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Post by denysjones on Nov 14, 2020 20:40:38 GMT 12
Here we are folks the Saturday night report. First up...last week's patient in for attention, namely the starter-feathering pump for the Hudson, has fared well in the restoration process for the week. Bit of a story here in that for years we had this junction box with three holes in the rear and one in the side, obviously for a duct for cable influx. Despite offering it up all through the aircraft we couldn't find a home for it. Then a couple of years back we bought our first starter-feathering pump off Trademe and it came with a mate attached so now after said years of waiting it is now in a home and last week's patient so endowed. What is now lacking is the two manufacturers' plates one of which was badly rusted so here it lies after a week soaking in vinegar and baking soda solution... me thinks another week is looming. That colour is dissolved rust! On their roadie the other week Dag and Alex came back to base with a selection of sundry Hudson bits mainly of junction box and related nature as here. However in the pile were two of the larger square covers seen rightmost here. What the two turned out to fit is the relay control that figured back on page 18 June 20. So this week after refurb one now graces that and completes the appearance of said box. Also in Vampire land another small addition in the form of the second pressure reduction valve in the engine bay. Mike and Des at Classic Flyers found that despite their huge parts holding they couldn't help with a mounting bracket but the Alex-Dag roadie yielded one so today unit #2 took up station, the lower one. (Thanks for the efforts guys) ttfn folks
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Post by denysjones on Nov 21, 2020 20:43:55 GMT 12
Evening folks, A bit of a quiet day as lots of small things underway. However during the week Carl, and one of his team, from Langham Signs, a local supportive enterprise, installed a bit of final wing bling on BRF's port wing, namely the NAC lettering, which sadly is largely unknown to, and be not to be seen by, many folks. Carl's retort that "when I saw the job sheet and it was imperial measurements told me it was another for Denys" says it all. We supplied the NAC paint spec drawings but his team had to redraft them to modern metric and then make and as I said apply them. I've been applying the wing walk marks etc but baulked at the size of these units. So today the outboard section of the wing was duly waxed and here she now is. The Viscounts had the NAC above the port and below the stbd wings and ZK-BRF under port and above stbd. We're now due to do the below port but this week's endeavour cost over $500 so please remember our GiveALittle page...buy a wing sign! Another bit of today's work that may surprise people is a couple of us doing work for our parent body, the Ferrymead Trust, on some display cabinets in a new hall at the park. Dag and I did the job but the interesting point may be that the new building is to house the Bill Dini vintage phonograph collection, unabashed disclaimer here that I'm a trustee and chairman of the Ferrymead Trust. Bill had several aeronautical connections, being the assembler of a Heath Parasol, president of AHSNZ, but also as a foundation member of the NZPAF. However we are told the collection is reputed to be the finest in the southern hemisphere. cheers
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 21, 2020 22:33:24 GMT 12
his team had to redraft them to modern metric That impression that Metric is the modern system is false. The British Imperial measurement system was first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824. Whereas the Metric System was introduced in France in the 1790s. So Metric is the older of the two systems. And by far the better system too.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 21, 2020 22:34:00 GMT 12
By the way the NAC signwriting looks terrific!
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Post by baz62 on Nov 22, 2020 10:00:08 GMT 12
his team had to redraft them to modern metric That impression that Metric is the modern system is false. The British Imperial measurement system was first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824. Whereas the Metric System was introduced in France in the 1790s. So Metric is the older of the two systems. And by far the better system too. Pretty sure he means modern as in the metric standard in use today Dave.
