Last Beaufighter Engine Run 1983 at Moorabbin Victoria Australia.

This is a mix of clips from old and mutilated VHS footage shot 1983-84. This was to form part of a documentary project, "Ride The Whispering Death", since abandoned as another similar project was discovered to be in parallel development at the time.

The original VHS camera tape of the engine run was in poor shape when it was copied for me and likely may be in even worse condition now. I have cut the worst defects in the vision and manually fixed the worst jumps in the vision frame-by-frame and attempted to grade the colours as best I can.

The engine sound is not all rowdy like other aircraft.

The Beaufighter was not called the Whispering Death for nothing. At climb the prop sound was about 40Hz and the exhaust was fed by double stubs from each of the fourteen cylinders to a circular collector at front of the cowling, thence to a stub exhaust inside of a flame supressor.

Each of the sleeves was driven by a squarecut gear. Fourteen of those running off three intermediate gears off a crank gear apparently made a whining sound along with another from the rear mounted supercharger.

The induction and geartrain noise was apparently dominent over the exhaust outside of the aircraft in flight.

Apparently little was heard of the approaching aircraft until it passed directly overhead. The sound was described by a wartime nurse as a dreadful evil "screaming" sound.

The Moorabbin Aircraft is now built-in undercover and the engines are no longer operated. The plugs are apparently pulled every 12 months or so, oil injected into the cylinders and the props pulled over to protect against corrosion.

I understand that Ashley Briggs, who obtained the copy of the original camera tape for me, was an apprentice in aviation maintenance when the Beaufighter was recovered from a schoolground at Portsea where it had lain as a childrens playground for many years.

It was his abiding pleasure to run the engines periodically when the aircraft was still stored in the open.

There is another in a museum in Camden New South Wales. Whilst the Moorabbin aircraft did not see war service, the Camden aircraft did, with 22 Squadron RAAF at Morotai.

The engines in this aircraft are apparently in good enough order for restoration to airworthiness.

It arrived on Morotai after my father was evacuated to Australia. He was hit over Liang on Amboina Island and that was the end of the war and flying for him. He returned to fruitgrowing in Western Australia.

I understand that a British airworthiness restoration which contained airframe parts from an Australian aircraft, may now be in Australia under restoration by HARS, the organisation which restored the ex-US military Lockheed Constellation to airworthiness and operates it.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Bristol
• Beaufighter
• A8-118
• Hercules
• sleeve valve
• Moorabbin
• engine run
• World War Two
• Second World War
• Morotai
• RAAF
• HARS

[my94holden]

thats cool cant wait four one of those to take to the skys again

[DARANGULAFILM]

@my94holden My father's response to the notion of one ever flying again was that there was a finite number of flights it would make before the pilot lost control of it on the ground and wrote the airframe off.

If a display pilot experiences a triumph of balls over brains, the aircraft will be undone sooner rather than later.

[jagerfaust2009]

Cheers, great footage. Ps who's the boomerang nut? who cares anyway. Really the footage is priceless to say the least as well as the aircraft itself, also not forgetting the men who flew her. Been a while since I last saw her so I better get into gear and get back to Moorabbin. Thanks for posting...Happy New Year 2012..

[DARANGULAFILM]

@jagerfaust2009 There's also one over in NSW in a private collection. It was actually a serving warbird with 22 Squadron but was deployed to Morotai after my father was evacuated back to Australia.

The engines on that aircraft according to the owner are capable of restoration to airworthiness. The airframe could be but like the Moorabbin one would need lots of work.

HARS is apparently restoring one to airworthiness. The two Boomerangs ?? Who knows. I've been out of touch with the restos.

[Oaldce]

This engine run is almost what I've been looking for. I'd like to hear the Beaufighter fly over because I'd like to hear that "whispering" sound. There are videos of the "Whistling Death" (F4U Corsair) in which you hear it whistle. Is there any footage you know of, vintage or new, of flying Beaufighters with original sound? Was this other documentary finished and is it available somewhere?

[DARANGULAFILM]

@Oaldce If there is any soundtracks of a Beaufighter I don't know where they might be. The Beaufighter was maybe too quiet for a good soundtrack given the portable audio recorders they had in those days. In Germany you had the tape (magnetofon, magnetotonband or something like that. The allies had the wire recorder, which interestingly had a renaissance in the earlier flight data recorders.

"One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing" at the very end, has sound of a Short Stirling which had same motors.

[Starfire250Productio]

@my94holden

Here-here!

[zen4men]

A great aircraft!

[DARANGULAFILM]

@boomerang403 Stupid? Revering the instruments of war and death may well be.

Providing the taxpayer is not ripped off, warbird restorations are not stupid. They generate economic activity. It is an entire industry which employs a good many people. Warbird restorations also help preserve intellectual property and skills. An example. Welding of a particular aluminium alloy was recently regarded as impossible until some old airliner seat frames showed it had been done already.

[boomerang403]

well just make more of them now that's just plain stupid