Hunter cockpit for display, making it safe?

If the nosewheel is inside, and it sounds like it is, it is possible to build a trolley to support the rear of the cockpit, with the nosewheel leg down, as we did with out two seat Hunter at Boulton Paul (now at Flixton). It looks much better and is easy to move around.

We got the hydraulics fitted and a hand pump installed to raise the canopy as required.

Well that was interesting, we got the canopy open by much huffing and puffing and four guys lifted it up and down while one of us tried to detect which hydraulic pipes had air pumping in and out but without success.

The panel was taken off the top and the problem became obvious, no ram!

I found a ram on our shelves which we might be able to make fit..oh well… supposedly we do this for recreation!

Thats another interesting shot! We have an entire tropical golden sands beach at our airport museum that came out of an Avon that arrived with the cockpit!

I hope I can get things moving and have some more photos of 801 on display.

I took this picture outside Hunter Flying’s hangar at Exeter a few days after 801 arrived. I recall John Sparks telling me about the amount of sand that came out of it!
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Excellent photograph! Thanks.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]229435[/ATTACH] Taken at Exeter airport this photo show 801 just after its renovation and just before its departure/loan!!

Air can be a problem if there is a pressure vessel in the mix, less so depending upon the volume of air involved. Nonetheless we will be using oil.

Hi

Totaly agree with Anon, air is compressable, so the pressure tends to build untill it overcomes the load and it’s off like a big spring, all that stored energy. Hydraulics on the other hand will just give a positive displacement, in other words, they will move the ram only by the amount of fluid pushed into it, so it’s far more controlable.

Just a quick note: don’t use air to extend a ram unless there is a substantial load on the ram first. They often stick if they’ve not been exercised for a while and can come out with a bang. Fluid/hydraulic is the best bet, if you can arrange it.

Nice cockpit.

Anon.

Thanks Nad, the Perspex is still on the back of the cockpit and I hope these are the pipes to connect to, do you recall?

P.S. I presume we will need more pressure than the 100PSI shop air system?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks to everyone helping me get this project on the move again.

To get the canopy open you open the panel on the top behind the canopy and that is where the canopy jack is. You can disconnect the jack and put pressure on to the jack, neither hydraulic or an air supply. If using air be careful that it does not open very quickly. I am sure that we open and closed it from the rear of the cockpit because we put connections from the canopy jack to the rear behind the Perspex that used to be fitted.

You were right to have some concerns John, whilst I was still in the RAF, the USAF was moving a gate guard and the seat fired killing the guy on brakes, they then had a worldwide check and found several more, no one back then thought about demilitarising them, the RAF also checked all of ours too.

Thanks very much for all the information!

John

John Hill,
Here is some info on Omani Hunter 801.

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This info is taken from David Griffin’s excellent book on the Hunter:-
’60 Years Of The Hawker Hunter 1951 t0 2001′

Gents

Here some history regarding this cockpit. A small team from Hunter Flying went out to Oman in early 2005 to dismantle the jet and return it to Exeter, where it arrived on January 25th 2005. The jet is a T-66B serial number 801 and the owner of this aircraft was George Begg. George was also the owner of Hunter T-7 XL573 at the time and the plan was to return the jet to airworthy condition, but unfortunately its condition was so bad, that it was not a viable project. This next “idea” was to use the centre section of the fuselage to turn Hunter XL602, which George also owned, into a big engine aircraft, but this never happened.
Not only did the jet arrive from Oman, but a large quantity of Hunter parts and engines also made the trip to England, along with a large amount of sand! I hope this helps and fills in a few gaps.

Thanks very much Nad, that certainly sounds like our cockpit and I am pleased to have it confirmed safe especially as some idiot has been telling our people otherwise.

Now I just need to get to that canopy ram which from peering in the rear would seem to be on the port side behind this removable panel.

So the Hunter came from Oman? Maybe the Avon engine we have came from there too as it had several buckets of golden desert sand inside it!

I know the person that did that cockpit. It was number 66 that was came from Oman a few years ago and after speaking to him, it was shipped to NZ along with some other items for a museum and other parts for the Strikemaster G-VIPR. After speaking to him he informed me that all items in the cockpit have been dis armed and all gaseous systems have been either removed or discharged, so the cockpit is completely safe.

Hi Tim, I dont know the earlier life of the Hunter. It came from the UK on a trailer. I did try to track the history of it and someone checked a serial number of one of the seats (or was it a harness?) and came back to me to say that number related to a still airworthy Hunter in the UK. I wont know the serial number unless I can get under and into the nosewheel bay.

The Provost was one that went to Burma when new and imported into NZ several years ago. It was in a fairly corroded state when we got it and restored to exhibition standard (i.e. ‘beauty really is only skin deep’). Right now we are still getting the rockets and a few details like wing tip light lenses fitted.

Nice flickr pics John,

I’m curious as too which airframe the Hunter came from? And which Provost is that in your pictures as well?

Best of luck with your projects

Tim S