she is still alive, she was rolled out to the dispersal taxiway and started on 13 Jan,

Glad to hear 422 is getting there, slow but sure, are you on the ‘team’ this time ?

Should be up at Brunty if the weather plays ball, if the weathers bad I will be rebuilding my garden fence after the winds got it:mad:

Good luck with the spares recovering

Assume youve seen the ad for the open day on 27th May, you can come and help again if you fancy it.
Bring ya tent;)

Yup, only a small team of 6 this time,to finish fuel integs, 422 will be hauled out of the hangar to see daylight, stop her making a mess of the hangar floor, which she undoubtedly will try to do!:p

Will gladly come up and get me hands dirty (not that they ever seem to be clean!)

catch ya sat hopefully.

Francis,

well done mate, superb! the long road was worth it:) congrats from the GAM lads, pass on our congrats to the rest of the lads.

GAM’s Canberra was picked up last night and dumped on its back side, all 10 odd tons of it! despite being chocked and pegged down at the front. There doesn’t appear to be any damage at first glance. We wont know until the old girl is put back down on all wheels, and the back end can be examined, at present her nose is pointing skyward.

Also, how on earth does the wind peel off a snug fitting and secure pitot cover like a sock, from a Lightning pitot tube and pop it on the floor just in front, but not blow away?? :confused:

amazing what a bit of wind gust can do.
:rolleyes:

the doseage levels are very small, gamma levels are almost insignificant at 12-18 inches away. But it’s the transport mechanism that is of point. The risk is very low in normal circumstances. However, injesting Radium or Radon DUST from old instruments is bad news. Normal exposure of inhaled Radon GAS naturally, is exhaled from the body quickly, and dealt with by your lung defence, but some radium and radon DUST inhaled Into your lungs and respitory tract from open instruments, can stay lodged inside your lungs, continuing to decay, emiting alpha, beta and gamma isotopes from inside the body, which is very harmful.

There is no “debate” over the effects of inhaled radium and radon dust. Once attached to dust particles their decaying isotopes inside the lung, will cause cancers eventually. With a half life of 1600 years, the product decay, continues inside your lungs for the rest of your life, the damage is cumulative over 20-30 years.

The message, which should be clearly conveyed is leave well alone and follow the previous rules.. i.e. avoid opening hot instruments, have them behind glass cabs and displaying those with flaking dials or no glass is not a good idea.

True, the dangers of radiation shouldnt be ignored, however a bit of perspective… much of the ” codswallop” as some have stated, spans from a general lack of understanding, and assumptions. If a nameless organisation, took the time to explain things, people might be more understanding and less cynical or worried about museum instruments.

So, I’m no nuclear physicist, so please correct me if I have some facts wrong:D , but I do understand the mechanics, so I hope this helps.

Exhibits can be beta, alfa or gamma emitters, or emit one, or all three together. Pure emitters, such as just gamma emissions are very rare. The more common in museums emit all three to a certain degree, from Luminous radium painted dials, or thorium magnesium engine casings, such as vipers or some avons. Most tend to be predominantly low level alfa or beta particle emitters.

The specific problem with radium dials is airborne “daughter” or decay products from the radon gas isotope, part of the natural decay chain for radium226. The decaying daughters /isotopes from source nucleii can be gaseous, attaching themselves to statically charged dust particles in the air and can therefore be injested internally at close quarters if these daughter products escape from the instrument or glass. If alfa, beta or gamma particles get inside you, its never a good thing!:o but we are talking a range of about one foot for the strongest. ie the gamma emissions. Over a foot, and its difficult to seperate from back ground radiation around us, as you double the distance, concentration is 4 times less, we are talking on average for a radium instrument, less than 0.03 mSv/h,(milli sieverts per hour, external skin absorption) at 1 foot away. miniscule!!!. You absorb about 3mSv in a year from natural sources, and thats a fraction of your permitted yearly quota.

you would have to absorb 1000mSv in one go over 24hours to make you sick, or 6000mSv in one hit to kill you. So that puts it in perspective.

So long as the glass is in tact on radium instruments, or thorietated engine casings are painted or laquered, on such emiters, the risk of internally inhaling airborne gas particles from alfa or beta emissions, is extremely slight, since most are stopped by the glass or paint, and that which isn’t, travels tiny distances in free air. since most museum exhibits are in free air, ventilated spaces, the risk is very tiny. BoB pilots in certain aircraft types, were enclosed in a tiny, dusty space for prolonged periods, in front of sometimes 3-4 active radium instruments when they were new, emitting gamma less than a foot away, as well as alfa and beta decay products, leaking through damaged faces or instruments with knackered seals, probably airborne from radon gas mixing with cockpit dust particles, and in a very confined space, where bodily fluids (ie sweat) are being spread around the cockpit and onto contaminated instrument faces. Pilot frequently touches dials, contaminagted dust, wet, sweat, wipes his brow,clothes, nose, touches his mouth.. face, injests contamination etc, etc. A specific set of circumstances.

Activity from an instrument depended on the person who had painted the dials, ie thickness of paint determines the level of activity.

The majority of the gamma contamination tends to be on the surface of the instrument, since it passes through the glass and becomes insignificant about 12 inches from it. So unless you are taking instruments to pieces and injesting through the skin or orally, all the surface contamination and radon gas, or continually handling, touching, radium instruments and licking your fingers, the risk is slight. if we handle all suspect instruments, less often, and with disposable gloves, wash down the surface of the instrument to remove contamination, and have them in glass cabinets. Dont keep all active instruments together, effectively amplifying the emissions. Dont take instruments apart without getting them professionaly measured first. follow these basic rules, and there isnt a problem. Occasionaly fairly hot instruments crop up, but they are usually rare. Post war instruments didn’t use radium, and pre war ones were only certain types.

The story of limited time in the valient? I would take that reason with a pinch of salt, if the cockpit is so highly contaminated from unranium, that a member of the public would exceed their daily or yearly quota from a small time in the cockpit, it would have been destroyed by now. They are just being paranoid.

F6’s from from riyadh, Saudi to Uk was 8 hours flying time, and 6 overhead refuels as well as a few touch downs, so SA to UK…. probably 12 hours flying time 10-12 refuels on an f6. A T5? even more. Thunder city were originally going to do it from Cranfield uk to the Cape, using 2 S2 Buccs as buddies, and 10-12 lay over stops. They did it with their first Hunter in 10 stops.