Stirling Project Update

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Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Hi all

now that it's a bit warmer, a trip to the garage isn't quite so daunting.

Today, I finished off the flying control rods that run between Frames 6 and 9 (under the Navigators' Desk), the 2 larger ones are 5/16 BSF and are Aileron, with the remaining 1/4 BSF ones Rudder and Elevator. Couldn't quite finish off 2 of them as we've run out of 1/4 BSF LH Fork Ends 😢. Hope to get some more soon.

Having a hankering to take something apart rather than fabricating from scratch, I've been working on the front Gun Turret Recuperator, this is incomplete, missing the top part and has been in a crash and is suffering from some corrosion. It's been lying around my garage for a while and so seemed a good candidate for some TLC. It actually came apart quite easily, both springs are serviceable as are the rubber piston seals. I've broken it down further and have cleaned up the cast mounting bracket; this was in pretty good condition considering and with some attention from a Dremel, some Primer and black paint looks as good as new😁

That's all for the time being, as usual take care and look forward to getting back to the workshop proper

John

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Member for

4 years 5 months

Posts: 716

Thank you John , looking good

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Hi all

a very small update today,  we've just received 2 off stops for the aileron flying control run, these are located on the aft side of the vertical bulkhead at frame 9 (rear cockpit bulkhead). These were made by Alan McDardle who previously worked at Shorts in Belfast and has now retired. There should be another 4 coming of a slightly different design that are used on the rudder and elevator controls at the same location.

 

take care

John

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Member for

20 years

Posts: 3,031

Incredible how many small parts it takes to make up just the section you are doing at the moment.
Top work as ever.

Member for

4 years 5 months

Posts: 716

The work that must of gone into those two buggers John is I think not appreciated by most, I for one appreciate it and appreciate the dedication you are putting into the Stirling for us mere mortals to ogle at.

Top notch one more

TA out

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Thanks TA

getting there piece by laborious piece

John

Member for

3 years 8 months

Posts: 381

12 Jag. Is the project based near Xyz. I’ve a box of rivets, gripper pins and various bits and pieces of AGS that I want to off-load. Drop and go rather than click and collect.

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Hi Oracal

that's very kind of you 😊

One of our members (Cliff), lives just to the West Of Norwich (we're at Alconbury in Cambs). You're obviously welcome to visit us once things open up a bit.

I looked at sending you a PM with his details however this doesn't seem to be working at the moment😣

Thanks again

John

Member for

4 years 5 months

Posts: 155

Brill stuff please keep the updates coming!

TT

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

thanks TT,seems like a lifetime ago when you visited us at Wyton

Member for

4 years 5 months

Posts: 155

John, scarily I think it is! Must be close to 20 years ago! 👍 keep up the good work ATB Ben 

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Good morning all and Happy Easter

Yesterday was the first opportunity that a few of us have had to get together at the workshop; we're limiting numbers to 3 people so that we can remain socially distanced, but even so a lot of the side projects that we have been working on have started to come to fruition.

The Elevator control pushrod from the pilots Control column is now complete and fully installed minus the split pinning as this will have to come apart again when we come to install it. You may recall that the forward end of this is an original part recovered from the 2nd MacRoberts Reply Stirling so a significant piece of history incorporated into the build.

The elevator tie rods (main controls and autopilot) from Fr5 to 6 that I made at home have also been installed, this now makes the underside of the flight deck look a lot busier.

Now that they're finished, I was able to get back to working on finishing up the Glycol Tank; the restraining straps have now been made and secured with cork strip cushioning. These were based on an original strap used to restrain the pneumatic air tanks and from what can be seen from original photos, look to be pretty close to the original design. If we find some original ones that are complete or can be used as accurate patterns we may replace these in the longer term.

