Victor XL231 And Nimrod XV250 Work Diary MkII

10 years ago today the Mighty Hunter XV250 made her final landing at Elvington. When Boris gives us the nod and we are all released on bail we shall be holding a engine run event to celebrate, details will follow when we know whats happening

As promised;

Nimrod XV250 – enjoy an end to end guided tour of the interior of this majestic Cold War surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. Learn more about the specialist radar systems and see behind the scenes of Nimrod XV250 and meet some of the team who care for her.

Buccaneer S2B – A very, very rare chance to climb aboard our pink Buccaneer and see the interior of this Gulf War veteran aircraft. Buccaneer XX901 had an illustrious service record with the Royal Air Force. In 1983, it took part in the only deployment by Buccaneers to the Falklands and later saw action over Beirut.

Lightning – This interceptor jet was designed with one objective, to launch, climb and attack incoming nuclear bombers. Climb inside the cockpit and see what it was like aboard this supersonic fighter.

Canberra T4 – Our Canberra is a very rare training aircraft, with dual controls and additional seats.

Meteor F8 – the single seat version of the fighter aircraft that was one of Britains very first jets.

Meteor NF14 – As the restoration of our NF14 Meteor continues, the cockpit area is now restored. Be amongst the first public visitors ever to climb abaord this night fighter jet and talk with the team who are restoring here.

Harrier – The Museum’s early Harrier VTOL jet is currently undergoing a complete repaint. However, for Cockpits Day we have suspended the work to allow visitors to climb aboard this famous jet.

Tornado GR4 – The Museum’s Tornado is one of two Tornados based here. Take an opportunity to climb aboard the pilot and navigator positions of this multi role aircraft and learn more about the systems.

Dragonfly Helicopter – Lovingly restored by one of the Museum’s volunteers who passed away a short time ago, Mac would have been proud to see the Dragonfly helicopter enjoying so much attention.

Vampire – just like our two Meteor jets, the Vampire was an early generation jet aircraft. These post World War Two jets have a completely different cockpit environment to today’s glass cockpit systems, so enjoy seeing what life was like as an early generation jet pilot.

Dakota – our C47 Dakota is famous from our Thunder Days. Take a glimpse aboard the cockpit area. She’s a live aircraft, ready to start so while we cannot allow you all the way to the pilot’s seat (we think you’d be too tempted!) everyone can climb aboard and explore her all the way to the navigator / radio operator position and take a closer look than ever into this live aircraft cockpit

Not all of our aircraft are robust enough to allow a large volume of visitors to climb aboard them. Our rare biplanes are constructed from wood and fabric, so it’s not really fair on them to expect a great many visitors to climb all over them. While others are simply very difficult to climb into, even for able bodied people. So instead, the following aircraft can be accessed from the ground or view from a platform.

Victor – We would love to be able to allow everyone to sit inside the Victor, however she is a live jet and has a tiny access hatch. Instead, Andre and the team are allowing visitors to climb the crew ladders and take a look inside of that famous cockpit.

AVRO 504 – a beautiful yet delicate aircraft, our AVRO can be viewed close up, from ground level.

SE5a – Our live SE5a, just like our AVRO, is a delicate WW1 design and needs to be handled with care. However, you can easily see inside the cockpit of the WW1 fighter for a glimpse of what life will have been like for history’s very first fighter pilots.

Eastchurch Kitten – you didn’t really think you could fit into the tiny Kitten did you? Here’s a chance to see inside of the tiny cockpit of this WW1 aircraft and talk with engineers Brian and Graham who take care of them

Devon – Not the easiest of aircraft to climb aboard, our Devon can be viewed from the open doorway, with a great opportunity to talk with the team who take care of her and keep her in top shape

Fairchild Argus – a delicate light transport aircraft, the Argus will be available to take a closer look at.

Hawker Hunter T7 – The bright blue Hunter T7 will be available to take a closer look at from the viewing platform.

WACO Glider – the delicate WACO glider was only ever intended to be used once. With the anniversary of D Day upon us, take some time to take a look at the perilous way that troops were transported into battle behind enemy lines in June 1944

SUNDAY 2ND JUNE

A unique chance to climb aboard the Museum’s amazing collection of aircraft. Many of our aircraft are entirely complete, including cockpits and our visitors would love to see inside.

