Saving Old Seagulls

Had a great time at the Lerryn Seagull Rally, great organisation and a wonderful spirit, the James Bond theme being embraced by many entrants. The weather gods smiled on us and the overnight gale and driving rain abated just in time for the event.

I entered my 12' portabote in the over 12-foot ...

I found the kingfisher paraffin reference in the QB service manual “Lit13” available from sheridans.

Note the twin tank arrangement and the mention of a dual float chamber carburettor in the “normal operation” section.

I think the use of paraffin as a fuel was driven by the different tax regimes for heating vs motor fuel. I recall as a small child in the 1960's that we had an old "Valor" portable paraffin stove which was moved from room to room as needed (before central heating). I remember it being an essential ...

So your talking figures of around 330 hp a litre in 1949?


And I think that is about 5 times the specific output of the contemporary Rolls Royce Merlin. But the BRM v16 had a huge amount of supercharger boost (70-80psi).
And I guess the Merlin was designed to last a bit longer in flight than an ...

Charles uk wrote: Fri Sep 02, 2022 11:28 am So your talking figures of around 330 hp a litre in 1949?

Indeed, or higher - 1500cc, supercharged v16, claimed as high as 600hp and 12000rpm. An astonishing piece of engineering. They are now remanufacturing a few from the original drawings.
But it is the sound of the thing that thrills me.

An engine from ca 1949 where each cylinder has 10% smaller displacement than a 102 seagull and produces over 30hp per cylinder.

The Reawakening
[YouTube]https://youtu.be/BHNiIovzUG8[/YouTube]

Chrysalis
[YouTube]https://youtu.be/lZLvskcYgN8[/YouTube]

Soundtrack (play loud)
[YouTube]https://youtu ...

https://wickantiques.co.uk/product/bri ... extension/

Ever seen one like this?

Not KSR1100, which is still in bits, but my Osprey OS136E8 which I am testing on my 12 foot Portabote. First time out it ran well for about 2 minutes then stopped suddenly. Restarted after a few minutes of cursing and priming then ran well for another 2 minutes. Seemed like fuel starvation. Cleaned ...

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0pGqkRUiGPLHOT

Here is SJM555R6 being tested on the dock at Woodbridge Tide Mill in 2016. Judge for yourself by ear how many more revs and therefore how much more push might be available if she was running free. (She is a bit high in the water so maybe not a ...

Showing misalignment of bolt holes and undersize port on inner exhaust


Bolt holes aligned - due to the undersize port on the inner exhaust the rotational misalignment barely affects the port overlap.

What fun!

Thank-you Charles, I see the problem. The scorched area is crowded by the flywheel housing. I can just detect similar scorching on my (still fully assembled) Osprey if I look carefully, although it is hard to see given how tight it is.

Another observation - I believe I have an excellent example of ...

Have been busy in the garden most of this year but making some progress on KSR1100. I have for the time being given up on the roller crank and have sourced a plain bearing version to replace it. I'll come back to the roller later. Just a few comments and questions -

It was the devil's own job to ...

Nice work.
Below is a kingfisher block, and you can see how seagull solved the problem in the next generation of QB's by opening up the water channels to the exhaust flange and then covering them with the inner exhaust flange.

Keen to see a pic of your rig! I have a couple cranks that need sorting, have been putting them off for a few years. Don’t have a lathe so would need to build a small rig.

Maybe this is the year I finally get them straightened enough to put back in service.

Merry Christmas to all!

The "rig ...