enginehistory.org

[wallan]

I regret to inform our members that the University of Glasgow ‘binned’ an original Whittle W1B jet engine, (cutaway museum exhibit) as they needed the space!!
(A member of the faculty ruefully told me that the University has foregone 500 years of history to change from three ten-week terms, to two fifteen-week semesters, so we shouldn’t expect them to have any sense of history, or its worth)
I'm trying to find out what is to be the fate of the RR Griffin cutaway engine that used to sit in the entrance hall to the engineering building. (it's sitting forlornly on its stand in an upstairs corridor)
I also understand that the future of the Rover gas turbine in the Thermodynamics lab may be a bit bleak.
Hopefully, Dundee University will look after their Jumo, and other aero engines, a bit better.

[jfairchild]

Hello Bill,
As you see, thanks to your phonecall I took your advice and joined AEHS!
I was up in Glasgow, working, last week and had a look in the Transport Museum. Surprised not to see a Glasgow built Beardmore, Merlin or Griffon or indeed any aero engines? Is it possible for the public to visit the university to see the Griffon? I'm going up again in about 2 weeks and hope to see the RRHT collection (and in particular their Sea-Griffon) which I believe is only accessible by appointment (I will contact Pete Sherrard).
If the Whittle has gone in the skip, let's hope somebody enterprising has pulled it back out somewhere.
Kind regards.

[wallan]

Welcome aboard.

The Griffon used to sit in the entrance hall to the James Watt Building. (the ugly Sixties addition to the 19th century main building: photographers usually cut it off) On a visit last week, the security/janitors section had changed, and there was no one on duty, in this area. When I studied there, we used to have lots of tourists wandering in the public areas, but I was only once stopped by security, and asked to show my matriculation card.
The engine is now in a dark corridor, (for some obviously brilliant management reason, the floors and rooms were renamed/renumbered three times over the years I was there, without deleting the previous system, so I can only say where it is in reference to the entry hall) two floors up from this entrance, next to the Thermodynamics lab. (this lab is locked, and contains the Rover gas turbine engine)
There is also a sectioned jet engine, (A-S type?) which I always thought was a composite demonstration model, next to the Griffon.
If I were you, I’d say, at the desk in the entrance hall, that you were here to speak to the gentleman in charge of the Thermodynamics lab, or someone connected to this section, and ask for directions to that floor. Then either ask a secretary or someone else on that floor if it's OK to take pictures. I don’t see any problem, as I just walked in, plus there should be lots of students wandering around. I don’t think you should try to park your car in the University grounds, though.

The University library contains some of the Beardmore archives. I’m not sure, but I think that items in the Special Collection have to be requested, so you might want to check on their website.

The Museum of Flight at East Fortune is shut for a few months, just in case you were thinking of going to the east coast, and all the National Museum of Scotland aero engines have been moved from the main Edinburgh building.

I was on the phone to the RRHT section in Scotland on Tuesday, and hope to have a look next time I’m in Glasgow.

If you get a chance, as an engineering feat, you have to visit the Falkirk Wheel, a brand-new and very impressive canal boatlift. (the World’s first rotating boatlift) It’s between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

[admin01]

I'm from the colonies and am not familiar with the phrase'binned'. Do you mean they threw a whittle engine out in the garbage ? Or do you mean they put the engine in storage where the public can't get to it ?

[wallan]

It went out with the garbage. Probably dumped into a skip/dumpster.

'Binned' means they discarded it with as much thought as throwing a screwed up piece of paper into a wastepaper basket. What we call a rubbish bin is another name for garbage/trash can.

When something/someone is binned, you never want to give it/them another thought.

[mbrandon]

I can't believe they did that. You would think an 'original' whittle engine would be worth a lot of $$ --especially on E-Bay. Whoever made that decision is a real idiot, and they should be 'binned'. Dangerous too--what is going to be thrown out next ? I wonder if they know where it is discarded and if it can be rescued?

[dbirch]

Just picking up on this old thread; Whittle's first and second engines no longer exist, and as far as I am aware none of von Ohain's original engines exist either. That makes the Whittle W1X on display at the Udvar-Hazy the world's oldest gas turbine.

Damn Yanks grab everything - and to think we gave them back the Wright Flyer!

Dave Birch

[dbirch]

Correction to my message.

The Whittle W1X is on display at the NASM in Washington DC.

Dave Birch