Ferrymead News

[aircraftclocks]

Its been a few months now since I visited Ferrymead but Agile, its time to talk W connectors.

Denys I think I have located a copy of the "AB" IPB you have been looking for. The library who has it do not "export".
Knowing that people are heading to the US soon for a big airshow, someone may have time to "import" it.

[Antonio]

Denys,
Are there any photographs detailing the repairs to HR339's tail feathers for the flak damage received during Operation Clarion?

[Deleted]

Well done team!

[agile]

Apr 16, 2024 22:37:11 GMT 12 Antonio said:

Denys,
Are there any photographs detailing the repairs to HR339's tail feathers for the flak damage received during Operation Clarion?

Hi Antonio. We've never seen any pics at all of HR339 from the time. HR339`s tailplane didn't survive into preservation, and we didn't find any repairs on the fin. There might be repairs under the rudder fabric but we don't plan to strip this off.

[Antonio]

Apr 20, 2024 6:08:03 GMT 12 agile said:

Apr 16, 2024 22:37:11 GMT 12 Antonio said:

Denys,
Are there any photographs detailing the repairs to HR339's tail feathers for the flak damage received during Operation Clarion?

Hi Antonio. We've never seen any pics at all of HR339 from the time. HR339`s tailplane didn't survive into preservation, and we didn't find any repairs on the fin. There might be repairs under the rudder fabric but we don't plan to strip this off.

Thanks for that.
Appreciated

[denysjones]

First task yesterday was to install the left rear gear door segment that was the week's homework. As that went on easily Rob and I then offered up the right side forward piece.



Those pieces are different installation wise from the rear which makes things a tad trickier. The rears have straightforward arm brackets at either end but the forward ones only have a single such arm at their forward end and that item isn't rigidly attached to the door structure. It mounts onto the door with a bearing end which gives it multi-directional movement.

The two pieces of door then join with two connections one, the lower, being an elaborate item which can adjust the join for fitting of the whole assembly.



All of this then hooks up onto the mechanism that drives the open and closing of the doors with the gear motion. This is how things should look if we can just get our hands on a set of it all, this is BXH.



Staying on the same theme I then moved onto the units that perform the same task on the nose doors. Each door has a mounting frame attached on to that is fixed a support for a lever arm. The right side on is in place while the other is still a WIP. Onto the sides of the leg bolt two fixtures for the arms to link to. We're lacking those units so facsimile ones are underway.



To finish the day off I measured up for the water-meth tank straps and put together a take home pack of materials for the week ahead.

[kiwiwreckdiver]

thats starting to look like one happy Hudson again , well done all!!

[skyhawkdon]

Did you mean Friendship?

[denysjones]

A bitsy day on site today with several of the teams' members away for the extended weekend.

Dean passed through and left me the outboard forward gear door which had needed a bit of skin work which he'd dealt to as his homework, before disappearing off for a couple of weeks in the sad pursuit of earning an income. The door headed home with me at end of day.

I started off with getting some items out of store and ready for despatch to a new home next weekend...details to come.

Next mission was in the aft end of the F27 nacelle sorting out earthing and anchor connections from items on the base of the water-meth tank. One was the major elbow which I figured should be pointing towards an obvious aperture in a near structure member but now leads to the question of the plumbing from there as it's so sorted.



Next came the week's homework of the water-meth tank retaining straps. The lower one went sweet as but as I tightened the upper one the right end bracket attachments gave way due to what was then obvious to be old cracks. Thus I then rebuilt the area with epoxy and have left for next week.



As the day had then warmed up it was a wee paint job in the newly cleaned location which awaits the second ram trunion in 2035. Finally to finish things off I then moved onto the inboard flap segment for BXG. I was focussed on it needing a repaint and the topside turned out as expected, meaning it just needs cleaning and localised surface prep.

However the underside turned out to be more major. Over something like 25% of the surface were paint blisters which readily flaked off to reveal powder corrosion below...which you may be able to just discern here especially two large patches top centre.



Looks like a total strip coming up!

[denysjones]

First up today was that, after a week at home, the left forward main gear door piece went on. Dean's involvement in it's progress that I mentioned last week was brought about by the fact that this item, ex the Chathams, is in fact the left forward door from the starboard nacelle not the port.

On both nacelles the forward outboard door pieces have a triangular segment on their top edge which aligns with the top of the rear unit and it appears it is an attempt to prevent, or at least mitigate, the entry of exhaust products into the wheel bay. Aside from these segments, and, of course, the part tag, the basic doors are the same on each side of the nacelle and aircraft. Said endeavour certainly works to some extent but when I removed the part tag plate in the course of the repaint the entire area behind was black and greasy.

We decided that it was easier to fabricate the missing piece than to try and ascertain if the correct door is in fact on the island and then get it back here. So Dean duly set to the fabrication which did no damage to the door as attachment was made to the existing top edge rivet line meaning the process is reversible.




And this morning Rob and I attended to the installation. You can now see the purpose and fit of Dean's works in relation to the rear door half.



