WIX Archives
55 Chevy
Posted by Jim on Wed May 07, 2003 02:00:53 PM
In reply top Alternative uses for aircraft engines posted by bdk on Wed May 07, 2003 12:41:13 PM
The '55 Chevy is powered by a Merlin, not an Allison. They have a website for the project, but I cannot currently find where I bookmarked it. It's a pity that they had to cut down parts of the supercharger to make it fit under the hood. Looks like it's going to be some exhibition drag racing car, complete with stars and bars and painted-on rivets on the body.
There were a couple of 1930s era Rolls Royce cars which were modified to fit early Merlin engines. One car was destroyed in an accident and the other is currently owned by comedian Jay Leno, who drives it around once in a while.
I've heard tales of a Jumo engine somewhere in Europe which is used either for a backup generator or to power a water pump for a village in a mountainous area.
: Lots of wind machines for fruit orchards (either just the
: engines or entire airframes like the SBD's that Dave Talli
: chet rescued years ago), a Corsair forward fuselage as a w
: ind machine for architectural testing, Fighter Rebuilders
: built an R-3350 stand for some wind testing in southern Ca
: lifornia about 10 years ago, some race cars in the UK used
: Napier (Lion?) engines (I saw one at the Beaulieu museum
: in te UK), the '55 Chevy in Australia with the Allison, an
: d airboats used in the Florida Everglades frequently used
: horizontally opposed aircraft engines. Those are just a fe
: w I remembered off of the top of my head.
:
: I think that this practice was quite common.
:
: : So what exampples do we know of aeroplane engines that h
: av
: : e been used for other tasks? I think I remember that som
: eo
: : ne used aviation engines to power a saw at a sawmill, so
: me
: : other examples?