Show Me The Way
Over recent times it has been made clear to us that the home of the Shackleton Aviation Group has not been very well advertised upon arrival at the airport.
So we have made efforts to resolve this issue. The first method of rectification is in the form of a building sign.
Another with be located beside the other entrance to the cabin.
Further to this we will have a large banner at the Airports West Access gate.
Linking these together will be a series of yellow arrows displaying our winged logo.
The overall plan being that this system should give enough direction to returning visitors and first timers alike.
The Big Red Box
As some of the recent visitors may have noticed, we have introduced a large metallic red box outside of the cabin.
This is nothing fancy, however, it is extremely useful and fills a safety requirement of ours.
It is our new (second hand) F&L (Fuels & Lubricants) storage. Donated to the group it allows us to safely and securely store our Hydraulic Oils, Engine Oils, Lubricants and Greases. This gives volunteers access to what they need, when they need it, in a safe and organised manner.
I can personally confirm that this is a solid steel, very heavy locker. It also just fits within a Ford Galaxy.
A State of Serviceability
As well as the Aircraft State Board, we need to keep track of our Ground Equipment.
With this in mind we have taken the ideas of the Aircraft State Board and developed them into a GSE State Board.
Put simply, this allows us to keep track of Fuel Levels, Servicing Schedules, Locations and General Serviceability of the equipment.
To keep things organised for our GSE we have also relocated them from the old scattered method of storage, to a more tidy localised location directly beside the cabin.
This allows us to not only secure our equipment but maintain a watchful eye on their overall condition.
A Change of State
In our efforts to bring more information to those visiting, pay homage to engineers of the past and provide vital information that is quickly accessible to our volunteers. Our Aircraft state board received a few extra accessories.
Aircraft State Board for WR963
Now sporting a reversible Serviceable/Un-Serviceable panel and warnings magnets to identify key safety points. The state board is virtually complete. Now the ongoing task of keeping it updated begins.
The Aircraft Hours are not representative of the aircraft flying hours. This is how long the aircraft has run since the Shackleton Aviation Group was formed.
Following on from the aircraft state board, it was noticed that we were lacking in pertinent Health and Safety information. This is being addressed and is slowly taking shape.
Standing Tall
After the Christmas and New Year break, i decided to use some spare time to get through to the aircraft and get some work done.
Getting there proved eventful along my 1 hr 30 min journey, breaking down en-route. Once on site i was able to change over our Nitrogen Bottles and replace them with some new full bottles. Special Thanks goes out to one of our supporters Energas for their continued support and supply of Nitrogen.
Moving these bottles by hand on your own is one massive workout on a chilly winters day.
With the new bottles fitted to our Nitrogen Trolley, i set to work re-inflating the undercarriage legs and getting the old girl to stand proud once again. With the colder weather as with most things the legs contract, seals get looser and gas escapes. Without constant topping up its inevitable the legs will lower the aircraft. So to take into account for this expected continued change in temperature, the legs got there gas and a little more than usual.
Considering the Temperature, the legs are holding pressure well and looking much healthier.
We do have a little leak, which will be monitored and rectified on the next visit. Although on initial inspection, it looks to be residue from when the legs were at their lowest position allowing fluid to slowly escape past the seals.
A little bit of fluid leakage, most probably from the seal when sat at its lowest position.
Now shes all refilled, she has finally got her proud stance back. Once again looking towards the skies she will one day return to.
No More Loose Wind
The Shackleton’s breaking system operates of pneumatic pressure provided by engine driven pumps. This is the stored in tanks until needed. Prior to moving the aircraft or start up, this pressure is built up with the assistance of the ground crew and the Nitrogen Bottle Trolley. Sadly over time it has bee noticed that the system is not holding its pressure like it used to, so some investigation was required.
Onboard pneumatic crate, located in the nose, semi removed for leak detection.
The pneumatic crate was semi removed for leak detection on all the fixtures, fitting and pipework. This work carried on further back throughout the entire system until the source of the issue was found.
The offending article – an AHO5712 pressure reducing valve.
The offending article, an AHO5712 pressure reducing valve was found to be faulty and leaking pressure. This was removed and a new serviceable item fitted in its place. This valve was then successfully pressure tested to 500 psi.
The pressure held until our next visit a couple of weeks later.
Engine #3 Fine Tune
Engine #3 received some attention and a little tweak prior to Decembers dusk run.
On one of our spare Magnetos you can see the gaps in the points (Green Arrows) and the x2 blue securing screws (Yellow Circle)
Before the Members day engine run earlier in the year. We changed the Magneto Points on #3 due to finding them worn beyond limits on the engines last servicing. Once changed they were adjusted to what was believed to be the correct spacing. After the Members Day run we realised that the spacing was not entirely ‘on point’ so needed a small adjustment.
Sam and Gareth adjusting the points prior to the run
Prior to Decembers dusk run, we jumped back up on #3 and re-adjusted the points to between 0.2 – 0.25mm. This was done by removing the top cover via x6 bolts. The engine is then rotated by hand with all switches, fuel cocks and power off and as one of the twelve lobes of the cam goes under the heel of the points it opens them. At this point we stop rotating the engine.The two blue point securing screws are slackened and the points adjusted, tightening the two screw when the gap is set. The run was carried out successfully with #3 running as it should.
