13 March update
Sunday started with grey wet murkiness, so after coffee and the obligatory bacon we fled to the hangar to assist with some moving of things, to visit Tony’s Mossie, and to examine a poorly igniter box off the Bucc.
…All the above translates as ‘skive and hide from the weather’
Late morning the weather dramaticaly improved however, so we went out to see what we could do. The plan for the day was to attempt to resolve the recurring problem of the starboard RAT scoop failing to deploy fully. This is something we’ve been avoiding touching since last year when we changed all the seals on the scoop. Well, I say changed, I mean actually fitted some, seeing as the RAF hadn’t actually fitted any seals the last time the scoop was out! 😮
These would be the scoops in question.
So the famous back hatch was opened up once more…
And after lunch Rich and I went in to do battle.
I had a theory that the collar holding the chipper in place hadn’t been tightened correctly, thus letting the chipper misalign itself when the scoop was operated. We thought this, combined with the new seals nipping, would be enough to snag the scoop. A few weeks ago the RAT’s exit vent had been removed as part of an exploratory op, so this was the scene we were faced with:
It soon became apparent on loosening the collar holding the chipper to the front of the RAT that the chipper had indeed shifted ‘South for the winter’. With the deployment of some effort and long arms, we were able to get the chipper something like aligned again. Then Hawkeye Rich spotted that the o-ring between chipper and RAT had decided to take a wander at one side, so the collar was loosened off again and the o-ring returned home with stern words and much frowning. Understandable really, when this is the gap you’re working in, and the collar you’re attempting to undo and re-tighten is only just within arm’s reach…
All was nipped back up and appeared to be aligned much more healthily on second attempt. There was only one way to find out if we’d met with success, and that was to go up top and manually push the scoop down. This isn’t easy as the springs that push it back up are really quite strong. I went up top and, after lubricating the seals, pushed the scoop down. This brought many looks of bemusement from the museum’s visitors!
The moment of truth would be if the scoop deployed back out, all the way, of its own accord when I let go of it. After a quick muttered prayer to the Great Chicken in the Sky (well, it worked for James Hunt!) I let go…
…and I’m pleased to report the scoop shot open, all the way, at a very pleasing rate of knots!
We repeated the manual test several times and it seems we’ve solved the problem. The next test will be to see what occurs next time we’ve got the hydraulics running, to check it shuts and opens on command. It is running as freely as the port one now if not more so, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
Back into the hatch, and after a last nip up, some extreme-at-arm’s-length-wire locking
And then while I wrestled with re-fitting the vent ducting every one else went for a brew (and in John’s case, apple pie!). But Andre did bring me a brew back, so mustn’t grumble…
Close of play (for me anyway) saw the main ducting back in, with only some minor plumbing to be attended to next week. Hopefully we’ll also run the Artouste, and so be able to check the hydraulic operation of the scoops.
Other parish news, Andre cleaned up, checked, fitted and tested a comms station box we picked up at Newark aerojumble. Apart from wanting the plastic bit of a couple of the buttons changing it works perfectly, so we’ve got a bargain spare now 🙂
So, some minor plumbing next week, then I’m sure Lindy will find something else to throw at us…… :rolleyes:
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