cypherusCloakrooms firmly locked, sorry, as for the engines, two are confirmed as in, cam watchers have sadly been denied a Birdseye view of the installations though due too the sighting of the cameras and several tonnes of scaffolding, as for engine four, rumour mill shifted into high gear over the visible hoists laying around but this has not been confirmed on the TVOC forum as yet as one engineering contributor has understandably stood down due to a slight problem we hope will soon sort it’s self out and the rest are way too busy to stab a keyboard currently.
No doubt the engineering updates will itemise the details when it is released.
cypherusWill 558 fly again, or will it just remain a very expensive money soak confined to a very expensive hangar on a private midlands airfield, could the money so far consumed have been put to better use and should the HLF ever have got involved.
What a lot of people do not seem to understand about this project is that in essence it has only come about because the TVOC has created a single aircraft airline, for which the CAA has given it’s approval, the engineering and support staff have received were required the certification to carry out the work necessary to allow the CAA to issue a ‘Permit to Fly’ with restrictions applied, under the current rules a full C of A cannot be issued for this airframe, please take the time to read up as to why this is so.
Part of the approval process was the involvement of Marshall aerospace, sadly a very large drain on resources but a requirement never the less and will remain so for the envisaged life span of the airframe.
As to the length of time that might be, currently it rest totally with the engines, ‘once there gone, it’s gone’, simple as that, envisaged currently at around ten years in hours it will depend on how often she flies and how many hours are consumed on the engines, my understanding is that four spares are available for use, once used there are and will be no more.
Yes mistakes have been made, no doubt about that fact but in light of the complexity of the project, that there has been no previous model to work to it’s no surprise really, that these mistakes have cost the project dearly is also true, the current estimated £300K involved in rectifying the corrosion problems however is not one of them, this was always known it could present a problem as it was common to the Vulcan fleet, that it surprised many here as to the cost and that it was ‘Only now found’ means only that some here have not taken the time to research the history of the Vulcans airframe fully and in depth instead choosing to snipe at the project without the required knowledge to back up the negative comments.
It is my view and apparently that of thousands of other contributors the TVOC is doing just fine to date, and I for one am looking forward to seeing her grace the skies once again.
cypherusSuggest you email Jeremy MacDonald at the Castle Air Museum, Califiornia who has a good working knowledge of XM605 which is on ‘Extended Loan’ to the USAF and has been parked there since it’s arrival. Email address as published on the website is [email]jeremym@spxdata.com[/email]
cypherusIf I recall correctly from some old information I once looked over Vulcans disassemble aft of the cockpit, aft of the rear spar and outboard of the engine bays leaving five major sections including the stabiliser and one ruddy great lump being the central section and sundry other bits needing to be moved which however you put it means a lot of very detailed planning, expertise and money being required and an awful lot of motivation to attempt the task.
Shifting 606 out of Barksdale does not seem like a sensible idea really unless you are doing it for reasons other than preservation which would be far easier to achieve on site. now there’s a thought. :diablo:
cypherusThis one I can cover with some accuracy, The road linking Westgate, Belton and Sandtoft had been there for many years prior to 1940 and was and still is known as Belton road for the section spanning the airfield, from there it is named as Sandtoft road running into Westgate road.
During the active period of the airfield the road was closed and mostly either dug up or covered within the airfield boundry, not sure when it was reinstated to it’s current though, possibly in the late sixties, I recall going to Sandtoft with my Dad to collect roof tiles on a number of occasions around that time and the main part of the airfield was then still intact though bisected by the road.
While the road was closed locals, what few were left in the area had to use the West end road to Epworth then up the A161 into Belton or they could walk or cycle the track way that ran on the west side of the New Idle drain upto the bridge at Sandtoft road.
Many years ago My Grandfather showed me some grainy Black and whites of the area when he had been called out to recover a steam shovel that had slipped into the New Idle during dredging, this would have been in the early thirties, He told me they had dragged it out and started off the journey too a workshop/Blacksmiths at Hatfield Woodhouse with it mounted on some ‘Gash’ wheels towed by a sentinal steam truck but had eventually to give up the idea when an axle broke and they ended up leaving the thing in Plains lane to await repair.
Anyway the answer to your question is yes it was always there, closed during the stations operational period and eventually re-opened though not sure of the date.
cypherusSad to say having been involved at the sharp end with the former APT project that the UK had a train in the mid seventies well capable of topping 200 mph on standard tracks, did so on a number of unpublished occasions but political manouvering and a fatalistic view of the future put paid to that idea, sadly sold off to the japanese for pennies in the end with the husk left out for people to gawk at.
As for the TGV, little to be said there really other than this is what can be acheived when your government backs your railways with money and planning, all that prevents regular running at those sorts of speeds is the economic costs involved in power consumption and maintainance, having driven them on regular service schedules they are easy to handle and have installed power well beyond that required so fast services are easy to achieve.
