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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 7, 2020 6:47:11 GMT 12
Fantastic update! Amazing progress.
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Post by baz62 on Oct 7, 2020 8:09:25 GMT 12
Well done Ferrymead lads!
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Post by tbf2504 on Oct 7, 2020 13:33:43 GMT 12
Magnificent progress by the Ferrymead Team. The aircraft has progressed so far from when I helped push it into the hangar way back in the late 1960s
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 10, 2020 8:19:13 GMT 12
It's always exciting to see new posts on this thread! Wonderful progress.
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Post by denysjones on Oct 17, 2020 21:11:43 GMT 12
Not too much to report this week just a whole lot of small works going on. We've had some building works to do (such is your lot when you own and have to maintain your place of operations) plus small detail work on various projects that don't really leap out of photos. But the mischeivousness in me says to throw this out as a wee tease of something to come. Anyone have an idea of what this might be on the work bench...the hint is PD12 the aircraft is Lockheed made, one forumnite is excluded from comment .
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Post by davidd on Oct 18, 2020 9:17:27 GMT 12
PD12 rang a bell with me, so I will keep my big mouth shut today! David D
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Post by agile on Oct 18, 2020 14:22:50 GMT 12
While we wait anxiously for Deny's big reveal, a couple of items from down in the Mossie workshop. After months of waiting I finally managed to score one of these covers which go over the starter buttons, booster coil buttons and fire extinguisher buttons off EBay at an only slightly eye-watering cost: They are a Graviner part (5C/1319 for those playing at home) and as far as I can tell they're made out of rocking horse poo (unlike the slightly different type used in Spitfires etc: which come up fairly regularly). Friend of the project Rob Brittenden (Robb on the forum) is looking in to making some replicas as we need another four and he needs six for his project. Meanwhile Angus was browsing in a local curio shop and scored one of these: This is the connector for the gunsight lamp, and again they are somewhat thin on the ground, so we can add 'tin bum' to his already extensive CV. Now a small mystery (David D, you are very welcome to chip in on this one). Where the elevator trim cables pass through bulkhead 5... ] ...there is a ply doubler either side of the bulkhead: It isn't present on RF597, TE910 or HJ711 and Andy Woerle over in Calgary tells us it isn't present on any of the aircraft he has pics of either so I conclude that it's a repair. The painted patch reads: PLY PATCH Fitted W.I.D A.T.(?) D. Does anyone know what the acronyms refer to? Finally a good opportunity to shake the Givealittle bowl again - the bulk of our donations come from members of this forum, and we are profoundly grateful for your help. Our projects may be slow burners, but we are keeping the roof over quite a substantial collection, and we're doing it on the smell of an oily rag, so if you find any coins down the back of the couch please think of us. Now, Denys, about that mystery widget...
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Post by denysjones on Oct 24, 2020 19:23:35 GMT 12
The last week’s object is part of the answer to a long standing delay for 2035, namely fitting the engine cowls. The main engine enclosure starts with the front one piece ring which hangs off the cylinder heads. Then the surrounding cowls attach to that ring and then link one to another around the engine. However the top cowl (with the intake scoop on it) sits on top of the carburettor to feed air to it, as you’d expect. This is where the problem comes from as the major carb body itself sits between two adaptors. The first is last week’s piece which provides air to the carb body but also has a gate in it to deflect some air to the air filter. The second adaptor is under the carb body and it attaches the unit to the rear case and so has to match the incline of the rear engine case so the top of the carb is horizontal to the aircraft flight line. Various engines used here in NZ seem to have had equally various, based on items that have come to our hands, of model carb and the adaptor. For sometime I’ve had a pair of units on the shelf as a point of possible “adaption if all else fails” but a couple of months ago an offer of the exact one we needed came our way, even with a Fieldair tag indentifying BUV as the last place of installation. Here it is propped up on the work bench so you can see the bottom inclination. The unit is now being refurbed and also some items missing are being made good with ones from other PD12’s we have “in stock”. Meanwhile on the home work bench elbow grease is being applied to the heat shroud that encloses the carb into the firewall. ttfn cheers
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Post by davidd on Oct 25, 2020 11:16:25 GMT 12
All I can think of for W.I.D. A.T.D. is that it might involve a sub-contractor, in the UK or in fact at any of the airfields (RAF or civil) along the ferry route.
