Advice with trailer Please ??

Funny (not), I had a green Discovery last year (actually the one Si Pulford used to tow his Canberra to Newark a few years back) for all of two months until the timing chain broke and bent all the valve pushrods.
What a heap of junk, I should have known better and followed my own advice by never going near one.
It’s just that I’d stoved my Volvo estate into the back of a truck by not being able to stop quickly enough when towing. I was desperate for a car, borrowed the Disco and ended up buying it. It was always going wrong.
Someone else I know has got one and the gearbox is knackered.
The advice is: Only buy a Land Rover as a last (desperate) resort.

Didn’t Camlobe tow his Shack Cockpit from Cornwall to Wales using a Disco? Would have been interesting, as a Shack cockpit would have been long with the nose on and fairly high sided. I think he did struggle a bit but haven’t looked for the thread…

Add to the fact Mr Rusty is little more than a shell IIRC

Many Thanks Chris, You are of course right, it is no longer a aircraft, I should really be looking at it as a fancy large caravan,that needs a new chassis to sit it on, 😉
and it has to be fit for purpose, I will keep your advice in mind,:) it is so easy to think of it as a aircraft, when really it lost its aviation purpose many years ago,:D

Many thanks again, thats a good website and i have now added the towing Reg’s to my favourites list !

Young Teenwolf, Can you email the relevant pages to me as myself and Keith are the one’s doing the Diet work.

haha, Teenwolf, you remembered! :p

I’ll get onto it forthwith Squire, assuming of course that the pages I am referreing to are ones which I have scanned already. If not, it’ll be tomorrow as I’ll hafta blag myself a “workshop” copier to do the scanning. 😎

Slimfast !!

Chris, I take it you’ve dispensed with the pile of red ballast that sits under the bomb-aimers prone position? That weighs in at a fairly hefty sum, and with rather a lot of aft airframe long-since shed the old girl certainly won’t be needing ballast any more 🙂

I left a post on your WZ guestbook – if you need any diagrams or pics of TT.18 cockpit layouts, give me a shout and I’m sure I’ll be able to see you right. I’m excited for you with the progress on 887, I do have rather a thing for the old Tow-bird 😀

Timbo

Thanks Timbo !!,
I never even realised there was any Ballast wieght !!, Ive not got my hands on her Yet, But she is in Capable Hands with Doctor Goodall and Nurse Halley :D.

Thanks Again Nige + Kieth for doing this truth be told I dont have the equipment to remove such large objects as Legs and Ballasts ,will be light as a feather once HistoricAero have done a good operation on her, “Who Needs Slimfast”LOL, :diablo::D

when she is Mobile we must get the old “Brothers together WK126 and WH887,perhaps Kemble Next year, who Knows !! what the future holds.

Looking at them Pics I really am going to have to get the Nose wheel Door from WK124(Groan) all those Rivets to drill out LOL:D

Chris, I take it you’ve dispensed with the pile of red ballast that sits under the bomb-aimers prone position? That weighs in at a fairly hefty sum, and with rather a lot of aft airframe long-since shed the old girl certainly won’t be needing ballast any more 🙂

I left a post on your WZ guestbook – if you need any diagrams or pics of TT.18 cockpit layouts, give me a shout and I’m sure I’ll be able to see you right. I’m excited for you with the progress on 887, I do have rather a thing for the old Tow-bird 😀

Timbo

Young Teenwolf, Can you email the relevant pages to me as myself and Keith are the one’s doing the Diet work.

Chris, I take it you’ve dispensed with the pile of red ballast that sits under the bomb-aimers prone position? That weighs in at a fairly hefty sum, and with rather a lot of aft airframe long-since shed the old girl certainly won’t be needing ballast any more 🙂

I left a post on your WZ guestbook – if you need any diagrams or pics of TT.18 cockpit layouts, give me a shout and I’m sure I’ll be able to see you right. I’m excited for you with the progress on 887, I do have rather a thing for the old Tow-bird 😀

Timbo

The secret is not the pulling ! It’s the stopping! A good 4×4 is essential in the case of a Canberra . It’s also worth pointing out that pulling a Canberra around the countryside can be a little fraught at times . I would recommend looking at what Bill Fern and Tony Collins have done with theirs – the support frames make it very easy to move – requiring only the hire of a trailer and not purchase and also put the cockpit at a height which makes it easier to get in.

Does anyone have a photo of Bill or Tony’s support frames – it sounds like what I want to do with XX977.

Cheers Paul

I agree David,

it currently wieghs at 1.8 tonnes, But I imagine it would be better if all the unnessesary weight was removed ,these parts would not be junked ,but used as swaps etc for other owners who needed the said Items, i think by removing the nose leg, the 5 oxy bottles and all the heavy inductors,regulators etc,would help though, as much as transporting the canberra would still be not for the faint hearted, I wonder how it must be to move one with all that gear still on it, i imagine quite a nightmare,
Rest assured I will Not be cutting the very front nose off, because thinking of it logically ,there really is not a weight issue with the nose, and it would do more harm than good, its a personal thing too, i do prefer cockpits to have the complete nose when i see them, ie hunters,jaguars etc, but i can see why people have cut them down to a minimum,
I will allways have WH887 best interests at heart, and will think very hard before i make any decisions on even cutting the rear, it needs to be done properly, I have taken on WH887 to preserve her ,not destroy her, If in the future for any personal reason i cannot manage her ,then I would sell her to a “good” home ,rather than let anything un-toward happen to her, my main worry is restoring her and not being able to show her, due to weight and size, But I will overcome this, when that time comes,

Merkle – With all respect moving a Canberra nose around the countryside is not for the fain hearted. Whatever you do in terms of removing a few boxes and bits and pieces – the cockpit will still weigh the best part of a tonne.
Think long and hard about what your doing – certainly most Canberra owners unbolt the section to the rear of the pressure bulkhead and discard it – however there is little more you can do if you wish it to still look like a Canberra.

