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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 31, 2021 22:54:18 GMT 12
That Lidar peeling of the paint is amazing Denys!! I'd love to see examples of the results if you are able to share them please.
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Post by Mustang51 on Aug 1, 2021 0:21:21 GMT 12
Yes please from lockdown on this side of The Ditch. I can see a whole bunch of applications for that....rather than what the AWM did for the Me262
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Post by ZacYates on Aug 1, 2021 14:16:21 GMT 12
All of this is in preparation for work to restore the old girl in time for the major celebrations of DeepFreeze history set for 2025-26. ttfn Well that's very exciting!
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Post by denysjones on Aug 2, 2021 8:37:58 GMT 12
I'm as interested to see the results of this as you guys are, as over the last few weeks I've been merely an interested observer.
There have been camera drone flights over and around the aircraft, areas disappearing under makeshift tents, and long discussions on the technical challenges of getting billiard balls to adhere to the aircraft. The latter has been a local improvisation for some higher tech items which apparently are used to scatter, as in reflect, light at differing angles across the subject area.
All I know is that Bryan has signed his life and reputation away by promising the work will be completed and we'll be left with the results when he leaves in approx 5 weeks to take up a new appointment at the university in Tromso Norway.
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Post by denysjones on Aug 2, 2021 11:22:23 GMT 12
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Post by denysjones on Aug 7, 2021 20:59:53 GMT 12
Evening folks Not a huge report from today. Due to the weather and various other commitments a small team bravely fought on. After a few non-aircraft chores the first task was to repopulate the refurbished rib at the outboard end of the familiar bay of endeavour with the various unions etc that it hosts and then to connect the first piece of conduit thereto. The afternoon was the battle to get the carburettor shroud to begin to join the accessory fire shroud. Both items had had hard lives which saw considerable distortion. The carburettor shroud, being the lesser, had been attended to on the work bench. Then the forward edge join of it with accessory one commenced. After appropriate inducement attachment was achieved one screw at a time over the arch. Next week the go will be working up the sides and then over the rear arch applying said inducement, namely discrete panel beating skills, as we go. I also did a trial fit of the top adaptor to see how things are shaping up, it's just sitting on the studs in this shot and will end up lower when properly fitted. Meanwhile on the wheels and deals front we've had a couple of exciting interactions this week of more bits for the greater jigsaw known as 2035 .... details to come cheers
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Post by denysjones on Aug 14, 2021 21:23:54 GMT 12
Another day of fettling the carburettor shroud to fit maketh progress but no great visible change. The week was better though, as during it a parts swap was completed with Stu Atkinson and among the received items was a much (as in the length of time taken) sought after surge chamber for the hydraulic system that has featured in a few posts of old. This diagram copied from the parts book has been the map of accomplishment with items being coloured as they've gone into the aircraft and shows that we're nearing completion with only a few pipes and items not so coloured. The two spherical items lower centre are the pressure accumulator (lower) and the surge chamber. I've had the former for some time but now that we've the latter the time has come to figure out their fitting. The parts book doesn't provide insight into the exact location of the items in the bay nor the way they are mounted and it becomes clear, by bitter experience, that the diagram is somewhat distorted in presentation for clarity sake. Obviously the two spheres have mounts to safely locate them rather than dangling on the ends of tubes, but what and where? Way back in 1987 I had access to the Hudson that now flies out of Temora Australia while it was undergoing maintenance and this photo shows its accumulator held by a mount on one of the bay walls. Note the small oblong fixture low down to the left of it. I have a Lockheed blueprint of the fittings on and in front of this bay wall but the accumulator is not fully shown being just a broken outline which says it would visually conceal the other items but positions it in the same place. However here is the same area in 2035 and you see the left end of the same oblong fixture just to the and to the right of it is an object which isn't the accumulator mount. That object is the system pressure regulator and it was firmly in place in the aircraft when we got it, including with some plumbing connections, so we know it is original and so this definitely shows the accumulator isn't mounted there. (Also to the upper left the bottom of the four way valve that operates the bomb doors can be seen but the Temora a/c lacks that as it had its bomb doors fixed shut as the cameras, in its Adastra days, looked down through portholes cut in the doors.) I've obtained blueprints for the accumulator mount from a contact in the US who is an authority on Lodestars and Venturas so now need to obtain or make one and then figure out where it goes. Said contact also provided a photo of the PV-1's surge chamber in situ which showed that it is the same item and it does hang on the end of pipe anchored to the bay wall by way of a belly band. Investigation today shows where it might hang but nothing to secure it to by way of a belly band so at the moment the best guess is a brace between its tube and one adjacent which goes to the filter which is securely attached to the wall. cheers