For the first time ever, we are arranging access to the cockpits of these aircraft for our visitors to enjoy first hand. We will have a range of our aircraft available for visitors to climb aboard and enjoy an explanation from our expert guides on the systems inside the cockpits and how the aircrew flew these amazing aircraft.

So if you’ve ever wanted to climb aboard the Nimrod and experience her unique aroma, or sit inside a jet cockpit on top of an ejector seat, then this is your chance.

The full list of aircraft we will make available will be posted here closer to the time, so stay tuned to find out more about this unique chance to climb aboard the Museum’s aircraft.

Cockpits Day is a Special Event, prices for admission are £15 Adult, £12 Concession, £7 Child & £40 Family (2 Adults & 3 Children)

29/11/18 Update…

…or, as it could be better called, must I do everything around here myself! There was no way I was going to let Lindy’s 25th anniversary engine run slip by virtually unnoticed after the support the old girl has received from this forum over the years, so I present a brief look at the last couple of weekends work preparing for Lindy’s big day from my perspective as a semi-retired Victor fettler these days.
It has involved a lot of hard work getting her ready, various electrical gremlins have had to be defeated for starters. On a more physical note, she also needed a good wash off. This was carried out the weekend before the run, over 2 days. I helped on the second day, ascending to my old ancestral home during the Great Repaint Odyssey of 2012, the tail. The view of Lindy from up there is quite special
46444568_2193971267541570_5184607245232504832_n by Graham Buckle, on Flickr
You can see here how the dirt builds up, even on her undersides. Here the dirt is scrubbed off the elevator, the fixed portion of the tailplane awaits its turn.
46498326_2193971294208234_7206256975754035200_n by Graham Buckle, on Flickr
While we were up here, we discovered that the forward RWR fairing, same as the aft one in the above picture, has fallen prey to the pecking inquisitive feathered friends of North Yorkshire. Any leads on a replacement, same as fitted to Buccaneers I believe, would be most welcomed. While we were at height I taught Eloise how to check and top up the PFCU’s, using the Risbridger equipment. Always a fun and clean (not) job…
I believe more gremlin chasing occurred on Thursday, which had an unfortunate consequence. You chase a gremlin out of the jet, and it’s going to go somewhere; in this case it chose to make its home in the Houchin, leading to ground power issues on Saturday. Much replacing of components and wiggling of cables later, and the gremlin finally decided our smelly old diesel Houchin was no place to raise a family of baby gremlins either and left, leaving the Houchin serviceable once more. A quick run of Lindy’s Artouste late in the day proved all was serviceable
46690585_2142724575785936_8288538680797167616_n by Graham Buckle, on Flickr
46836911_2142724522452608_8261121001148907520_n by Graham Buckle, on Flickr
So Lindy was put to bed.

Then, Sunday happened. And it was wet. Very wet. We mustered early, to get the jet moved to centre stage in the museum for the tours to take place around her without our visitors having to schlepp through mud as they usually would. Opening time and, well as you can see, it was still raining
46922105_2143798829011844_8680487148438159360_o by Graham Buckle, on Flickr
Despite the rain and the cold there was still a good turn out though, which was a lovely surprise. I guess the V-bomber effect is still live and kicking! Lunchtime arrived, and we moved Lindy back to her usual place, ready to prep her for her run after we’d had a warm drink, a quick bite to eat, and warmed up and dried out a little bit.
While we prepped the jet, Martin Withers kept the by now substantial number of visitors entertained with what I am told was a very informative talk. We are slowly, but surely, turning him to the dark side, or as we prefer to call it the correct side, of the V-force!
Then, at 1415, we ran the old girl. I was a little busy but I did grab a couple of pics of Lindy at her magnificent best!
46703905_2144102965648097_55068163703832576_n by Graham Buckle, on Flickr
She did look, and sound, fantastic. The ground shook, and she bowed beautifully when Andre topped the throttles out at around 80% power. 25 years after retirement, this jet, the Best of British, really is a show stopper.
After shutdown, with only one snag requiring looking at at some point, we decided to hold a minute of silence in honour of a man who is no longer with us, but without whom Lindy would have ceased to exist long ago. Gerry Tempest, along with Andre, had the foresight back in 1993 to purchase Lindy from the RAF, thus guaranteeing her survival. Sadly Gerry has now passed away, but the team remember him fondly. He was certainly a force of nature!
Now she is Andre’s baby, and he along with help from the team keeps her alive. Long may he continue to do so. And long may she continue to bring crowds to her lodging at YAM and wow them like she did last Sunday. There are many air museums who would give anything to have the draw of a live V-bomber, I’m sure!
And so, to bed…
46763280_2144103042314756_4371481661636870144_n by Graham Buckle, on Flickr
Hopefully more from her regular team soon…

