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Post by johnnyfalcon on Sept 26, 2020 18:48:33 GMT 12
Wonderful shots Marty, thank you! How amazing to see her on the road again after so many years. For those without Facebook access, here's a bit from Avspecs: NZ2336 Mapua 260920 Avspecs 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr Be careful with that axe front end loader, Eugene...
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Post by planecrazy on Sept 26, 2020 21:05:22 GMT 12
Wonderful shots Marty, thank you! How amazing to see her on the road again after so many years. For those without Facebook access, here's a bit from Avspecs: NZ2336 Mapua 260920 Avspecs 05 by Zac Yates, on Flickr These pic's are awesome, following this is exciting, maybe it's just me when you see the fuselage like this it looks so fragile with the cavity where the wing fits, maybe it's not but it looks like removing the wing must be a complicated process?
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Post by baz62 on Sept 27, 2020 9:36:10 GMT 12
As an engineer I'm fascinated by the hows and whys in anything mechanical, especially aeroplanes. I'd be interested to learn if there is anything you have to do to the fuselage as it's lifted off the wing. If you look at the fuselage sans wing there's not a lot of structure in the fuselage above the wing cutout and there must be quite a bit of weight in the nose section, even with the guns and ammo boxes out. I know the blue jig is there to take the place of the wing but that goes in place after the fuselage is removed so I wondered if there was something that bolts in between the front and rear fuselage above the wing? (And of course right behind the cockpit is the dingy box so another weak point?) Edit: just thought..... can the load on the nose be adjusted with strops during the lift?
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Post by tbf2504 on Sept 27, 2020 12:35:21 GMT 12
congratulations to all involved! I presume the aircraft wiil begin its journey north soon?
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davem2
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 97
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Post by davem2 on Sept 27, 2020 13:10:35 GMT 12
Check your compass heading, Omaka is south east.
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Post by ZacYates on Sept 27, 2020 13:21:32 GMT 12
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Post by planecrazy on Sept 27, 2020 14:39:48 GMT 12
Great stuff, not far from where John Smith dismantled her to be reassembled. I bet Mr Smith wished he had some trucks and trailers like that when he took her over the hill. From memory the drive from the Rai Valley over to the Nelson is not mean feat even in a modern vehicle, an old Pommy car and a trailer with large chunks of Mosquito on it, amazing! Really enjoying this story and looking forward to more, thanks to all involved.
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Post by tbf2504 on Sept 27, 2020 15:21:21 GMT 12
yep sorry about that will get a compass swing tomorrow
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Post by shorty on Sept 27, 2020 15:51:05 GMT 12
John told me that he had taken to his place via the Wash as it wouldn't go over the Pelorus Bridge
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Post by Damon on Sept 27, 2020 20:10:24 GMT 12
What is 'the Wash'
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Post by shorty on Sept 27, 2020 20:28:37 GMT 12
The Wash bridge is up the far end of the Wairau Valley where the road crosses the Wairau River
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Post by ZacYates on Sept 27, 2020 22:57:34 GMT 12
JEM Aviation has posted on Facebook about the move: NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 05 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 06 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 07 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 08 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 260920 JEM Aviation 09 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 270920 JEM Aviation 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr NZ2336 Mapua 270920 JEM Aviation 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr From Fighter Flights/Full Noise: There are even more photos and videos of the disassembly, reloaction and unloading on the Omaka John Smith Mosquito Project page here on Facebook.
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Post by kevsmith on Sept 28, 2020 0:13:14 GMT 12
Correct Shorty, the Wash Bridge is about 60 miles west of Blenheim on Highway 63. On the northern side of the river immediately after crossing the river on the Wash Bridge (if heading west) is the gate to what used to be Manuka Station when it was owned by the Dodson Family of Blenheim. From that gate it was some 5 miles, heading back towards Blenheim on the north side of the river, to the house built of "Cob". To reach it you had to ford the Shingle Stream, the Boulder Stream and the Goulter River - great in summer but not in winter or spring. Apparently the house and out buildings used to be a coach station back in the 1800's. Todays trivia!
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Post by agalbraith on Sept 28, 2020 6:57:42 GMT 12
How wonderful is that! Well done to everyone involved, and thanks for taking the time to record this all for history.
She looks right at home there already.