Just from memory, there were some technical issues coming to light during the fairly long period that "our" Mossies were being ferried out from the UK (roughly mid-1946 to mid-1948 from memory), and some of them concerned the landing flaps which were being degraded by ingress of water, possibly due to long storage outside in all weathers in the UK. Also possible there were other issues both before and after this period, often involving the vulnerability of the airframe to deterioration in adverse conditions.
This mod could also have been a product of a simple watch being kept for normal wear and tear on the airframe, especially at critical points, or where troubles seemed to crop up from time to time, for reasons not entirely clear at that time. I am assuming the "ply patch" in question is the one directly to the left of the "Information notice" which is presumably glued and screwed firmly into position on the bulkhead, and those are the holes through which the rudder trim cables are routed (as well as the bolt holes).
The close up of this "information notice" (the second image in the series of three) has had the trimming cables and all the brackets, etc., stripped from the bulkhead. Takes me a while to get my head around exactly what we are looking at. I am presuming the information in the notice is merely noting the authority for this mod, and/or the actual contractor or RAF Depot which incorporated it, but regret to say it does not mean very much to me at this time!
Hold ups in the delivery flights was very much the norm, as were a lot of special inspections prompted by new fears about integrity of the airframes. The weather for some of the early ferry flights was atrocious, and that was just in the UK (huge snow storms, etc), and various issues seemed to be popping up regularly.
The difficulty of getting enough qualified and experienced pilots and Navigator (W) to undertake these flights was extremely serious, and the RAF had to provide a lot of these men over the period, and I think the NZ Govt must have grown weary of all the tales of woe generated over this time of trial, and were grateful when it finally ended.
The next problem was to find an actual use for the total of 76 airframes which finally arrived in NZ, plus the eight from Australia, (actually nine if you take the 50 pound purchase of "Suzy", the specialized "Survey" Mosquito which ended up becoming a permanent resident, with code letters SU-Z. However that is entirely another story, and not a happy one.
Trouble was, those Mosquitos were selling at such great discount prices (average only about 5,000 pounds). In early 1950s, NZ Govt was paying over 30,000 pounds for each Devon, but at least they were brand new, and relatively modern.
Sorry I cannot think of anything else that might solve the mystery at this stage. David D
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Post by agile on Oct 28, 2020 6:02:45 GMT 12
Thanks David,especially for the context around the delivery flights. As you say it must have been a headache for the government of the day. A patch is bradded and glued to either side of the bulkhead. This is the point where the elevator trim cables pass through the bulkhead - these have been cut and are in quite poor condition so we are mulling how best to reinstate them.
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Post by tbf2504 on Oct 28, 2020 7:35:09 GMT 12
Is the ATD "Air Technical Drawing" I seem to recall sighting that designation on some blueprints and mod sheets in the past
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Post by agile on Oct 28, 2020 14:42:42 GMT 12
Could be. Do you think that would be an RNZAF term, or something originating in the UK?
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Post by tbf2504 on Oct 28, 2020 16:27:09 GMT 12
From what I have seen in the past it was a term commonly used by both the RAF and the RNZAF (We tended to follow the RAF in a lot of designations in the early years)
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Post by camtech on Oct 28, 2020 21:33:40 GMT 12
"Works Internal Drawing"?
Like Paul, I can recall the term "Air Technical Drawing", referring to modifications, wiring diagrams and structural technical drawings.
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Post by agile on Oct 29, 2020 7:23:44 GMT 12
Thanks for that, the Air Technical Drawing seems like a good bet then.
