Victor K2 XL231

[Blue_2]

I'll let you ponder that awhile!

[Ray C]

Should have strapped a plank to his arse.....

[Mackrick]

It's a really long time since I did any work on hunters, engine change was probably last thing I did. Hope you get her running again.

[Blue_2]

12/08/13 Update
A nice busy weekend at Elvington, as the LMA show was taking place on the airfield. There were some lovely flying models, particular highlights for me were the VC10 and the Vulcan

Anyhow, enough about the second best V-bomber (for now!), to Lindy business. After the traditional Bacon o'clock, Rich complained that the door latch on the jet had been a bit awkward to open. Bearing in mind that Rich is a bit of a jessie I investigated, but to be fair the mechanism had tightened up once more. This meant an expedition into the radar bay was required, always a joy-filled experience. We removed the underside access hatch, I took the 'saloon doors' off... and promptly put my hand in several inches of water which had collected in the bottom of the radome!

I managed to find the 3 drain holes, cleared them and let Lindy have a wee to clear the puddle.

While I was waiting for the flood waters to recede I thought the forum would be interested to see this shot of Lindy's (fully functioning) radar

Once the tide had gone out, I could get into the nose and access the latch. As much as you can access it, anyway. The throttle runs get in the way big style!

By inserting my phone among the throttle runs I was able to get this clearer shot of the latching gear

So you can see what we're up against! The best way we've found to lubricate the latching gear is the crude but effective trick of bombarding it with ACF50 in a spray can. Apart from dismantling the nose of the jet, that's all we can do. Anyway it seems to be improving the latch, working it a bit more will hopefully help the oil work its way into the system and free it off further.
Meanwhile Ian was on with his artistic bit, doing a great job of renovating Lindy's iconic nose art. I think he may be getting a little close to the paint fumes though!

As it was a nice day I went up top and opened the plenum chamber up to air it out a bit. As you can see all the equipment in there is in top condition!

Ian admiring his handiwork

And again...! The hatch open top right is the lid of the plenum chamber.

In other news, the Hunter is still awaiting its engine...

...but Andre's started adding new paint and damn good it looks too!

To end with, some of our 'full size' visitors from the weekend





Hopefully we'll be welcoming a new arrival next weekend; watch this space!

[Sploosher]

a new arrival.................

thats sounds interesting, will you spill the beans to me on thursday if I promise to keep it secret

[Yorkie]

XV618 From Brough.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/1061925 ... ir_museum/

3 Buccs is just plain greedy

[Vulcan Bomber]

XV618 From Brough.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/1061925 ... ir_museum/

3 Buccs is just plain greedy

Theres 4 at bruntingthorpe, 3 of which run.

And this is worth a watch when you've a spare half hour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihLpjp56pVg

[Blue_2]

168 arrived safely yesterday, I'll give the arrival its own thread on here shortly. Meanwhile...
With the arrival of the Bucc on the cards both the big jets had to be moved out on Friday. I was in on Thursday morning for a few hours as I had a visitor to the jet booked in to show around though. Some of you may know him better as this forum's very own Sploosher! Hope your tour of Lindy made for a good birthday experience mate.



As my visitor wanted some shots of Lindy looking her best, I pulled the blanks on the port side. I always think Lindy looks at her best de-blanked

Tour duties done, I went over to the hangar to see how Andre was progressing with the Hunter repaint

Very nicely would be the answer!



Sunday we turned up to see the new arrival. It was strange to come round the corner and see, where normally 2 large hemp jets live, nothing...

The Nimrod looked nice out on the airfield though

As did the resident Buccs, waiting to greet their sister

The Canberra has its new canopy on now and looks much better for it. Must try and remember to get a pic next week!

[Dan4th]

That Hunter is looking Superb

Danf.

[Ray C]

That Hunter is looking Superb

Danf.

Can't wait to see her Airbourne......

[Blue_2]

If only...!

[Blue_2]

25/08/13 Update
Much in the way of aircraft movements at YAM over the last week. Lindy is still out on the airfield; I spied her lurking as I walked down on Sunday!

As I got closer to the museum I got an unusual perspective on some of the museum's inmates

Notice the Javelin's intakes finally getting some tlc?
The Dak has moved onto the grass, as has the Gannet



And rounding the corner of the Handley Page building, where you normally get the sight of Lindy sat waiting patiently for her minions to start work on her, there is the sight of an interloper in the shape of this Cod-counting aircraft, boo!

Lindy is staying out 'behind bars' for a couple of weeks...

...but she's perfectly safe out there, under the watchful eye of the airfield staff
Rich and I went out to see her. We thought it was only fair to open the cockpit up to let her air out for a few hours. Despite the recent heavy rain hitting the People's Republic of Yorkshire, she's stayed dry inside.

Rick rejoined us on Sunday which was nice, and spent much time chasing gremlins around Lindy's comms system I believe. the rest of the crew had other fish to fry.
Andre has as you can see made great progress with the Hunter repaint

and with nothing to do on Lindy we mucked in to help him ready the Hunter for her big roll-out next weekend. Rich and I's first job was to re-fit the fuselage breakpoint band and spine cover, seen missing here.