Thanks for the update Merkle, Nice to see you back ! Glad you are acting realy calm and addressing the issues that you have, can’t help at all, but love following your progress ! best of luck to you and all involved. Keith.

Just a Update,

Hi all, just a Update regarding the Weight issue etc,

I have decided to remove the “Very” heavy Nose leg, and all Parts that will not be seen inside IE heavy Oxy Bottles etc, Regulators , anything that adds weight to the cockpit, I imagine the Nose wouldbe Very much considerably lighter, once this operation is finished ,
the only place where people will see inside is the cockpit and Nav Position,
I am even contemplating cutting the cockpit from the bomb bay area to the Rear cockpit Bulkhead, making the cockpit about 2 foot shorter on the rear,
I have even contemplated removing the forward Nose as this served no purpose in the TT.18,bu i will have to see just how damaged the Nose is as it has had quite a whack on the front of the nose,
I would Rather NOT do this as it will ruin the shape of the canberra, But if I need something easily transportable then anything to cut the weight and size is a bonus, But I wont go as far as ruining the cockpit section ,
Perhaps I should have picked a smaller cockpit, But beggers cant be choosers, and she is a good old bird, with lots of photos of her past life and even a Corgi Aviation Archive Model made of her .
But if I ended up with a cockpit that i could not transport “Regularly” to various shows , then there is little point in having her, But I am determined to
make this work, if I can. its funny really, you never realise all the Implications
until you actually OWN a cockpit,
Be sure though that I have been Very active in Locating Parts for her, and am now getting quite a store of Bits ,:)

Van/4×4

I think if not works 4×4, i will take Richy D’s advice and “Hire ” a van for the weekend, its gotta be cheeper than “Owning ” one with all the insurance/high tax , daily running costs ,etc etc
I did own a frontera until recently, but simply could not affrod to run it
i only had it 2 months and i hardly used it,
and frontera are cheep !! for a 4×4
when i get some money up together will look for a sturdy Car/Boat/Ifor trailer,to mount the canberra nose,
cor no wonder people go for the “Little-Uns” transport can be a nightmare,
I originally wanted Nothing bigger than a Hunter Nose, (for the reasons of transport etc, )
But couldnt bare to see old WH887 in such a mess, and with her westonzoyland history although brief , i Had to have her,
at least she is saved now and hopefully wont take too many years to restore,
its funny you start a path with clear rules, but always end up with something different , but its amazing how attached you can get, especailly when its your “First” aircraft cockpit !!:D

Land Rover Discovery (don’t)

Funny (not), I had a green Discovery last year (actually the one Si Pulford used to tow his Canberra to Newark a few years back) for all of two months until the timing chain broke and bent all the valve pushrods.
What a heap of junk, I should have known better and followed my own advice by never going near one.
It’s just that I’d stoved my Volvo estate into the back of a truck by not being able to stop quickly enough when towing. I was desperate for a car, borrowed the Disco and ended up buying it. It was always going wrong.
Someone else I know has got one and the gearbox is knackered.
The advice is: Only buy a Land Rover as a last (desperate) resort.

I think a Land Rover Discovery would spend more time on the trailer than the cockpit !

There you go with those negative waves again; I’ll have you know the green one I had, NEVER broke down on the road……………..always had the decency to wait for a layby.

Tony Collins regularily tows his cockpits with a transit van, and alternatively a Discovery, his views on the subject, would be welcome, (although I don’t think he is a forum member) .

out)…..

I think a Land Rover Discovery would spend more time on the trailer than the cockpit !

Tony Collins regularily tows his cockpits with a transit van, and alternatively a Discovery, his views on the subject, would be welcome, (although I don’t think he is a forum member) .

Another consideration for the cockpit exhibitionist (can you say that?) is that most venues are grass fields; four wheel drive gives you a bit of an advantage, when the British summer kicks in… and as most of them come with low range, they are better a manoeuvre(ing) trailers into place; and you can take the familly, (and all sleep in a tent, and get wet, and fall out)…..

A few years ago I dabbled in plant hire and needed to tow a mini digger of almost 2 tons, after much talking, trying out and research, I chose an Isuzu Trooper lwb with an Ifor-Williams 4 wheel trailer (supurb kit) The whole set up was excellent, when towing all was very stable and the brakes were excellent ! Can thoroughly recommend these for your consideration ? Keith.

The market for 4×4’s has definately slumped which means there are bargains to be had. I would always choose 4×4 over van . I towed a Canberra cockpit to Kent once – it was on the RAF removal frame on the back of a car trailer – definately one of the longest nights of my life and not fun by any stretch of the imagination. A lwb 4×4 has far superior braking ability which is in my mind what it’s all about – plenty of vehicles have the ability to pull.

One (post #6), and plenty of harder objects.

I still say Transit style diesel van, larger engine versions have excellent pulling capability and the platform is stable being fairly long (longer the wheel base the more stable) and wide. 4x4s are ok but they do wallow and can have stability issues of their own, especially with a heavy trailer pitching it up and down. Braking on larger vans is fine as they are designed to handle a large payload.
Other advantages of a van is their shape and size provides a barrier from the elements for the following load and they are relatively cheaper to buy than a similar condition 4×4. You can also live in it for those weekends away at Newark!
Best of the bunch if you can afford them is the Merc Sprinters and older 307s, I have regularly driven them with very large loads (inc towing) without any difficulty.
I guess it all comes down to how often you are going to move the cockpit.

How many cockpits have you moved with this style of vehicle?