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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 17, 2017 16:43:52 GMT 12
I flew in BXG several times between Gisborne and Auckland; and between Gisborne, Napier and Wellington.
It's such a long time ago when she was just another NAC, then Air NZ airliner plying provincial routes.
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Post by denysjones on Jan 13, 2018 20:12:26 GMT 12
Must be a bad night that I've got time to experiment with this! However we seem to have it sussed....my 40 years in the IT industry have ill equipped me to fight some of these modern systems. Anyway onto the real gist of things. If you look back to the recent posts you'll see what the forward looking view of the undercarriage bay of BXG looked like and here is where it was at a couple of weeks ago. It has progressed somewhat in the interim and now that I've got this photo thing under control I'll get some newer shots for you...ok Dave?  So attention now moves to the accessory bay forward of the u/c bay. As you'll see below it is a fair old mess with massive tin worm (look at the vertical member right of shot) plus the remnants of numerous bird nesting seasons. Today I've got rid of said bird stuff and also removed the remnants of the corroded rail running across the lower centre ground. This required the removal of the u-shaped casting which is a footing for the accessory gearbox which will ultimately sit there.  This might take the heat off the frenetic posts about Wigram hopefully Dave :-) |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 13, 2018 20:42:21 GMT 12
Fantastic Denys! Well done on getting the photos sussed, and also the project looks to be coming along well.
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Post by agalbraith on Jan 15, 2018 9:10:49 GMT 12
Brilliant progress as always Den! Is there much missing in that compartment, or do you pretty much have everything?
Thanks for the update
Cheers Ants
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Post by denysjones on Jan 15, 2018 13:12:09 GMT 12
Quiet day at the office today eh Ants? I see you're catching up on your browsing in work hours!
Short answer to the question is "unlikely" which means I don't have a complete picture of what goes there. The Fokker manuals are strange when you come to them from Lockheed and Vickers experiences so it makes it hard to get the info sorted.
It also appears that NAC/AirNZ altered things over time and differently between the a/c and coupled with that so did Fokker. I photo bombed the F27 at Caloundra and one of the other guys did BXH at Wanaka and its amazing the differences between those two (granted Caloundra is a 400 one) and BXG. Items have moved location in the nacelle, plumbing and wiring changes route, and a lot of the plumbing in BXG has changed from AGS fittings to AN. I guess that has taken place when things were replaced in the age when NAC/AirNZ had moved onto US fittings with the DC-8/737s being the dominant beasts in the fleet.
We've been hopeful of getting some materials from Airwork but haven't managed traction there despite a couple of contacts lobbying on our behalf. We'll have to see how the HARS acquisition plays out.
I'd also still be really glad if someone can help with contact(s) in the Chathams re BXI. The one email address I was given didn't yield a reply.
cheers
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 15, 2018 13:32:18 GMT 12
It sounds like you need to enlist the help of some ex-Friendship engineers to help get your head around things. Given the Air New Zealand Engineering base in Christchurch and the longevity of the type in service, there must be quite a few of them out there, and probably a number of them here on the forum. So who on the forum can volunteer to give Denys and the team a hand to sort out and restore 'your' old aircraft?
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Post by agalbraith on Jan 16, 2018 13:50:41 GMT 12
Lol Den, yes mate I can usually catch up on the odd forum on my downtime. However I am away camping at the moment and everyone around me is either sleeping, reading or sunbathing. None of it is interesting to me, so I am using data on my phone until I run out......then I can drink beer and socialise!
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Post by denysjones on Jan 21, 2018 11:02:28 GMT 12
As promised last week here's a hot off the press view of the forward undercarriage bay. There's just a small bit of refurb left to do on the sills but now the previously stripped out items such as plumbing and wiring can go in and just yesterday the undercarriage retraction ram took up residence.  On the topic of the accessory bay this week one of the jobs was to remove the remnants of an angle riveted to the front wall of the bay and said front wall is the engine firewall for the nacelle. All the items mounted on it have been attached with steel screws, bolts or rivets and in the 20 odd years BXG sat outside they've all rusted, in some cases completely away, and left rust stains down the face of the stainless steel firewall. Fortunately it turns out that one of those old "grandmothers' home handbook" tips works to solve the problem. Vinegar mixed with baking soda to make a paste , applied, left for 30 minutes and gently polished off with a wet worn scotchbrite does the trick as the test area in the centre of the shot shows.  ttfn |
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Post by agalbraith on Jan 21, 2018 13:25:09 GMT 12
Brilliant revival! I have heard of that trick, but never known anyone who had tried it...nice work and such a great result. Cant imagine she would have lasted too many years outside when you see the corrosion issues you have had to deal with......Will use that mix for future ref
I am a bit high on resin fumes, so I better get some fresh air.....home again and straight back on the Auster again you see!