Next up in the morning was a visit from Andrew Gormlie and associates from Classic Flyers in the course of a Southern roadie. We sent them off on their way with an everyman's starter kit for building your own display RR Dart (including engine frame and several accessories to adorn the case), thereby reducing our stocks of surplus bits from our works on that front.



The afternoon got started with the struggle to successfully install that second trunion in 2035. However at the expense of some skin off the hands we got it there...phew!

Moving on to the flap segment I buffed off the powdered corrosion products with a nylon cup brush and then flared back the surrounds with wet and dry.



After a collective assessment from great minds we're pretty confident that we've covered the issue and so have proceeded with a localised priming and will follow with top coat.



Flipping the unit over doesn't show any signs of the same issues so I'm given to think that the damage has occurred during its sojourn on the island. Here's hoping all is good for this week's follow-on

ttfn

[agile]

While Denys forges ahead with works on the dear old Friendly, we toilers in wood have been engaged in our own battles, between a bit of repair work on the workshop building as alluded to by Denys in a post above.

With the repairs around the cockpit complete, the fuselage is now strong enough that we could, for the first time remove the prop from under bulkhead#2 at the forward end of the cannon bay. What was revealed was not pretty:
Looking across from the port side quite a bit of rot is evident:


It looked worse from underneath:


Probing with a chisel revealed that the laminated lower section on the port side was completely buggered about 4 laminations deep. With these cut away, rot was also exposed in the laminated member running forward from the cannon bay:


There was also a soft spot uner the skin on the port side above the opening, and investigation revealed rotten balsa and a hole through the inner skin. The rotten section of the fore-and-aft member has been cut away here. The circular hole is for a Dzus fastnener retaining the access panel for the cannon.


So to repairs. New laminations were made and applied to the bottom of the bulkhead:


New timber was applied to the end of the fore-and-aft member, and the fuselage skin feathered back to receive an eventual patch. The ply on the rear face of the bulkhead was so bad that I stripped off quite a large section, which nicely reveals the construction details:


One of the uprights at the centre of the bulkhead also turned out to be quite rotten, so again new timber was shaped and fitted:


As the damaged section of the inner skin is inaccessible from the inside, a patch was applied outside:


New skin was applied to the rear of the bulkhead:


New balsa and a skin patch was installed on the outside:


The front ply was in better shape, but a couple of small rotten areas were cut away:


And patches glued in:


On the starboard side the damage was a lot less severe, and we got away with replacing only the outermost lamination:


As well as a relatively small patch of skin on the aft face of the bulkhead:


And a bit of filling on the forward face. The entire lower part of the bulkhead will be covered in fabric, concealing most of these repairs:


In order to make the repairs the joining strip from the middle of the aft face of the bulkhead had to be removed, and as the bottom edge was a bit rotten a new one has been made ready for installation:


In preparation for applying fabric to the lower part of the fuselage, the last of the original fabric was stripped away from the opening for the trailing aerial under the starboard side of the cockpit, and a blanking plate curved to fit the profile of the fuselage was made by laminating thin sheets of Paxoline:


Meanwhile Dagy has been busy making parts identified as missing when we assembled the tail feathers. Two such were the aft struts for the tailcone:


These are made from steel, and as you can see from the drawing are absurdly complex for what they are, with a second piece of steel tube sweated into the flat end and the forked end reinforced with a third piece of steel:


Dagy has also been progressing the repairs to the outboard sections of the wing (the only bits currently accessible). Here new reinforcing members are clamped in pace while he uses a 'hole finder' normally reserved for metal work to pick up the original screw holes:


New material has been spliced into the outer end of the rear spar:


And part of the webs of the spar and outboard rib have been replaced:


Aft of the trailing spar is a curved lightweight fairing which covers the forward edge of the aileron. This was almost entirely missing as you can see from the above image. The fairing is supported by ribs made up from blocks of spruce with plywood faces. Here are some original and new ribs:


And the totally awesome and readable drawing for said ribs:


Inside the end rib the tiny paxoline ring carrying anchor nuts for the wingtip wiring connector had completely disintegrated, and a new one was made and installed with great difficulty and much swearing:


Even something as 'simple' as the bottom skin of the wing is quite a complex part made from two different thicknesses of ply spliced in four places:


With much of the repair work to the end of the port outer wing completed, Dagy has started looking at the starboard end. Here the rot has extended to a couple of the lower stringers, into which new wood has been spliced:


The plywood supporting ring for the oval access panel has also seen a big repair:


Going forward, once I finish with bulkhead #2 and get some fabric on it, we hope to remove the tail and move the fuselage across the workshop. Then we'll have more space to work on the wing sections, and once Dean has built us the much needed fuselage brace, we'll be in a position to drop the wing centre section out.

Cheers
A

[planecrazy]

Wow such a big job, love the attention to detail, thanks for all these great photos.

[oj]

I shudder at the patience required to do all this. I am pretty useless at working with wood to construct anything; even in high-school woodwork classes I struggled.
So to me, it looks like a Brobdingnagian task to do all these repairs.
I chose the electrical trade. You can't see the quality of the electric currents and there is much less rot in old wiring.

