, RR: 4
Reply 11, posted (11 months 3 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 4449 times:

Quoting bennett123 (Reply 10):

This could be an expensive oversight.

VTTS do not have limitless funds.

Its not the funds that are the main issue - its the ultimately limited supply of engines.

As I recall, they had 8 usable engines going into the flying phase of the project, so four active and four spare. I know that one was replaced early on in the flying phase, and now another two - so thats three spares used already

MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10241 posts, RR: 40
Reply 12, posted (11 months 3 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 4442 times:

Quoting moo (Reply 11):
As I recall, they had 8 usable engines going into the flying phase of the project, so four active and four spare. I know that one was replaced early on in the flying phase, and now another two - so thats three spares used already

I am no specialist but considering the spare Concorde Olympii that are doing nothing and getting no use, would it be possible to take them apart and recoop some of the parts and fit them into XH558 engines?

Just thinking... especially as I highly doubt that any or one of the Concordes will fly again. Can never say never but I doubt we will see it happen. So I was thinking maybe they can recoop from the Spare Olympii 593 left from the Concordes?

There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde

flipdewaf From United Kingdom, joined Jul 2006, 1522 posts, RR: 1
Reply 13, posted (11 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 4435 times:

Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 12):

They are very different engines and even if parts could be salvaged then the issue would be the sme as it already is, there are many olmpus engines around the world to use in teh Vulcan but only these that have the required paperwork.

Fred

moo From Falkland Islands, joined May 2007, 3596 posts, RR: 4
Reply 14, posted (11 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 4432 times:

Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 12):
I am no specialist but considering the spare Concorde Olympii that are doing nothing and getting no use, would it be possible to take them apart and recoop some of the parts and fit them into XH558 engines?

Aside from flipdewafs point about how different the engines are infact...

Rolls Royce would need to service them and warranty them as air worthy, and VTTS has already had issues in that regard. RR are willing to support XH558 but not to that extent - thats a huge amount of work for them, especially after all this time as the engines would need to be stripped down completely and rebuilt. RR have supported VTTS with inspections and basic maintenance on the current engines, but those engines were zero hour ones in deep storage, so they were looked after anyway.

MD11Engineer From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 13333 posts, RR: 64
Reply 15, posted (11 months 3 weeks 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 4397 times:

I also wonder if engine compnents, like compressor blades, vanes and disks are still available.
Rolls Royce might certify an engine after an inspection on condition, but they certainly wouldn´t restart the production of critical components, especially if the required special tooling has long been scrapped.
They are also very careful concerning liability. I´ve heard about a plan to get original spec drawings of Merlin parts (e.g. cam shafts) from them to re-manufacture these parts at another company according to these drawings as spares for e.g. Spitfires, but RR refused due to manufacturer´s liability.

Jan

Top Of Page

Forum Index

Reply To This Topic XH558 Vulcan Engine Failure

Username:	No username? Sign up now!
Password:	Forgot Password? Be reminded. Remember me on this computer (uses cookies)

Military aviation related posts only!
Not military related? Use the other forums
No adverts of any kind. This includes web pages.
No hostile language or criticizing of others.
Do not post copyright protected material.
Use relevant and describing topics.
Check if your post already been discussed.
Check your spelling!
DETAILED RULES

Check Spelling

Please check your spelling (press "Check Spelling" above)

Similar topics: