A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Discussions regarding historic aircraft, restoration and preservation etc
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K5054NZ
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by K5054NZ »

Blue_2 wrote:That's the plan.
Could have spared us seeing that photo again!!

Well I found it quite exciting to see you in the mag! And belated congrats!
Zac in NZ
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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

I prefer being behind the camera! Or better still, behind some tools fettling reluctant Meteor bits!

...but in the not too distant future, look out for a certain Meteor NF project gracing the pages of a certain aviation magazine once more...! :wink:
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
Shack WR963, Coventry
Other types meddled with by request!

Malcolm McKay
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Malcolm McKay »

Well I'd say, given all the excellent work you and the team have done so far, you deserve a little bit of fame.

DH82EH
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by DH82EH »

Happy to have found out this thread lives on!
I have not been spending much time looking at the former forum.
I'll be watching this spot regularly for sure.

A small suggestion. When it comes to award acceptance, that job should probably fall to Eloise!
It'll make for much better press. :biggrin:

Best to all.

Andy

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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

She doesn't need her ego making any bigger!!
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
Shack WR963, Coventry
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PeterVerney
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by PeterVerney »

So glad to have found this site, the Key setup was a total disaster. This looks to be the way a forum should be.

Now congrats on the progress you are painstakingly making, keep up the good work and hopefully reach taxy status. Are there not wheels with motors in to make that possible? Two operational Derwents and many gallons of fuel are not a sensible proposition

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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

Glad you found us Mr. Verney! Hope you are keeping well.

Rolls Royce's finest singing their song is the only way! :biggrin:
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
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Other types meddled with by request!

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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

So... in order to try and throw the cold that has been plaguing me for a couple of weeks now and making breathing an interesting proposition to say the least, I'm having a weekend off away from the cold hangar this weekend. This doesn't mean there is nothing 788-related happening though, oh no! First thing, our FB followers may have noticed that I noticed we are missing an aerial, specifically the IFF aerial mounted under the nose. It's seen here near the cursor in the pic
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Notice also the crest on the nose. I originally assumed this to be the crest of 1ANS, but closer inspection suggests it is actually that of RAF Stradishall. The aerial can be seen on this 1963 pic of 788 too, just forward of the ventral tank
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My guess is it was chopped off when the aircraft was dismantled at Kemble to be roaded to Patrington in 1966/67 as none of the shots of 788 on the gate at Leeming show it to be present. I need to remove the thick layer of paint underneath to ascertain whether or not the mount for it is still present. Anyway... while we do have options, I thought I'd ask the question; does anyone happen to have a correct IFF aerial lying around gathering dust?
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
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HAVAVSOC
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by HAVAVSOC »

Nice photos Blue
Don't forget that promised PM
Thanks J

WebPilot
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by WebPilot »

I concur that the crest on the nose is the Station crest rather than 1 ANS. Though magnifying the picture doesn't resolve the image well enough to see what is in the centre, the outer "rim" is well defined and you can see it does not have the two rectangular blocks at 3 and 9 o'clock where the unit no would be

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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

HAVAC, yes, I keep forgetting to ask for the answer to your question. I'm in tomorrow so will try to remember.

WebPilot, I concur. Good point on the missing blocks at 12 and 9, so we'll go with the Stradishall station badge. But all that is a long way off yet!
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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

19/01/20 Update
After last weekend's absence, have a bumper issue of "things wot we did with the Meteor"... Scott and I were in yesterday, on a nice dry but cool day. It was warmer outdoors than it was in the hangar! First order of business was showing ex-Meteor engine man (F.4's through to NF.14's) Mike Wood round 788. He recalled the engine door fasteners being "fun" in service, so no wonder we struggled getting them off after 50 years of nil maintenance! As is traditional with ex-Meteor folk we asked him to sign the starboard JB hatch
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He didn't list all his Meteor squadrons, but mentioned 8Sqn as he got a jolly in their T.7 in Aden!
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Then it was to business. I set Scott on rubbing the last of the corrosion out of the canopy frame side rails
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While I went exploring to find the missing IFF aerial mount under the nose.
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How had I not previously noticed this??!!
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It does mean this hatch in the nose needs to come off so we can mount it; the bolts all cracked off happily though
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I found our old Rebecca aerial blade; with a cutting down and a little reshaping this'll do nicely as an IFF aerial once we make a mount for it. I then got on with removing the cut ends of the rudder cables as we have been very kindly offered a surplus set from a Meteor cockpit project!
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As you may remember the rear cables are now in; here are their tails in the radio bay
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It's the section from the rudder pedal spools to this turnbuckle we were missing, some 15 ft of cable I estimate. The pulleys where they run into the rear fuse have been removed in the most violent way...
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This was done at Elvington (as I have photographic evidence of the pulleys and starter panel being on the jet when she left Leeming), probably in the first 10 years there and by the same individual who liberated the original starter panel. Needless to say if I ever see him...... Anyway back to the front and the cables gave with little struggle, apart from the starboard ones snagged on a pulley
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...but I won!
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One was missing from the port side, and the remaining one had somehow become reversed and snagged on the spool. It still yielded... So that is the old cables cleared! Meanwhile Scott plugged away with the canopy grot
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I retired to the rear fuselage to make a start removing the knackered pulley brackets to use as patterns to manufacture some new ones. Access is abysmal. Closer up they look no better. Butchery isn't too strong a word for this...
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As in theory it's easier as there is no loom running through it, I started on the starboard one
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Getting a spanner in behind those bolts in a very confined space is not easy. I shed skin and gained bruises! After a lot of swearing I got 2 of the 3 pieces off...
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Look at the state of the poor things!
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While I was in there I found some pipes which had annoyingly been cut 3 inches from a joint!
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I wonder if this 40 M.U graffiti next to the cut points at the culprit...?
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That was it for the day. Scott sent me some progress pics he had taken while I was in the fuselage of his work on the canopy
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Which we removed from the vice and put back with its colleagues, looking much happier
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He also sent me a pic he had taken while I was battling in the rear fuselage with the pulley brackets...
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He certainly photographed my best side!!
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
Shack WR963, Coventry
Other types meddled with by request!

