Stirling Project Update

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Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 1,444

Nice to see yet another Stirling column back in the UK

Member for

17 years 6 months

Posts: 1,586

There's another one in the Netherlands. The story about it still hurts in the hearts of some people.:cool:

Cheers

Cees

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

There's another one in the Netherlands. The story about it still hurts in the hearts of some people.:cool:

Cheers

Cees

Hi Cees,

Would that be the one that the owner wants a lot of money for?

Junk Collector mentions that this is yet another Stirling Control Column back in the UK, I wasn't aware that there are any others can anyone elaborate?

John

Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 1,444

We intend to carefully dismantle it and use the parts as patterns to manufacture 2 new ones, it will then be re-assembled and displayed in its current form as it is a great exhibit in its own right.

John

Sorry to open a philosphical argument but surely wouldnt incorporating the original into the project give the project more originality and history than a reproduction. Obviously everyone has, and is entitled to their own opinion but that is my feeling.

Member for

17 years 6 months

Posts: 1,586

Hi Cees,

Would that be the one that the owner wants a lot of money for?

Junk Collector mentions that this is yet another Stirling Control Column back in the UK, I wasn't aware that there are any others can anyone elaborate?

John

Hi John, yes that's the same. Looks like the projected cockpit section is having it's fittings gathered. Good show.

Cheers

Ces

Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 1,444

I also know in the UK the precise location of an Original Stirling Instrument panel. The owner does not wish to part with it though.

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Sorry to open a philosphical argument but surely wouldnt incorporating the original into the project give the project more originality and history than a reproduction. Obviously everyone has, and is entitled to their own opinion but that is my feeling.

Hi,

I have had similar thoughts on this matter and where possible we intend to incorporate as much original equipment as possible into the reconstruction of the cockpit section. In this case however, the control column has been sectioned for instructional purposes and would be inappropriate to put into the cockpit. However, it is a godsend in that we can temporarily build up the missing sections of casting so that we can create new moulds. We have drawings of some of the items and some originals as well, so we will try to be as sympathetic as possible with the re-build.

John

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Hi Junk Collector,would this be the same same panel I put a picture of,on the forum this morning ?A clear outline tracing would suffice even if the owner did not want to part with it.

I think it's worth noting that Hindenburg and ourselves have the same aim and an accurate drawing/tracing of said instrument panel would benefit both of us:D

cheers

john

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Hi all,

As it has been a while since I've posted an update I thought I'd post a few picks of what we've been up to. Following on from the acquisition of the control column from Delft and the use of some parts that Pondskater has leant us, we've been able to commence reverse engineering 2 new control columns. They may not look much but there has been a lot of activity in making new patterns and drawing up of items. The 2 major castings are still fairly rough and need some machining to finish them off.

John

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Member for

17 years 11 months

Posts: 2,605

Simply amazing :D

Member for

17 years 6 months

Posts: 1,586

can't agree more, excellent work going on there. Will the project concentrate on the fittings
before starting on the cockpit structure? are those drawings already finalized?

Exciting times to see what progress has been made in recent years by the stirling project.

Cheers

Cees

Member for

19 years 3 months

Posts: 504

I second that! Well done chaps :)

DS

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

can't agree more, excellent work going on there. Will the project concentrate on the fittings
before starting on the cockpit structure? are those drawings already finalized?

Exciting times to see what progress has been made in recent years by the stirling project.

Cheers

Cees

Hi Cees

A fellow Forumite is making steady progress in producing a CAD model that is already confirming some of the hardcopy drawings that we have produced in the past, most dimensions coming out less than 1/32 of an inch apart which is pretty accurate/reasonable in my book. Once the model is developed we can then start on producing jigs and templates to allow frame manufacture to proceed.

We are making some of the fixtures and fittings as:-

a. we have original drawings and/or items
b. They are more readily transportable allowing us to display them in a cockpit context (see previous posts)

John

Member for

20 years

Posts: 3,031

Stunning work there guys.
It is a shame that such lovely work will be hidden away.
Best of luck with the rest of the project.

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Stunning work there guys.
It is a shame that such lovely work will be hidden away.
Best of luck with the rest of the project.

Well you know what they say, 'The devil is in the detail'

At least at the end of this we can sit in the seats and play hangar pilot:diablo:

Member for

17 years 5 months

Posts: 803

. . and the use of some parts that Pondskater has leant us . .

Delighted to help - and especially seeing the quality of the parts you are getting made. The bits on loan are from the floor of a Sunderland given to me years ago. It turned out have castings that were missing from the Delft column. Just shows, Stirling parts turn up in the strangest places. I didn't know I had some under my bed!

It is a shame that such lovely work will be hidden away.

It is but it is also marvellous to know that under the floor or behind the panels everything will be in place and right. Painstaking work but well worth it. Well done to all involved.

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Hi all

Just a quick note to explain why I haven't updated this thread for a while. Work is still progressing on the project aim of reconstructing the forward fuselage section, but unfortunately we've had to put our plans on hold for the time being as we've been temporarily evicted from our workshop due to the revelopment of RAF Wyton. We lost our previous workshop as it was required by the Station although we were able to operate from a couple of small rooms that still had light and power.

Unfortunately we were then evicted from them as well as the rest of the Hangar refurbishment was brought forward, this has necessitated everything moving on to the hangar floor and has stopped all major work as we have no power in the hangar and we can't even use a portable generator.

That said the MOD have been very supportive and we will be moving into new, fully refurbished accomodation within the same hangar that will actually be much better than our previous workshop. The only downside is the disruption to our progress just as we were getting up a head of steam and we have lost a certain amount of storage space which has meant exploring the loaning out some of our sizeable relics.

The FN5 Nose Gun Turret is now safely located in the warm and dry of the Wyton based Pathfinder Museum. Work is progressing on the fabrication of items such as the control column bottoms and various other small items so we're not idle.

With any luck we will be back working in earnest by the end of Feb/March.

cheers for now

John

Member for

17 years 6 months

Posts: 1,586

Thanks for the update John,

Well if this minor set back will result in better accomodation then it will have to be part of the process won't it? A good outlook for the future at least.

Good to hear that you have so much support at Wyton, totally the opposite happened to Russ Snadden and his cew whil restoring Black Six.

Keep it up

Cheers
Cees

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Hi Cees,

The MOD have been very supportive of our project over the years and have asked very little of us in return. We always support the Wyton Families day and have a very good relationship with the resident Pathfinder Museum. There are currently a lot of changes happening to the infrastructure at Wyton and it will cease to be the recognisable Bomber Station it once was. In fact I think that in time it may cease to be an RAF establishment as it is being given over to Defence Intelligence (a contradiction in terms if ever there was one!:diablo:) So we'll hace to see what the future holds in the long term when the new lords and masters take over.

In the meantime, we have continued support and the RAF has given exactly the accomodation that we'll need to take forward the Project.

Belatedly I must extend our public thanks to MarkG for helping us to get the large control column items cast. (shown above).

regards all

John

Member for

18 years 2 months

Posts: 7,742

Will you be displaying at Cockpitfest this year?

It’s always nice to see your Stirling items displayed on former site that operated the type. :)