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Post by denysjones on Nov 7, 2020 20:12:25 GMT 12
Here we are back on track this week. The carb from the other week has passed through due process, being paint etc, but also addition of the various actuating mechanisms you see now on this side. Plus in paint stripping two additional makers plates appeared as you see. and today took up residence on the port Cyclone of 2035 its place on the home work bench has been taken up by the second starter we needed, courtesy of Mike Nicholls it is a starter and feathering pump but lacks said pump which you see here on the stbd unit we have ...any pumps out there? ttfn
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Post by davidd on Nov 8, 2020 11:03:51 GMT 12
Reminds me that the late Ross Macpheson was the proud owner of a fairly complete Wright Cyclone Nine (R-1820 G205A1 if I remember correctly) which he showed me at Otaki, but the circumstances behind of this revelation I have since completely forgotten. However it may have been acquired by Airland as a spare for their Lodestar fleet from "an overseas source". The really interesting thing about this engine was that all the makers plates attached were in the French language, presumably at the request of the original purchaser. Is anybody aware of the possible location of this rather interesting aero-engine, not certain what aircraft it would have been originally installed in, although a Lodestar would be a pretty good guess, or a Hudson. So far as I am aware, the French never purchased a license to produce R-1820s, although post-war they did build the Bristol Hercules under license. I also remember seeing a P&W Twin Wasp (R-1830) at Wigram which the maker's plate revealed to have been manufactured in Australia under license, probably for the Beaufort or the Boomerang programmes, although what it was doing in NZ at the time (about 25 years ago) is anybody's guess. Another interesting discovery was that the RNZAF's one and only DHC-3 Otter was fitted (at least at the time of its sale in about 1966 from memory) with an Australian-manufactured R-1340 geared Wasp, which of course were manufactured initially for fitment in the CAC Wirraway programme. And no, I failed to record their manufacturer's serial numbers at these critical, fleeting moments, although I found their circumstances moderately intriguing. David D
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Post by denysjones on Nov 8, 2020 20:12:32 GMT 12
Interesting David, I never knew of Ross having that engine but the fact you saw it at Otaki gives me a timeline of his ownership so I can say it was not unique.
When we first got 2035 Tom Craill organised a deal of parts with Fieldair for MoTaT and us which, he told me, encompassed four engines to be shared between us but through him we certainly received the two now in 2035. One of these is similar to your description of Ross's. Namely the maker's plate uses French to call out the various entries on it however it very specifically calls out it as being "Made in" rather than "Fabrique en" and follows with USA. So made in the country of design.
However we had received these engines before Ross left CHC for Otaki so I can rule out that somehow we inherited his one.
Our engine's plate calls it out as a GR-1820-G205A (I can't see a digit after that but the plate isn't in A1 condition) and it's serial is 31883.
So I'd say Airland/Fieldair had at least two such engines.
I seem to recall something in the AHSNZ journal article on the Lodestar in NZ mentioning an acquisition of Spanish materials. I would see it as reasonable that the Spanish would have been able to acquire stuff from France and then I'd go to suggest that engines with plates in French could well come from aircraft such as the 395 Wright powered Hawk 75's of the Armee de l'Air.
I might have to hook out the journal and have a re-read and see if my memory is correct.
cheers
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Post by denysjones on Nov 9, 2020 13:18:18 GMT 12
I hauled out AHSNZ journal Vol 13 No 1 of February 1970 which was totally devoted to Jim Sullivan's history of the Lodestar in NZ in all their guises.
I'm pleased to report that the grey memory bank didn't let me down. Both BUV and BVE had similar pre-NZ lives with the RAF, then Spanish Air Force, then Spanish civil life before off to Minnesota Armotive and thence to NZ.
Based on this I'll stay with my suggestion regarding the engines.
Hope this is of interest.
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Post by emron on Nov 10, 2020 9:54:42 GMT 12
Those two probably had many an engine change in their lives. ZK-BVE started out as a Lockheed 18-10-01, one of 4 United Air Lines’ “Speedliners” and powered by P&W R1830s. It’s unclear when it was converted to Cyclones but possibly when in wartime service with BOAC in Africa and the Middle East. It spent 5 years in Spain afterwards, so also possible that it picked up “French” engines there. However the engines currently fitted to BVE are the ones that it flew into Auckland on and are in the 59XXX series as is the one display engine MOTAT has. That Fieldair gift was substantial. As well as the two Cyclones for Ferrymead and the two fitted to BVE there were a further 5 spare ones. Two were used to equip Hudson NZ2031, one complete and one partial were later passed to the RNZAF Museum and one was kept as a spare for display. I don’t recall seeing French wording on any of the plates but one of the engines to Wigram was from the 3XXXX series. As well as engines there were four spare wings that MOTAT modified so that they could complete both their Hudson and Ventura too. So at least four other projects have been the beneficiary.
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