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Post by agile on Nov 22, 2020 10:09:02 GMT 12
Leaving matters of obsolete weights and measures to one side.... When Dagy is not off being shelvish with Denys, we are still sorting through the spoils from our North Island trip. Amongst them are some items of absolute gold. First is an SCR-695 IFF transponder (well, the cases at least). Regular readers will know that I have been chasing one of these for ages. Angus had already been gradually salting away the necessary chassis connectors for the day when we had to build our own, so all we have to do is make up a couple of plates to carry them: We are now down to only one missing radio 'box' (the A.1271 Beam Approach Amplifier) although we are still short the racks for the TR1143 and Gee boxes. Another item of unobtanium off the list is this Mk VIII Oxygen Regulator from Mike Nicholls (another in the very long list of Mike's contributions to our projects). The wartime Mosquito FBVI had two of these, the pilot's mounted on the instrument panel and the navigator's next to him on the 'bench'. Postwar the aircraft were modified to a single Mk XI regulator as seen in John Smith's aircraft etc. The Mk VIII version are bloody expensive and hard to find (I assume at least in part due to the popularity of Spitfire and Hurricane panels). This one is a crew station regulator without the contents gauge (as fitted to the RNZAF Hudsons amongst others). The aim is to modify it to accept the gauge shown which came from the same source. We now have both of the necessary regulators, the first having come from Laurie Gudsell, another huge supporter and all-round good bugger: Now a couple of mystery items. Does anyone recognise either of these. The paint says British but the part numbers mean nothing to us: Presumably DH stands for de Havilland, but the number is otherwise unfamiliar. We initially hoped that this was the windscreen glycol tank for the Mosquito, but while about the right size it is quite different in form and the straps aren't like Mosquito ones: More mysteries await in the next installment... Cheers A
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Post by mit on Nov 22, 2020 10:20:15 GMT 12
Now a couple of mystery items. Does anyone recognise either of these. The paint says British but the part numbers mean nothing to us: Presumably DH stands for de Havilland, but the number is otherwise unfamiliar. I think those are DH104 Dove/Devon Cowl scoops Cheers Mit
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Post by agile on Nov 22, 2020 10:49:02 GMT 12
Thanks Mit, that makes sense. Out of interest are DH104 parts normally prefixed X04 in the same way as earlier DH aircraft (eg 98 for Mosquito, 00 for Vampire)?
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Post by skyhawkdon on Nov 23, 2020 19:01:02 GMT 12
Evening folks, The Viscounts had the NAC above the port and below the stbd wings and ZK-BRF under port and above stbd. We're now due to do the below port but this week's endeavour cost over $500 so please remember our GiveALittle page...buy a wing sign! I dropped something into the Givealittle account last night Denys that should cover it ;+)
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Post by agile on Nov 23, 2020 20:58:50 GMT 12
Thanks very much Don, for your continued and generous support. I should also give a shout out to Peter Lewis who is likewise extremely generous in supporting our endeavours. I know several other forumites have also given where they can, and in these tough times that means a lot. These donations really help keep things moving and also keep our morale up.
Cheers A
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Post by denysjones on Nov 24, 2020 10:58:59 GMT 12
Many thanks for that Don it will advance the cause mightily. So in gratitude, and knowing your appreciation of our posts..... When 2035 arrived and sat outside some of the then team wisely thought to remove items at risk from her. This was all good but sadly they failed in the area of bagging and tagging and equally if they took photos then they've not come to my hands. So I frequently play the guessing game as to what and where things are and go. One such item that has long puzzled me is the battered rear section of an electrical box top left of the photo. It has gone on many a trip around the aircraft and always I've failed to find a home for it. Now working through the bits on the floor, those I showed the other week, ex Dag and Alex's roadie I come to the one on the right which is obviously one of the same but different in that it has three openings in it whilst the old one has but one. Taking this one on a trip about the aircraft I finally cracked it in that in the roof of the main cabin just aft of the astrodome I spied four holes which match the feet on the the item. Looking at the electrical page of the parts book there is a "dome light" called out which looks to be about that location in the a/c, albeit that the illustrations are very small and indicative only. Another reference photo I have appears to show just a corner of a box in the spot so I think we're right here. The puzzle is that the boxes are stamped with P/N 75137 but the parts book calls 161381. The third piece in the photo is the cover of another box and experience, from the w/o's den, led me to it being the controls for such a dome light. It has an on-off switch and a rheostat dimmer. Fortunately recently Bill Reid sent me some Lockheed photos he'd acquired and one shows such a box adjacent to the entry door and a quartet of holes in the skin there are the right size to mount the back of the box, so I think we've just arrived at a pair of items that go together as it were. Just to add to the mix the cover's stamped P/N is 168664-3 and the parts book says it should be 161400-3. The main problem I think is that our parts book is from 1944 and is for an AT-18 US a/c whereas we've got an early war RAF build Hudson but why the P/Ns have changed on such simple items is a bit funny to my mind.
