A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

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

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We've had a few days away doing that culture thing, and getting away from YAM has been no bad thing. Comes a time you have to get back in the hangar though,as these old jets need our help! Yesterday it was our neighbour the Vampire's turn...

04/08/2022 Update
If you've visited YAM recently you may have noticed a few of the hangar aircraft have been rigged up to run their nav lights, or even cockpit lighting? I like to think I started that particular ball rolling with the Dragonfly's instrument panels... any way our neighbour the Vampire is currently getting the treatment, but a pair of wingtip lights and a white tail light aren't the most exciting. Adding the landing light ups the game though! Except... the landing light was missing. J type lamps aren't exactly commonplace on the cheap, but I did get this poorly Grimes item on the cheap to modify to suit...
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It's own bulb was blown, so I decided to see how good a fit one of our own NOS sealed beam units was. Turned out with some mods to the old reflector, and after making up some small fiddly brackets, it was spot on!
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Well, spot on enough for what we are doing with the jet. Mounting it in the jet was the next problem. Fortunately our F.8 has the same lamp, or lack of, and had a pre-cut blanking plate shoved in the wing. Perfect for making into an adaptor plate, so I got it marked up to suit the Grimes lamp and the hole in the wing
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A LOT of chain drilling (so glad we have our little pillar drill!) and filing later... it fits!
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As you can see, I haven't bothered refitting the retract motor.
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Next job, clearing enough screw holes in the wing to hang the lamp! This done, on it went
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Then... I couldn't not give it 24v to play with, could I?!
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I wonder how long its been since the underside of this wing was lit with a landing lamp...?
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At some point the chaps working on the light fit for the Vampire just have to run their own power feed to this and that's job done, she'll light up every day for our visitors
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I should point out working out, making and fitting all this took waaaay longer than the brevity of this post suggests. This saw me the full day, through till 4pm. Leaving me just enough time to finish painting 788's starboard engine outer clearance panel
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Visiting its home, looking much nicer than when it left
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You can see from this angle, looking down at the engine mount, why the clearance panel is needed!
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After putting the trolley acc back together after giving it a charge, it was time to pack away
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More next time folks.
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by K5054NZ »

Blue_2 wrote:
Thu 04 Aug 2022, 6:31 am
More next time folks.
As always: thank you for your work to chronicle and share your progress, and I eagerly await the next update!
Zac in NZ
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

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Really, really quick little update from last weekend. We were away at the excellent East Kirkby airshow on Saturday, where we saw a couple of 788's predecessors in the NF role, one of which was 788's predecessor in the YAM hangar, strutting their stuff
Mosquito HJ711
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And the now NF schemed BBMF Hurricane.
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The Spit they sent was P7350. We had taken our tame RNZAF Avionics man Monty with us, showing him a bit more of the UK before he departs back home next month, and he was very happy to see it displaying in the colurs of his fellow Kiwi Al Deere
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Sunday I was at YAM. I firstly had a look at what the Thursday guys had been up to on our intakes, getting the rotten steel bands off them. Not pretty...
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Fortunately one of our usual 'white knights', St. Bruce of Norwich, has come to the rescue with a very kind offer...
I had to go do a few jobs on 168 for our next open cockpit day, and fit the towbar to send a friend of ours photos of how the rig works
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This works great for the F.8, but is awkward for the NF as we have to take the nosewheel door off with the door being longer. So if anyone has a genuine Meteor towbar.....
I then got on with starting the fight to get this tyre off its rim, to help another museum with a Meteor in distress
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In between I got a "can you just" from Gary; seems our kids play area aircraft has taken a clobbering and needs a visit to the M.U!
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Kane then came in, as it was a nice day I set him on painting the towbar while I continued the war on that nosewheel. It's been a mix of rust and red oxide since forever, so I decided it needed a tidy. He did a top job!
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I spent hours on the tyre. It's fighting me, but I'm winning. I think...! But for a change I went to start making up a landing lamp blank for the F.8. I'm not fitting a full lamp, just a cut plate with a duff lamp fitted in it to look a bit more like there's a J-type lamp fitted rather than an 'ole! More chain drilling fun...
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You can see how the theory of it is going to work!
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Not a J-type, but it's got to improve the look of the jet.
Finally, a couple of NF pictures I bought at East Kirkby I thought you might like to see...
776, here on the gate at North Luffenham, now preserved at Bournemouth
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And 797, visiting Binbrook in 1965
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She would return to Binbrook to end her days on the fire dump in 1969, ironically. This last picture is a mystery I thought I'd see if the forum Brains Trust can shed any light on. It's clearly a withdrawn F.8, and the former mount of a Group Captain with the initials R.I.K.E.
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I'd love to know more about it. Any ideas guys?

