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Post by nzgrasshopper on Feb 8, 2020 11:42:14 GMT 12
New build items from here on. Hydraulic pump and battery box support tray between fuselage stations #9 & #10  layout of electrical regulator box between fuselage stations #9 & #10   |
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axelford
Squadron Leader
I have visited 13 Plane wreck sites and counting, happy to help with info!
Posts: 121
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Post by axelford on Feb 9, 2020 15:00:38 GMT 12
As plenty of others have said, Awsome!
Will any of the electrical, hydraulic or control surfaces be designed to work?
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Post by nzgrasshopper on Feb 9, 2020 23:36:35 GMT 12
As plenty of others have said, Awsome! Will any of the electrical, hydraulic or control surfaces be designed to work? Plan is to have all control surfaces and electrical working. Hydraulics for the landing gear retraction may be in the form of compressed air. The main landing gear struts have been built to use fluid bypass pressure, but have compression springs as this is a lot cleaner. |
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Post by nzgrasshopper on Feb 9, 2020 23:44:29 GMT 12
Got a bit distracted from the electrical box and made this instead. Duffle bag for aircraft accessories. Hangs between Fuselage stations #9 & #10.  |
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Post by nzgrasshopper on Feb 15, 2020 19:57:42 GMT 12
Pitot tube assembly  P40 'Kitty'hawk QA inspector.  |
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Post by nzgrasshopper on Feb 24, 2020 22:49:02 GMT 12
Beginning of the rear fuselage assembly. Stations #7 to #9 port side  Stations #7 to #9 starboard side  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 15, 2020 12:19:39 GMT 12
How is the progress going on this beautiful masterpiece, nzgrasshopper? Are you getting much done during the lockdown?
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Post by nzgrasshopper on Apr 18, 2020 12:27:19 GMT 12
Hi Dave. Not in lockdown over here, but it would be nice in some ways. Flat out working, flying around doing survey work in NSW. Hope to get back home sometime and self isolate in the garage for a couple of weeks.  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 18, 2020 15:56:36 GMT 12
That's a great photo on your wall there. I'd love to see a high res of that!
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Post by altmikey on Apr 18, 2020 19:20:50 GMT 12
That's a great photo on your wall there. I'd love to see a high res of that! As would I! Is that image part of a bigger collection? |
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Post by nzgrasshopper on Apr 19, 2020 0:03:14 GMT 12
I have a few prints like these from the Whites Aviation collection, now part of the national achieves I believe. Many years ago I worked for the company that held the White's collection and was able to make some enlargements in the darkrooms. Some of the negatives were 10" x 8" and even glass plate. The print shown is 50" x 40", Taken in 1943 from memory.
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Post by curtiss on May 5, 2020 17:24:56 GMT 12
New build items from here on. Hydraulic pump and battery box support tray between fuselage stations #9 & #10 layout of electrical regulator box between fuselage stations #9 & #10 You are probably aware that the battery on NZ3220 is mounted forward of the firewall. It still has the support tray between 9&10, but it only mounts the electrical hyd pump. You are welcome to visit Omaka again and have a look at the real thing. |
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Post by nzgrasshopper on May 6, 2020 8:56:09 GMT 12
Thanks for confirming that. I had noticed that there were two battery locations. I’ve been holding off building the battery box attached to the firewall. Looking forward to seeing NZ3220 again, everyone is doing a fantastic job over at Omaka.
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Post by nzgrasshopper on May 21, 2020 23:13:12 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 21, 2020 23:44:35 GMT 12
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for those!
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 21, 2020 23:49:28 GMT 12
Look how much wear is on that Hudson prop! It must have been through a storm.
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Post by davidd on May 22, 2020 10:37:27 GMT 12
Leading edge of wing (behind airman on ladder) also shows signs of some distress. And well spotted that the aircraft is a Hudson, Dave H! Incidentally, all HS Hydromatic propellers mounted on Wright Cyclone Nine engines (R-1820 family) have that extra mushroom shaped "button" on front of the hub dome. Something to do with the operation of the pitch-change mechanism.
In case anybody interested, first of the two P-40 photos was taken at Ondonga strip (New Georgia) about November 1943. Highly likely that is NZ3072 "19" (Wairarapa Wildcat) in centre at rear, although "pussycats" may have been removed by this time.
Second photo taken at Kukum Strip ("Fighter II") at Guadalcanal, about July 1943, both photos RNZAF official of course.
David D
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Post by tbf25o4 on May 22, 2020 10:55:16 GMT 12
Most likely the wear on the prop came from operating from the coral and gravel strips in the islands, which had a sandpaper effect on leading edges props and clogging of air filters among other
challenges!
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Post by nzgrasshopper on May 22, 2020 14:11:56 GMT 12
Leading edge of wing (behind airman on ladder) also shows signs of some distress. And well spotted that the aircraft is a Hudson, Dave H! Incidentally, all HS Hydromatic propellers mounted on Wright Cyclone Nine engines (R-1820 family) have that extra mushroom shaped "button" on front of the hub dome. Something to do with the operation of the pitch-change mechanism. In case anybody interested, first of the two P-40 photos was taken at Ondonga strip (New Georgia) about November 1943. Highly likely that is NZ3072 "19" (Wairarapa Wildcat) in centre at rear, although "pussycats" may have been removed by this time. Second photo taken at Kukum Strip ("Fighter II") at Guadalcanal, about July 1943, both photos RNZAF official of course. David D Hi David All of these photos are from the Whites Aviation collection. Reference on the negative for the first photo was 1943 in New Hebrides. I made the above prints in the early 90's while working for the company that owned the Whites collection at the time. The collection was acquired by the National library in the late 90's. |
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Post by davidd on May 22, 2020 15:53:53 GMT 12
Mr Leo White was an RNZAF officer during WW2 (working for PR = Public Relations), so retained many negatives that he took during those years. As he was a serving, full-time officer, copyright was vested with the Crown, but he may have negotiated some arrangement with the RNZAF with regard to this matter. He may also have retained certain negatives which the RNZAF itself has no equivalent. Quite a few glass plate negs met sudden and horrible deaths over the years, but cannot say for certain whether he used glass-plates himself. Anyway, he did produce an enormous collection of top quality negatives which we still use to this day, and into the foreseeable future, including most of the 1943 images taken during his South Pacific tours to the forward area. Many of the negatives, including RNZAF ones, have been very badly referenced as to time and place, with large numbers taken at Guadalcanal being labelled "Espiritu Santo", while others have it the other way round. These shoddy captions have caused endless confusion for more years than I care to remember, although in the RNZAF Museum collection many have been put to rights. The person responsible for this shoddy work has never been identified, and there is no short-list of possible suspects that I know of, but it certainly would not have been Leo! Probably too long ago now, suppose the culprit thought he was doing a good job at the time - but the negatives survive.
David D
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