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MOTAT
Jun 17, 2018 22:38:43 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 17, 2018 22:38:43 GMT 12
Wow it's amazing when you add it up like that Ron. Well done to all involved who've given their time and efforts towards preserving the amazing collection there at MOTAT, and thank you all.
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Post by emron on Jul 15, 2018 21:47:48 GMT 12
Flying Boat Update. Another month has passed and there’s been solid progress made on the Solent refurbishment. The paint stripping phase is mostly complete. Main effort is now concentrated on skin repairs to the fuselage, wings and stabilisers and working systematically so that large areas have already been be cleaned, etch primed and under-coated. Meanwhile I’m pottering away on the floats. The corrosion damage that I’ve encountered on them is typical of what has been found on the rest of the hull, just on a smaller scale. When the floats were made, the skin overlaps were coated with Duralac, a linseed oil based sealant that ensured water-tightness. It was adequate for the service life of the flying boat but after many years more exposure to the rain it broke down, gathered corrosion between the panels and swelled. So in places the edges of sheets have bulged enough to split and shear off rivet heads. Luckily it’s confined to just a few corners and despite the deluge outside I spent today in the metal shop making the patches. I’ve removed the access hatches from the affected compartments and I can squeeze in there to hold the dolly when ready to rivet the patches and keel strip back on the right hand float.
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Post by Bruce on Jul 15, 2018 21:59:57 GMT 12
I visited Motat last Sunday and he a quick peek under the scaffold covering of the Solent, It looked like a lot of really productive work going on and I look forward to seeing the aircraft in similar pristine condition to the Sunderland, which looks magnificent.
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MOTAT
Jul 17, 2018 16:16:08 GMT 12
Post by Richard Wesley on Jul 17, 2018 16:16:08 GMT 12
Thanks for the update Ron, great to hear of progress on the old girl and certainly getting into those floats has got to pay off in the long term.
I've booked some tickets to come up for Christmas this year and so will have to check in and see if you are around on that final weekend before Christmas in December.
Not sure if you got this email which I forwarded to you the other day, it's a request about Miles Gemini info. I sent on a few photos I had but I don't have much of the underside actually. If anyone else can help that would be great.
On Saturday, 30 June 2018, 6:28:28 AM NZST, Asbjørn Stålesen <Asbjorn.Stalesen@kruse-smith.no> wrote:
Richard,
I am part of a Group that is currently restoring a Miles Gemini for static display here in Norway (Kjevik Airport) although the plane was in a bit of a mess when it arrived it's slowly coming along. Part of its history is that after standing grounded for a longer period someone decided that for Storage purposes it would be easier if the plane was in pieces, that was handled quickly in one afternoon with a hammer and a handsaw.
We have now joined the wings together again, and got them solid in terms of display purposes, we had paperwork leading us to all the angles and measurements. We have since also carried and turned over the now one piece wing, and it behaves solid. We also test fitted the empty cockpit.
We have however not been able to 100% agree on how the plywood is Applied to the bottom of the wing, but the consensus is that the wing itself has its two support beams and between the beams on the underside there is plywood that's covered and painted. The tail also has same and front of the cockpit has a trap door underneath in aluminium that forms the floor. These Three parts are then Attached together with the bolts.
But that leaves the floor under the pilot seat being a false floor in a sense since the wing has the outer skin that is the visible skin from outside under that part of Aircraft?
We would be very grateful if you had a chance to take a couple of Pictures from underneath Your Gemini. In the wing and cockpit area.
Thank you Asbjørn Stålesen
PS: if you by chance know of any spare parts for these Crafts and could give us a heads up on that too? Front Wheels, some of the Assembly for the Wheel suspension (doglegs and spring) and any skirting between the wing and cockpit and in addition to tale cone and propeller cones. Also looking for the two small scoops that are on the side/front of cockpit and exhaust pipes.
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Post by scrooge on Jul 17, 2018 20:26:39 GMT 12
An email to Stan Smith at North Shore Airfield might be fruitful, he's putting one together.
