Hi David

Another way to describe it could be a blooming miracle! Here are some more pictures. I picked up the remains of this control wheel a few years ago from Whitley AD712.

Other items are the direct vision panels from the canopy – they’ve cleaned up nicely. The prespex was replaced as the old material was scratched and cracked.

The refurbished emergency hydraulic hand pump – licence built by Automotive Products.

A couple of views of the blind flying panel. I was lucky to find a really nice original 6a/616 square panel. The pipework is a mixture of new and original – some of it was extremely difficult to make but it came out quite well in the end – a job i’m glad I won’t have to do again. I’m on the lookout for some bonding strips now for the pipes.

If only Jeepman! If only! There is nothing more I would like than to see a Whitley at Legends one day.

It is indeed the very heart of the Whitley and as you say everything does hang off it.

Roger – this is a port rear quarter view, so from behind and to port. The front part is facing the wall.

Dave Hardy – yes the frame is a bit of a monster. It’s fairly hard work to move actually.

David Collins – yes – this is only a trial fit so the brackets have yet to be welded. Examination of the centre section and comparison with other centre section remains reveals no significant deformation which is good news.

Cees – Its fairly compact for such a large aircraft. It’s almost 2m long however and is a similar height. The front and rear fuselages do bolt directly onto this structure. I’m currently organising the fabrication of a new batch of square tube with the appropriate radiused corners – sadly not available off the shelf these days, and exceedingly expensive.

somebody has to say it……………

will it be at Legends this year?

presumably that is the very heart of any Whitley rebuild and everything else hangs off it

keep up the good work