Hi Folks,

A update is on the way, i promise, but for the mo another plea for bits. One of our RWR heads has gone U/S. It is a part of the ARI18228 system (used on Canberra, GR3 Harrier and Vulcan to name but a few) the part number is 5895996242326, and we would very much like to get hold of another one! It looks like this….

Any leads on any that are available to be begged, borrowed or bought would be appreciated…took us bloody years to get the RWR!!!

Cheers

Ollie

Hi,

All the comms are fully servicable, as are all of the systems in the aircraft. We have two full sets of radios, which consist of a AD120 VHF and a PTR1751 UHF radio in each set, the sets are known as RT1 and RT2. RT1 is controlled by the First Pilot and RT2 is shared by the co-pilot and the Air Electronics Officer. The switch over for who has control is effected by pressing a lit button on the frame that the control box sits in. When it is lit, that position is in control of RT2. All crew station can listen to RT1 and RT2 however along with other transmissions such as the HF Radio, RWR warnings and Nav Beacons by using the station boxes sited at each crew position.

Alas we only got around 5000 litres at the airshow which is just about enough for the two days runs!

Ollie

Update!

Hi Folks,

Well its been a while since the last update, but dont worry, we have been busy! We have had another nightshoot, 3 taxi runs, and burnt a whole load of fuel! All is well with the jet, we have finally sorted the snag with the number 4 engine firewire which is good news all round, with a little help from Kiddie Graviner.

The two runs in August were on the same day, seperated by a few hours for the museums “Thunder Day”. Unfortunatly the runway was being used so we only had access to half of it so it was only a “slow” 80kts run with no brake chute. see below for some pictures of the event, taken by our tame team photographer, Ian Finch.

On the tow out

On the move

Drying the taxiway out!

Full Bore

Slowing down

And our special guest for the run with the owner, Andre Tempest showing him a real aircraft!

The run in October was for the museums “Target Falklands” event, all went well and we successfully carried out a 135kt taxi run, with chute. The engnes were selected to Take-Off power and 103% was achieved on all engines, with good oil pressures and JPT limiting at 690 degrees.

We had a head cam attatched to the undercarriage which produced some interesting footage! You can see it here.

A member of the public also filmed the run, you can see that here

In the meanwhile we have been busy working on some of the ancillary sytems in keeping with our philosophy that everything has to work.

It was decided to service & renovate the control unit type 595 due to occasional switching problems that were experienced recently. This unit controls the H2S radar scanner & display scope and has never been removed since the A/C flew into Elvington.

It was dismantled & the dessicant removed which was only lightly soiled (as shown) and it was found that some of the rotary switches inside were slightly dirty on the contacts. Using contact cleaner these were then cleaned. The unit was then re-assembled with new dessicant installed, the switches repainted in the correct grey colour and the fascia satin laquer coated to bring some colour back into it rather than the faded grey colour that it had become.

The current plan is to remove and service as many items as possible on the H2S & NBS systems over the Winter, the systems generally work very well and this is the first time they have had any major attention since leaving RAF service in 1993. We have some spare parts from spares recoveries from various Victors and of course Ebay turns the odd gem up every now and then, unfortunately we missed out on a 595 unit recently. Pictures below.

Before

For you people who like wiggly amps!

Dessicant

After

Hope you enjoyed the update, will attempt to make them a bit more regular from now on!

Cheers

Ollie