Busy weekend for us... if all goes well next update should be way more interesting and way more busy!
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Fargo Boyle »

According to Flypast October 2018 issue, R.I.K.E. is/was an F.8 WL176 belonging to Group Capt R I K Edwards, Station Cdr RAF Tangmere in 1954

Page 9 of this PDF
https://www.jets-are-for-kids.ch/pdf/gl ... 0-2018.pdf

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

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That was quick! Huge thanks for that!
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ExVulcanGC
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by ExVulcanGC »

Just to add some additional info from ukserials website:

Meteor F8-WL176 Delivery Date 25/02/1954, to No. 33 MU Lyneham 01/09/1954, declared non-effective 15/01/1959 and sold as scrap on 24/04/1959 to HH Bushell & CO, Birmingham.

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

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Not exactly a long and glittering career...
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by TonyC »

That's a nice shot of the Mosquito, was it a taxi day for Mossie and 'Just Jane'?

Just realised, it must be close on 20 years since I last went to EK, where has the time gone? :open_mouth:
...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in Space cos there's bugger all down here on Earth!

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

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It was the airshow Tony. Both the Lanc and Mossie were out to play 3 times on the day. I had a bit of a catch up with Tony Agar too, which was good.
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

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Any news if YAM is about to receive a new V-bomber to remove your attention away from the Meteor even more?
A weather forecast is a forecast and just that

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

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Yes there is news... no we're not.
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

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So, hot on the heels of the "Beverley to YAM" rumourmongery, we now have "XH558 to YAM" rumours to cope with. The office issued a statement on this matter as follows;

"VULCAN XH558 - JUST TO CLARIFY
Although normal service here will not be resumed until tomorrow, we thought it important to clarify something, in response to a post by the Vulcan To the Sky team at Doncaster Airport. They have suggested the aircraft may be on the move to a new home, within a certain radius of its current base. YAM would like to make it clear that this does NOT mean it is coming here. It's a question we get asked a lot, and we see discussions online, (that seldom involve us) and even petitions, that suggest it's heading to YAM. It is not. For a whole range of reasons that are too complex for a simple social media post (including the fact that we are a separate entity entirely to the airfield next door), we will play no part in the future of this aircraft. That does not mean we are not passionate about aircraft preservation, far from it, but this is the reality.
"

Needless to say, my phone has been running hot today with messages to both my private and the WS788 page, and I know the pages of some other YAM teams have been similarly approached repeatedly, and at least we have a statement from the YAM office clarifying matters. In some ways it'd be nice to have the most iconic of V-bombers on site, but sorry she's not for us.

Back to Meteor business. We were back in this weekend, and as they go it was quite a good 'un. Not just for the 2 visits by the BBMF Lancaser either! Read on...

15/08/2022 Update
Saturday was a bit of a milestone for 788, and needed a few of us in. I was in early, as was Monty, Laurence, and our new lad Tom. Scott came in as soon as family matters allowed too, giving us a good number of bodies. We'd need them too, as we had a lot to do before the afternoon.
On retirement in 1966, 788's engines were removed. That's 56 years without engines. On Saturday, that all changed. We need to go and collect her second engine, for which the stand the engine we already have was occupying will be needed. Talking with Gary our Heritage manager, he was saying we'd need to make a stand to put the engine on. This seemed like a waste of time and money to me, when we have a jet with 2 full sets of engine mounts fitted which we could use as an engine stand! So, our plan was to drop the engine in the starboard nacelle of 788, collect the second engine on the stand, service it, then fit it in the port nacelle once that is ready, then the starboard engine can come back out onto the stand, it and the nacelle can be finished off, then it can go back in and stay in.
The only slot we could book our tame teleporter driver Rob (usually found running the YAM fire service) for was Saturday after lunch, so we had a lot to do. Open hangar doors, cordon off a working area outside, clear all the stuff stored in front of the nacelle, haul the engine round, get it ready to lift out of the stand, check the aircraft tyre pressures then add a bit extra to the starboard main, and double double check everything was good to go.
788 blinking in the sunlight...
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As you can see, most of the jobs were done by this time, and the engine was in front of what will be its new home. Engine meets nacelle...
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The nacelle got a good clean and sweep out. After being this empty for nearly 6 decades, things were about to change...
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You can tell serious business was afoot; Monty declared it a 2 hat day!
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We got done in time for lunch, after which Rob joined us and brought the teleporter across.
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Then, the serious business began. We lifted the engine clear of the trolley, then swapped the engine mounts over as it had previously been a port engine. The mounts are handed, but it's simply a case of swapping them over on their mounting spigots. then Tom pulled the stand away from under the engine, and the serious task of lifting the Derwent over the intake ring then lowering it onto its mounts began. There really isn't a lot of clearance at various points in this operation, and the learning curve can best be described as "steep", but thanks to a well drilled team and Rob's steady control of the teleporter it took far less time than we envisaged. I was a bit busy for photography as I'm sure you can imagine, but here it is nearly in position, Scott and Monty adjusting the angle of dangle...
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As an aside, we took a guess at setting the centre of gravity on the lifting beam... and were just about spot on! Then... it was in!
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For the first time since 1966, 788's starboard nacelle looks like this
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And our engine stand is vacant, ready for another occupant!
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We certainly earned our ice creams, doing this job in blazing sunshine and 30-odd degree heat
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Huge thanks to Rob for giving up his Saturday afternoon to help us, a top bit of inter-team cooperation. Also on Saturday afternoon, RAF Elvington reverberated to the sound of 4 Merlins once more as the BBMF Lancaster paid us a visit

