It isn’t easy to work on an engine that was designed to be hung on the side of an aircraft but is now installed deep in the hull of a boat. Easily accessible parts suddenly become inaccessible. So engineers working on the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engine which powers the 350-mph Quicksilver water-speed contender set about finding solutions.
The Spey in the Oliver Valves-sponsored boat originally came from a Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer bomber aircraft. To work on the engine when it was installed in a Buccaneer was a relatively simple matter – you simply opened large access hatches on the underside of the aircraft and reached up.
Now, with the engine mounted low in Quicksilver’s sleek hull – where there are no low-level access hatches, for obvious reasons – the challenge has been to adapt the engine so that everything that was previously accessed from below can now be accessed from above.
The oil system, for example, has been modified so that oil can be pumped in through a new connection near the top of the engine, rather than the two standard connections (primary and emergency) at the bottom – as Quicksilver propulsion specialist Graham Pool, a Rolls-Royce veteran of nearly 40 years standing, is pictured doing here. And the oil-level indicator glass, which is sited at the bottom of the engine, can now be viewed via a miniature digital camera mounted on the end of a “wand” lowered down into the boat’s carbon-fibre bilge.
Starting the Spey in a Buccaneer involves attaching an air-line from an external turbine unit to a connection at the bottom of the engine. On Quicksilver, the air-line attaches to an easily-accessible connection situated high on the side of the trimaran craft’s port hull, and internal pipe-work carries the flow of high-pressure starter air to its destination.
The functioning of the engine itself is not effected in any way by these modifications.
For more information on the Quicksilver project and to learn how you can get involved visit the Quicksilver website.
Tags: oliver twinsafe, oliver valves, oliver valvetek, Quicksilver, speed record, world water speed record
Posted in: Quicksilver WSR