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Post by baz62 on Aug 15, 2021 9:01:40 GMT 12
That's impressive that you have nearly got the entire hydraulic system back in place! Considering how different things seemed to be installed according to the manual(and even other aircraft) you must be looking forward to that final bit of the puzzle going in. A stray memory has just popped up. I recall that some of the Hudsons were powered by the PW R1830 and I seem go recall to streamline maintenance these aircraft were modified to take Wright Cyclone R1820. Would this have happened to the Temora example perhaps explaining some differences? Or were the hydraulic systems virtually identical regardless of engine type?
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Post by denysjones on Aug 15, 2021 9:11:18 GMT 12
I've no idea on that Baz but anything is possible.
As I said the Temora a/c was much modified for its role with Adastra. The bomb bay doors were secured shut with straps attached to them and the door pivots even had the horns over which the actuating cables ran chopped off in the case of at least the AWM Canberra a/c. All the remaining Hudsons in Aust were so hacked about that John White and Jamie Croker from the AWM came over here and visited all our four a/c to research things. They spent two days with us delving into 2035. In the restoration Jamie literally rebuilt whole chunks of their interior that had been chopped out.
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Post by Mustang51 on Aug 15, 2021 12:20:32 GMT 12
Temora Huddie bomb bay doors now totally operational thanks to the massive work done by Andy Bishop and his magnificent crew. Eventually hope to get the bomb racks installed and operational and fitted with dummy bombs
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 15, 2021 12:53:48 GMT 12
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Post by baz62 on Aug 15, 2021 13:14:42 GMT 12
I've no idea on that Baz but anything is possible. As I said the Temora a/c was much modified for its role with Adastra. Found a photo of Temora's Hudson in WW2 and she had Pratt and Whitneys so with the engine change over and as you mentioned being modified in civilian life she may well be a bit different , possibly from even when she left the factory. I'm sure you'll figure it out.
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Post by denysjones on Aug 22, 2021 13:26:06 GMT 12
Lockdown does have one plus to it and that is lots of time available to be soaked up in home garage work on those myriad small items that are always waiting for their turn. Now that all the items that were taken off the Hudson port firewall for rework have been re-installed I get to go through the whole process all over again for the starboard. As luck (?) would have it last Saturday I made a start, at the top of course, and stripped off the top row of pulley support brackets. These being the same set as the port ones you'll see back on page 25 with posts from early May. This set however were totally devoid of pulleys but have proceeded to regain their pristine look. Now I'm regretting that decision last week that I'd leave sorting out pulleys and bolts from the bits stock as I'd get them this week which would be fine as I wouldn't need them before then. I did however take home some of the attachment brackets for the rear engine frame. We were blessed somewhere back in time, which now eludes me its so long ago, to acquire six of these rear engine frames with assortments of fittings either present or missing so we're not exactly short of said items. The one uniform thing about them is their state after years outside somewhere and so they go through stages progressing from rust, to bare metal (or in the case of inaccessible internal places treated with rust converter), to sprayed with cold zinc protector coat, to final paint. The two pieces at left are mounts for pipe clamps as per the illustration on Page 26 July 12 post item 15 and the two on the right are items 14 from the same. The hydraulic surge chamber is next in the queue. At some stage of it's life someone has been attempting, presumably, to get it apart or separate something from it as it has clearly been squeezed up in a vice which has left some nasty jaw impressions on the edges of the centre band. Once I've tidied those up it'll have to be repainted and so Owen our friendly graphics guru is on the job for the wording you see in the band. I've deciphered it as - WARNING - RELEASE AIR BEFORE DISASSEMBLING which makes sense as the manual says that it is pressurised to 315psi. Another item from the recent swap is this pulley It visually matches two of those from the Page 25 May 1 illustration of the firewall jackshaft. Those are called out as P/N 53655 one being -14 and the other -15 but this wee fella has 53647-2 on the pulley end and LS816-2 250 on the lever end piece. Just another puzzle! Stay happy and safe in your bubbles out there (sounds like the end of a Hills St Blues briefing if you're old enough to know the programme doesn't it!)
