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Post by ZacYates on Sept 14, 2017 14:33:28 GMT 12
I really wish I lived closer so I could chip in. It's great to be able to follow progress from afar thanks to the forum.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 14, 2017 14:36:18 GMT 12
You have your own aircraft wreck that needs attention Zac Or has the appeal of Fletchers worn off
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Post by kiwi285 on Sept 14, 2017 15:56:51 GMT 12
At this stage I really don't know. Apparently there is a 'NOS' crankcase and crankshaft, but I am not sure what else is there and what is missing. None of those parts have made it to Classic Flyers as yet. Time will tell. Unless it is really difficult, I would imagine there will be a move to get the engine running and the rest of the airframe to the same state as 2505. As you will have seen from previous photos the turret is quite complete and has most of the equipment there. The big thing will be the base ring that the turret sits on and I don't know whether it is available. This alone will make the aircraft more complete and authentic than 2505.
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Post by emron on Sept 30, 2017 15:13:36 GMT 12
The engine mount was lifted out on Friday and is being sent away to be sandblasted and if okay will be painted and put aside. Anthony - glad the photos were what you needed to see. Someone said that the Air Force, at the time of taking the turret out, left the main fairing in place and cut the oval section to cover the hole left. It is certainly professionally built and matches the structure around the turret area. We have saved the fairing, although it is ripped and battered, to use as a pattern for the new one. On 2505 we didn't have any pattern piece and had to make large papers patterns to transfer the shape onto the metal. This will be much easier. HELP. At the moment we only have the two top (left and right hand) upper bomb bay doors. Both bottom doors are awol at this time and if any suitable doors cannot be located we will have to contemplate manufacturing them from scratch. Guess who will probably be on the team to handle this task. The doors are about 20 feet long by about 16 inches wide and have all of the actuation arms attached so will be a biggie. If anyone has a pair in their rafters would we love to hear from you. This may be old news to you, but if not, then well worth a follow up if you don't locate any doors locally and before you start a DIY build: When the ex Forest Protection Ltd TBM tankers came on to the warbird market around 2000 they were without bomb doors or turrets. Responding to demand Tri-State Aviation in Wahpeton, North Dakota produced a run of new bomb door kits. This included new castings of the large lever arms together with bushes, bearing, spacers, actuators and hinges so they could be activated. When MOTAT was restoring NZ2527, many hundreds of hours were spent in refurbishing the existing door set but the four main levers, their push rods and the actuators were missing from the airframe. Back in 2009 MOTAT purchased a set of levers and actuators from Tri-State as well as the remaining stock of hinge offcuts which was all used to replace damaged ones on 2527. I recommend you contact Cindy at Tri-State to see if they still hold any stock of the doors or parts to make them.
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Post by baz62 on Sept 30, 2017 15:41:36 GMT 12
And don't forget C130 Hercules leading edge hinges are a good fit for bomb-bay hinges. The Wright Cyclone -8 (as used by the TBF) are quite rare now I understand but you never know who might have parts for one that could be used to make a runner. And then the later -20 (1900HP up from the -8s 1700HP) used on the TBM-3 may have some common parts, possibly cylinders for one.