It has been quite a while since I last posted on here. Much has happened as Blue mentioned in August. The team is smaller and some of us have had health issues. But our lady has not been neglected. much work has been done on the avionics and our comms system, which is operating better than I’ve ever known it. I know this used to be a well watch thread, but with Blue working on his rusty nail restoration project :p Elvington gets good coverage.
So why the post? Well it would be remiss if I did not mention this Sunday. On the 25 th November 1993. Lindy appeared over the skies of Elvington and landed there at 2.00pm to be the property of Andre Tempest. She had been partially decommissioned when she landed and Andre was determine to restore her to full ground running condition. This he succeeded in and returned almost all the systems back to the jet. To do so by a private individual on a very small budget, is a tribute to Andre and his late father Gerry who were able to help preserve part of our aviation history.
He has of course had help from his team and many other like minded folk determined to keep her alive. The museum has also played its part giving her a base to work from.
So this Sunday we celebrate 25 years of Andres ownership and maintenance of Lindy. There will be a full engine run at 2.0 pm to mark the occasion, if you can come down and see us run.
No pics as my photo bucket doesn’t want to talk to me! 😡
All I can do is link you to our face book page.

https://www.facebook.com/LustyLindy231/

\\\\\\\\\\\hopefully we may see some of you Sunday

Well… it’s been a while since I have had cause to post anything in here, sadly. Don’t mistake a lack of posts for a lack of activity on 231 though. While nothing has been posted on here for a while, which I feel ought to change given how much this forum has supported Lindy in the past, there has been a lot of work carried out on her.
This weekend has seen the final Thunder Day of the year at YAM. In readiness for this, I revised some of my Servicing School Notes as it’s been a while since I had a serious involvement with 231 and big jets tend to bite the complacent.
Some goodies from the servicing school notes, some of which a few readers of this page may find a tad familiar

the fuel tray schematic

The mighty Conway engine

And finally a reminder of just how powerful the Victor is, and how big her bite can be

After some minor battery issues late on Saturday with Lindy, both big girls were ready to go

On the Sunday, I sat in the RH seat of Lindy and enjoyed a view I hadn’t seen for a while, the view of loads of happy visitors as seen from the Victor

Mid afternoon saw a visit from the BBMF Spitfire IX

Then, to close the show, it was Lindy’s turn. She looked great in the sun with a threatening sky behind her

But the noise was, as always, Lindy’s big trick

After shutdown, Brian the Tractor God received the traditional birthday dousing from the fire crew; Happy Birthday Brian!

Finally, a shot from part way through putting a fully serviceable jet to bed.

She may be an old girl, but she’s a good ‘un.

If anyone wants some jet noise as part of their Fathers Day come along to Elvington tomorrow (17th) as Nimrod XV250 will be carrying out an anti det run, 11:30 start. As far as I am aware we are the only ones running, but hey once you have had the best the rest ain’t worth running 🙂

Fibreglass on the oil cooler intakes. Was that there already?

You have just been on BBC Midlands news. A guy with a mobility scooter stuck a jet engine on and they showed footage running in front of the airframe

Ahem, primer for the wheels supplied from the Meteor stock Ian!

Some more items to report on a productive few weeks, after the last report I actually had a week off as i was a tad poorly and knew the next few weeks are very busy. So two weeks ago we were in and Andre was continuing to replace tyres. He had put our spare set on in mid week and it was time to remove the tyres off this hub and put fresher ones on. Which meant we were in the workshop for a change. Before I started my task I popped outside to chat with Blue and look at the progress on the meatbox. So below is a cross thread picture of Rich playing with the electric string to get the gun sight tray working.