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Post by johnnyfalcon on Aug 22, 2021 17:38:05 GMT 12
Yes indeed, let's be careful out there!
Nice update, thank you
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Post by agile on Aug 28, 2021 11:05:35 GMT 12
On the Mosquito front, pre-lockdown The Big Repair was making pretty good progress. The 5" wide ply band which streamlines the fasteners for Bulkhead 3 was fitted (in the foreground here): The rotted spruce around the wing opening has been surgically replaced, as has the structure under the windshield/canopy: The inner skin has been 'filled in' in preparation for installing the replacement door frame, which lies either side of the inner skin. The lower and some of the forward part of the original frame will be retained: After that new balsa can be added: So this is where we were up to pre-lockdown. One more piece of inner skin to go, outer skin and balsa complete up to forward of the wing: I also got the dinghy box lid doped, now I need to make up some silver to finish it: On a more human note, a few weeks ago we had the great pleasure of a visit from Tina Divers. Her father Flying Officer Arnold Divers DFM was a 487 Squadron Mosquito pilot. Tina has just finished putting together "I won't let you down...", a memoir of her father based upon his logbooks, photos, letters, interviews and other primary sources, and she generously brought a copy for our library. The book is a fascinating insight into the life of an ordinary joker called upon to put normal life to one side and to do extraordinary things. It's brilliant to have all this information compiled together in a single volume. Here Tina is with the inimitable Dagy: The book is primarily intended for family and friends, but Tina did say 'who knows, one day it may be commercially reproduced'. In the meantime it's a valuable record for ourselves and the other groups and individuals who assisted Tina in her research. An important reason for restoring and conserving these old aircraft is connecting people with their past and that of their ancestors, and keeping memories alive. Stay safe everyone. Cheers A
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 28, 2021 11:24:05 GMT 12
Great stuff.
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Post by errolmartyn on Aug 28, 2021 11:47:58 GMT 12
"On a more human note, a few weeks ago we had the great pleasure of a visit from Tina Divers. Her father Flying Officer Arnold Divers DFM was a 487 Squadron Mosquito pilot. Tina has just finished putting together "I won't let you down...", a memoir of her father based upon his logbooks, photos, letters, interviews and other primary sources, and she generously brought a copy for our library. The book is a fascinating insight into the life of an ordinary joker called upon to put normal life to one side and to do extraordinary things. It's brilliant to have all this information compiled together in a single volume. Here Tina is with the inimitable Dagy: The book is primarily intended for family and friends, but Tina did say 'who knows, one day it may be commercially reproduced'. In the meantime it's a valuable record for ourselves and the other groups and individuals who assisted Tina in her research. An important reason for restoring and conserving these old aircraft is connecting people with their past and that of their ancestors, and keeping memories alive."
