What is the strangest material used on aircraft construction?

Now we’ve lowered the tone sufficiently, we found this “ballast” in one of the lower wings of the BE-2 replica.

It seems some squirrels had been nesting there for some time.

Reminds me of the joke, “what has a hazelnut in every bite”. The answer certainly isn’t a Topic bar! 😀

Jablo propellor covering has urea in it….wee wee!!

DU is used also as counter ballance weights on some helios.

I believe that when the French were working on a Do335 post-war, they found that the headrest had been stuffed with human hair…resulting in the headrest being discarded and replaced with one of their own construction. Yuch…

greg v

From the book “Skunkworks” by Ben Rich, comes the story of those very clever chaps at Lockheed cutting up a tool cupboard door to make flightworthy sheet steel components for the first prototype F117 (or was it Have Blue? …. I’ve misplaced my copy).

Also, trying not mentioning any names, but the chap who designed the Mike Whittaker series of microlights was once challenged to build an aeroplane with just the contents of his garage. He did this, I understand using aluminium scaffolding poles for the main spars and I think the main wheel came from his wheelbarrow. It was only flown the once.

By the way an earlier post mentioned the use of Beryllium in Tornado wing fold joints, LG bushes etc. It’s actually an alloy of copper (98%) and Beryllium (2%). The Russians did try to make a significant high percentage Beryllium based alloy for the RSR Mk2 but all went wrong and this aircraft never flew. Depleted Uranium was used for inertia damping and/or inertia relief of both flying controls (powered & unpowered) and flying surfaces (wings, tails, fins e.t.c)……It has been/is being phased out and replaced by Tungsten.

yup, that reminds me of the boring (and smelly!) afternoons that I spent brushing the Tiger Moth cables with it, expecially the external ones that go to the tail surfaces.
How’s it goin with yr Rearwin ol’ chap?

Alex

It is going really well. The annual was no problem and I have just done a 100hr on the engine. I was at Old Warden a week or so ago and flew this morning.

It is great fun.

M

Melvyn, As I thought nice tale for the bar …… but if photographic evidence appears.
Makes you wonder about the other stories he’s told me, some of which have been repeated in print!

I have no doubt there is an element of truth in it but it has the ring of an urban (of that is the right term here) myth. Betcha the person that told the story said it was a friend that told him . . .

Also, of the aeroplane is spec’d for covering then covered it shall be and it will not get signed out without.

Also, as someone who has been printed many times

Don’t believe a word you read!

Melvyn, As I thought nice tale for the bar …… but if photographic evidence appears.
Makes you wonder about the other stories he’s told me, some of which have been repeated in print!

Lanolin (basically liquified sheep) is applied to control cables to stop them corroding.
M

yup, that reminds me of the boring (and smelly!) afternoons that I spent brushing the Tiger Moth cables with it, expecially the external ones that go to the tail surfaces.
How’s it goin with yr Rearwin ol’ chap?

Alex

Shellac is a basic consituent of a lot of ealry varnishes. Most World War One aeroplane structures were coated with the stuff.

Vampire/Sea Venom pod being varnished. I doubt it as the madapolam (doubt that is spelt right but the fabric applied to the plywood) is structural and helps hold it all together. It is another layer of skin. I would be more inclined to think that someone pointed out that the pods were wooden.

Meteors have wooden intake lips.

The mahogany tail bumper on Tim Manna’s Jet Provost T1 is coated in Spectra automotive lacquer.

Lanolin (basically liquified sheep) is applied to control cables to stop them corroding.

Many parts of my engine are made from Unobtanium.

M

not properly in construction, but bondo is occasionally used in aircraft restoration.. :rolleyes:

Alex

There are various nicknames for the Tornado, a couple of which can even be mentioned without blushing in ordinary conversation
:rolleyes:

Wasn’t it suggested in some quarters that MRCA stood for ‘Must Replace Canberra Again’?

