Here’s a quick picture of the adjustment mechanism for the Bomb Aimers couch, this has cleaned up really well. We’ll have to fabricate some new mounts as these have corroded away and apart from having to replace 2 off taper pins it’s pretty complete and ready to go.

… A Couch. There will be no laying down on the job Mr.L

😀

Some more throttle box progress. We’ve incorporated the landing lamp and mixture levers from LK119 into the throttle box. These were in much better condition than the items that we had previously and also which were of unknown origin. We’ve had to cannibalise 2 of these to repair damage to the ‘new’ ones but they definitely look better now.

This is a complicated assembly indeed. There is a lot of man-hours put into this already, and many more yet to come. Great work as always John.

No wonder they’re able to make twelve boats with, presumably twelve, Merlin 100-series engines in. The 100-series is the Black Sheep of the (Warbird) Merlin world so nobody wants or need them – except collectors.

They are timed differently, hence different (redesigned) crankshaft compared to their sub-100-series brethren. Due to the above, they also have differently timed camshaft gear and lots of other minor mods and differences which makes them and many of their components unusable in anything but late Mossies or, to the satisfaction of David Collins, the Hornet/Sea Hornet aircraft.

Nice clean looking engine, though, considering its complexity. I wonder how new they are for the boats, whether they are refurbs or new-old-stock motors? They should be reliable enough being late mod standard and with a detune. I wonder if they have a spares holding for overhauls, maintenance and breakdowns.

Anon.

The 130 series Merlin, as used in the Hornet and Sea Hornet is RARE. There are only 5 (known) complete engines left, and one sectioned example in the FAAM. Its a shame to see this one put into a boat, as the salty air is unlikely to do it any good, however at least its running again!

Just noted this on Facebook..
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1092240_new-aeroboat-revealed-with-rolls-royce-merlin-v-12
:love-struck:

Definitely a Merlin. Its a 130 series from a de Havilland Sea Hornet to be precise.

Nicely restored canopy Tony. I have to go through the same process for the Hornet at some point, as the multitude of rollers are all corroded solid. It will be good to free this up and have it working on the chain mechanism.

Thanks for the quick response!

Need to re-watch the film and see if I can catch any serial on L-ES/ES-L – that would pin it down. I did look at the Wikipedia list of OCUs and 229 OCU but I was working on the basis they were at an overseas station rather than in the UK. Maybe they were detached or just fanciful story telling on behalf of the film producers!

EDIT
Just had a quick search and found this info – http://www.rafweb.org/OCUs1.htm which places 229 at Chivenor in 1951 and confirms the codes as “ES/RS” at the time.

Yes, its 229 OCU.

What was the film? I used to own the cockpit from Vampire FB5 RS-P, VZ193 (now owned by Jon H) – It would be good to see its fellow squadron members.

Four Months later…

The Starboard Electrical Services Panel has finally come together. All the component parts are original and have been restored.
The only items beyond any feasible restoration were the various Legend plates, which had succumbed to environmental destruction (due to being abandoned to the elements in the junk yard and were beyond saving.) They were duly cleaned, and the corrosion pitting was planished out. The legends were then re-created using “Letraset” Dry-rub transfers in Helvetica Medium Condensed 3mm and 5mm white font.

Here’s the finished project…
[ATTACH=CONFIG]227935[/ATTACH]

Now, on to the port panel and throttle box assembly!

That’s a lovely piece of restoration work Windhover.

It can only be a good thing that more Mosquito airframes are being restored to flight. Well done to everyone involved in NZ.