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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 8, 2020 14:26:33 GMT 12
Some 'new' old photos have been posted to The New Zealand Bomber Command Association page here: I cannot get it to embed so please click 'here' in the line above.
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Post by lesterpk on Oct 8, 2020 15:10:48 GMT 12
I seem to recall a P-3 painting boo boo too. When they did the first low-vis paint scheme. They either got the markings paint and the airframe paint swapped over or they did the finish wrong (flat instead of gloss). I can't remember (I'm well over 40 so that's acceptable!). Lasted a week or two before the whole plane was rubbed back with Scotchbrite. I seem to recall Pam (small S&S female) being involved in the Scotchbrite process. Do you remember that one Dave? Would be mid 90's?? The first low vis grey P-3 was deliberately painted matt grey, lasted about a year before they realised corrosion and cleanliness was an issue with salt water operations. It was rubbed back over a few days then and repainted gloss grey one long weekend in early 96? The boo boo was the 4 tins of marking colour was mixed up first and applied to one wing, before the next batch was mixed and noted to be lighter in colour. Thats when the error was realised and corrected on subsequent coats.
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Post by aeromuzz on Oct 9, 2020 11:33:01 GMT 12
Just getting back to the original subject for a moment, this question was asked recently but gained no response so I'll ask again. Does anyone know who has bought all of the Vampire bits and pieces that were part the collection (assuming the buyer is okay with being identified)?
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davem2
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 97
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Post by davem2 on Oct 9, 2020 12:44:09 GMT 12
They were sold locally, no idea if the buyer wants to be identified, so I won't do so.
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 10, 2020 8:33:51 GMT 12
They were sold locally, no idea if the buyer wants to be identified, so I won't do so. Thank you Dave, I feel like I've asked it weekly since the family began the dispersal process. I'll respect their privacy wait for the buyer to make themselves known should they wish. In a similar vein have the Oxford (wow) and Baffin (WOW) bits gone to new homes yet?
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Post by shorty on Oct 10, 2020 20:23:32 GMT 12
If the Vampire people get hold of Nigel Wilcox they may be able to get some tail booms off him
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 10, 2020 21:25:24 GMT 12
Apologies folks, I've transplanted the Mustang pics to that airframe's dedicated thread. Wasn't thinking earlier.
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Post by John L on Oct 11, 2020 1:16:45 GMT 12
In a similar vein have the Oxford (wow) and Baffin (WOW) bits gone to new homes yet? I thought the Baffin bits had gone to the Baffin project currently underway.
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Post by baz62 on Oct 11, 2020 13:43:19 GMT 12
Anthony Galbraith,his son Cameron, myself and Wayne Williams drove to Omaka Saturday morning to deliver a Hudson undercarriage leg (complete with wheel and tyre) for Bill Reid. Al Marshall kindly extend an invitation to view the Mosquito while a team were working on the wing. We kept out of the way so as to not hinder progress but Al and Marty was more than happy to show us a few items of interest and allow Anthony access to anything to take photos for the Ferrymead team to assist them with their Mosquito. It was certainly a special moment for me as both Anthony, Cameon and Wayne had been to John's place before. Especially Anthony who knew John from back in the 80s at least and has become quite expert in all things Mossie. Anthony and I had talked about making the trip together but sadly never did so for me to see and actually touch John Smith's Mosquito is something I'll never forget. So here are a few photos snapped at random plus couldn't leave out Team Curtiss as John Saunders turned up and invited us into his hangar. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better Graham Orphan who was busy working on the Mosquito wing took us all into one of the JEM Aviation Hangars to show us the wings of his Fairchild 24 nicely fabriced and painted. And I think we were also looking at the Waco tail feathers that were also looking amazing. (Sorry I was too busy gawking and listening to Graham to take any photos! Those .303 gun barrels Al turned up look really good. Marty reckoned the camera port would make a good position for a bloody big gun! 20201010_112723 by Barry Tod, on Flickr This shows the top of the wing, usually hidden when fusleage is on top of it. 20201010_112945 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Anthony busy taking photos. By the end of the day his phone battery was down to 1%. 20201010_112948 by Barry Tod, on Flickr The obligatory cockpit shots 20201010_113258 by Barry Tod, on Flickr 20201010_113825 by Barry Tod, on Flickr 20201010_113950 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Al removing the gun bay panels using his guns...... 20201010_115040 by Barry Tod, on Flickr So Marty and Anthony(with Cameron observing) could discuss the camera installation. Anthony believes this maybe the only one left in the world as it's the first time he has seen one apart from in wartime photos. 20201010_115230 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Part of the tropical fit was this water tank for holding drinking water. 20201010_113433 by Barry Tod, on Flickr A view back into the rear of the fuselage 20201010_113448 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Wing cutout. John Smith cut the fuselage just in front of that bulkhead. When he joined it back together he glued a thin steel plate over the join to help keep it strong. Looked like it worked! 20201010_113832 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Ammo box and chute in place. 20201010_115347 by Barry Tod, on Flickr The wing is certainly a big beast. 20201010_115429 by Barry Tod, on Flickr 20201010_141815 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Pilots seat. 20201010_140349 by Barry Tod, on Flickr This is the inlet for the fuel cooler again part of the tropical fit. Attached to the side part removed to allow the wing to be removed on the right hand side. 20201010_140359 by Barry Tod, on Flickr And what is on the other side. 20201010_140404 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Couldn't leave the Anson out of it. What a nice looking aeroplane. 20201010_143231 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Tucked away for the day. 20201010_151639 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Into P40 territory now. "New" Gloria Lyons cowl which fooled a few people.....yes including me. Looks great though. 20201010_121143 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Looks great now the windscreen and canopy are in place. 20201010_121253 by Barry Tod, on Flickr 20201010_121421 by Barry Tod, on Flickr 20201010_121431 by Barry Tod, on Flickr Anthony admiring the Allison engine. 20201010_121548 by Barry Tod, on Flickr 20201010_121600 by Barry Tod, on Flickr John's P40E looking great. 20201010_122340 by Barry Tod, on Flickr And finally a video showing Al supervising the safe return of the fuselage back into the hangar: Thanks again to Al for the invitation. At the moment you cant just turn up and expect a tour so this was only due to Al knowing we were involved in aircraft restoration,knew the rules and we certainly knew it was a privilege to do so. Hopefully these photos and video will give you a bit more to look at until we all can see her all back together again. Oh and Dave I'm sorry but Al has told us about his little joke regarding the IFF self destruct.......you have to watch Al Marshall he is a true master of the straight face as he strings you along and you get sucked in! Hes got me at least three times now.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 11, 2020 14:02:40 GMT 12
Thanks Baz, Gloria looks great with that windscreen installed.
