Engine Ground Run April 16Th 2005
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Issue No. 13 Summer 2005 Engine Ground Run April 16th 2005 All Set For Wellesbourne Wings & Wheels on June 19th IN THIS ISSUE…………. Page 1 April 2005 Ground run Page 2 Engineering Report Page 3 Engineering Report Continued Page 4 Wellesbourne Wings & Wheels Page 5 Vulcan News Updates Page 6 Indian Cargo Drop 1944 Page 7 Military Gliders Page 9 Concorde – A real time machine Right – 655 NEWS 1 2005 XM655 TAXI RUN – SUNDAY 19th JUNE Fortunately new seals are still ENGINEERING REPORT available and it was a fairly simple job By Derek Powell to dismantle the motor and fit new seals. Operating the steering with the During the winter months, the engineering team have managed to tackle some of the nose wheels sat on greased plates soon proved we had fixed the fault. gremlins which seem to be so fond of Vulcans and to carry out a considerable We have long known that our amount of routine maintenance activity. As windscreen wiper system was well past its best with perished blades and usual my thanks go to all the members who have put in the hours to keep 655 leaking motors (hydraulic operation) but this was fairly low priority. In serviceable and looking good. Also we were able to spend time on the ground equipment February however we were contacted and other supporting areas which are so by an engineer from Dunlop Aircraft Systems Ltd who asked if we could vital. A long standing problem has been that the help them with information on the Dunlop systems fitted to Vulcans and crew entry door has failed to latch correctly on occasion and this needed urgent allow him to photograph them. This attention. Despite a complete check and was in connection with their overhaul of the linkages and proving out of sponsorship of 558. The engineer duly the nitrogen system the fault persisted. It visited us and spent the day with was decided to remove and dismantle the camera and notebook. In return, nitrogen operated jacks even though they Dunlop Aircraft Systems have supplied appeared to be working correctly. This was us with new wiper blades and seals for a good move since the port jack proved to the wiper heads for which we are most be the problem. A faulty tab washer had grateful. The new blades are fitted but the seals will have to wait until after allowed the internal piston to go out of th adjustment and cause the ram to bottom in June 19 since it will be necessary to the cylinder. This was quickly fixed and the remove all the instrument panels to door latches correctly every time. enable us to work on the wiper heads. Next to receive attention was the nose While we had the ‘giraffe’ set up to wheel steering motor. This had developed a replace the wiper blades, we hydraulic leak from the main ram following investigated an ominous bulge which replacement of the operating mechanism was evident on the canopy just to the rear of the 1st pilots windscreen and last year. looked as if it might be a serious problem. Not so. In order to match the semi-circular canopy with the angled The Blue Eagles Display Team will be joining us at this years Vulcan Fast Taxi Day on June 19th. windscreens, Avro’s had resorted to an area of good old fashioned filler on a paxolin frame. The filler had come adrift and was loose and easily removed. Some nifty work with P38 and a sander restored the correct profile ready for the paint finish. Eric had been muttering darkly about water getting into the engine bays by way of the airbrake chambers. Investigation showed that the rubber seals were in dreadful condition and required replacing and in one area the actual seal carrier was missing across the full width of the airbrake. 655 NEWS 2 2005 XM655 TAXI RUN – SUNDAY 19th JUNE Engineering report cont’d As an incidental to the jacking of the This rather complicated piece of aircraft, we redefined panic when one of metalwork was fabricated by Fred and our jacks refused to retract with 655 stuck fitted into place. Eric had sourced a up in the air and the wind was getting supplier of a suitable seal and this work stronger by the minute. Only some very is all now completed. hard work by all the crew retrieved the The water ingress problem was situation and the aircraft was returned to discovered by Eric while he was carrying earth. A faulty valve inside the jack was out a fairly extensive programme of the cause of a few grey hairs. maintenance on the engines. This Our ground equipment is of the same involved the changing of the oil in the vintage as the aircraft so it is hardly engines themselves and also in the surprising that it can be a bit troublesome constant speed drive units for the at times and needs constant attention but alternators. He had also been aware of a is always at the back of the queue. Our number of oil leaks which were evident in famed “one man” Vulcan towing arm has the bays. None were serious but it is always needed at least 5 people to better not to have them. Most of the leaks remove and refit with everyone counting turned out to be caused by worn rubber their fingers at the end. No More. Eric has oil seals in the various filler caps. New made all the broken bits on his lathe and seals soon cured the problems. the towing arm functions as advertised. Dale McCann undertook to carry out a On our last run day the visiting crew complete examination and audit of the chiefs only gave us 7 out of 10 for our electrical power bay which is ground equipment so we are hoping to immediately behind the bomb bay. This improve on it this year. is the primary distribution point for all We have still not managed to replace our the electrical services on the aircraft and Houchin GPU which is a bit disappointing contains many thousands of but Steve Moore has sold us another old connections and hundreds of relays, unit which we can use for spares at a very fuses and other components. It is a very good price and delivered it FOC. In an dark, cramped and uncomfortable area effort to prolong the life of our GPU, in which to work especially for the may Andrew Cardus has spent many hours weekends which it took to do the job. manufacturing a very impressive RO/RO Thanks go to Dale for sticking with it shelter for it which should protect it from because as everyone knows that the worst of the elements. without a reliable electrical system 655 We have still not managed to replace our is a very dead duck. Houchin GPU which is a bit disappointing In the last few months before he died, but Steve Moore has sold us another old John Foreman had given himself the unit which we can use for spares at a very task of overhauling and refurbishing a good price and delivered it FOC. In an number of PFCU’s which we hold as effort to prolong the life of our GPU, spares. These had been recovered from Andrew Cardus has spent many hours scrapped airframes and were in poor manufacturing a very impressive RO/RO condition and their working state was shelter for it which should protect it from unknown. He carried out a complete the worst of the elements. strip down and rebuild of each unit but Many thanks again to all the people who came up against the problem of how to work so hard both on the aircraft and test them. It is a simple fact that an behind the scenes, and of course to all untested spare is precisely useless the MaPS members who support us in especially with a unit which takes many what we do. hours to fit into the aircraft to try it out. 655 NEWS 3 2005 XM655 TAXI RUN – SUNDAY 19th JUNE JOHN FOREMAN In February we were saddened to learn that John had finally lost his two year battle with cancer. He had joined us just four years ago but his ability and his ready humour quickly earned him the respect of everyone who came into contact with him. His determination not to give in to his illness was an inspiration to everyone at Wellesbourne. We can only offer our sincere sympathy to Elizabeth and to all the members of his family, many of whom were staunch supporters of MaPS. We have lost a workmate and a friend. MaPS WORKER GOES IT ALONE Just a few days before Christmas, James Partridge flew his first solo in a Cessna of the South Warwickshire Flying School where he is taking lessons to gain his PPL. It just so happens that this was only two days after his sixteenth birthday. Watched by proud parents Gail and Dave and even prouder grandparents John and Elizabeth, James took off for a faultless circuit and landing. Needless to say all work on 655 had come to a standstill. Congratulations James and best wishes for the PPL!!! We must remember not to leave the keys in 655 in future. RUN DAY 2005 The 655 Maintenance and Preservation Society proudly presents "Wellesbourne Wings and Wheels 2005" which will take place on Sunday 19th June 2005. Gates open at 10am. Entrance is just £5 for adults and children under the age of 14 are admitted free.