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Post by denysjones on Dec 8, 2020 11:06:46 GMT 12
Running a bit late this week with the update. Its been small stuff processing bits from the recent acquisition and sorting out the whats and wheres of them. The two boxes from last report have now been addressed. There are three dome lights in the a/c, one each for the Nav and W/O and one in the main cabin. We've always had the W/O's bay one and after much fossicking around have concluded that the old battered fella was from the main cabin while the new acquisition is from the Nav's bay. They're both now sorted and the hunt is on for the covers and the lights that go thereon. I've come to the conclusion that the P/N on the boxes is for a generic stock item and that they were then finished off to fit the individual locations as required, and possibly got given the other P/N when so finished. The two covers which we've determined are from the respective controlling junction boxes have been equipped as you see and just need knobs on the pots to finish them off. I'm on the lookout for the boxes for these...they are 5 1/4in x 3in and approx 2in deep if anyone has a couple of spares. The box lurking at back of shot is one of two we got in the parts haul. Both were for sextant storage (so labelled) which goes on the wall of the main cabin. 2035's has always been with us but we lack some storage boxes from the Nav's bay so this one is headed off to there. So far stripper and elbow grease has removed hardened greasy crud and three layers of paint and now we're at fresh primer stage. Also in the parts haul were two genuine covers for the apertures in the main cabin floor (after my making 6 thereof!) but on one we got a pristine example of the placard thus I'm now awaiting the price to have 16 of these made to go on our complete set of 8 covers. Amongst all of this Rob and I muscled the starter feathering pump into place on the port engine, delightful job getting the nuts on...not! ttfn
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Post by agile on Dec 20, 2020 21:16:31 GMT 12
A final Mosquito update for the year. The Big Repair around the rear and starboard side of the cockpit has been moving slowly but surely on. First where the inner skin is rotten or broken it is trimmed away and the edge feather at 1:10. Then new pieces of skin are shaped to fit the gaps, and the edges of the join are feathered so that the eventual join is flush: The pieces are small to keep the glue-ups manageable and retain the curve of the fuselage: Once the inner skin is on the balsa packing is cut to fit: Then the outer skin is replaced. At the rear of the repair the replaced skin coincides with an increase in the thickness of the outer ply (moving toward the cockpit) roughly over the top of bulkhead 3 inside the fuselage. Bulkhead 3 is secured to the fuselage shell with bolts around the circumference of the fuselage which go into nut plates accessible through holes in the bulkhead. The washers on these bolts have left marked circular depressions on the skin which are visible at the skin joint: These bolts were absolute bar-stewards to get out - I'm not looking forward to putting them back in either. A 5" strip of ply covers the change in skin thickness and fairs out the bolt heads and washers. This area is where John Smith cunningly hid the fuselage joint in TE910 - the 5" strip is quite a bit wider on TE910. Before we replace this strip we had to complete another small repair behind the wing on the port side. We previously replaced the stringer over the top of the port wing and the outer skin over it, but there was still a substantial area of rot where the water was able to run down behind the wing when the fuselage was outside in Maheno. The remains of the 5" ply strip is visible above the repairs. A bit of digging revealed the scale of the rot: First we spliced in a piece of spruce at the edge of the former around bulkhead 3, then feathered the entire width of the former at 1:10: A new piece of spruce to mate up with the stringer over the wing, and the rotten balsa replaced: ...and a new outer skin applied: The IFF transponder box mentioned in my previous post was almost the final piece we needed to complete the system, and the last parts also came from our Auckland trip. The IFF Mk