Thank you to the Smith family for your contribution to preserving the rich aviation history in NZ
Cheers Anthony
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Post by nuuumannn on Sept 28, 2020 14:59:16 GMT 12
As an engineer I'm fascinated by the hows and whys in anything mechanical, especially aeroplanes. I'd be interested to learn if there is anything you have to do to the fuselage as it's lifted off the wing. If you look at the fuselage sans wing there's not a lot of structure in the fuselage above the wing cutout and there must be quite a bit of weight in the nose section, even with the guns and ammo boxes out. I know the blue jig is there to take the place of the wing but that goes in place after the fuselage is removed so I wondered if there was something that bolts in between the front and rear fuselage above the wing? (And of course right behind the cockpit is the dingy box so another weak point?) Edit: just thought..... can the load on the nose be adjusted with strops during the lift? Hey Baz, like you, I'm curious about the techie stuff too, especially on these older aircraft. I'm sure the guys in the photo above could probably answer your question so much more thoroughly than me, but a little bit of info can't go amiss. The Mossie fuselage outer structure was a semi monocoque formed as two separate halves, as you know, which brings about its own structural strength, and as you can see, the area where the canopy is and the forward spar slots into is not a large piece of structure, but there is obviously a bulkhead at either end of the wing bay supporting the wingless fuselage, but you don't want it to be sitting for too long without any form of support, which can be bolted onto where the wing is fastened to the fuse, like the blue cradle it is sitting on in the picture above. There are strengthening longitudinals in the fuselage above the wing structure either side of the dinghy bay, which support that weaker area and add to the structural strength of the wing-to-fuselage join, and with the wing being one piece from tip to tip, there is considerable strength in the structure as a whole, but when separated, obviously the fuse is best mounted on stands that support it at the strong points to maintain its integrity. I hope that helps a little, as brief as it is...
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Post by baz62 on Sept 28, 2020 16:23:57 GMT 12
As an engineer I'm fascinated by the hows and whys in anything mechanical, especially aeroplanes. I'd be interested to learn if there is anything you have to do to the fuselage as it's lifted off the wing. If you look at the fuselage sans wing there's not a lot of structure in the fuselage above the wing cutout and there must be quite a bit of weight in the nose section, even with the guns and ammo boxes out. I know the blue jig is there to take the place of the wing but that goes in place after the fuselage is removed so I wondered if there was something that bolts in between the front and rear fuselage above the wing? (And of course right behind the cockpit is the dingy box so another weak point?) Edit: just thought..... can the load on the nose be adjusted with strops during the lift? Hey Baz, like you, I'm curious about the techie stuff too, especially on these older aircraft. I'm sure the guys in the photo above could probably answer your question so much more thoroughly than me, but a little bit of info can't go amiss. The Mossie fuselage outer structure was a semi monocoque formed as two separate halves, as you know, which brings about its own structural strength, and as you can see, the area where the canopy is and the forward spar slots into is not a large piece of structure, but there is obviously a bulkhead at either end of the wing bay supporting the wingless fuselage, but you don't want it to be sitting for too long without any form of support, which can be bolted onto where the wing is fastened to the fuse, like the blue cradle it is sitting on in the picture above. There are strengthening longitudinals in the fuselage above the wing structure either side of the dinghy bay, which support that weaker area and add to the structural strength of the wing-to-fuselage join, and with the wing being one piece from tip to tip, there is considerable strength in the structure as a whole, but when separated, obviously the fuse is best mounted on stands that support it at the strong points to maintain its integrity. I hope that helps a little, as brief as it is... Thanks for that. Presumably there is enough strength to support the nose as long as you quickly fit supports in place once lifted off the wing.
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Post by shorty on Sept 28, 2020 16:41:04 GMT 12
And you've taken the armour plate out first
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Post by avro683 on Sept 30, 2020 9:25:13 GMT 12
Great to see she arrived safely. This has got to be the ultimate aircraft restoration conservation project of 202!
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Post by nuuumannn on Sept 30, 2020 12:34:36 GMT 12
Thanks for that. Presumably there is enough strength to support the nose as long as you quickly fit supports in place once lifted off the wing. Yup, but again, as Shorty mentioned, you'd strip stuff out before doing all this. The guns would be removed first before the wing is removed, as well as equipment in the fuse to lower its structural weight first. As long as there is no loading on the structure it should sit okay on its own in the jig. Shortly after its first flight, the prototype, W4050 suffered a ground accident that split the fuselage, so the fuse of the incomplete second prototype was fitted to the wing of the prototype, which obviously delayed the finishing of the next example...
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Post by baz62 on Oct 1, 2020 11:39:32 GMT 12
Right so just lift the fuselage up and attach the lower supports asap. I noticed in the photo of Dan Frew removing the wing to fuselage bolts that they already had the supports in place at one end ready to connect once the wing is out.
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