Thanks for the update Den
Ants
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Post by tbf25o4 on Jan 22, 2018 9:23:59 GMT 12
Vinegar also works well on removing old paint from bricks
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Post by isc on Jan 22, 2018 13:01:13 GMT 12
Another rust remover is citric acid(buy it at the home brew shop), add a couple of drops of washing up liquid, good for soaking rusted bits in. isc
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Post by agalbraith on Jan 31, 2018 20:58:42 GMT 12
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Post by agile on Feb 2, 2018 9:18:12 GMT 12
Ants mate, thanks so much for your (evergreen) generosity, and for putting the link up here. It was on my to do list! I'll try to remember to get some pics of progress on the UH-12 and FH1100 tomorrow for an update on those two projects, which are going along nicely. Cheers A |
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Post by agile on Feb 9, 2018 21:24:13 GMT 12
Denys is doing a great job of keeping the forum up to date on the progress of the Hudson and F27, and there are plenty of Mosquito updates on Facebook, but as promised here is a bit of what else is ongoing: Hiller UH-12E ZK-HIK - Nearing completion       Fairchild Hiller FH1100 - stripping for repainting and corrosion control   Allison C-20 - Completed and ready for installation (not sure if this is going in the FH1100, Jet Ranger or H369)  Sunderland NZ4112 - Rudder pedals under restoration  Our next major undertaking is likely to be building a hangar to house the helicopter collection, (currently consisting of R22, R44, H269, handyman's dream H369, Jetranger, UH-12E, FH1100 and Wessex) - this is on hold for the time being while we wait to learn from how other building projects in the park progress in the post-quake regime. Cheers A |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2018 13:33:09 GMT 12
The UH-12E looks fantastic, kudos to the team doing the work!
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Post by denysjones on Mar 10, 2018 20:07:06 GMT 12
Following on from the Jan 13 post the work on the accessory bay of BXG has been a process of strip out, clean, refurb, repair, repaint and reinstall. The focus of late has been the outboard site for reasons of items located there or passing through. The area as found was like this  and we're now at the stage of it looking like this but of course there is heaps to do yet so it's a WIP.  It's interesting that fixtures in the bay are a mix of English BA and US UN so this seems to reflect the changes of components during service as NAC/AirNZ migrated from British to US aircraft dominating the fleet and hence support supplies. HTIOI cheers |
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Post by denysjones on Mar 22, 2018 10:38:32 GMT 12
This might be sub-titled "things don't always get done right in the factory". The hatch/lid of the aforementioned accessory bay of BXG has been in for its own R&M while off the a/c to allow the bay to be more easily accessed. There is as you see a observation port/window in the unit and when we found it this was nearly completely covered with paint overspray and the metal surround had the usual corrosion and rust bleed creeping out from the screws. So it all came apart and after much elbow grease type work with P1000 Wet & Dry and Brasso clarity has been restored to the perspex. The interesting bit is you'll see the clear piece but the material around it inside the edge of the metal surround is opaque having been routed creating a step lip. It seems that this was done to accommodate the rubber gasket the perspex sits in and to fit inside the duct it provides viewing of. The big but is that it appears that it has been installed inside out and of course age has hardened it to the curve of the hatch so that's how it has to stay now. Someone had a bad day at the Fokker factory?   |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 22, 2018 12:20:23 GMT 12
Ha! Interesting!!
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Post by baz62 on Mar 22, 2018 15:12:15 GMT 12
Ooops. So was this used to make sure nothing untoward was going on like a fire? Whereabouts is it ? Was it set so you could easily see it from ground level or is it time for a set of steps? Looking good Denys.
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Post by denysjones on Mar 22, 2018 18:29:12 GMT 12
Baz it's just fwd of the wing leading edge on the outboard side of the nacelle.
If you look at the image of the firewall on the post of Jan 21 then it's on the right and just up and over the firewall.
Given the a/c height it's definitely a job for elevation to look into. Whatever it points to has something (tube/duct) that latches onto the other end of the duct as you see through it there are three simple spring steel clips on the far end to lock onto said thing (see the plate nut to the rear of the duct that is one of three for said clips to attach to on the outside of the duct).
I can imagine this might be a bit complicated for a man with an Auster background!
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