It has not been the greatest season so far for weather, but at last we were promised an entirely dry and somewhat sunny weekend for the August BTCG meeting, after all it is summer? Planned in was an entire day painting and track cleaning prior to the meeting, assuming we could actually get there that is? Just five miles from home, something like a 40 minute tailback, skilfully avoided due to intimate knowledge of the byways of Norfolk. Then the dreaded flashing signs, A1 shut northbound, made even worse by a 30 minute delay actually getting on to the diversion. Thanks to the miracle of the mobile and 'what's app' she took us round all the aggravation with a tour of the leafy byways of Lincolnshire. Best laid plans etc. and whilst track cleaning in constant drizzle is possible, painting wasn't. Manny Williamson kindly delegated volunteers to work on the track area, so thanks to Richard, Steve and Oliver for the mowing, strimming and clearing several loads of grass and weeds.

There we were enjoying an al fresco lunch when in walked a posse that included Alex Phin having flown back from Australia for a brief visit. There were two car boot's full of engines for the next auction as well as two very large boxes of rare and desirable engines to be consigned. Apparently there are a further 500 engines yet to be delivered, poor Lisa having to catalogue all these. Should be one heck of a sale if estimates and reserves are set at sensible levels, otherwise there will be a lot left over. One of the consignees admitted that he had paid 'way over the odds' for many of his engines and was unlikely to realise anywhere near those levels at an auction.

Checking Lyndon's 'retro' ETA 29	Andy's new 'tadpole'

Friday made up for the uncooperative weather though with plenty of track action and some sparkling performances. As announced previously, each car was inspected and weighed before going on to the track to ensure that it met current safety regulations and confirm which class it would run in and on what line. Andy Soars turned up with a lovely Slabang type car that he had been building over the winter from a casting of his own design. Lurking in the back was a trusty TEMP motor, possibly the most freely available tethered car motor of all times? Quality control and performance of these can be very varied as we have seen with nearly 40mph difference in speed between similar examples. Andy had come up with a very well thought out design where the motor was sealed, with the intake leading in to a plenum chamber and the exhaust out through an extractor duct in the top of the body. For a first run it was a remarkable success, running round very stably with the motor just slightly off until it leaned out perfectly for a succession of laps in the mid 80s, one of the better TEMPs. What was even more remarkable was that the inside of the car was completely clean after the run, the duct having taken every scrap of exhaust out of the car. Andy was also taking advantage of the test area to run in and fine tune another TEMP. Fascinating to watch the effect of twiddling the compression and needle in unison until the motor was singing beautifully.

Now, a cautionary tale that I hold my hand up to. Since Model Technics packed up, it has been impossible to get straight 80/20 fuel in the UK that does not have additives, so thanks to Chris Maggs I was armed with a gallon of pure methanol to brew my own. On to 'tinternet to get the correct amount of oil to make up a litre of fuel and I had a bottle of home brew. Only problem was the 2.1 Nova engine was now running super rich and needing leaning off dramatically, something not right and a sudden realisation. The figures had given me 5% oil not 20%, luckily with no damage. Oil content restored engine running better than ever and the three fastest runs so far with that car. Synthetic oil can be used at much lower ratios, but it takes a bit of courage to try it as we know castor works.

Modern British 2.5cc Class	Nova Rossi 2.1 motor Bevel drive

All was set fair for the competition on Saturday, except that instead of the fine and sunny day, it was dull overcast and quite chilly. A few practice runs emphasised the ever present dilemma over tyres. Jan Huning has had two Raylite style tyres where the bond between the rubber and washer has started to fail. The tyre runs out of true and if not under load will almost certainly burst. There are poly-urethane tyres freely available, but these carry a stern warning that they are for display only. Tyres must be vulcanised rubber compound, anything made of a thermo plastic will soften or even melt and pull out of the hub.

2.5cc KMD converted to glow	Spur drive 2.5cc  'Modern British' Class

Contrary to the forecast it then started to rain, with no let up. In this situation nothing else to do but enjoy several hours of chat and anecdotes from a group of people with an amazing range of experiences in modelling and other activities. Most amusing was one of our number who arrived on the site thinking that he had a ruckled sock in his trainer, only to find a live toad lurking in his shoe?  Taking advantage of the lull was the chance to try and persuade life in to the seventy year old 1.5cc car built by Ron Thrower. This car featured in ModelMaker as it pioneered the use of GRP for building an entire car. Not so much as a pop, for reasons that will be revealed next month. Eventually the rain stopped and after a session with the leaf blower activities could resume for a short period. With no prospect of any competition most decided to call it a day having had enough running and several cars needing attention.  Video action from this and previous Buckminster events www.youtube.com

