Just got back from an awesome day. When I’ve sorted my camera and stuff out (give me a half hour) I’ll write it up.

In the meantime, cheers for all the compliments!

Kind regards,

Rich

Guys…

We’re working on the assumption that there IS metal in there, despite nothing showing on the filters, which is why there is no swapping of good parts onto this engine, be it props, cams or otherwise.

When the filters were checked, we also strained the oil through filter paper and got very little in there. The idea of a magnet in the tanks sounds a good one, and something that we can do fairly quickly.

I don’t know if oil was sampled, as I came to work on 963 just as this all started, but I remember being told that the oil was found to be full of unburnt deposits and had turned very acidic.

Regards

Rich

Please don’t take this as criticism, but what is the thinking behind the running of the engine when the cams have degraded so much?
I know it’s very nice to see everything running and all, it just seems to me as an outsider that it will be run until it’s wrecked.

Ben, you got it more or less spot on.

The thinking is that we will get one short season of limited running out of No 3. We’re not going to run it until it is wrecked – which is why if it persists in poor running we may have to review things. We’re giving it every chance we can though, which is why we’re looking at the mag drop, and other issues before condemning it. The running is going to be about one half hour run per month, the exception being the next ones for opening on the 22nd April and 4th May being less than a month apart.

The advice we got was that with the cams as bad as they are, it is unlikely to get any worse, if we do short runs at reduced power, making sure we take full advantage of the pre-oilers. The filters have been dropped a couple of times, and nothing found. The opinion of the experts was that she has been wearing the cams away longer than anyone realised.

There are several other factors we have to consider when working on ‘963 that affect us;

Although the team has grown from 6 or 7 experienced Shack people to near 20 regular volunteers, a lot of our new team is young and inexperienced. Most of them (like me) are coming from a car enthusiast kind of background, so can cope with mechanical issues, but are still learning. If the new members of the gang stick with it through the next few months, we’ll be ready to take on an engine change. I feel confident in saying I don’t think any of the guys we have will be moving on any time soon.

Before any one of us starts pulling the engine off, No 2 has to brought to life first. We’re not willing to have more than one engine out of action at a time if we can avoid it. No 2 should be in action before long, then we’ll look a little more critically at No 3. As with any big project with limited resources, you can only look at one big job at a time. The undercarraige will have to wait its turn too.

We also need to think of our location at Airbase… we can probably get a little more hangar time if it was really desperately needed. Most of the time however, 963 is on the grass, which makes any use of cranes, forklifts, jacks, all very difficult. The ground is pretty soft. Lifting engines on and off would then involve us negotiating for time on the apron in front of the hangar… and we would also need to think about how long the aircraft would be engineless, surrounded with lifting tackle, in an inconvenient location – the middle of a place that’s going to be open to the public a lot of the week.

Rest assured, we’re not in this to do 963 damage.. we just have to plan things rather carefully. Of course, the moment that first spanner starts taking No 3 off, this forum will be the first to know about it.

Regards,

Rich

April 16th

Preparations for Airbase opening are happening at a fantastic rate, with fences, aircraft washing (Canberra and Hunter both getting cleaned and shined) and all sorts of other things going on.

We didn’t get much chance to have a poke around as today was the meeting for the “Friends of WR963”, the support group for our aircraft. They got to see her before the public in her (almost) completed new paint scheme, and the reaction has been very strong and very positive. WR963 behaved herself well for a small crowd, which included a few Shackleton Association members, friends, family, and ex Shackleton aircrew.

963 still threw up some snags though, to keep us busy this coming week.

The guys set to with pre-oiling, running the props through for 4 minutes with the oilers on. After clearance from the tower and with the fire crew in place, 13.00hrs saw No 3 engine cough into life. No 4 and No 1 were asked to join in shortly afterwards. No 1 not having been run in 18 months was a little reluctant but caught and ran on the second attempt.

No 3 engine (the one with the bad cams), is definitely a little poorly…. and I’m hoping it makes it to the end of the season. It started almost instantly, and came on the throttle with a minimal amount of priming, but as it went up to 30″ boost it began misfiring and misbehaving. Oil pressure was slightly on the low side, it was running hotter than normal, and to add insult it suffered a healthy mag drop too. We’ll fettle it as best we can, but it’s looking ever more likely that we have another engine change to do.

The hydraulics were exercised, and the worrying leak on the starboard rear bomb bay ram seems to have stopped. We can only put to slight shrinkage in one of the seals due to inactivity, but we’re keeping an eye on it and the first time it show fluid again, we’ll swap the ram.

The intercom also had it’s own problem, with some very annoying feedback from certain positions in the aircraft making crew communication difficult at times.

Snags are to be expected on an aeroplane her age though, and summer makes it easier to deal with.

Other things happening…

One of the air bottles has gone to Bristol for a specialist company to look at. All being well, they will be able to test it without removing the ends, and if so the others will follow for the same test, giving us pneumatics back.

The prop for No 2 is being looked at this week, but it’s unlikely it will be in place for the 22nd. We’re awaiting confirmation whether it can be done in house at Coventry or not.

Several of us are doing midweek work (days and evenings) to try and finish off the stencils, and cure the issues thrown up this Saturday, in time for the 22nd. The main reason being 22nd is a big day for our old Shackleton…. the first public appearance in her new colours and her first public run this year in support of Airbase’s re-opening.

So, should you find yourself with not much to do this Friday, come and see WR963 and support us and Airbase. For those that can’t, I promise on Friday evening, I will post lots of pictures. 😉

Regards

Rich

WR963 Engine runs

Fri 22nd April – Airbase re-opening
Wed 4th May

More midweek Shackleton madness..

In an attempt to speed things up for WR963 being on show to the public (and ready for Airbase opening on the 22nd), several members of our crew have been working down there during the week. My day job prevents me from joining in the fun, but they are keeping me updated by e-mail and text message.

The latest news is that the no 2 propeller has had all its parts gathered together and will be looked at (and possibly built) very soon. Fingers crossed, eh?

Regards

Rich