IIIGR system began to be fitted to RAF Mosquitos from around July 1944. The system consists of the above R.3121 (or in our case the American SCR-695) transponder located aft of the wing at the position arrowed here: The Type 90 control unit: located on the port side of the canopy. The 'D' switch on the pilots switchbank (the lefthand switch in this pic of TE910): The Type 90/92/93 blade aerial located in the aft fuselage, seen here on TE910 (we have one of these aerials acquired at great cost and waiting in the UK for normal travel to be resumed, we just need to make/find the bracket for it): The final element was the auto/manual selector, which is located on the port cockpit wall below the throttles and behind the remote controller for the VHF radio. It is marked here in this pic of TE910 taken looking through the cockpit door: The selector includes a push button and a switch. The button is a fairly standard part but the switch (and also the placard text) was a mystery until we had a look at TE910. Mike Nicholls was then able to furnish us with the offending switch: Then lo and behold, a complete bracket turned up in our Auckland haul: The only units we are short to finish the radio fit are one of these chaps: www.qsl.net/pe1ngz/airforce/airforce-raf/raf-comm-amplifiers/a1271.jpg (the A.1271 beam approach amplifier), and the Type U alternator fitted to the port engine to the power the Gee system. The latter in particular will be tricky to find since we doubt that any of the aircraft that came to NZ would have been fitted with one. Anyway, thanks to all the forumites who have supported us morally, materially and financially in this up and down year. Hope everyone has a great Christmas, and see you all next year. Cheers A
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 20, 2020 21:47:17 GMT 12
Good stuff! Merry Christmas team!
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Post by mit on Dec 21, 2020 10:03:42 GMT 12
The Type 90/92/93 blade aerial located in the aft fuselage, seen here on TE910 (we have one of these aerials acquired at great cost and waiting in the UK for normal travel to be resumed, we just need to make/find the bracket for it): What's that for? I have a few spares kicking around as part of the Rebecca set up on the devon
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Post by markrogers on Dec 21, 2020 11:13:14 GMT 12
What's that pink coloured thing hanging at the top near the blade aerial? It looks like a fairing for the base of the vertical tail fin?
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Post by agile on Dec 21, 2020 15:06:19 GMT 12
What's that for? I have a few spares kicking around as part of the Rebecca set up on the devon It's all part of the IFF system. If you have a spare we'd love one since it might be years before we can get the one from the UK. Even if we could borrow one it would enable us to make the bracket. We have a cathode ray tube for a Rebecca MkIV, there's a couple of pics of it here. www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/3842490-projects-wants-and-trades-2019Would be happy to swap!
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Post by agile on Dec 21, 2020 16:21:28 GMT 12
What's that pink coloured thing hanging at the top near the blade aerial? It looks like a fairing for the base of the vertical tail fin? Hi Mark, well spotted, it is indeed the fin fairing. This pic of TE910 was taken before she was dismantled and moved to Omaka. The guys were wondering where this part was until I posted this pic on their FB page.
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Post by markrogers on Dec 23, 2020 8:23:55 GMT 12
That's awesome to know. John must have put it there. Wow.
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Post by agile on Dec 23, 2020 9:21:19 GMT 12
There's another oddity in that photo. Notice where the aerial bracket is mounted on the left side of the pic there is a second pair of mounting ferrules (the round things on the fuselage shell) below the pair the bracket is attached to. When I saw a second pair of ferrules in the fuselage of TE758/NZ2328 I wondered if it was a stuff-up when the aerial was fitted, but there they are in TE910. HR339 doesn't have the second pair. I wonder what they are for.
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