Ironically, Sunday was sunny and hot allowing us to complete the painting, not easy in the direct sun as the paint was drying almost as soon as it was coming off the brush. Jan had grafted a new wheel on to his lovely little Oliver Two Five with the home built twinshaft. This motor always impresses me as it starts by flicking the wheel, runs utterly reliably, lap after lap at 80ish mph and with the front suspension, completely stable. The Peterborough Club Redfin car now has a full sized tank, but with a solid front end fell foul of a bump in the track and tipped over on each attempt. It has to be said that with the temperature headed over 30C we were wilting somewhat so not unhappy being able to pack up and head for home.

The Ron Thrower 1.5cc GRP Oliver	Refuge is now very 'blue'

Buckminster Tether Car Group September Meeting Last blast of the season

Well, that was a week many will not want to remember for all sorts of reasons, not least the torrential rain that looked as if it might wash out any chances for our final event. The forecast looked anything but hopeful, causing some to cry off and others to address priorities other that running tethered cars. The Met Office was a bit more positive, indicating that we would drive out of the heavy rain into a fine weekend at Buckminster. Happily, apart from it being cold and windy on Friday with a very brief shower it was fine and even warm and sunny on Saturday allowing us to complete the programme. As it was the Speed Weekend, prizes would be not only for nominated speed but also the highest speeds recorded for twinshaft and spur or bevel drive cars.

Oliver Monk had done a great job of smoothing out the crack in the track so it was full on motoring from the start, although the very low pressure slowed down most of the cars, with more twiddling required. The only car that was going faster was the ex Ron Thrower GRP 1.5cc Oliver (right). Jan Huning kept screwing in the compression screw until it was running OK for its first outing on a track since Mote Park in 1959. Each run, a bit more compression and finally 20mph faster than first time out. The full story of the car and Ron's career will follow from the December edition. Lyndon Bedford had his ETA/TEMP  running sweetly, but down on speed, although he is heading in the right direction, see his description of the conversion at the bottom of the page.

Nigel Bathe and Mike Francies were both still proving their Nova 2.1 cars, which when they go are both noisy and fast, but Nigel's cut out every time just as it was hitting the 100mph mark. Most of the problems are now sorted, apart from a reliable fuel supply system, all down to the venting? Mike's KMD converted to glow showed clearly the problem with such conversions, getting the car going fast enough to develop enough engine revs to get it over the hump, a bit like a piped motor. Nigel and Jan were on horsing duties as 'yours truly' was hors de combat and both discovered that if you could wind the car up fast enough, then it would keep accelerating, but at the expense of a knackered horser.

Saturday and a clear blue sky to welcome the runners for a short practice session before the first round of competition. Andy Soars had a table full of immaculately turned out cars, his paint finishes are just amazing. We had not seen his Moore #11 run so were looking forward to that. His two TEMP engined cars sound perfect but can be a bit lively. John Goodall's two semi scale Oliver cars with rear suspension do glide over the bumps. It is worth noting for those that criticize the Buckminster track that cars right through to modern times run on tracks that were less than billiard table smooth.

Andy's innovative 'tadpole'	Mike starting his glow KMD	Lyndon with Jan's Oliver

The first round saw everyone fall short of their nominated speed, apart from Andy Soars who was just a tad over with his ZN twinshaft and way over with the blue tadpole. His #11 looked superb and sounded lovely at just over 80mph, but with all his cars intact, he decided to rest on his laurels. Jan Huning had to retire his normally reliable Oliver Two Five as he again suffered from a Raylite tyre that had failed, taking the bridle with it. John Goodall was very close with his car, leading the field until the final run of the competition. More discussion on tyres next month.

Jan's 'schools car' has been fantastic over the years, but has recently suffering with the compression backing off, so he did not have any great expectations, that is until the maths was done and he had won with an error of just 0.331mph. John Goodall was second at 1.077mph and Andy Soars third at 1.103mph. Fastest speeds of the day during timed runs, and they are the ones that count, were Jan Hunning at 84.669 with a twinshaft and Mike Francies at 87.231 with his spur geared KMD. The track was then given over to the 'lads', to try and sort out the fuel problems with their Nova cars. With some advice from a by bystander who is a drag racer it came down to cutting lean every time. New tanks might be the answer here, but they do have some very exciting plans already in place for next season. Right: Jan Huning, John Goodall and Mike Francies

As it is the end of the season, most of the cars we have seen before, but there is always something lurking to interest and excite, and this time it was no exception with an air gauge that Nigel had built since the last meeting, invaluable for recording and resetting needle valves. An amazing and huge Carbon EDF impeller and nacelle for a humungous model and last but far from least, the first sighting in this country of the fabulous Rolf Luther built V12 Ferrari engine. This is a runner and an exact scale replica of the engine that powered the Arno XI record breaking hydroplane. The engine is 72cc producing 5bhp and is now in the UK via our Market Place page.