Also in shot was their new mascot a killer white rabbit!

Back inside Andre and Dave began removing the tyres off the hub.

After the usual reluctance to come off, success was finally won. We noted there was a bit of surface corrosion on the main hub. So John and Andre removed said rust and cleaned all the parts up.

Meanwhile I had a project of my own. Our ground equipment takes a battering. So it was time to repaint and refurbish our crew ladders. First I removed the abrasive off the rungs. Here the top one is the only one left to do.

Then I sanded down the ladder and replaced the abrasives.

Andre and co also made progress and by the end of the day had all parts restored to good as new and ready to put the tyres on.

I also made progress with the ladder repainted.

Good steady progress which continued into last Sunday. We had a good team turn out, so we divided the jobs up. Andre and John had midweek rebuilt the hub, they brought it from the workshops to the jet.

Myself, Sam and Will tackled our tow bar. I had managed to put a under coat on the magnesium bits before Christmas but was stopped completing the bar by the weather till now. So we got stuck in on the sanding and Sam and Will decided to go tribal on it. :highly_amused:

Pete and Freddie was in and they continued their rolling program of cleaning up the air frame when needed. Our trailing edge being magnesium needs constant attention. As seen here with Pete working on it.

Freddie was working on the fibreglass round our oil cooler intakes.

By mid afternoon the tow bar was rubbed down and I got to mixing the paint, why the other two completed the smaller bits.

A few hours later the Olive drab was on and the bar is one step closer to finished.

With Andre and John successfully refitting the tyres and checking our brakes we had a productive day. Just in time really as this week coming is very busy. Starting tomorrow ( Wednesday ) I am back at the museum as is Andre to unveil the Buccaneer’s new paint scheme. We will also be running her in front of some guest including a former Navy Commodore. If you can make it in, it should prove good. Then another busy weekend, Saturday the live crews are doing some ground handling training held by a serving ground handling teacher. We decided we needed a refresher course and of course some are new to taxing. Finally Sunday is a Thunder day. So all aircraft subject to serviceability will be running.
With all the running we have done lately this is more good practice for August, so I hope some of you can get down to watch. If you do come over and say hi!

A little late on what I said but this is what we have been doing the last month. Since we got word we were running again, our efforts have been channelled in that Direction. So the complete repaint will not happen this year, however we do plan to do the outer lower wings, probably the area most in need of a touch up. The beginning of April we got rounds to solving our external comms problems. For years we have had a on off type problem. With our new Comms expert on the case we hoped this would change.

Dave is still camera shy but got to grips with one of the external plug in points.

Whilst Sam and Dave tackled this I moved over to the Hangar to help Andre completing the Buccaneer.

The ejection signs

I then prepped & masked the underside wing and serial

Whilst Andre started the other lower wing.

Earlier in the day I took the opportunity to shoot the Mirage IV from a different angle. at this stage it had only had the major assemblies done.

The next week the weather was too damp to paint and our spare non return valve was on site. We spent a very frustrating day trying to fit it. in itself it is not a difficult task but aligning it was tricky and we spent the day getting wet and failing to seal the valve, which continued to leak.:mad:

slight wet start.

In the end we called it a day, very frustrated. We did have one success. Dave and co found and fixed our comms connections and we can now hear everyone clearly.

Last week end was an engineers run day on the Sunday, we were determined not to beaten by the weep/leak we had. So Andre and myself came in on the Saturday. We fitted the pipe and NRV very carefully and was sure all was aligned properly. We started the Artouste and again failure! So we did a very careful fault find and determined the fault appeared to be the replacement NRV. We dismantled it again and did a thorough examination. On looking closer we detected a slight distortion on the taper of the valve and determined it was actually slightly splayed out. We had the old valve with us and this had by now been refurbished, so decided to put it back in.

Below Andre is putting the Valve back on the mounting.

All tightened up and we tried again and at last a clean and secure connection! it is always amazing how something this simple can cause so much head scratching. By this time it was Dinner, once we had dinner we split up. Andre to wire lock all pipes in place and me to cut round the present Andre had brought in.

The Bucc was on a test Squadron at Boscombe and it was decided It required a Decal.

