25th Feb

Almost like summer this Saturday! As a result plenty got done around and on the aircraft with 15 of our team in attendance. Lots of movements about the place, the biggest being DC6 G-APSA leaving her usual spot at the side of WR963 to go in the hangar for a survey. Rumours of who, why, what and where are spreading but it seems the survey is being done in regards to seeing her back in the air again.

Back to the Shack…

First job of the day was to drop the flaps and grease the linkages. They started moaning again on the last run, so a little maintenance won’t hurt. I got the short straw of pumping them down, and reminded myself just how high up the hand pump is when I missed one of the undercarraige footpegs coming back out the bay.

Each of the flap links has a couple of grease nipples, so the old was wiped clear, and new grease applied.

You’ll notice in the picture there’s one link missing… well, way back in the past one of those links seized, and punched through the flap. A small skin repair was done, and the offending link was cut off. Its one of the many small jobs on the list that need attending to, but the hunt is now on in our store for a spare.

More new spark plugs are being fitted; here’s an old one against a new one:

The new ones are NOT aviation plugs. They are Champion RSL87Y, and have been selected for their suitability for what we are doing with the aircraft – ground/taxi runs. They have been used in several display engines and are more resistant to fouling at the low power we use.

Getting them in is a ‘fun’ job… remember how the inlets were difficult to get to under the intake manifolds? The exhaust plugs are located under the exhaust manifolds, so getting to them is just as interesting. No 3 engine is done, and No 1 engine now has its exhaust set done, with the inlets getting their turn next week.

Front doors open again. This is for the obvious reason; we’re looking at putting them back to use. The drawings have been consulted, which threw up some surprises, as it looks like Hawker Siddeley Aviation went and doodled over the top of the original Avro drawings then allocated a new number to them to make the AEW2.

There is enough left to work from which allowed us to see how the doors are constructed, in particular the ‘spar’ which runs through the centre of the door. Fortunately for us, it made up of several smaller assemblies, so we can connect the doors togather again. Even better was the discovery that the rib profiles for the door are symmetrical from front to rear.

Parts are now being gathered such as mountings, rams, lines and switches ready to put the doors back to full length. Also the first prop parts have arrived on site, some brand new oil tubes, which are now fitted into the engine.

Interesting visitors today were several members of the Jon Egging Trust, who the SPT hope to be able to assist in the future.

Rich

There are a few howlers in there, but its a newspaper so it is expected to a degree….

Thankfully the Trust’s website looks really well written and informative.

Hi guys,

Despite best intentions, nothing got done on WR963 this Saturday due to the apalling low temperatures. The aircraft was frozen over outside and in. Its the first time since we stopped all the water leaks some 18 months ago that we have had moisture inside the Shackleton – albeit in the form of ice.

Its annoying, but with an unpressurised aircraft there’s many ways for moisture laden air to get in and then condense if the temperature changes rapidly.

It gives you a great respect for ground crews that worked on the Shackleton, and further back the Lancaster; outdoors all year round.

Normal service will be restored as soon as our Avro ice sculpture defrosts.

Regards,

Rich

Did I read that you have too many bomb aimers windows????

camlobe

Indeed you did… we came across three boxes in store, with “Bomb Aimers window” on the top. We’ve got to start digging out a set of mainwheels soon, so I’ll see if I can remember where the boxes with the windows in are stashed.