Nigel's air gauge	Carbon EDF	Rolf Luther V12 model

Thanks go to everyone who has supported the events throughout the season, all those who have assisted with horsing, pushing off, preparing and clearing up. Special thanks to Jan, Andy, Nigel and Lyndon for stepping up this weekend, doing most of the work. We are always grateful for the help, advice and encouragement to enable people to develop their cars and those prepared to pass on cars, parts and items to allow more people and cars to be on the track. At present the programme and organisation for 2025 should be similar to this year with the dates published around November. Video action www.youtube.com

Lyndon's 'improved TEMP'
 

The ubiquitous TEMP engine is fine and fast with a bit of work, but can it be improved? A four port version had been tried but was found wanting. Over the years, individuals and manufacturers have converted single ended engines into twinshafts with attendant problems, but in a reversal of this, Lyndon Bedford has utilised an existing twinshaft TEMP bottom end and grafted on a new top half, ETA of course. We have watched the development of his 'Schools car' based conversion throughout the season  and here he explains what he has done along with some photos of the process.

The Temp has the transfer ports on the inside of the liner, the ETA on the outside. So, bored out the inside of the crankcase as far as I dare go to the 4 head retaining holes. Made a sleeve and shrunk that in, milled 4 transfer ports into the sleeve and fitted an ETA 15 liner, piston, head etc. It did work up slowly over the tank to just 82mph the first time out before any front suspension and was taking off, pretty much an unknown from there. I was/am interested to make some sort on comparison with a std TEMP. (sad person)
 

Original and ETA parts	Boring out the crankcase mouth	Machining the sleeve

Sleeve fitted with the four transfer ports	ETA top end on original case

 

Autumn Gala Something of a 'damp squib'

"Unfortunately, the final SAM event of the season fell foul of the weather, saved only by Nigel Bathe having made the decision to extend the weekend by including Friday, making the track available for all cars, a final practice for those with trophy aspirations on Saturday and for the rest of us, a last chance to run our faster cars, thanks Nigel. Perfect day for running tethered cars, clear blue sky, cold, no wind, track well washed by the torrential rain the previous week and a full house of people wanting to run. Saturday by comparison was very cold, windy, wet at times and very wet at others, deterring all but the most dedicated. As most of the cars have been featured in previous reports, this is more about what went on and a selection of historic models.

Friday was shared with the aero tow gliders, and what a spectacular sight they were, little lift in the morning, but by early afternoon, plenty of thermal activity. The track saw plenty of activity as well, the 2.1 cars now really in to their stride, noisy and fast with speeds in the high 90s. Lynn Blowers had taken her old MLS 1.5cc car out of retirement for the day, promptly putting in a run at 118mph, enough to give the car a further career at Buckminster. This season has seen numerous runs over 100mph with a couple into the 140s and 160s. at the other end of the scale, the struggle to get a standard twinshaft back to the levels of the 1950s goes on.

Lunch, in the absence of the cafe, was by courtesy of Ian Harper, who on his route through Melton Mowbray had purchased two, very large pork pies with attendant bottle of pickle to share out, thanks Ian.

John Goodall had his two, beautifully prepared Oliver cars that he was tuning for the competition the following day, having changed to ED fuel. Lyndon Bedford experienced untold problems with all of his cars, apart from the original 2.5cc ETA that still performs faultlessly sixty five years on from its creation. One of our regulars decided that it was time that he had a go at horsing, but with his own car, just in case. It was a very steep learning curve realising that he had to be ahead of the car, not behind as he was. The result was something never seen before when the cable was so far behind the car that it did a complete 360 spin on the track and carried on to complete its run, amazing. Right: John with Oliver Ferrari assisted by Ian Harper

Something of a theme for the weekend as arrangements had been made to gather together as many original Oliver and Oliver powered cars as possible. Thanks to Steve Betney, John Goodall and Hugh Blowers there were ten cars from the 1950s, all with history and provenance and illustrating the complete range of Oliver Tiger engines. Possibly the only time it will ever be seen but there was a disc valve, one of only three ever made, a couple of MkI Tiger RV plain bearing twinshafts, two Tiger MkI RVB ball bearing motors, probably less than twenty of these in total and then MkIIs with conventional venturis and curly carbs, plus Ken Procter's Beretta Rosso an example of the design that made the twinshaft redundant using a aero engine on a spur mount. In addition the two GRP cars that Ron Thrower had built in the 50s were also reunited for the first time in sixty five years.
 

