That’s looking brilliant Jon,

A 2 inch gap should be easy to solve though….. its the fractions of mm that are the cause of endless frustration, ie. tolerance stacks.

Keep up the good work,

These are excellent. However small, or insignificant a component appears, you can’t assemble the whole working structure without them.

It’s very satisfying to recreate something from (at times) very sketchy information, and then discover you have got it correct. It shows you have got into the same design mindset as the original Shorts draftsman.

It was good you had the drawings of the part in this case, but finding original parts can be a good sanity check.

The item at post #285 above will also be most useful in setting up the seat runner assy, the pictures below prove that the castings we made earlier for the runners are pretty much spot on to the original. Although we had the drawings for these it’s always nice to see that they match the real thing 😀

well its a bit of one anyways.. a land survey team put me onto this a while ago through my aviation archaeology website (bhaa). i popped up there last winter in -5 temp and it was ruddy hard to find becouse from a distance of about 20 feet it looked like a rock.. my guess is that it was used as a storage thing for a local farmer…

and no im not saying which mountains, other than they are not far from me in Oswestry. bet that drives you mad lol.

i had been to Cosford a while before that and i think its an early Meteor nose from what i could tell..

inside the nosecone was writtain the numbers “526” or “975” depending which way up you read it. the middle digit aint to clear but looks more like a 2than a 7…. the 6 looks like a 6 more than it does a 9 if you follow?. so i would say 526 looks better.

anybody any idea`s?????

Hi pistonrob,

I have sent you a PM.

He’s escaped! 😀

We’re starting to see a semblance of a flight deck now. As before p1 and P2 columns have now been drilled and installed on the floor beams. In addition, the throttle box complete with instrument panel has been slaved together in it’s correct orientation albeit that the throttle box is 0.5″ too high as we have had to jury rig a support up as the correct support has yet to be made.

…. Dons flying helmet and makes plane noises! :D:D:D

That’s very sad to hear Bruce.

I knew John through aviation circles over the past +10 years, and he will be much missed. His enthusiasm for the several museums he supported was tireless, and I recall him always being a happy soul.

John has been on the phone to me several times per year saying “he’d found an original Hornet part, and would I like it?”, or he’d found some Hornet drawings, or had contact with a former pilot or engineer on the type. He has been responsible for finding some unique items that have gone into the Hornet cockpit.

Condolences to his family.

Hi Dan,

It was good to meet and chat with you at Newark last weekend. Its good to finally put a name to a face. I’ll reiterate my comments on the day: Your P63 is a fabulous project, and it is being put together with the upmost care and thought….. It got my vote on the day! 😉

Thank you for your offer of occasional use of your English wheel BTW.

I’m afraid I can’t help with any original King Cobra parts, but would like to offer you further feasability on making parts from scratch based on my own experience if you wish?

If I havent said this already, under different circumstances I would have written it off as well. As just a pod it was well beyond redemption, but what has made it viable was the rest of the package that came with it.

As for ply, it was built with birch ply so that is what I am using. Having found a suitable supplier, I then stocked up on 5ft x 5ft sheets in the various thickness needed 1/16th, 5/64th etc etc.

If it helps, and assuming you are going come say hello at Newark (am taking the Sea Hawk again) and we can have a chat. Or you can bypass me and see Dave Collins – the choice is yours! 🙂

Oh and whilst I remember, amongst numerous other things I am still after control column (need the tubes that bolt to the column) and nose cone parts (top section) if anyone has some sitting around doing nothing 😀

Jon

Lovely work Jon. I only wish I had the time to have done the Vampire and the Hornet! But I know it is in a good pair of hands now.

Regarding Newark, I have upgraded my display to a full Sea Hornet PR.22 cockpit now, so if anyone wants to talk “woodwork” I’ll be more than happy to chip-in…. 😀

See you next weekend