Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Gazza
They were Vincent Picador engines with magnesium cases. Used in Target drones.
An old fella I worked with when I was an apprentice, had a Picador engine and was building a kneeler to race with... I doubt he ever finished it.!
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Funny you mention about target drones- seems a waste but I suppose a customer is a customer at the end of the day.
Same was true of Norton’s P series rotary (W*nkel) engines. They were used in the Banshee drone. I presume the sales helped fund their motorcycle development. Crazy to think how successful they were racing at the time but the road bikes were terrible.
When the company went public in the ‘80’s they sold penny shares which, as an old bike fan, my Dad bought into- they couldn’t afford to pay dividends to the shareholders but when they developed the race bikes (in their glorious JPS and not quite so glorious Duckams livery) the company offered tickets with pit access to wherever they raced. Happy memories of me and my Dad (sadly now passed) going to the races together meeting the riders watching the massive flames firing out the pipes on the over run.
Even more so when I rode my race bike at the 2012 Festival of 1000 Bikes and had Trevor Nation on his back wheel overtake me up the hill to Edwinas.
Anyways, apparently Norwich aviation museum has a Meggitt drone on display.
https://gizmodo.com/this-british-ban...1587140998/amp
Alternatively enjoy where they worked best here:
https://youtu.be/oyjEdcZKBtI