This was done very carefully, as the band and spine panel had already received their fresh blue paint! As we prepared to offer it up we found the band had had a previous owner

Here it and the spine panel are fitted, I'm pleased to say with no damage to the new paint. Everything was well lubricated so it should all come apart really nicely when the engine fit comes to pass.

Andre got busy masking and painting the jet's white bits, ie the wingtips and starboard side roundel and fuselage stripe. Rich and I decided the intake blanks were too scruffy, so set to sanding them back and giving them a new coat of red.
Rich gets busy with the sandpaper

One painted

And both done, outside and drying

You may have noticed an ejector seat in one of the above photos? Freshly removed from the Hunter, to allow the cockpit refurb to get under way.

The other one is to follow. The rear bulkhead of the cockpit has already been repainted

Hopefully a new canopy will come to pass, so all this hard work can actually be seen!
While I was outside I took a look at the now fully assembled newly arrived Bucc, basking in the sun which had by now put in an appearance

Before returning to the Hunter, to assist Andre with a very tricky job. When she was last repainted, the 92Sqn badges on the nose were added in the form of vinyl decals. It was decided that this method would be used again, however given that getting the new ones made up had cost ouchie pennies, none of us were relishing this and potentially making a large expensive c0ck-up of it.
To give us a sporting chance, and the ability to adjust the decal in situ, we were advised to apply soapy water to the fuselage first. This we did, and then after a deep breath began applying the decal. Here Andre and Rich do battle, while I fetch another 'blessing' of soapy water (pic courtesy of John '2 pies' Hawkridge)

...aaaand, after much cursing, fear and trepidation from the 5 of us (yes 5, to put a sticker on an aeroplane!) it was on

And Andre uses both his left hands to smooth an air bubble out

Before Rich the second hand sticker salesman tries to sell his wares!

The new decals really do look far better than the old ones as you can see. A nerve-wracking but very worthwhile job. We couldn't congratulate ourselves too much however; we had its twin to fit to t'other side! While riding on the wave of confidence borne of our success with the port one, we cracked on with the starboard decal.

This side also went well, thanks to a couple of lessons learned with the first one, and we ended up with quite a few visitors watchin us apply it and even got a small cheer after!
After this work continued on the stripes and roundels, with Rich and I on masking and de-masking duties while Andre wielded the roller. Here are a selection of shots I took of our hard work towards the end of the day.











Just some detail work to do and the starboard underwing tank to replace, and she'll be ready for her grand unveiling which is, I believe, this coming weekend!
When our work will return it's focus to Lindy. We have preparations to carry out...

[Ray C]

Spectacular......as Eric would say to Ern, "you can't see the join".

[MOD]

That Hunter looks fantastic and brings back some great memories from Leconfield around 1960-62 when the Blue Diamonds F.6s used to practice over the East Yorkshire coast.

I really must get up there this year ...

ibw

[Dan4th]

Thank You Mister Blue

Just keep on doing what you do.....

Danf.

[Sploosher]

That Hunter looks amazing Graham..................

[Blue_2]

That Hunter looks fantastic and brings back some great memories from Leconfield around 1960-62 when the Blue Diamonds F.6s used to practice over the East Yorkshire coast.

If only that had still been the case while I was growing up in Hornsea through the 80's/early 90's! Still I can't complain, with a seemingly endless procession of A10's, F111's, Buccaneers, Tornados, Harriers, Jaguars etc. using Cowden Range most weekdays!

[MOD]

The Lightning's night time 'stream' takeoffs from Leconfield are what got me hooked on a hobby that I still pursue today - occasionally.

ibw

[Blue_2]

An awesome sight, I can imagine. Sadly the Sea King flying is the only aviation excitement Leconfield sees now, and not for too much longer...

[Blue_2]

31/08/2013 Update
Early one for you this week folks, I'll not be at the museum tomorrow but Ollie and I put in a full day today, ably assisted by 2 of the museum's newer volunteers.
Our plans were to make sure Lindy was fully serviceable to taxy, should such an event be occurring in the near future. This meant much maintenance. Our 2 extra team members were Shanghai'ed away from their brews in the NAAFI and put to work opening Lindy's underwing panels and greasing them, the pfcu's and the control runs. we also opened the engine doors, always fun. Not. One of Lindy's more endearing features is that, while you can check the oil levels in the engines and CSDU's by opening little hatches, if they then turn out to need a top up you then have to drop the whole bloody door. Nice one Handley Page...

Here you can see everything underneath that can be opened is open. PFCU bays, engines, APU bay, the lot. Just got to put it all back now...!

To be fair, with our helpers refitting all the panels didn't take too long.
A large chunk of the day was spent topping up fluids, in the 4 engines, all the pfcu's including those all the way up on the tail, and the Artouste too.
Late in the day we decided to run the Artouste, de cowled so I could monitor it

The downward facing exhaust certainly did a fine job of blowing the taxiway clean!