Line up of original Oliver or Oliver powered cars by courtesy of John, Steve and Hugh

Having recommissioned Ron Thrower's own GRP car and given it a run, what would be the chances of getting Ron's 'Bottom's Up' from the 1954 European Championships back into action? This car had finished second and probably not run in the following seventy years. Needed a new sneaker valve and tail skid, plus Jan Huning twiddling the bits, but run it did, as did Les Williamson's similar car, a very emotional moment for several onlookers and a nervous horser, hoping the the seventy five year old Raylite tyres would last the distance? Happily, they did and now the cars can resume their honourable retirement but with the extra entry in their provenances.
 

Les Williamson's 2.5cc 'Bottom's Up'	Ron Thrower's 2.5cc 'Bottom's Up' Silver medal in 1954

The Redfin competition is run over all the SAM meetings and is awarded for innovation, build quality and with a speed element. John Goodall's Ferrari and Mercedes are semi scale in the Harry Howlett tradition, and they run well too, but it does seem as there is not too much interest in going the scale route any more. Nigel Bathe is aiming for outright speed with the aim of beating 100mph with a twinshaft, so far only achieved by John with his Slabang. Nigel is not far short of this mark so took the Redfin Speed trophy for the second year running. Gianmauro Castagnetti had built a beautiful car with an innovative rear suspension that would have won him the competition, if only he could have got in a qualifying run. Unfortunately for him it had refused to start on every attempt at the Retrofest, leaving John the deserved winner again. It was all hands to the pump for horsing and pushing off, leading to this wonderful piece of cooperation, with John Goodall pushing of his winning Mercedes, whilst being horsed by Steve Betney, and it was not posed, it did happen, I just 'happened to be there with my camera'?

Then down came the rain along with hail, so the presentation took place in the workshop that, thanks to Manny Williamson, we had been allowed to use at the last two meetings as the hangar was in use on both occasions. Thanks to sterling work by Ian Wingfield with the broom and leaf blower, the track was dry enough to have a runs with a variety of cars, including Roger Gedge's impressive electric air car that runs almost silently at 100mph. Unfortunately, an unconnected medical emergency required an early exit by three of our number, and with memories of the Retrofest, the site was cleared in time for the SAM AGM.
 

Nigel Bathe Redfin Speed Trophy	John Goodall Redfin Trophy	John with winning cars

Sunday is given over to the swapmeet, one of the largest yet at Buckminster with over seventy stall holders. As per usual so many aeroplanes and engines, most of which would remain unsold as there was just too much stuff. There were some tasty items amongst them, most of which were snapped up quickly, but for many it was a bittersweet occasion as several of the late Ray Gibbs' speed models were for sale. For those that do not recognise the name, Ray was world champion, record holder and held records with 2.5cc, 5cc and 10cc models, one of the icons of British speed flying. Good to see Taff Bolen and Dave Smith for a catch up and see what the latest gems that Taff has been breathing on. Inevitably it started to wind down by midday and with no one on hand to organise track activities we made an early exit with all sorts of car related goodies garnered over the weekend that will keep us going for ages.
 

Ray with his planes	K&B 40 powered	'Nipper' with Rossi 60

It appears that with a swapmeet going on, the Saturday is now the only day that cars are running at SAM events, something that will have to be considered for next season. It is also worth considering whether the conditions for the two Redfin trophies need addressing as support for these were limited. In a way it mirrors exactly what happened over seventy years ago when those who preferred scale cars felt sidelined by those for whom speed was the essence. What is heartening was that the Buckminster track was in action for more than twenty days of organised running this season, with several more  days of private use.  

Oliver Gallery from the Gala

Bill Bennett's Thrower car, very short bridle	Ken Procter's 'Beretta Rosso

Joe Shelton's 'Bottoms's up sans Tiger MkI	2.5cc and 1.5cc Thrower GRP cars

Jaguar powered mite from Sweden	Gerry Buck's disc valve DV  'Bottom's Up'

Tiger Two-Five with MkI RV motor	Tiger Two-Five with Tiger MkI RVB motor

Provisonal BTCG Dates for 2025 2-4th May, 27th-29th June, 11th-13th July, 1st-3rd August, 5th-7th Sept

©copyrightOTW2024