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Post by kiwi285 on Oct 1, 2017 14:56:20 GMT 12
Thanks for the info emron. I have never heard of this company before or of their involvement with Avengers in the past. I have sent off an email so we will see if it elicits any response. Would certainly save some sweat but after all this time I suspect that all has long gone. Des sent me this photo of the tail plane halves that was quite badly distorted with the skins and structure all affected. You can see how the main spar has been bent up at the inboard end. It is about 45 mm out of true and the curve start about 800 back from the inboard rib. The rest of the spar seems to be quite straight from that point onwards. I am scratching my head and trying to think about how we can straighten this item and pull the whole tail plane back into alignment. This will have to be fixed before we even think about repairing the ribs and skins. Oh well, I guess that is one of the joys of this sort of job. Cheers Mike
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 4, 2017 15:20:30 GMT 12
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Post by emron on Oct 6, 2017 18:50:19 GMT 12
At this stage I really don't know. Apparently there is a 'NOS' crankcase and crankshaft, but I am not sure what else is there and what is missing. None of those parts have made it to Classic Flyers as yet. Time will tell. Unless it is really difficult, I would imagine there will be a move to get the engine running and the rest of the airframe to the same state as 2505. As you will have seen from previous photos the turret is quite complete and has most of the equipment there. The big thing will be the base ring that the turret sits on and I don't know whether it is available. This alone will make the aircraft more complete and authentic than 2505. Mike, it's quite surprising how much electrical equipment is still attached to this turret, including one of the amplidynes, most of the power cables and the switch box. Also the gun mount and all the ammo chutes are there. But what's happened to the enclosure (canopy), gunner's seat and the front armour plate? They'll be hard to duplicate. I don't think you need to search for a “base ring”. The complete assembly that you have there fits neatly in the hole in the airframe, suspended by the flanges that sit on the rim and are bolted directly to it. The only important part that I can see missing is one of the upper side trucks. These upper 2 trucks carry most of the weight of the turret on the rail and without that one the turret might not turn smoothly. At least you've got one on the other side that can be copied if you can't find it loose in the spare parts. The trucks are what clamp all those small rollers on top and bottom of the rail. The gunner's seat and the gun mount are both attached to the large central welded frame. It swings in the two side bearings to provide the elevation movement.
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Post by kiwi285 on Oct 9, 2017 11:20:02 GMT 12
Hi emron, Yes I was having another look at the Turret last week and can see that all of the mount frame is actually there. We haven't seen the cupola yet and believe that it is still available. We have a spare one anyway that we could u needed. I will have a look at the trucks on Wednesday what is missing. Yes the armour plate will be interesting to recreate. I build a new glass screen for the turret on 2505 and still have the patterns.
I sent you an email on 25 August regarding the Sunderland turret - did you ever receive it ?
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Post by emron on Oct 9, 2017 19:30:48 GMT 12
Mike, PM now sent about the Sunderland turret.
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 10, 2017 10:04:36 GMT 12
You have your own aircraft wreck that needs attention Zac Or has the appeal of Fletchers worn off You have a point with the first part of that post! The second, though? Not a chance Just issues with transport.
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Post by kiwi285 on Oct 10, 2017 13:16:03 GMT 12
Mike, PM now sent about the Sunderland turret. Hi emron, haven't received the email as yet.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 10, 2017 13:23:58 GMT 12
Mike, Ron says he sent a PM, or private message, so go to the top of the forum page and look on the right, it should say you have received a message and you click the link there to open the inbox.
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Post by kiwi285 on Oct 21, 2017 19:27:51 GMT 12
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Post by kiwi285 on Oct 21, 2017 19:37:53 GMT 12
You don't need to be 20/20 vision to see the bend in the rear spar of the tail plane half. The torn nose ribs are a pain as the ali is stretched and cannot or be beaten back into place. I am making new nose rib blanks and will attempt to get these the same as the originals. We are also making a steel frame jig using the undamaged half and will bolt the damaged half into it and then heat and pull the spar back into alignment as much as possible. Its all fun and games.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 22, 2017 14:57:03 GMT 12
Well done on mastering Flickr Mike. Great stuff.
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Post by kiwi285 on Oct 26, 2017 9:51:19 GMT 12
Here are a couple of photos from yesterday showing some members of the team putting new sheeting on to the upper section of the centre section. Great to get rid of the decaying metal that was there and to see new metal in its place. This will strengthen the whole centre section area. 251017 (2) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr 251017 (5) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 26, 2017 10:36:31 GMT 12
It's amazing to see the progress in such short a time. You guys are amazing!
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Post by kiwi285 on Oct 26, 2017 14:21:35 GMT 12
For all the complaints and grizzling everybody loves the job and are really keen to get stuck in. I just love being there and being able to work on old aircraft.
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Post by Mustang51 on Oct 26, 2017 15:25:14 GMT 12
Well said Kiwi285. Does not matter how bad it gets in the process its the satisfaction of the outcome that does it. A bad day on the golf course is far better than the best day in the office..........
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