Proctor Restoration To Flight

2013 saw completion of all airframe woodwork, a long and time consuming task. Take it from me the Proctor has a lot of wood in her construction. The entire airframe has been checked, every glued joint broken, cleaned and re glued using Aerodux throughout and any suspect spruce has been replaced with new. Plywood is brand new throughout using only the finest quality Finnish ply. 85% of the original spruce has been retained, and the woodwork all finished in aircraft green. We trial fitted the fuselage to the centre section in the summer and last October saw it bolted securely together and there for a long time we hope. No need to separate it even for future annuals. Suddenly seeing the Proctor sitting on her undercarriage we have a recognizable aeroplane. A lot of comments from workshop visitors are just how big the aircraft seems compared with modern light aircraft.

She is quite commodious inside but the Mk V Proctor that visited Oakley in June is even bigger! Its the only light aircraft I know where you step inside and literally take steps to reach the rear bench seat!. Control runs to tail plane and rudder are installed, as are aileron cables. Sub assembly work continues apace with around four or five components being worked on at any one time. Both cabin doors were pretty beaten up, but under Johns care these have been transformed to as new. We were fortunate to be loaned an original door recovered from a small holding in Australia. This was collected from Shoreham last April and took to the air for the first time in decades, returning to Oakley in the back of the Piper Archer. The curved top glazing panels have returned from our local moulding firm and are now fitted and look superb. Sliding windows are flat acrylic so easily replicated. Aluminium fairings mostly show 70+ years of dings, dents and scrapes. As these are a very visual part of the completed aircraft we have sent them to a specialist vintage car company who have lovingly fettled each panel removing all damage, they look like brand new.

A wartime D/F loop clear blister housing was loaned to us, this has been re made in brand new clear acrylic and will sit on top of the fuselage with an original D/F loop inside. We took the opportunity to pay a visit to the RAF reserve collect last spring and spent a good hour inspecting and photographing the Mk 3 Proctor in store. This has proved invaluable in providing detail, the aircraft is largely original and unaltered. John is now into the task of fitting the overhauled sub assemblies to the airframe, a time consuming job. All the original bonding was carefully removed at strip down stage in 2008, and is now re fitted. Just before Christmas the primary flight panel was installed complete with instrumentation and is now plumbed in. Secondary panels left and right have been cut from 5 mm ply, instrument holes cut and panels trial fitted. The left side panel has a large ground/flight switch possibly a left over from the Navy/FAA build spec when the RH seat was occupied by the trainee & his Radio stuff, & hence difficult to reach by the pilot! We have had the padded roll that sits along and over the edge of the turtle deck above the flight panel re made. This has been replicated in finest black leather complete with eyelet’s allowing the roll to be laced into position through holes drilled through the turtleneck as per original.

The fuel **** has been overhauled, re painted and bolted to the floor between the front seats. Fuel tanks (spare set acquired) are useable. Panel placards are currently being collected, these will be re made like for like. A D.H.VP prop has been zero timed and sits snugly in the warm under a spare bed ready to be bolted into place. Engine has been away for some time and in capable hands, we hope to have this back by early summer. The company rebuilding it will install and ground run it prior to actual flight testing. Fabric covering will commence after the winter, we need mild stable above freezing temperatures to ensure good results. This week saw the temporary wheels replaced with newly overhauled hubs and brand new main wheel tyres. At the same time the differential brakes have been fitted, adjusted and they work! Final adjustments will be required when we get to the ground handling stage. According to some people the bendix brake set up typically used on British light aircraft in the 1930’s and 40’s was responsible for more loss of types in ground handling accidents then any other cause. Like most things if they are correctly set up and adjusted they do the job they were designed for. Don’t lose sight of the fact that when these aeroplanes were new most airfields were a big open space allowing the pilot to take off and land directly into wind, cross winds being the downfall of many then and since!

Most visitors have asked what markings we will choose. Initially we considered her immediate post was civil scheme appropriate. After much deliberation we have decided that she will appear exactly as she left Hills in Manchester in 1943, green and brown camouflage with yellow undersides and full RAF markings. Her cabin will be trimmed in dark green leather, with pleated side panels. Being an original ATA machine she will carry her Thame pool number 11 in large black numerals on the engine cowlings. All Proctors from the flight pool were so marked making it much easier for pilots in a hurry to see the allocated aircraft from a distance, the rear fuselage serial being so much smaller. As possibly the only airworthy ATA aircraft she will fly ATA flag below the cockpit, we would like to operate her as a tribute to all the ATA pilots and personnel. Pictures (on the link) show progress made these past nine months together with a reminder of what she looked like after extraction from 52 years barn storage. We are always on the look out for any Proctor parts what ever they are and would welcome contact from any persons wishing to dispose of same. 2014 will be a big year for the project, we hope to be in a position to begin flight testing in 2015. Mk 3 Proctor G-ANPP has now been moved into the main workshop ready for work to commence. This example is in far better condition then LZ791 so theoretically should be a quicker project especially as the long learning curve has been completed. Safe flying in 2014.

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