Cliff has been working on the diaphragms for the larger of the 2 fold up steps between the pilots seats, these are now almost complete but the lightening hole tool needed for the bottom skin needs a slight modification before we can complete that one. One piece of information we found out yesterday is that our stringer sections which we have previously had manufactured are an exact match for the internal spacers for the step, so they've now been cut to size and we just need to make the 'C' sections that provide the edges

Finally, David Collins has been working like a Trojan behind the scenes finalising the design for the Bomb Bay Frames. Essentially, in the area that were're reconstructing (Frames 6 to 14) there are 4 different types of frame, not including the Port, Stbd and Centre bays that all differ slightly. We have pretty much frozen the design now and are just awaiting one piece of confirming information before we start cutting metal. Some very positive news though is that the design for the MDF formers to construct the frames is now Frozen and we have started requesting quotes for these to be CNC Milled ready for the metal blanks which will eventually be laser cut. An image of one of the proposed formers is seen below.

Pheeew! A longer update today but the guys have been doing a lot away from the main base and a lot of side projects are coming together.

Member for

11 years 3 months

Posts: 1,300

Fantastic work. It's amazing how much you've managed to achieve given the constraints of the past year. Well done!

Member for

4 years 5 months

Posts: 716

HUGE update, well done you lot 

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 7,025

Brilliant once again Thank you :)  

Member for

9 years 4 months

Posts: 30

Happy Easter to you too John.

Look forward to visiting you and your project sometime soon.

The workmanship is outstanding. Well done.

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Thanks all for your kind words.

I think we've surprised ourselves how we've managed to keep things ticking over; to some extent I suppose it's helped keep us sane through the bad times.

we look forward to having visitors again, and hopefully this won't be too far away

take care

John

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Mad rush of blood to the head...2 updates in a week (and hopefully another next weekend).

As I'm off this week, Graham and I took in another jaunt to the workshop. Graham is busy working on the A1134 Amplifier panel for the W/Op and I finally fitted some grease caps for the Pilots seat hinges. These latter items were found on EBay and whilst not 100% correct they seem to fit the bill.

I also belatedly took some WIP photos of the Fold up step between the Pilots' seats that Cliff has been working on. This just needs some U channel fabricating for the edges and the flanging tool modifying.

Still working on the turret recuperator which is proving to be a stubborn wotsit to take apart; judicious penetrating oil and application of heat is gradually winning through.

Finally, on the Stirling front, I've removed the mounting bracket for the Steering Director which mounts in the Bomb Aimers compartment. This is a genuine crash relic having been recovered some time ago from LK488 (IIRC). I'll bead blast it next time to remove corrosion and then I'll need to find someone to heat treat it before straightening and then hopefully weld up one of the broken legs.

I also found some time to have a tinker with my Chipmunk WP927 which I've barely touched in a couple of years. I bought some metal for one of the belly skins which I've had to remove due to mechanical damage and corrosion. No pics of this yet and not sure if I want to contaminate a Shorts thread with some DH goodness LOL

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Member for

3 years 8 months

Posts: 381

Workmanship continues to impress, and no 14 swg paint anywhere! 

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 1,951

Evening all

A lot of effort today for seemingly not much reward. On the plus side, Graham has nearly completed the W/Op panel ready for the A1134 Amplifier; just need to confirm the layout of the mounting brackets.

The rest of the time was spent stripping the Recuperator down along with the Turn Director mounting bracket. The former finally yielded the last of it's pipe connectors with the application of heat and as Vyvyan from the Young Ones aptly put it " a subtle blend of psychology and extreme violence!" After much faffing with the shot blaster, we've gradually started to remove the remains of concreted mud/sea life. This still needs a lot more though and I've decided not to strip this any further as I'm afraid that this will ruin the casting of the pipe connectors. There is absolutely no corrosion on this component at all which is somewhat of a marvel.

The Turn Director bracket needs a bit more stripping, but I've made contact with a local company who will heat treat this so that we can straighten it out, it will then need the cracked leg welding up further down the line.

Friend of the Project, John Scott is thinning down some extrusion which runs transversely under the pilots seats; the Port one mounts the Aileron autopilot servo and the aileron pulley bracket made earlier this year. The Stbd one is slightly simpler and is the support structure for the pneumatic tanks.

take care all

John

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