Work begins!
yes I was just being blind. It says ‘Entrance’……. :rolleyes:
Right, news!!!!
The first picture is located under the nav rad bench…
Work today focused on tidying the area a bit more (grass is completely cut now, and the gravel is almost gone! Hard graft works wonders…
The jet pipes were inspected for damage over the years, and have proved to be the most durable part of the aircraft. Aside from golf balls (!), stones, sticks and a nappy (soiled), no damage or corrosion was apparent. The No.s 1 and 2 turbines spin feely, but the 3 and 4 are seized.
The no.1 jet pipe end cap was removed today – the photos show the reason! The other 3 will come off over the weekend. Scrap sadly. Lets just hope we can source some better ones. 603’s are the wrong type…
The future colour scheme has changed while I’ve been sat here. I think we will go for the 1970 scheme (gloss camo as before), but the TFR nipple was fitted as 617 converted the aircraft from Blue Steel to conventional bombing. We still need the smooth fin cap… (more on that in a second!).
Next weeks jobs are:
Remove the jet pipe end caps
remove and restore the access ladders and repaint the entrance door inner surface.
Build the scaffold tower and seal the cockpit
We should be able to secure the Gloss white and Medium sea Grey paint, but we are having difficulty in getting the appropriate shade of green – any ideas where we can get some cheap?
We will be painting her this year! starting asap with the drip strip application, painting the nose, followed by the upper then lower surfaces of the wing. The fin and spine will remain as they are until the repairs can be carried out (copious amounts of re-skinning).
We have received a letter today from Mr. Darlington at BAe systems, and our request for parts (lots of… including the fin cap) from 603 has been added to their work schedule. It looks like 319 will be saved as a result of 603’s sad demise. Our thanks to Mr. Edmondson at TVOC and Mr. Darlington at BAe Systems.
In the photos we also have a shot of the scanner, a view out of the jet pipe, the No1 turbine face, and a picture of 319 being towed by a giant wrecking truck across Usworth airfield to her home on the tennis court way back in 1983……
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