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Post by emron on Aug 19, 2018 20:58:11 GMT 12
Flying Boat Update Despite the harsh winter weather of late, the Solent exterior restoration is coming along on schedule. Most effort has been concentrated on replacing skin and rivets on the fuselage, stabilisers and underside of wings. Already large areas have been mended, etch primed and undercoated but there’s still lots to be done. Additionally the metal shop team are hard at work rebuilding the engine cowls which suffered equally bad corrosion damage. Meanwhile I’ve been getting the floats done. This afternoon I squeezed through the access hatch of the centre compartment so I could reach some out of the way rivets with the bucking bar while Steve drove them. That completed all the skin patches on the topside of the right float and forward of the step of the keel. Another weekend and the remaining metal work should be finished on this one. Repairs to the left float are more advanced but it will need some assembly work done before it’s re-attached to the wing. Hopefully we’ll soon see warmer and drier conditions so that it will be easier to achieve the best final paint finish.
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Post by campbellbox on Aug 20, 2018 20:10:47 GMT 12
These updates are great, but the work you guys are putting in is even better. It's really appreciated. Thanks!
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Post by emron on Aug 26, 2018 22:51:44 GMT 12
Dave, if you had made your visit on the following day it could have truly been described as a whirlwind tour. The big storm in the night tore through MOTAT and shredded the plastic wrap cover over the Solent. It rattled the scaffolding but thankfully left the flying boat unmoved and undamaged but with only remaining cover over the tail. Not surprising really, I live only a few streets over and the same gusts brought down large branches from trees up and down the road and power lines took a couple of days to repair. There’s still debris lying over the kerbs from it. Anyway the scaffolders were quickly on the scene to confirm that the structure was still safe and paint stripping of the Solent was able to continue using the high pressure water method. The plastic wrap has since been repaired and skin work on the keel has resumed. The paint stripping is slowly revealing areas of corrosion that were missed during our previous attempts at restoration. I’m sure these will now be the priority to fix before painting can commence. During the week I found some detailed photos of turret parts and they have helped me identify a few more that I can install on the Sunderland front turret. Now I’ve got enough pieces to be able to design the rest of the gun mount structure and position the pivot points correctly. The Solent didn’t come through that storm completely unscathed. We found later that the front struts of the float got dented when they crushed against the scaffolding during the big gusts. Unlike the Sunderland which has two pairs of bracing wires running inboard and outboard of it’s float, the Solent uses only two inboard bracing struts. I was able to repair the damage to the main supporting strut while it remained in place but I’ve removed the bracing strut so we can do panelbeating in the workshop. At the same time we’ll overhaul the two other spares that we have and re-attach the best of them.
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MOTAT
Aug 28, 2018 13:26:43 GMT 12
Post by Richard Wesley on Aug 28, 2018 13:26:43 GMT 12
Thanks for the update on the Solent and glad the damage was not too bad. Great that there were a couple of spares as well in storage. Shows you never know what parts might be needed in the future.
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 30, 2018 20:05:18 GMT 12
motat_NZ: We bid farewell to The Devon last weekend. The DH 104 Devon NZ1813 has been at MOTAT on long-term loan from the @afmuseumnz. Although we are sad to say goodbye to the Devon, this marks the beginning of a new project which will finally see the Sunderland & Solent housed together t.co/uBulYSeXZO/video/1
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MOTAT
Aug 30, 2018 20:09:46 GMT 12
Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 30, 2018 20:09:46 GMT 12
I hope it is going somewhere good, it always looked nice in the MOTAT hangar.
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 30, 2018 21:10:37 GMT 12
I hope it is going somewhere good, it always looked nice in the MOTAT hangar. When does the AF Museum get to put their stuff in their new space? The Devon moved into MOTAT in June 2012 Devon nearly done by Errol Cavit, on Flickr
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MOTAT
Aug 30, 2018 21:35:50 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 30, 2018 21:35:50 GMT 12
The Air Force Museum will move into the rest of their building next year. It will be a big process with all new displays, etc.
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MOTAT
Aug 31, 2018 11:37:48 GMT 12
via mobile
Post by baz62 on Aug 31, 2018 11:37:48 GMT 12
I thought it was there for good. Oh well potentially go to a good home or maybe since the Air Force Museum already have 1803 put up for sale or swap for something?