Malcolm McKay
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Malcolm McKay »

Thanks Blu_2. Those random acts of vandalism are a bastard. Makes one wonder why they would do it. Still good to see you pressing on.

ZRX61
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by ZRX61 »

At least the lines that were cut 3in from the join will be easy to fabricate & replace. You already have the fittings for the ends :)

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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

Malcolm, it's bloody annoying! We'll put her right though.

The piping is easy to fix... but why chop it there?!!!
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wallace
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by wallace »

Because they didn't have the right size spanner?

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Seahornet
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Seahornet »

wallace wrote:Because they didn't have the right size spanner?


...or the right size brain...? :wink:
And as the smart ship grew,
In stature, grace and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the iceberg too....

Viscount
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Viscount »

Hopefully the Admin here will indulge me in thread drift and contact with some of the many long-term viewers of this thread who have 'drifted' across from another forum. An interesting preservation post, albeit in the wrong section: https://www.key.aero/forum/modern-milit ... nt-2002660

HAVAVSOC
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by HAVAVSOC »

Stradishall Station Crest
We also concur, it's ours!

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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

Surely it would have been as quick to undo the pipes as hacksaw (the ends indicate hacksaw not snipped) them? I give up...

Well the Stradishall station crest will be going back on the nose once more!
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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

About time I got my finger out... so...
26/01/2020 Update
I was again at the jet by myself yesterday; it's sometimes the best way. My first mission was to venture into the bowels of the jet to continue the rudder pulley bracket removal. This time I was sensible, and took my 'prayer mat'!
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As you can see access isn't great...
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But the rest of the starboard bracket soon gave.
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And was reunited with its colleagues on the bench
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I then moved on to the port one, which carries a great bundle of wiring
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Fortunately the wiring clamps undid nicely...
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I don't know if my left handedness helped but this side undid far easier, and was soon stripped out
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So it was time for me to make The Great Escape...
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Leaving 2 neat sets of mauled metal on the bench
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After lunch I had a bright idea. Why not check out 168, our F.8, and see if her pulley brackets would be useful for templates? Great theory, not so good in practice, as I found this...
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Disappointing to say the least. I did retrieve this cut off piece to use as part of the template making process though
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After beating the starboard set straight I clamped it in position ready for making templates
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Which was soon done ready for next week.
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While this was happening I selected 4 NOS pulleys out of the batch we were donated a few months ago...
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And after a degreaser bath and service they were good to go
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After the close confines of the fuselage, I yearned for the wide open spaces of the bench, so I decided to find our old spare Rebecca aerial blade and try it for size as a replacement for the missing IFF aerial under the nose. Looks about right...
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So I set on and made a mounting baseplate and bracketry...
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And I reckon that'll do nicely
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More next week; We will be assisting with Buccaneer XV168's wing fold attempt, but should still have plenty of time for 788's new metalwork...
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
Shack WR963, Coventry
Other types meddled with by request!

Malcolm McKay
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Malcolm McKay »

Thanks Blu_2, excellent start to the week. I was going to ask about how you were going to fabricate the brackets but you beat me to it.

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K5054NZ
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by K5054NZ »

Fascinating stuff Graham. It all adds up in the end!
Zac in NZ
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Blue_2
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

I did consider taking the brackets off 168, straightening them, and using them as templates. But this seemed a bit of a ballache, so we'll stick with using the bits as a basis for shiny new ones...
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
Shack WR963, Coventry
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TEXANTOMCAT
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by TEXANTOMCAT »

Great update keep up the good work mate!

TT

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