Hi all,

This is not really a launch report, but visit reports to Roll Royce and Blake Hall.

15 members and supporters of the Black Knights travelled over to Rolls Royce Heritage at Derby on Sunday 5th September.
Sean came over to Droitwich for about 08.15 and we decided to have a cup of coffee before setting off. Sean put his rucksack on the floor in the living room and we went into the kitchen to get the coffee. When we came back to the living room we found that Buster, the Rocket Retriever, had opened the rucksack and eaten Sean's packed lunch, much to Sean's amusement and my embarrassment. So when we set off there was a quick diversion to a local garage to replace Sean's lunch, Buster stayed home in disgrace!

We arrived at the site around 10.20 and by just after 10.30 our group had all turned up. The guys at RR heritage then asked us in for tea and biscuits in there crew room, which was much appreciated! At 11.00 we all popped out to an area just outside the main doors and the first of the Merlin engines was started up followed shortly after by a second unit, marvellous sound, it was really good see these beautifully restored engines running. After the Merlin engine demo, well known Rolls Royce rocket engine engineer John Scott Scott took our party down to the rocket engine display. John talked us through the history of rocket engine development starting with the Walther engines (ex ME163) two variants on display focussing primarily on the UK HTP kerosene engines and illustrating his talk with the various engines on display (see the BK photo gallery). The talk was fascinating and very much appreciated, in all we were around the rocket area for about an hour and a half.

At the end of the talk we were again invited into the crew room to eat our lunch. After lunch and a good chat we had a good look around the rest of the displays which comprised generating sets, piston engines, and various jet engines all laid out to show the development of the particular type. There were also many engines being refurbished in the various bays.

I would like to thank all the people at Rolls Royce Heritage Derby for inviting the Black Knights over for the open day and especially John Scott Scott for all the time he spent with us. It was a great pleasure to see all the hardware and meet such interested and committed people!

Sean and I left the site about 16.15 and I dropped him off at home and got back to Droitwich about 19.00. All in all a great day for the club. It pays to be a member of a rocket flying club with contacts in the industry!

Blake Hall

So it was the August Bank Holiday and Liz and I were visiting relations in Welwyn Garden City. On the Monday we decided to visit the Essex Craft Show at Blake Hall. So we arrived at the show and parked up and as we walked over to the entrance I spotted a sign that said Airscene Museum and V1. You can guess what happened next, the rest of the family went off to the craft fair while I headed for the Museum.

So what's there - Blake hall was used as the Ops room for the nearby North Weald when it was put out of action by enemy bombing during WWII. The museum is a one room (large) affair and is charming, its stuffed absolutely full of WWII memorabilia including many memorials to pilots who died. However what had attracted me was the mention of the V1! Hanging from the ceiling is a full scale model of a V1 and for 20p the model produces a realistic noise and moves its control surfaces. There are some displays about the V1 and a rather good booklet available on the weapon and how it was countered (price
£3.00) The staff are very friendly and helpful and obviously very proud of there exhibits. After the craft fair my mother and I wondered round the Museum which she found very interesting as she was evacuated from London as a child because of the V1/V2 attacks!

However I digress after looking round the Museum I headed off to find the rest of the family in the craft fair and on the way walked past an outbuilding, which had a wrecked piston engine in the doorway. I paused to have a quick look and as my eyes adjusted to the gloom in the building I could hardly believe my eyes for there in the gloom was a V2 Combustion Chamber! On the floor in front of the chamber was a faded barely readable sign saying the remains of a V2 that fell in the grounds of Blake Hall in 1944. See the photo gallery for the photo's I took. I have contacted the owners of Blake Hall to see if they have any further info on the V2 and they have said they will put the museum curator in touch. If I get any further info I will send it over to Sean to put on the site!

In the mean time here are some contacts for this charming little museum, which if you are in the area is well worth a visit.

For Events, the Museum, and Gardens:
Manager: Austin Garrett
Telephone: 01277 362502
Email: [email protected]
Fax : 01277 366947
WWW : blakehall.net