70 Rolls-Royce engines take home in former airfield hanger

National World - LocalTV

70 historic Rolls-Royce engines will be showcased to the public at Aerospace Bristol in a landmark display of the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust Collection, that will bring the rare engines to a wider audience for the first time.

Transcript

00:00this collection is pretty unique we've got all the early bristol piston engines from

00:07just after world war one right up to after world war ii and that collection is the only collection

00:16of engines like that in the world we are here at aerospace bristol where a piece of aviation

00:23history is being rolled out quite literally a remarkable chapter of bristol's engineering

00:29legacy is being unveiled to the public as 70 historic rolls-royce engines go on display

00:35right here at aerospace bristol the engines part of the rolls-royce heritage trust collection

00:42include some of the most powerful and iconic power plants here we are we're in hangar 16r at home of

00:49the rolls-royce aerospace collection and this is a hanger that until a few months ago was in a pretty

00:57bad state of repair on our site here at aerospace bristol it has now been restored and refurbished

01:02it looks pretty special and it is absolutely filled with the rolls-royce heritage engines and it you

01:08know we're just really really pleased to have them here um it was one of the aircraft hangars here when

01:13filton was being used as a airfield and for many years it was used as the store for the museum so

01:20used for storing all sorts of things from uh historic artifacts to actually all the tables and the chairs

01:25that we used when we uh hosted events here and about 12 months ago we were looking for a way of

01:32displaying this fabulous engine collection that we've got as part of the rolls-royce heritage trust

01:36at bristol and we thought we'd be able to refurbish the building and provide it for a home for the

01:41engines and as you can see what a fantastic home it is iconic engines like the merlin which powered

01:47the spitfire and the lancaster in world war ii ones you see flying around the air displays and over

01:52buckingham palace every now and again so we've got those sort of engines but also as i say we've got

01:59more modern ones as well we've got the olympus engines that power the concord bristol as a city

02:06you know we have a rich history um in engineering so why do you think something like this is so

02:13special to be able to kind of walk around and see um the progression in engineering that happened

02:18literally in the city of bristol well just well you've kind of answered the question yourself it

02:23is really amazing to walk around and see that and you don't often see engines they're usually inside

02:28things so a lot of people who've just kind of initially had a look this morning have kind of

02:32gone wow i didn't realize the scale and the detail and it does feel pretty special to see them up close

02:38because you don't get many opportunities to do that and what's really special is that some local

02:44pioneers who designed and built these engines are right here in the city sharing stories of their

02:50work and bristol's proud aviation past this is more than machines it's about people innovation and

02:58bristolian legacy

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