Good times at Noel Penny Turbines
RE: The Noel Penny Turbines photo (Sep 21). I worked at Noel Penny Turbines from July 1980, after my return from living in Canada, until it closed in 1992. It was an interesting company to work for. Noel Penny was formerly the chief engineer at Rover Gas Turbines, a division of British Leyland, who then left to set up his own business in Siskin Drive, Coventry. Just over the fence from Coventry Airport. I was involved in many interesting research and development projects whilst I was there which included design and development work for Yanmar in Japan, Teledyne Continental in Mobile, Alabama in the USA, Israel Military Industries in Israel and Rusden Turbines in Lincoln which is now European Gas Turbines. The Rusden Turbines contract was to develop an industrial gas turbine unit for electricity power generation.
Mr Penny was keen to introduce turbine power to road vehicles, both trucks and motor cars, from his time spent at Rover Gas Turbines and was instrumental in taking on board collaboration with Volvo Aero in Malmo, Sweden who were developing a hybrid turbo electric power unit for their motor cars. Unfortunately, this project did not come to fruition. In his time spent with Rover Gas Turbines, turbine engined racing cars competed in the LeMans 24 Hour endurance in France in a ‘prototype’ category and did, in fact, complete the race.
Noel Penny Turbines was a super company to work for. There was never any firm ‘demarcation’ amongst the employees and everyone worked towards a common goal.
Sadly, Noel Penny Turbines hit the buffers in 1992. Despite efforts to resurrect the company under a new name, Noel Penny 2000, this came to ought although several former employees continued to work on for a year in an industrial unit in Parkside, Coventry – myself included – to complete an outstanding order for the Israeli government. This after the Siskin Drive factory had closed down and the assets sold/auctioned off.
Just as an aside, another interesting NPT project was the design and development of an aero engine for a small executive jet aeroplane called the Leopard. It was a pilot only, three passenger aeroplane designed and financed by Ian Chichester-Miles. It did fly but only in prototype form. One of these is currently on show Midland Air Museum at Coventry Airport.
I attended Mr Penny’s funeral along with a number of other former NPT colleagues to bid farewell to our former boss, reminiscing over time spent working at Noel Penny Turbines.
Yes – good, interesting times. Philip Ridley Wyken