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Post by emron on Sept 2, 2018 20:33:46 GMT 12
Flying Boat Update Spring rain and wind didn’t make for ideal conditions under the Solent shelter today so most of us found jobs in the workshop. While others were cleaning and repairing engine cowls and spinners I continued with float parts. It’s not often that I’m able to attend midweek but I did join the Wednesday team last week and spent extra time and caught up on the bracing strut repairs. Today I rivetted on the end fittings to the best spare and that’s now complete and ready to be painted together with the pair for the left float. The floats are attached to the struts via two torque tubes that lie in a recess across the top. Each recess is covered by right and left side fairings. I cleaned up and straightened the set for one float and that’s now ready for paint. The other set’s already primed. Each float is divided into four compartments that are separated by watertight bulkheads. There’s an access hatch in the roof of each compartment that can be unscrewed to gain entry for repairs. The hatch has two rubber inspection covers that can be unplugged to check for leaks and pump out water. These covers are secured by bath plug chain to prevent them either falling into the bilge or over the side. We removed the two middle hatches on each float so we could do skin repairs and these have now been done. The two hatches from the left float only needed small patches to fix and I’ve now finished them. The other pair have far worse corrosion and will be remade. I’ve salvaged the inspection covers and their plug holes and will swap them onto the new skin once fresh stock of sheet metal arrives. The rubber covers have gone hard over time and the best of our spares were used to outfit the Sunderland but we should be able to mend enough to make up a good set for the Solent. Remaining to be done are skin repairs to the step area on the right float. Then the exterior can be spot paint stripped and any surface corrosion buffed out. That will leave it ready for final clean and prime. The trunnions, bolts and bracing wires for the left float need to be cleaned and painted before they will be ready to re-attach and the wing-to-strut fairings still require repairs. So there’s still some weeks work yet but that shouldn’t hold up painting elsewhere on the airframe.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Sept 3, 2018 7:55:21 GMT 12
I thought it was there for good. Oh well potentially go to a good home or maybe since the Air Force Museum already have 1803 put up for sale or swap for something? Its heading to Ohakea to become part of the Historic Flight I hear.
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Post by emron on Sept 9, 2018 22:24:32 GMT 12
Flying Boat Update
Sorry if this has become yawn inspiring rather than awe inspiring but only a couple more episodes should see me done. Today I spent the morning removing the final float hatch that needs to be patched. Unfortunately once the compartment was opened up I could see the extent of corrosion inside, down the bottom along the keel-line. We’ll need to insert new metal there to strengthen it. Taking a closer look at the rear bracing strut I found some more corrosion on the attachment fittings so decided to remove the strut to put that right. It took the rest of the afternoon to free up just three stubborn bolts but after liberal spray of penetrating oil, a knock with the big brass drift and turn with the heavy-duty socket drive they’re now loose. 2 or 3 more hours work should see both sets of struts under-coated and their trunnion blocks greased and bolted back on. Next time I’ll tackle the metal work on the keel and step and that will complete the external repairs on the right float and will allow surface corrosion treatment to proceed and any paint residues will be stripped away.
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Post by Richard Wesley on Sept 10, 2018 11:07:42 GMT 12
Thanks for the update and certainly please keep them coming! It is great to hear how the work is going and I am really looking forward to visiting again at Christmas. I actually thought the floats might have been spared a bit of the corrosion damage from being sheltered under the wings, but it really sounds like the water was able to get in, with no way to get out perhaps? It certainly is the time to get in there and treat as much as humanly possible, otherwise it will be take three in another couple of decades time.
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MOTAT
Sept 10, 2018 11:23:34 GMT 12
via mobile
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Post by baz62 on Sept 10, 2018 11:23:34 GMT 12
I agree with Richard these updates are a fascinating tale of restoring an old aeroplane especially to someone also tackling an old British aeroplane!!
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MOTAT
Sept 10, 2018 11:32:47 GMT 12
Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 10, 2018 11:32:47 GMT 12
Wholeheartedly agree!
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