"Engines lack clout"

Ditto:

We have the five ponies and 5 acres to look after, plus the growing machinery division which has taken up a lot of room this past two years, but is hopefully going to provide amusement and a small income later on when I finally reach the 7-day weekend!

I am very sorry to hear that Charles reached such an impasse with his engine hobby, although having hauled one of his back from Carlisle last year and having had a chat with him I do understand some of the reasons why.

Kind regards,

Peter

Peter Forbes Prepair Ltd Luton, UK email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk home: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

Gentlemen, I would like to say that the photo in SE is not a dig from me regarding aircooled engines, I display a 1940's Tarpen and implements regularly, my point was the space taken up by a lawnmower engine that I never saw running the whole weekend.

A while ago I had a Petter PU2/8 ex military pumping set that I used to show and I was ridiculed by many an open crank owner, one chap accused me of showing modern rubbish so I challenged him to the age and date of his engine, mine turned out to be almost 10 years his senior and it shut him up.

Martin P

Some spin in here to focus on big vs small. I may have implied that in the original post by poor editing, but that's not the main issue.

Main point is that the engine is appreciated by the interested, possibly not yet converted, viewer, & ideally has lots of visibly moving bits (or attractively shiny bits!). Means small engines have to be close enough to be checked out, not hidden in long grass.

I know of 1hp engines that attract a very high percentage of the potential audience, & 10hp that get walked past.

The trigger is in the display. Many small engines are well displayed, often on a small trolley or base. May be driving something, or at least have good info.

Watch folk looking closely at a Gardner No.0, or any small o/c with flyball governors etc. They love trying to work it all out. They are often happy with models, if they are equally visually interesting.

I've seen Stuart verticals & Lister D's done just as well. It's about making the exhibit stand out, whilst doing something easily understood -- & appreciated.

Size doesn't always matter .....

Colin

Sounds interesting, do tell more Kim.

"Colin Osborne" wrote > snip!>

Absolutely Colin. People are drawn to the unusual - me included. I spent ages looking at the vertical Blackburn at the Burford rally. Partly because the restoration was so good, but partly because I could not *quite* figure it all out, especially the induction system!

Whirring bits, complicated machinery all add to the excitement of the show (which attracts the more onlookers, a hit-or-miss or throttle governed Amanco?)

Older engines obviously have an inbuilt advantage as they have more external moving parts, but a more modern engine can often remind the viewer of a previous time in their lives when they had to do with such things. The display I'm working on now will set out to demonstrate how different nations solved the same problems (low output power supply) whilst at war. Within human memory and certainly still much in the public eye.

And now I need a Japanese WW2 generating set. Why do I do this to myself ???

Regards,

Kim Siddorn