My job was to carefully cut off the waste ready to fit, which after about 40 minutes I did.

By this time Andre had completed the wire locking and we put the badges on.

Once complete we added the only other 2 decals namely the Rolls Royce ones.

after the last few weeks it was good to leave with a win and we were ready for the next days runs.

Sunday I was eager to get the first outing into the Sunshine of the Bucc since the major painting had been done.

The rest of the day we were busy with the Dak and our Lady, I can report all aircraft ran well. The Dak had a minor hiccup at start but once running ran well. The same with us. We had a small surge in the Artouste, but the engine picked up and all 4 engines were started and exercised well. No major issues were reported. We have a small electrical problem with one system, which we have identified and the solution will be some work in the plenum chamber hopefully today.

A few pictures of the day.

last one by Will.

This weekend we will be and working on our Wheels and brakes. I am so looking forward to getting the Jack out of the aircraft again as it is so light…. Not!!

Much work still to be done and our next engine run is on our thunder day in June. But this year you will be spoiled by the running we are doing.

Wow 😎

Hi JJ There are no current plans to do 168 the third Bucc. her paint is still in fair condition and we are concentrating on those that are in need first. Photo shoots along the lines you suggest are planned watch this space.I can tell you the next one done will be the Harrier, I’m looking forward to that one as I help, look after it. Obviously the other ongoing restoration is Blue’s Meteor. I would hazard a guess after that will be the Canberra. I’ve had a long weekend over at the museum, so plenty to update you on. But I did ask on the Mirage IV it has moved on since last week with more panels and fairings added. It still has quite a few more to fit yet, so no official date has been set. When I hear something I will let you know. Oh and JJ you liked what you saw at 80% done what do you think of her at 95% done?

There are a few subtle and a few obvious items to add but she isn’t far off. Hopefully I will do a full update tomorrow.

Last time I came down the new scheme was maybe 80% done, and I agree, it is absolutely stunning. 😎

What are the plans regarding the other two? The pink one looks great as she is, but I assume the camouflaged one is in the queue for new paint? What a trio they will be, any plans to display them together? (I know you’re confined for space)

JJ when I last saw it on Sunday, it was still not completely assembled. I would say a few weeks more yet, I know a official unveil is planned but do not know the date. I will keep you informed. Mind you I am biased but the Buccs new scheme makes it the star of the hangar at the moment.

Excellent news! 🙂 Congratulations.

Any news on when the Mirage IV is having the last of the shrink wrap removed? Really want to come and see her assembled, but holding off until she’s ready.

Hi guys, I am still around! It has been a busy month, but not much in a photographic way. However I shall post some pictures next week. Part of the last month has been helping Andre finishing the Buccaneer off. It is nearly done so I won’t be posting picks till it is. That is unless it is out of the hangar on Sunday. The reason is Sunday is another engineering anti det day. with most if not all aircraft running engines. Lindy will be running all four engines as we continue our build up.
Build up to what? you may ask? The build up to our return to the runway. I can now confirm we are back on the runway doing a high speed run on August 27th as will as the other jets 😀 So now you may understand why we have been concentrating on our Brakes and tyres. We still have work to do but we are making progress. So if your in the area Sunday pop down to the Museum and hear some jet noise!

Thanks for the continued updates and congratulations for everyone involved, must be incredibly rewarding after all this time to see it roll into the museum.

As I said only a rushed few last night. Today some more for you.

Earlier in the day the logistics vehicles arrived with the jacks and specialised wing attachment equipment. They also brought the smaller bits of the aircraft.

1. Nose minus refuelling probe.

2. The probe which is made of steel and quite heavy, so if you look carefully you will see how many holes there are for the amount of screws needed to fit to the nose!

3. The rear fuselage and jet exhausts.

4. Main undercarriage leg. They are as spindly as I remember them.

5. The wings

I got to look at the parts prior to the main aircraft arriving and can say they are in good shape with the internal wiring in place not cut. All pipes are blanked correctly so it looks well looked after. With failing light I got a quick look at the wings and fuselage they also looked in good nick.

The aircraft won’t go on immediate display, as an unveil is planned. The details are not complete so I have no date, but it won’t be to long, after all we have had to wait long so far a few more weeks won’t harm it.