Brough endurance tests expose engine faults before flight

An engine needed a hundred-hour service test before it could qualify for the specification, but Blackburn's own practice could go further. At Brough, engines were mounted on a test stand with fuel and controls and kept running around the clock for one or two weeks. Some failed during the trial, exposing faults in a controlled setting rather than after installation in an aircraft. Technicians monitored the engines while Blackburn and the engine makers worked together on the problems that emerged. Blackburn's reputation for reliability depended on sustained industrial testing as well as conservative design.