Rolls Royce Avon at S&S Turbines test cell in Fort St John, BC.
The aero version of this engine was used to power the English Electric Lightning, a mach 2.5 interceptor in the 60's, and also the DeHavilland Comet airliner of the 50's.
An on-board electric starter is powered by 11 car batteries to bring the engine up to light-off.
When I hit the third position on the switch, that's 132VDC and 1000 Amps.
The current quickly drops to 50A, and stays there until I am signalled by Brian Maddigan, the operator, to cut power to the starter.
This test went well, and we made 23,000 Hp today.
All running footage here is of the engine at idle.
The roar of this thing is so tremendous that the vibration caused the camera to shut down. Unfortunately, much footage was lost.
I hope to have some full power footage in the future.