I suppose by ‘strange’ we must mean ‘out of place’ – after all, what would seem completely normal to the ground crew of an Albatros DIII would look rather odd on a jet – unless it’s an early de Havilland twin boom job…

It always amuses me that there are a good many modellers of small, free-flight jets who build their models of Bell X-1s and Douglas Skyrays using construction techniques more akin that of a Sopwith Tabloid.

go to cowden ranges the a10 tankbuster used the stuff in its main cannon (72 rounds a second) u could find depleted uranium all over the beach no wonder the mod wanted to clean cowden ranges and beaches up its littered with the stuff quite scary really leaving material untouched makes mincemeat of a t-70 tank though

plywood is still used as floor boards in the flight deck and entrance way on c-130’s.

ordinary plumbers PTFE tape is also used on the oxygen system to seal unions.

aluminium speed tape was also used on Tornados as an approved temp repair (radius the corners, rub it down hard and clear varnish it).

Marham

Ah, you are quite correct there (I thought you were talking about a base that was closed), Marham is still in the middle of Nowhere, I used to Cycle there from Raynahm back in 1987 to go Gliding.

Beeswax was also used on Bloodhound on the radome. The gloss covering eroded with exposure to the sun and weather and after a while came off. The radome would then suck up any water and eventually de-laminate (The radome of the round on a RUS stand by the airfield fence at Cosford was in a very bad way last time I saw it in 2002. The next time I was the in 2003 the missile had gone.) Part of the servicing was to slap a coat of wax on to the radome with a brush.

Oculi exercitus have also taken up residence at Coningsby and as far as they are concerned, the centre of the universe is the poorest description you could give of the place. got to admit however the Teabag is a nice jet

Yes, let’s hope they don’t get underfoot after all as the motto on the badge says The Third Shall Be First. (My old sqn in the nuke days. 😉 )

if not Downham Market, I’ve not got a clue (or the Action Stations).

Marham. 😉

Anyway, back on topic . . .

Another strange material used on aircraft – mostly canvas covered – is beeswax! This was coated onto the thread used to sew up small tears or join seams etc. A hooked needle was employed and, quote, “No 40 Thread doubled and beeswaxed, herringbone stitch with 1/8 inch pitch”. Us riggers used to know all that stuff, especially working Chipmunks with ATC cadets. 🙂

.

Ah, sorry, possibly before your time. No, not Coningsby that’s now the centre of the universe since Tertius Primus Erit have taken residence with their Teabags. 😎

Oculi exercitus have also taken up residence at Coningsby and as far as they are concerned, the centre of the universe is the poorest description you could give of the place. got to admit however the Teabag is a nice jet

No, it’s (or was) the pet<?> name for an airfield not a million miles from Kings Lynn. 😀 😀

if not Downham Market, I’ve not got a clue (or the Action Stations).

Where the hells that? its not Coningsby by any chance? (I do know where El Adam is).

Ah, sorry, possibly before your time. No, not Coningsby that’s now the centre of the universe since Tertius Primus Erit have taken residence with their Teabags. 😎

No, it’s (or was) the pet<?> name for an airfield not a million miles from Kings Lynn. 😀 😀

‘El Adam With Grass’

Where the hells that? its not Coningsby by any chance? (I do know where El Adam is).

Tornado was also derisively referred to as the “swing-wing Jaguar” in its youth. I suppose it tells you a bit about both really in those days.

Indeed it was, but that name was usually used for the GR1. Papa Lima, hit the nail on the head with Flick Knife which is more commonly given to the F2/F3 (The term Electric Flick Knife was also used, both in the end shortened to Flicker). Electric was also the first part of another nickname given to the aircraft (and no word of a lie, I’ve heard this term from a guy that worked on F3’s). The second part of it, like the first, the Tornado F3 shares with the Oldest Swinger in town, namely the F-111, and that is PIG!!! (I first heard the term Electric Pig used about the F-111 of a coulpe of USAF chaps from Lakenheath I knew back in 1987).

The Tornado ballast I think has been flogged to death now, back to unusual aircraft materials.

There are various nicknames for the Tornado, a couple of which can even be mentioned without blushing in ordinary conversation (hang around at ‘El Adam With Grass’ and you’ll hear the others :rolleyes: ). The Mighty Fin is one, but I’ve always liked Tonka.

Anyway back on-topic . . .

One of the strangest materials I’ve seen used on aircraft was raffia-work. Once had a PR Canberra transit westbound through Gan which had a raffia sunshade black-taped to the inside of the cockpit canopy. Served a useful purpose I guess and we all had a good chuckle. Devil’s own job rivetting a Mod Plate to it though!

:rolleyes: