Member postings for Geoff Green 5

If you search on aviationancestry.co.uk and enter Elgar in the search box it will show a Flight advert from 1961 which features the Droop and Rein copy mill at Weybridge. If you click the request for full size advert it will arrive by email.

One of my sons asked me to tell him about what I did at work. Another son said not much when he called in to see me there was just a drawing spread over the desk.

I have some photographs taken in various jobs and wanted to plug some gaps using downloaded images. From 1975 to 1995 I claim to have worked at BAC/ BAe Filton starting as a skilled miller and ended as production engineer.

Regarding the Droop and Rein there were two machines in S03 machine shop. I was told that before my time they were used for landing gear parts and there were stillages of ripper cutters and other cutters on from memory were on 60 International tapers. In my time they had adaptors to use stores issue 50 International back ends.

Jobs included parts for RR RB211 pylons on Boeing 747. These were 2mm thick titanium sheets in packs of ten. There was also an engine hanger beam made of steel for the same aircraft. Also a titanium forging for Concorde centre walls. Thae firewall between each pair of Olympus engines. The machines were heavy on maintenance. I went into Production Engineering in 1977 or 78.

On one job we had a problem getting the templates lined up. As I used to work on the Droops I was asked to take a look. A National Express coach picked up from Filton House about 7AM so I took it on myself to hitch a ride to Weybridge to see how they did it. An easy fix but the coach did not leave Weybridge site until about 4PM so a lot of time to kill. Production Engineering kept me fed and watered and I found time to walk on the banked track at Brooklands.

one thing that puzzles me is how many Droops altogether. Another post says that Weybridge had four. I am not sure how many were there at Weybridge when I visited. Some history to go back to 1964. The Government of the day insisted that companies merged to create fewer, stronger, companies. Out of this came British Aircraft Corporation which included Weybridge and Filton sites. With the ending of Britannia work Filton did not have much work. Concorde was at that stage a development project. Sir George Edwards decreed that some Weybridge work be transferred to Filton. This I assume was the landing gear work on the two Droops at Filton. A question, were the two machines at Filton transferred from Weybridge so two machines on each site, or did Weybridge keep its four and Filton got two new machines.