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Fuel Flow Lab at Rochester model

Technical Information

Catalogue No: C1209
Category: Corporate/Business
Object Type: Model
Object Name: Fuel Flow Lab at Rochester model
Part No: None
Serial No: None
Manufacturer: Model Construction
Division: Not Applicable
Platform(s):
Year of Manufacture: Unknown
Dimensions: Width (mm): 916
Height (mm): 110
Depth (mm): 400
Weight (g): 5,080
Location: Rack RAA11 [Main Store]
Inscription(s):

Model of Fuel Flow Laboratory for
Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd
Airport Works, Rochester, Kent
by Model Construction (Meopham) Ltd
57 St. Francis Ave. Gravesend Kent
Tele Gravesend 3433
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[small labels]
Control Building
Nitrogen Plant
Test House

Notes:

This is a model of the Fuel Flow Laboratory site showing the Control Building, Nitrogen Plant and Test House.

The Fuel flow business was important to Elliotts and a new fuel-flow test laboratory—the most advanced in Europe, if not in the world—was opened at Elliott-Automation's Rochester factory on November 20 1964 by Mr Neil Marten, Parliamentary Secretary to the MoA.

Enclosed in a blast-absorbing concrete emplacement, it was designed to test fuel flow equipment for the new generation of supersonic aircraft where fuel temperature of 150°C or higher would be encountered, and units would be required to operate at rigid standards of accuracy under extreme conditions of temperature (up to 200°C ambient) and in areas of extreme vibration.All controls and observers are in a separate building and several closed-circuit TV cameras give a view of critical parts of the system. Hot water and freon are used respectively as heating and cooling media. The laboratory is suitable for developing flow-measurement systems for supersonic airliners or VTOL aircraft. 

The Laboratory can achieve gravimetric calibration accuracy within an error band of ±0.1% of flow rate under the following conditions:

1. Flow rates from 50 to 120,000 lb/hr through three different bores of pipe.

2. Fuel temperatures from -55°C to +180°C.

3. Ambient temperatures from -60°C to +200°C.

There is also a Vibrator capable of producing a maximum thrust of 500 pounds with frequencies of up to 3,000 c.p.s. for resonance searches.

Mass-flow test measurement is effected by weighing the fuel as it accumulates in a tank mounted on a weighing balance, the whole unit being housed in a sealed container filled with nitrogen.

Fuel measurement systems such as Tank capacity, Fuel Flow rate, Fuel Remaining, Fuel Consumed were all big business for Elliott Bros (and subsequent names) and a snapshot of the platforms to which these were fitted can be gained from one of the Company databases:

AV8B, Buccaneer, Concorde, Dominie, EFA, Fiat Rig, Hawk, HS125, HS146 (BAe146), Javelin, Sea Venom, Sea Vixen, Valiant, Scimitar, P1127, Phantom, Phoenix, Trident, Transall C160, MRCA (Tornado), Finnish Hawk, G222, VC10, RB211 and RJ500 engines.........

The RAA contains a number of models of equipment and aircraft. The equipment models were used as a marketing aid and often to ensure that the production unit will fit in the space; this was particularly true for Head Up Displays. Such equipment models will have minimal or no functionality. Models might  just be used as weighted units or as cockpit lighting evaluation units. The HUD used on the YF-16 was of the correct weight and envelope but only mounted the Spin 'chute button (a feature only required for the early test flights). Many of these models were made by professional model makers from the original drawings and could be quite expensive; alternatively the real hardware would be used.

The aircraft models range from the simple small scale kits to quite large display items. The large model aircraft were often a marketing tool from places like Airbus or Boeing but may be found in Boardrooms or Reception areas wheras the small models may be given as a visitor handout. Those models made from kits have largely been brought in from home but are useful to illustrate the platform alongside the equipment. The large models will be hugely expensive.

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