[agile]

May 5, 2024 19:54:11 GMT 12 oj said:

I shudder at the patience required to do all this. I am pretty useless at working with wood to construct anything; even in high-school woodwork classes I struggled.
So to me, it looks like a Brobdingnagian task to do all these repairs.
I chose the electrical trade. You can't see the quality of the electric currents and there is much less rot in old wiring.

Dunno about the others but for Dagy and me it isn't really about patience - we both enjoy woodworking and problem solving, and this project provides both in spades. We also both have deadline pressure in our day jobs, so chipping away in the weekends at our own pace (with no phone calls from clients and no bureaucratic hassle) is quite cathartic. When I started I used to worry about how vanishingly remote was the finish line, these days I'm just happy to be on the journey with my mates.

[Mustang51]

agile, I am with you there about the paradigm shift between "work" and what you guys are doing. I find it so cathartic doing sheet metal work...and then there's the satisfaction of stepping back and viewing the result........generally when you are there by yourself, having a grin then looking at the next rotten or bent bit to follow suit

[Dave Homewood]

Looking through 1964 newspapers today I spotted a couple of articles saying that a group in Christchurch had purchased a building in Garvins Road, Hornby (which is very close to Wigram) with the intention of creating a Museum of Science and Industry there. It was a test case to see whether there was interest in expanding at the site into a bigger museum, or to take it elsewhere. I thought that was quite interesting, but I did not expect to see that it became Ferrymead, as this article from The Press shows, from 22nd of October 1964. 

Museum Suggested For Ferrymead Site

A museum of science and industry, which would possibly replace the pilot scheme at present under way in Garvins road, Hornby, may be established on the Ferrymead property at Heathcote. The secretary of the Association of Friends of the Canterbury Museum of Science and Industry (Mr G. H. Hickford) said in a letter received by the Heathcote County Council last evening that the association was interested in the site because the Garvins road site would be too small for future requirements.

“The Ferrymead site is of great historical value,” he said. “One of our objects is to preserve industrial equipment of past years and to use it for educational purposes. Naturally there will also be much public appeal in our venture, and we consider that Ferrymead and our museum would be ideally suited.”

He suggested a meeting of members and councillors so that details could be gone into more fully. The possibility of rail access would also be investigated. During the last few months the council has been negotiating with the Junior Chamber of Commerce to have the site developed.

The council decided to refer the letter to the chamber, with a recommendation that the association's proposal would fit into the over-all scheme.

Asked by “The Press” last evening to elaborate on the question of rail access, Mr Hickford said the association was hopeful of having a connexion with the Christchurch-Lyttelton railway line. There was a possibility that a line could be run along the original route used by the Ferrymead railway 100 years ago to connect with the port line at the pumping station between the Woolston and Heathcote stations.

Mr Hickford said that this would involve a number of difficulties, as much of the land was now owned by private farmers. He said the Railway Enthusiasts’ Society was keenly interested in the association’s proposal.

[denysjones]

A quiet day yesterday with just a few troops on deck, it must be something to do with age and cold mornings!

Dag was battling on with his wingtip repairs and as always Angus had plenty of wire things to play with. Rob was busy gluing the carpets back into the R22. Gerry and Barrie dealt to more 1340 matters on 1058.

I flipped over the F27 wing flap and did the clean down which confirmed the impression that there just a few small patches of corrosion to attend to. Then back to the top retaining strap of the water meth tank and happily my repair from the other week is up to the task of holding that as required. Next was the securing bolts for the ram trunion that went in last week and after lunch the air temperature had warmed up enough to get the first top coat onto one side of the wing flap before declaring close of play.

In amongst all of that Gerry, Barrie and I discussed this item which has been lurking on the shelves for quite a while now.



It was brought back to mind by a photo and query about the gun camera mount on it. We all instantly had one of those "Yep we've got one of those here" moments the minute we saw the supplied photo.

On the underside of the sheet metal base is 1085 in red paint that indicates its origin to be with Harvard 1085 but as yet we haven't been able to get a handle on how it fits in the aircraft so we can't confirm if it is applicable to 1058...any Harvard gurus out that with a photographic answer?

[curtiss]

It mounts in the leading edge of the LH wing, but the wings I have looked at have the gun camera port blanked. I can only assume that at some stage they were deleted.

[agile]

I wonder if Barrie and Denys spotted this on the Harvard racks (I was away on Saturday).


This is a rocket sequencer and relay/resistance box similar to a Mossie one. Was this a local mod?

[denysjones]

A day of several parts yesterday and not super spectacular on the photo side.

The morning was largely taken up with most of the team doing a reorganisation of part of the main workshop to better utilise space around several of the projects, especially in the helicopter area as the R22, R44 and FH1100 projects are advancing through the stages reassembly.

Likewise Team1058 had need of better access to some areas. All of this was now possible due to the departure of the JT8D from the workshop the other month.

Dag meantime was beavering away on the skin repairs on the HR339 outer wing panel.

In the afternoon I was back on the F27 flap which is now painted and heading towards installation. First though a couple of covers for some access openings needed to be made and then the track bearings cleaned and regreased.

Down in the hangars there was work to be done the centre section as lead up to the flap going on..and then the day was done!