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Post by baz62 on Oct 11, 2020 16:43:14 GMT 12
Thanks Baz, Gloria looks great with that windscreen installed. Thanks Dave. John was pointing out the P40N windscreen has this direct vision quarterlight on the port side. He was wondering what use it would have been? I mean if you wanted a bit of cool air why not slide the canopy back a bit. The P40E doesn't have it but I see the canopy does have a side opening window on the port side. You can see it open in this photo. Brian Cox didn't fly the N did he? Be great to see what a veteran thought of that "feature". John thought it was so you could shout down "milk and two sugars please" but again why not slide the canopy back? 20201010_121253 by Barry Tod, on Flickr
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 11, 2020 16:49:28 GMT 12
I happened to find your photos on Flickr Baz, what a selection. Thanks for posting! It seems like it was a wonderful day out...I bet Anthony was in hog heaven, being able to get all those detail shots. What, me, jealous?
I was fooled by this “new” Gloria cowling, I figured it was the old one given all the paint dings etc. Those chaps really are doing an amazing job. I always enjoy seeing Gloria - and John’s E, for that matter!
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 11, 2020 19:14:23 GMT 12
Wow what a great experience Baz and Anthony.
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Post by baz62 on Oct 11, 2020 21:07:01 GMT 12
Yes Zac to say Anthony was happy was an understatement. Well we were all were stoked to be looking at something so historic. Don you would have loved looking at all the radio and electrical installation. Everything looked like you just needed to apply some volts and she would be ready to go.
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Post by shorty on Oct 12, 2020 6:20:04 GMT 12
Maybe the direct vision panel is so you can order your takeaways when it's raining and not get wet?
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Post by agalbraith on Oct 12, 2020 6:43:02 GMT 12
Yep, sure was a great day out! Huge thanks to Al, John,Marty and Graham for being so kind as to let us has such great access to 2336 and Gloria. It sure felt like a privilege to be there, knowing their workload. As much as we didnt want to bother them, they all went out of their way to show us stuff. Thanks gents...truly a bunch of 'Good Buggers'. You really couldnt want for better teams on the case, they truly are in good hands
We had the best day ever, and got some great info, thanks for the invite guys!
Great pic's Baz and thanks for doing a review.
Cheers Anthony
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Post by planecrazy on Oct 12, 2020 7:45:42 GMT 12
Wow a great set of photos, I'm sure like many amazed by the condition of everything you see, thank you Mr Smith, his family and the restoration team.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 12, 2020 18:48:30 GMT 12
Today Al found the name Peggy scratched into the Mossie, and henceforth the Mossie shall now be known as "Peggy". It seems fitting to give her a name as the two P-40's are named Gloria and Bess. I only asked Al last week if the Mossie had a name yet, so it's very cool that she produced her own name when Al opened up an electrical cover.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 18, 2020 19:30:27 GMT 12
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Post by curtiss on Nov 22, 2020 21:28:23 GMT 12
Apologies for the lack of recent updates on P40 N-20 Gloria Lyons, but we have been very busy working on the rebuild effort. Much of the work being done at present is repairing damaged items, completing detail and preparing the next larger items for installation. The wings have been getting some attention at Avspecs and are due back at Omaka during early December and should be installed early 2021. Engine mounts are being changed from the earlier "Lord" type to the correct later "Fabreeka" type that were installed on N-5 and later aircraft. Initially we only had two of the four Fabreeka mounts and thus had installed Lord mounts, but have now managed to source the Fabreeka mounts in Australia and America. Lord Mount IMG_2044 by Mike N, on Flickr Fabreeka Mount IMG_2043 by Mike N, on Flickr Cockpit has been completed apart from the map case which is almost ready for refitment. IMG_2042 by Mike N, on Flickr IMG_2041 by Mike N, on Flickr IMG_2040 by Mike N, on Flickr Cowl flap hoop completed and ready for installation. IMG_2039 by Mike N, on Flickr Rudder ready for covering IMG_2038 by Mike N, on Flickr Elevators in process of being covered by Marty Nichol IMG_2037 by Mike N, on Flickr Chin cowl inlet ducting which consists of three segments - we have two originals and one has been manufactured ( using english wheel) IMG_2036 by Mike N, on Flickr Prop spinner in process of being assembled IMG_2035 by Mike N, on Flickr IMG_2034 by Mike N, on Flickr
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