Super Guppy Restoration

[Xplumberlives]

Quick question .......WTF is Cowbell?

Try GOOGLing it!

[Gaz]

If Bruce Dickinson wants more cowbell, I suggest, we give him MORE COWBELL!!

[Sooty655]

If Bruce Dickinson wants more cowbell, I suggest, we give him MORE COWBELL!!

If Gaz wants more cowbell, I suggest we give him to Bruce Dickinson!!

[Gaz]

If Bruce Dickinson wants more cowbell, I suggest, we give him MORE COWBELL!!

If Gaz wants more cowbell, I suggest we give him to Bruce Dickinson!!

That'd be cool!

[Gaz]

April update for your perusal:

11th April

Sometime in the past couple of weeks, I finished the port side nacelles



I think they look fantastic!

Then today, me, Gregg and Emma set about removing the tail jack. It can't be done with it in situ, believe me we tried!!

Removing bits:




Almost out:



We did get it out, but I didn't get a photo. Dear god this thing is HEAVY, it's a good job we had three people! But, it's out now. On Saturday we'll start servicing it and hopefully get it functioning again.

A good team effort today. To give credit where it's due, Gregg did most of the work, but, in the end, it needed three people!


14th April

So, we got the Jack outside and, once we'd been able to have a proper look at it, we sorted it fairly easily. It wasn't seized, there's a retaining rod inside that had failed, distorted and was jamming the whole system up. We took out the offending article and that solved the problem.

Here's Gregg, giving the ram some attention before we put it back:



Also, we had a new starter today, Neil. We gave him a glamorous job:



Not the most exciting job in the world, but, we've ALL done a bit of cleaning and painting at some point, hell, that's pretty much ALL I do

So a good day, all in all. Wednesday will see me and Gregg swearing a lot whilst reinstalling the tail jack


18th April

HORRENDOUS weather today, luckily, the job of the day was all indoors. It saw Gregg, Emma and myself wrestling with the tail jack, first to get it back into position, then to fix as many bolts before we ran out of time



We are getting there though!

Hopefully, Saturday will see it finished


25th April.

Tail jack's back in:



And working!:




Just need to attach the footplate (It's in my garage being refurbished) and it's done! It might not seem like much, but, this has been a problem since day one, it's never worked properly. Feel like we turned another corner today!


26th April

Neil wanted to do a bit today, so, as the weather is dire, I pointed him in the direction of the cargo hold. He managed to get a couple of panels done.

Before:




And after:




Looks like a pretty good job to me!



A productive month, all in all!

The first few days in May will ALL be about preening for the open day, but, if Hurricane Jedward ( bloody annoying, came from nowhere, sounds terrible and it's wet) carries on, I doubt we'll have many visitors

We did a little bit more, Gregg finished the tail jack properly and Neil and I managed a couple more panels in the hold

[Gaz]

CWJ Open Day, from a guppy perspective:

http://superguppy.yuku.com/topic/119/master/1/?page=1

[RLN]

The firewall at work won't let me see the link. It says it's a dating site.

[Gaz]

The firewall at work won't let me see the link. It says it's a dating site.

Maybe for real weirdos, it is!!

[Xplumberlives]

The firewall at work won't let me see the link. It says it's a dating site.

Maybe for real weirdos, it is!!

I'm not sure which of you two I worry about most!

[Gaz]

May review for your perusal

3rd May

Tail jack was finished a few days ago and works perfectly.

It's all about getting as much as possible done before the open day, this Sunday.

I decided to carry on with the work Neil started on the inboard S/B nacelle:

Before:




After:



As I had paint in my tray and time on my hands, I carried on:





and got it finished

Weather permitting, I'll get the last one done tomorrow. I also did a couple of prop tips and Gregg and Emma made a start on stripping the nose leg down, ready for overhaul

VERY productive day!!


8th May

Well, what a few days we've had!

Neil started and finished the final nacelle



then he took this photo:



Adam (My Brother, he helps me out on the open days when I'm too busy to do anything else) did the reverse side of a few prop tips (Something I've been meaning to do for ages!)



You can, just about, see him there!

I did my "Actual" job and curated the aircraft. I spoke to several interesting people, a couple of potential volunteers and even a musician who was interested in using the guppy for a video shoot!!

We took enough money on the door to, finally, pay off the guys who did our radome as well as restock our paint, masking tape, roller sleeves, degreaser, sandpaper, dust masks etc...

We had a discussion and agreed that the underside of the aircraft cannot be left for much longer, so, we have bought a compressor and will start sanding the corrosion back to "Good" metal. Another group on site has said they'd let us have some acid etching stuff, then, we'll paint EVERYTHING BELOW the cheat line in the same grey that we've used on the nacelles. It'll look quite different, but, the preservation of the airframe is paramount!


