So…who watched the live feed then? 🙂

Saturday was amazing. A busy day but very productive and a great way to end the season.

We got to Coventry early, hopeful for a cold clear day so we could methodically work through the list of jobs needing to be done. Unfortunately we were greeted by drizzle. Freezing cold drizzle. First tasks were the usual safety and maintenance checks, spinner locks, control locks, check for water in the fuel, rotate the props by hand once to drain the water from the spinners, remove the wheel and other covers…all little jobs but all essential. We then moved onto checking the priming pumps and booster coils, these have let us down in the past and caused a 3 or even 2 engine run, something we didn’t want to happen.

Everything checked out fine, so while the shop was getting tidied ready for our guests, we waited for the fuel to arrive. We took on around 700 litres or 100LL Avgas, plenty for this run and the next couple. We calculate fuel figures based on what is left in the tanks to ensure even fuel loads in the tanks, it helps while she’s sitting to keep the weight even. After priming the injectors there wasn’t much to do other than talk to our guests and wait for Dusk.

We were very lucky to meet Roger Steggall, an ex crew member who had clocked up over 56 flights on WR963, so listening to his stories was certainly a privilege, we hope to have him back early next year to take his old seat during a run.

After the Nimrod shut down, it was our turn. 30 minutes of Noise, and a very sweet running Shackleton. slightly grumpy on Number 1 and 4 engines, but they soon smoothed out and the run couldn’t have been better.

The last picture we took before leaving –

So what next for 963? Not much this year. We’ll be back down at Coventry on the 16th, fitting all the covers and making sure she’s safe and sound, ready for our Christmas break…then it’s off to the Oak at Baginton for a well deserved beer with all the crew.

We have big plans for 2018, things we’ve never done before! I don’t want to ruin the surprise so you’ll have to wait and see in the new year, but it’s sure going to be fun!

We’re certainly going to give it a try, although it may be a bit dark we’ll see what we can do.
We’ll start the live stream from a few minutes before engine start, It’ll be on our “return to flight” Facebook page.

Sorry I’ve been quiet for a while, it doesn’t mean we’ve not been busy…quite the opposite. Thank you everyone for the continued support, both on here and other forums and social media, it does mean a lot to us all.

DonClark – Thank you for the tip with the signature, it should be sorted now. Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m not amazingly tech savvy, so between the updates, facebook groups and website I’m in over my head but learning fast.

So…what have we been up to? The answer is a lot of planning for next year, and a lot of preparation for next weeks dusk run. Tired of problems this past year we’ve been checking and rechecking everything before next week, and even conducted a short 4 engine run last weekend. I’m pleased to report everything went fine, a couple of small snags, one being a recurring oil weep on the number 4 engine which we’ll keep an eye on and fix over winter. It won’t affect next weeks run though.

My lovely wife taking a “selfie” with WR963 during our test run…you won’t see me, I was sat at the engineers panel.

New astrodome cover with new bungees.

We also had the pleasure of giving several local air cadets a tour of the aircraft inside and out, we try to do as many tours as possible throughout the year as it helps get our name out there, and the more people that hear about us the better chance we have…plus we all like talking about ‘963!

Cadets after their tour of WR963

We’re still working on the covers which is turning into a bigger task than we liked, but the bungees on most of them have been replaced and before we leave next week they will all be in place, keeping ‘963 as dry as possible.

With regards to NDT testing, yes it will be going ahead. We have the money for it, all we’re waiting for is available indoor space to conduct it. It will come in time though and as soon as I know something I’ll be sure to post up and let everyone know.

We have some big plans for 2018, that I can’t really go in to right now…but they’re really going to be good. 2018 is going to be a fun year, and we’ll be attempting a few things we’ve not done before…

Pre Dusk run work day 04/11/17

Today’s work day was all about preparation. Winter is around the corner and there’s certainly more cold days and rain coming our way. We want to protect 963 as best we can over the winter months so today we decided to make a start.

All the engine/wheel/cockpit/glass covers were taken out of storage, cleaned and inspected. We have a full set and although some need localised repairs we’ve started to fit them, and after the dusk run they’ll all be on to keep her as dry and safe as possible.

Other maintenance work included cleaning all of the many and varied drains out, rotating the propellers to ensure no water gather’s in the spinners and exercising the ailerons and elevators for the same reason.

Also, and well overdue, the entire starboard side was cleaned to remove all the dirt and algea and I’m sure you’ll agree she looks great. The port side will be next.

No major work to report at this time of year, but this work is vital to keep WR963 serviceable and stop deterioration.

Unfortunately today was a private event, the Saab club GB asked us to host them and do an engine run after their AGM.

We are starting to publicise events on our various social media accounts and the website too. Our next one is the dusk run on the 2nd of December and is also the final engine run of the year. I appreciate that not everyone goes on Facebook etc so I’ll try and keep updating here giving people notice so they can attend.

Hi Everyone,

Firstly I’d like to apologise for the lack of updates on the various forums, and the sporadic and sometimes contradictory information that was sometimes posted on social media. Hopefully these times are behind us now and normal service can be resumed. As I’m sure you can understand it’s been a troublesome year for WR963 and the remaining crew.

I’m Phil, richw_82’s brother. I’ll be posting the regular updates from now on and hopefully answering any and all questions you all have to the best of my ability. Although I’m not quite as knowledgeable as my brother, I work on WR963 regularly, I’m qualified to crew her as P2, admin on the two facebook groups we run, run the eBay shop and assist with the Instagram account and website building. More recently I’ve taken over running the “Friends” side of things and I’m one of the two directors of the company that owns and looks after WR963. So I hope that I’ll be up to the task.

We’ve had a bad year in terms of reliability, Hydraulic issues on the last evening run back in February and starting issues with the engines since. Coupled with radio problems too and it’s not been the year we wanted or expected. We’ve slowly been working our way through these problems though, and I’m pleased to announce that WR963 is now servicable and capable of running all 4 engines.

The number 4 engine problem has now been found and fixed. Initially thought to be fouled plugs, these were stripped, cleaned, gapped and refitted. We checked for power getting to the booster coil and magneto, and the points were cleaned and gapped in both. Still it refused to run. Eventually, we found that although power was getting to the booster coil, it wasn’t supplying power out and once swapped for a brand new unit from our stores the no4 engine ran beautifully.

The offending booster coil can be seen in the above picture, the large box almost in the centre with the “X” on it.

Hydraulic issues are drawing to a close too, the Hydraulc pumps have both been removed, sent away to be fully rebuilt and refitted. A fully rebuilt hand pump, cleaned and remade lines, cleaned filters and solenoids, and correctly adjusted pressure reducing valves should now see these problems cured.

The next run we have is this weekend, the Saab club is hosting their AGM at Midland Aviation museum and we’re providing a 4 engined run as entertainment afterwards. I’ll take photos and report back on Sunday! Fingers crossed for the first 4 engined run since February.

Sorry for the lengthy first post, believe me I’ve condensed a LOT of work into this update, I didn’t want to swamp the place on my first go.

Regards,

Phil Woods