After the Artouste was shut down and seeing as we had the use of the Nimrod's Houchin, we ran all the hydraulic systems. The pfcu's (and me!) got a really good workout, then the airbrakes and flaps got some exercise too.

One thing we do want working for the next time Lindy runs is the brake chute. We tried the doors, however they wouldn't budge. Despite Ollie's best efforts

It turned out to be a slightly reluctant spring which I soon persuaded back into life. We removed the door bolt and Ollie took it away for greasing. While I waited I took a look in the chute skip, which was pleasingly nice and dry.

It may look quite big, but it seems tiny when trying to shove a bloody great chute in there!
I also took this shot, a chute door's eye view of the tail.

I love finding new angles on our jet! Once Ollie returned I refitted the pin. Moment of truth...

And it works!

After this, we called it a day. Got to leave something for the Sunday shift to do!
By the way you may have noticed the chute doors aren't painted. This is because we decided for safety to paint them in anti-slip paint as they do get trodden on while chute packing. We've tried to find some reasonably priced but have drawn a blank, and we aren't doing the 'sand in the paint' trick. So if anyone's any ideas where we can get some non-slip for less than silly money......

[Dan4th]

I thought there was a silicone compound
made specifically for adding to paint for
non-slip applications.....

I know I've used it on sailboats, and it
wasn't all that pricey, either

Call up your paint supplier!

EDIT:::::::::::::::::::

I remember this stuff!

It is ground-up silicon bits that bond
with the paint and to the surface...

Boat decks need to be non-slip, and
if you follow the instructions, the
resulting surface will be extremely
rough, even to the point of skinning
your elbow or knee and drawing blood!

If memory serves, all you had to do was
stir the paint all the time and the stuff
was surprisingly durable, too!

Call up a Boat Supply Shop !

Danf.

[Dougs]

What dan4th said I used some on my boat a couple of years ago get to your nearest marina canal boat decks are covered with the stuff v cheap too

[Blue_2]

Cheers chaps, shall look into it.
Just a quick note a couple of you may find of interest, Sunday 15th September we intend to fast taxy Lindy. In case you hadn't guessed from our preparations! It should be a special one...

[Sploosher]

Cheers chaps, shall look into it.
Just a quick note a couple of you may find of interest, Sunday 15th September we intend to fast taxy Lindy. In case you hadn't guessed from our preparations! It should be a special one...

really looking forward to this one Graham ............first time seeing her strut her stuff this year for me......

[Blue_2]

07/06/13 Update
I decided to continue my antisocial ways this weekend, and went to work on Lindy on Saturday.

You may recall I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we required some anti-slip paint? well Andre has come up trumps and managed to get some. So seeing as if I mention something on here it magically appears, would this be a good time to scribe the words "winning lottery ticket required" I wonder...?!
Said pot of sticky black foulness was to be applied to the 2 walkways on Lindy's wing roots. It was also my intention to give the chute bay doors a coating too, as inevitably when installing the chute some poor unfortunate has to perform something akin to a Morris dance on the doors and it seems only sporting to give them a fair chance of not slipping off. I also decided to reinstate the walkways on top of the tail too, if weather and time allowed.
The first job was to mask off the wing walkways. Not a quick little job, given the size of Lindy's wings! Each one ate nearly a whole roll of masking tape. Then it was a quick rough over to remove any loose paint, muck etc. then out with the brush! I managed to get the port side painted up before lunch

After lunch o'clock I gave the chute doors another rub down

and then a coat of black goo

I then started the long job of masking up the starboard wing's walkway





before breaking out the paintbrush once more.
After cake o'clock I started de-masking the port side, as the paint was now sufficiently dry.





The ball of masking tape from just the port wing, with my delicate little hoof (!) for comparison. This job certainly ate more than its fair share of tape.

The starboard side dried much quicker with being in the sun, so I then de-masked that too.





Not looking bad I think!

And yes, I did get the tail done too, despite some threatening clouds later in the day

I then went for a wander round site, partly to see if I could find some hemp paint for the chute doors and partly to see what had moved over the last week.
The Halifax is now back indoors

The Hunter still looks stunning

The JP, a significant type in RAF Elvington's history, is now outdoors. Anyone got a serviceable jetpipe for her? She could run if so...

The Dak looks nice in front of the tower

With the Victor out on the airfield the museum site suddenly looks a lot bigger

The Gannet is sat on the grass still

And the pink Bucc is on the pan for now. Everywhere you turn on site there's a Brick!

The hemp paint found, it was back to the jet now enjoying the late afternoon sun

I gave the chute doors a couple of coats, then tidied up while waiting for it to cure, which it has nicely. It now looks good and hopefully will be a bit less slippery.

So, roll on Sunday 15th September and Lindy's date with the runway! If anyone's looking to visit, as things stand we intend to run around 3pm. Hopefully we'll not find anything untoward while preparing the jet on Saturday, and our visitors will be able to see hear and feel what a proper V-bomber can do!