Category: nimrod
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News from the hangar
Our chief engineer has found a gap in his schedule to update everyone on where we are with aeroplanes.
“With the ‘Tea’ things washed up (giving away my northern roots here) it was time for a strong coffee and think about a hangar update……!
This weekend has seen us busy completing the shakedown flights and test flying of the Curtiss P-40C which has gone remarkably well with nothing but a couple of minor snags (or squarks for our US cousins) to deal with.
As I write this update our surveyor has emailed to say the (CAA) Design team are happy with the submitted flight test report and he is calling by tomorrow (Tuesday) to issue the full Permit to Fly.
We also got the opportunity between rain showers to complete the grounds runs on the Nimrod which has now been refitted with its long tail pipes as it was originally configured. These new pipes were hand-crafted for us by Chris Baglin at Merlin Engineers and are a beautiful piece of fabrication being hand rolled and welded from sheet stainless steel. We opted to fabricate from stainless steel as the original pipes were made from mild steel and rotted out all too quickly as Nick (Grey) will attest having nearly set fire to the aeroplane when one of the pipes had corroded out under its mounting clamp. (video in last diary report)
P-51 Miss Velma has completed her annual inspection and was flown on check flight last week to verify some adjustments we have made to the engine valve timing and maximum take-off boost.
Corsair FG-1D is the last fleet aeroplane to undergo its annual inspection and with that now complete will undergo a short check flight this week at the hands of a certain travelling kiwi warbird pilot, Keith Skilling, to ensure all systems are operational and function as required.
Flying Legends is just around the corner (had anyone noticed) and this week will see more aerial activity as TFC and Guest pilots alike get familiar with their chosen mounts; Watch out for the first flight in the UK of the Curtiss P-36. We are indebted to our group of volunteers who are hard at work helping prepare the aeroplanes for the weekend, there’s still a handful of aeroplanes to ‘spruce up’ before the weekend; the days are likely to be long, but spirits are high and we look forward to welcoming friends new and old to Flying Legends 2015.
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Hangar update for end of May
This would usually be part of the Online Fighter Log update available to Friends of TFC- it answers a lot of “which aircraft was where and when this week end” type questions so here you go:
A busy weekend in May…. The Hawk75 and Gladiator made our first European outing of the 2015 season with Stephen and Patrice at the controls for the trip to La Ferte Alais. The transit necessitated a brief stop-over at Abbeville for fuel before flying on to LFA were TFC engineers Roy and Paul were waiting for their arrival having departed Duxford at 5am Thursday morning via Folkestone. With some quite complicated logistics Nick who was due to fly the Gladiator in the show made the transit to LFA from Geneva on Thursday evening. Operating away from base is always a challenge particularly when your tools and spares provision needs to fit into a modern family saloon!
The VE Anniversary show at Duxford was combined with the departure of three TFC aircraft Spitfire V, P-51D, Corsair) to the Oostwold Airshow , Groningen, Holland. EP120 was able to make the dash across the channel on Friday (beating the weather) at the hands of Alan Wade as it was not required for the Duxford show; regrettably the MkXIV wasn’t able to depart for the show due to an as yet undiagnosed over-fuelling issue with the carburettor. With the weather closing in on us the P-51D and Corsair weren’t able to make their planned slot to leave Duxford on the afternoon of the Sunday show and finally left at 08:20 local time Monday morning (another lay-in missed !).
All aircraft made the recovery back to Duxford on Monday, with the Hawk75 and Gladiator first to arrive in the late afternoon and our Dutch contingent finally returning 18:45 local time. All in all a very successful weekend both here at Duxford and across our European commitments. Many thanks to those of you who visited us in the Friends area and had a close up look at the Bearcat.
And finally…. ‘A little knowledge is dangerous’…..on occasion we have to respond to inaccurate information placed on public forums and disseminated as factual. We were recently made aware of a thread running on one such forum suggesting the Sea Fury FB11 needs a new centre section! You might imagine that as Chief Engineer these are things I would normally know a little about, particularly if one were actually needed (which it isn’t).
To be absolutely clear; the Sea Fury hasn’t fallen off jacks; it isn’t on jacks simply because it doesn’t need to be on jacks. However, there is a small area of damage to the lower spar boom port side were a bolt was incorrectly orientated in the landing gear retraction mechanism and which on retraction test (some years ago) caught the underside of the boom flange. The damage is repairable and a scheme has already been identified in accordance with the aircraft repair manual and our resident design organisation, therefore no one need worry that the aircraft is not being currently progressed for the absence of a replacement centre section. Our priorities are set by the Principals and Chief Engineer dependent upon our developing workloads, Inspection Programs and ultimate goals; suffice to say we have not forgotten about G-BUCM and its time will come….shortly…..
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A Busy Sunday – the video
We ran the moving picture cameras while the aeroplanes ventured into the sunlight on Sunday and caught a few engine runs (we have cheated and included the Kestrel engine in the Nimrod from earlier in the week as well as), Spitfire and Wildcat but we didn’t think that would be a problem.
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Gladiator and Nimrod out in the sun
View at Duxford this morning with the Fighter Collection Hawker Nimrod and Glostor Gladiator outside awaiting their pilots for a display at Old Warden this afternoon.
Update, 13:30 weather conditions mean flights will not take place.
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A Thursday at The Fighter Collection
What better way to spend a Thursday. Flights by the Hellcat, Nimrod and two from the P-51, which did an impressive display on return to Duxford.
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More first flights of the year
The busy week continues: Yesterday the Bearcat returned from an extended break in France, the TF=51 has nearly completed engine tests after arriving on the G-register, the P-40F was out on line for an engine check while highlight of today was the Nimrod up for a test flight with Mr Goldspink.
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Up Close and Personal
Nimrod mid service:
Mustang Propellor:
And Finally the Hellcat:
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Todays flying – Nimrod
More news from today, the weather was right and we had a pilot in the name of Stu Goldspink so the Nimrod was up and about for a practice flight.
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Review of TFC in action at Duxford Jubilee show
After; our quick post of Stuart having fun in one of his favourite aircraft earlier today, Rob Scott has supplied us with this set of; TFC in action, what a precursor to Flying Legends in a months time! Click on images for full view
