Update 20-01-08
Gazelle news: 380 now has her original boom back on, and work is progressing well to have her complete by the Mid February deadline.
Lightning news: Roy and Dave are progressing slowly with the lightning. The spine panels have been removed to about 3/4 of the length from aft to forward for re-skinning. The wings are being treated for corrosion prior to the nightmare that is fin replacement happens. The aircraft will be moved in the next couple of weeks so that a winch can be fitted to the hangar roof and the new fin lifted into place. The nosewheel has been freed and it should be possible to tow the aircraft properly (as opposed to 20 of us pushing the thing around……)
Finally, some Vulcan news. I’ve saved this til last because I’m going to make a fuss of her:
Twenty five years ago tomorrow (21 January 1983) XL319 made her last landing into Sunderland Airport. It was originally hoped that our efforts to re-paint 319 would have been complete by now and that she would be officially unveilled tomorrow. Unfortunately this has not happened for many reasons, and I’m sure that anyone connected to restorations will agree that it is almost impossible to stick to deadlines.
Her anniversary will be marked inline with another’s birthday: Sarah Spencer.
‘Who is Sarah, and how does she fit into the 319 story? Sarah is the daughter of Flt Lt Jack Talliss who flew as Nav Plotter in XL319 during the famous round-the-world flight of 1962 for the Australian Commonwealth games. Many Vulcanites who bought Key Publishing’s Vulcan Special will have read the article written by Jack and know the story.
Sarah visited us today with her family as part of her birthday present and spent a good portion of today clambering all over the aircraft and in particular sitting in the same seat occupied by her father all those years before. Tomorrow sees the local press and Sarah returning to the museum, and hopefully Jack Talliss’ story will be told again. I should add here that Sarah travelled all the way from Tewkesbury to see 319!
From an engineering point of view, we have sealed the panels we replaced on the spine, the upper airbrakes, and the cockpit (again). Next week we shall remove and replace more panels in readyness for the arrival of some paint around March or April.
The main focus today has been on the wheels. The imminent arrival of a hangar means that we will need to move 319, and as it stands, it would be impossible. In the stores we have a single serviceable wheel and 5 servicable main tyres. We are about to start a week long programme to return 319’s wheels to servicable condition to allow her to be towed 100 yards forward and 100 yards back into a hangar….. I am very aware of the scale of the task as the last time she was lifted was about 10 years ago when Lusty Lindy’s crew removed 319’s brake packs. We will not jack the whole aircraft, but rather jack the bogies as per a line wheel change. This will cause minimal discomfort for the airframe, and atleast we will see how easy each wheel comes off. As each wheel is removed, it will be taken to the workshop, split, refurbished, tyres replaced as required, rebuilt and refitted. We will not be able to fill the tyres with foam due to budget and time constraints, so air will have to do…. We are going to do this work during half term week so we will have a full week to complete! Remember that the engineers working on this are students at Newcastle Aviation Academy, and have limited time. I’m amazed that they have been able to put in as much as they have. If anyone has any tyre inflation valves for the Vulcan, I’d be very interested in speaking to you!
Told you it would be worth watching this space….. (Photos tomorrow – I promise!!!!)
LL
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