I do hope the book is more widely published. As researcher and historian I would very much like to obtain a copy. Meanwhile, from Colin Hanson's By Such Deeds – Honours and awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1923 – 1999:
DIVERS, Flying Officer Arnold, DFM. NZ414601 & 131390; Born Dunedin, 15 Mar 1921; RNZAF 17 Aug 1941 to 29 Jan 1946, Res. to 15 Mar 1976; Pilot. Citation Distinguished Flying Medal (Imm) (24 Jan 1944): [283 Sqn RAF (Walrus)] During the past four months, Flight Sergeant Divers has been responsible for eleven successful rescues of British and American aircrews. In November, 1943, immediately after his release from hospital, he rescued 5 airmen from a dinghy in adverse weather which made a take-off impossible. Taxying also became impossible after a time due to the weather and after 10 hours afloat the crew and the rescued personnel were taken on board an American ship. His courage and coolness have invariably been of a high order.
Included in the above was the rescue, on 3 Jul 1943, of a pilot 15 miles off the Sardinian coast, whilst the island was still in German hands; on 18 Jul 1943, the rescue of a pilot 29 miles off the Sicilian coast while there was considerable enemy activity from the shore; on 12 Aug 1943, the rescue of a British fighter pilot eight miles off Vulcano, Italy, in the face of heavy German anti-aircraft fire; and the rescue, on 3 Nov 1943, of five crew members of a USAAF B-25 off the Italian coast whose dinghy was damaged and in imminent danger of sinking. In making his recommendation for the Immediate award of the DFM the CO noted - “Whilst he was resting during the afternoon of the 3rd, he heard that a ‘Mayday’ had been received from a position off the west of the Italian coast, about 90 miles from base. The complete squadron were away on other sectors and were not available. Having no senior to refer to, this pilot, in spite of his weakened state of health flew to the position given, located the dinghy and took the five aircrew safely aboard. The dinghy was leaking badly and coupled with the stormy weather, the rescued aircrew could not have survived another two hours. The sea was so rough that the fabric of the Walrus was badly torn and take-off was impossible. Taxying too, after a short while became impossible due to extremely heavy seas. After managing to keep afloat for over 10 hours, the crew of the Walrus and the five rescued aircrew, were at dawn on 4 Nov, taken aboard USA Hospital Ship SEMINOLE. The ship’s log records - ‘Sea rough. Sky overcast. Rain squalls. It required considerable persuasion by the Chief Officer to induce the pilot to leave the damaged aircraft. In our estimation the plane could not have survived.’ There is not the slightest doubt that but for the outstanding gallantry of F/S Divers, the crew of the B-25 would have been lost. In all his flying with 283 Sqn, he has shown similar gallantry, even at the expense of his own personal safety.” Prior to service in the Mediterranean with 283 Sqn, Fg Off Divers had served in England on 277 Sqn (Walrus). Following one year in the Middle East he returned to the UK for service with 285 and 667 Sqns, on Oxford, Blenheim and Hurricane aircraft. On Oct 1944 he converted onto Mosquito’s and was posted to 487 Sqn RNZAF where he carried out 36 sorties to Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Berlin and numerous Ruhr Valley targets. He was hit by flak several times but always returned safely. Died Cromwell, 19 Mar 1998.
Errol
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Post by agile on Aug 28, 2021 13:29:35 GMT 12
Hi Errol, it's an amazing story isn't it - reminiscent of The Sea Shall Not Have Them.
I'll let her know you are interested - a number of other historians expressed interest via Farcebook.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 28, 2021 15:44:37 GMT 12
Definitely an amazing story. Those guys in ASR Walrus did amazing things. I hope the book does get more widely published.
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Post by baz62 on Aug 28, 2021 15:44:41 GMT 12
So this is where we were up to pre-lockdown. One more piece of inner skin to go, outer skin and balsa complete up to forward of the wing: Thats one hell of a repair job alright! All those curves and matching up to the canopy and door opening must have given Dag nightmares! Very well done Team Ferrymead!
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