For Something A Little Different
While normally most aviation groups focus heavily on their aircraft and quite rightly so. We thought that some of you might wish to see what else goes on behind the scenes. How our infrastructure is changing and what you ma expect to see on future visits.
What is soon to become a once familiar sight to Shackleton Engineers and Aircrew as well as those from other aircraft. Line/Rects Control.
We have decided to bring back a little history from the engineers perspective, that can also be useful to our volunteers in preserving and maintaining the aircraft.
Normally on a Squadron there would we be two separate desks/areas for Line Control (For those in charge of the operation and movements of the aircraft) and Rectifications Control “Rects” (For those in charge of aircraft maintenance and repair).
With our group being so small and us only operating a single aircraft, we have the luxury of combining the two areas into one.
Over time we will be building this little corner of our cabin up to best represent times gone by, while also being functional for our own purpose.
Currently we have our aircraft state board on the wall giving us brief up to date information on the condition of the aircraft such as fuel load, faults and how many hours have been run.
Next to that we have the GSE (Ground Support Equipment) board, providing us with location and servicing information on our various equipment.
Between these we have our two clocks. One tells us our local time and the other tells us the time in Zulu (standard time zone for all aircraft paperwork).
In the foreground you will see a small desk/racking. That contains our F700, the aircraft maintenance log book. Here we record all maintenance, faults, aircraft running and refuelling etc.
Finally to the right on the walls we have our crew signing in sheets, aircraft servicing checklists and engine run/taxi passenger safety brief/checklists.
All Talk and No Listen
We had a communication issue on-board, whereby we were stuck on permanent transmit whenever power was applied to the aircraft.
The fault lay somewhere in the beam or further aft. With this fault anyone who was connected to the aircraft comms were able to transmit externally to anyone who was listening. Disconnecting transmit/receive capability from anyone other than pilot and copilots stations seems to have brought it back to doing what it should. With further checks there’s no signal coming out of the VHF unit unless you press the PTT button on the control yoke.
While this may sound like a relatively simple job to carry out. It involved a fairly in depth strip of internal panels to gain access to the various control boxes and cabling that connects the system.
Pilots and copilots radio and intercom gubbins feed down under the pilots seat. So to gain access, you must remove the side panel and stick your head/arms through the gaps in the framing.
The wiring at the vry back is what we’re after. The chains and the pushrod in the centre of shot are aileron and elevator controls.
Between the spars on the port wall is mounted this control box. This controls both feeds in the aircraft – intercom and radio and decides who can transmit or receive while making sure everyone can still talk to each other. Thankfully it hadn’t gone pop.
So two things to address.
New Profile
Firstly we at the Shackleton Aviation Group have a new Key Publishing Forum profile. We will be using this for any and all official notifications and updates.
There may still be updates from associated friends but this profile will be keeping on top of things.
Ground Runs a plenty
Secondly, on the 7th April, members of the Shackleton Aviation Group once again made their way to the airfield to make some Griffon noise.
Another successful run was carried out with some CSU (Constant Speed Unit) exercising completed. This should happen every couple of hours during normal operation. As we don’t run as long as they did in service. We do this every couple of runs.
After this was done, we brought her up to a gentle 1200 RPM for a few minutes. Finally bringing them back down to shutdown.
On shut down we noticed a slight oil leak on number 4.
Panels off and a good route around soon found the potential cause.
One of the oil breather catch tanks had become blocked which seemingly forced pressure back up the system to find a path of least resistance. This happened to be an area around the rocker cover where a securing nut had been left undone on the last engine overhaul.
This allowed the smallest of gaps to form and sprayed a fine mist of oil into the engine panels. Slowly pooling until reaching a ledge it could escape from.
From the amount of oil that was found it has been continuing for some time on and off. Layers of old oil had been found in the deepest of corners of the front panels.
As it was not possible to notice when carrying out the regular cleaning of the filters. It would only have been found if we had decided to remove all engine panels encasing the engine. Until that point, no-one would have known until our findings today. Top top it off oil consumption wouldn’t have let us know as it was keeping with what we expect for our operations.
Needless to say, the breather has been removed for a full clean and flush through, the loose nuts tightened with others checked and all panels removed, cleaned and replaced.
Run number 2 in as many weeks
Again today, members attended for another run. Luckily, for the first time in a long time, weather was on our side and the sun shined bright.
Due to the previous weeks problem the Oil Breather Catch Tank was still off for cleaning and a bit of inspection. So in order to prevent any residual oil splattering the inside of the engine panel, we removed the panel directly opposite, allow a direct route to the open air.
Another issue that was found was the padding underneath the main control panel that was in place to prevent you from bashing your back as you move between the nose and the rest of the aircraft has retained water from a leak above, just in front of the cockpit windscreen. In the past it had be refurbished with leatherette and padding. Sadly this leatherette retained the water and the padding absorbed it all.
This has now been removed and will be correctly refurbished and refitted. The source of the leak is now being traced and will also be repaired to prevent future problems.
After numerous ground runs of all four engine including the run the week prior. Engine number 3 decided it didn’t want to play today. The usual pre-start checks were carried out including levels and booster coil checks. It was primed as required for the temperature and turned a number of times, but sadly just didn’t want to start.
On initial inspection nothing obvious was found to be at fault. But upon the teams next visit a deeper investigation will be carried out.
Until then i hope you all will continue to follow both on this thread and on our Facebook and Instagram profiles as well as on our YouTube Channels.
Sign In