23rd May

A load of sand has been returned (correctly) to the aircraft to provide balance, also, got the cherry picker back, it's not running at the moment, but, I've been assured that the pump has been fixed. Got a new basket for it too. Good day, all in all!

30th May



Oli did that last prop tip on the port side, the one I've been meaning to do for ages. I did do the backs of two of them though

Also, got the last of the ballast returned to the aircraft, she sits nice and level now, off the jacks

Turns out the cherry picker isn't as fixed as we hoped it was, we're getting there though!!

[MOD]

Great report Gaz. Well done.

BTW is it still possible to open the nose up as they used to do for loading?


ibw

[Gaz]

Great report Gaz. Well done.

BTW is it still possible to open the nose up as they used to do for loading?


ibw

We're working towards that! Need to fix the nose gear, then, make sure we can close the door properly BEFORE we open it, then yes, we'll have a go!

[Dan4th]

All Good!

How many lbs/kgs of sand, Gaz????

And how do you keep it from
attracting moisture?

Thanks for the report, I've been
wondering how things were going

Danf.

[Gaz]

All Good!

How many lbs/kgs of sand, Gaz????

And how do you keep it from
attracting moisture?

Thanks for the report, I've been
wondering how things were going

Danf.

35 bags x 25kg = 875kg

875kg = 1929lbs

In this heat, let's just say, it was loads!!

[Jigsaw]

Brilliant stuff, great update Gaz.

[Dougs]

love the progress Gaz she really looks like someone is taking care of her now

[Gaz]

Thank you!

There's 4 or 5 of us that are there, fairly, regularly now. Things are really gathering pace!

[Gaz]

www.superguppy.co.uk

has just passed the 10,000 hits mark!

Thank you, Thank you, Thankyou!!!

[Xplumberlives]

Well done to you, the team and Andy!

[Gaz]

Fasten your seatbelt for the June update:

5th June

Frustrating few days. The weather's taken a turn for the worse, which has hampered progress on the paintwork. We've had ANOTHER go at getting the cargo door closed, but, it's still out of alignment, think we might need a big ladder to check where the alignment pins are fouling.

The cherry picker is being a complete nightmare. It works for a few hours, then it dies again. Got a mechanic working on it now though, I think it's annoying him as much as anyone else.

On the plus side, Neil did get some work done in the hold....

Before:



After:




It's looking good in there now, if the light was better I'd get a shot of the whole thing, maybe next time we light her up. We've got two aggregate bags of sand in there now, which are essential, but, make it look untidy. Might see if we can box them in.

Onwards!!

9th June

Mostly cherry picker stuff today. The "new" basket is on:



It is slightly different than the original one, so, had to be modified. Ash (Another new guy) has done a good job on her though!

The business end had some attention too:



Got her running again though. All credit to Ash and thanks the Brendan (Cold war jets) for his input and his Land Rover for the jump start.

Fuel tank has been drained to remove sediment, nice clean diesel gone in. The fuel filter was primed and fuel bled all the way through the engine. Think we're looking at a battery/alternator problem. All good fun though!

Neil did a bit more paint in the hold. He's doing a great job in there!

Progress!!


13th June

For the first time in a while I was, pretty much, alone (Emma was there for a little bit). I went and fetched 40L of hydraulic oil for the cherry picker (Yes it was THAT empty) and put half of it in. I reckon it will take the other 20 too.

Did the back of another prop tip and I actually got back to doing some colour on the aircraft:

Before:



After:



I could have done more, but, most of the masking tape is in my garage and I forgot it. I didn't have much at the airfield.

Also, ANOTHER new team member:



It WAS a non runner that had been dumped on the far side of the airfield. Ash, with help, got it running. It's to be made in to a mobile workshop.

All good!!


16th June

AWFUL weather, today. It did break a little though and I got a bit more yellow on.

Other than that, I gave the front, lower, indoor section of the aircraft a long overdue tidy. Ash has done more work on the van, bulkhead gone in, back stripped out a bit more. It's coming on nicely.

Then we were treated to a fast taxi by a Lightning.

Good day, despite the weather


20th June

All about the red and yellow paint today:

Before:



After:



And the same bit done round t'other side:




Two colours done as far as I can. Been able to do another few feet since the aircraft was pulled forward.


June 27th

Did the blue bits, that I could, today. Also Emma managed to blag us some fuel for our van.

Last weekend, Neil got happy with the white paint and his camera, in the cargo hold. He's taken some lovely long exposure shots, really get a sense of scale and also the work that's been carried out inside. Go have a look: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neillanwar ... 265892258/


Productive month, all in all.

[Xplumberlives]

Is that it?

I thought you'd been busy!

[Jigsaw]

Said it before but I really appreciate the time you take to give these updates. Great progress

[Dan4th]

Those inside shots are Wonderful

Almost like a Cathedral

You know, Gaz, we really DO
look forward to your progress
reports

I know EYE do

Danf.

[Gaz]

Thanks, everyone.

[10680]

Looking good