Here what do we get, units with a bag of half dead gerbils to power them, why oh why does this country always do things on the cheap then moan about lack of performance and service limitations afterwards I will never know, anyway Virgin got the message and bought Italian all the way, not much of a choice really as no one builds trains here anymore.
cypherusSad to say having been involved at the sharp end with the former APT project that the UK had a train in the mid seventies well capable of topping 200 mph on standard tracks, did so on a number of unpublished occasions but political manouvering and a fatalistic view of the future put paid to that idea, sadly sold off to the japanese for pennies in the end with the husk left out for people to gawk at.
As for the TGV, little to be said there really other than this is what can be acheived when your government backs your railways with money and planning, all that prevents regular running at those sorts of speeds is the economic costs involved in power consumption and maintainance, having driven them on regular service schedules they are easy to handle and have installed power well beyond that required so fast services are easy to achieve.
Here what do we get, units with a bag of half dead gerbils to power them, why oh why does this country always do things on the cheap then moan about lack of performance and service limitations afterwards I will never know, anyway Virgin got the message and bought Italian all the way, not much of a choice really as no one builds trains here anymore.
cypherusPeppermint, n reply to your question, all four 20201 olypus engines due to be fitted are zero hour units and have been in enviromental storage bags since delivery too the RAF only briefly removed for the full overhaul inspections they recieved, since then they have been stored awaiting installation.
A couple of weeks back the process of preperation began with the ‘dressing’ of each individual engine according to the posistion it will finally occupy in the airframe, once completed back into the bags again they all went.
Just prior to installation a final boroscopic exam was made of the internal spaces, just in case something was left inside, or maybe was put inside, then up No 3 went, as time progresses and other essential work is completed and signed off others will join it in the airframe.
Work is still underway on the corrosion rectification too the stringers above the engine and wheel bays so this will apparently dictate when further engines will be installed.
A lot of people were surprised by how quickly the engine was hoisted in but now the real work of connecting it all up and testing it has to be accomplished, keep and eye on the web site though as things are moving very rapidly to date.
cypherusTry FSlive traffic for one, has a broad spectrum of airlines available from:
Other than that try the AVSIM libraries, always good for AI traffic plans.
cypherusSad to see yet another facet of a once great and innovative aircraft industry consigned to history.
Maybe, just maybe, when politicians are finally prevented from hidding behind the wall of secrecy they themselves created we will manage to re-constuct the time line from pre Sands days to establish were it all went wrong for the UK, who was responsible and who profited from it, ???.
cypherusSuprising what happens when you shake the pot a little, nothing concrete on the subject of restoration of this airframe but enough information to begin the process, good luck to all involved,.
cypherusGet it off that grass to start with, build a simple open ended poly tunnel over it to provide a dry well ventilated enviroment to allow it to dry out and wait, years to come someone will have the idea that preserving one of those is a good idea that ‘Needs’ doing and your restoration is underway, then it all depends on money as has often been pointed out.
Pity to see such an airframe just left too rot.
cypherusRemember these well, alongside the Redbourne road, Not been to Hibaldstowe for years now since landing out there in the seventies, place was always famous as the airfield were one WAAF Margret Horton took a quick and unexpected circuit on the tail of a spitfire,
As to the sheds, Brother who has lived up around there since Noah passed by says they have always been known as the former chicken sheds though he suspects they were once something to do with Kirtons activities, he knows some of the locals and has promised to ask around for more information, if anything turns up, i,ll post it.
cypherusSorry about the length of the post. Was extracted and condensed from another even longer report but the content was the issue really.
For those of us lowly souls on the fringe of the 558 project your comments on finances have been under discussion since day one and subject to the group breaking with it’s tradition of total silence on the matter and finally offering up a business plan on this one I personally cannot see a way forwards.
It all seems to revolve around sponsorship and as such dealings are by there very nature secretive we are not likely to hear much until any such deals are signed up, we have been lucky to date, that money has been drummed up but without a large sponsorship deal, who knows.
As for the air show side of things, we have been assured that this is in hand, though again no details, though I am sure given the team involved each venue will be looked at with a view to multiple airings on each flight to cover the costs possibly making it more affordable to smaller venues, even so costs per hour are going to be horrendous.
Still they have made it this far so I can and will do nothing but wish them well for the future.
cypherusWould not write 558 off the list yet. or on it for that matter, however things are moving along nicely with the fitting of the final control surfaces during last week and replacement of the currently worked on wing area skins well underway, only two areas remain to be done according to the engineers who are the only guys who really know, instruments are expected to be ready for installation around the end of April with the cockpit wiring and pipework being repaired and adjusted ready for this, Crew training moving along with more taking place this week-end as scheduled, So with no additional suprises to date being announced or envisaged by those involved that they care to talk about openly things look as though they are making every realistic effort to have 558 up there on the day.
Sign In