I finally found a use for a Tornado (spit, spit...!), a Lancaster viewing platform! After such a busy morning and early afternoon, it was only getting hotter so we took our time tidying away and putting our corner right. Plus admiring our handiwork of course!
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As Gary said, it's been a lot of years since something the magnitude of an engine fit has been carried out by a YAM team... We retired for beers, BBQ courtesy of Scott, some more beers, and we may even have raised a toast to 788 with a glass or 2 of port!

Sunday we were back in. It was if anything hotter than Saturday, but we got on with a few jobs. In the morning, we had a visitor, a former YAM engineer and before that a RAF engineer, Chief Tech Mal Adams. Mal has history with WS788, as he was very heavily involved the last time she was dragged from the grave, at Leeming in the late 80's. When I say dragged from the grave I mean literally, as he dragged her off the RAF Leeming fire dump! He was then part of the team who refurbished the aircraft, then moved her down to YAM in 1991. His name is on the plaque proudly displayed in 788's cockpit recording the Leeming Meteor team
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If Mal and the gang hadn't done what they did then, we wouldn't have 788 to rehabilitate now.
Mal isn't in the greatest of health, and has reluctantly hung up his coveralls. Rather than letting the tools he has gathered over many years sit idle and go to rust, he wanted them to go to a good home where they would be looked after and used, so he very kindly brought them to give to us on the present Meteor team. Along with a crewman for 788...
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This is Flying Officer T.Bear. A prized possession of Mal's for many years, he has passed him on to us and vouches for his nav skills.
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He even brought the right rations! And has now 'crewed in'
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Also Mal brought 2 boxes jam full of very useful tools, a number of which will I suspect have met 788 before in the late 80's/early 90's
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They will of course be made use of and looked after. Thanks Mal. In fact the files I have used already, while working on the dummy landing light for 168 which I got on with on Sunday afternoon, and forgot to photograph. I did photograph putting the clearance panels back on the jet for safe keeping though...
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You can see why they are needed! I also put the cowling hoop back on
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You'd never know the engine had been away... And before we went away home, late in the day the Lancaster came back. This time I decided to use the Nimrod crew access steps as a vantage point...

We really have been spoilt this weekend.

4 Rolls Royce piston engines; a sample of what's coming to YAM soon! Huge thanks to all my team for their graft in what have been very hot and unpleasant conditions this weekend, to Rob Donley for coming in on his day off to operate the teleporter, and to Mal Adams for passing his tool stash over to us.

More next time folks...
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by TonyC »

Blue_2 wrote:
Mon 15 Aug 2022, 7:57 pm
So, hot on the heels of the "Beverley to YAM" rumourmongery, we now have "XH558 to YAM" rumours to cope with.
A shame though a totally understandably response!

I don't see a rosy future for '558 particularly with the current management, as I assume that they will want to maintain total control of her, which may not sit easily with any potential site for '558!

I'm not bashing the current owners, I always felt that they would succeed in getting her airworthy, but I do believe that they now need to realise that they have gone as far as they can and now need to pass on the custodianship, to another organisation so her future can be secured, whether that be as 'just another dead Vulcan', as some say or as a live airframe and taxied!

I do understand but disagree with, those that say she is just another Vulcan but, '558 has kept the name alive, for far longer than would normally be the case and whilst she may not have had a glittering service career, her story shouldn't end up under the axe!

Sorry, just my thoughts...
Blue_2 wrote:
Mon 15 Aug 2022, 7:57 pm
Sunday we were back in. It was if anything hotter than Saturday...
Fair play to you all, I can imagine that you were all sweating from places that shouldn't be allowed to sweat :nauseated_face: :smile: but great work on refitting the engine, you can all have a Jaffa Cake :grinning:
Blue_2 wrote:
Mon 15 Aug 2022, 7:57 pm
4 Rolls Royce piston engines...
Ahhh, more my kind of engine and a sound I will never, ever get fed up of hearing, particularly if I am standing right next to a Lancaster, as I did with Just Jane, the last time I went all those years ago! :smiley:
...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in Space cos there's bugger all down here on Earth!

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

Post by Blue_2 »

There's a lot of factors influencing where 558 goes but, aside from stating she's not coming to us, that is I'm afraid not our problem. I hope she finds a safe and secure home though, and if she moves by road it'll be a task well worth following.

Back to 788 matters, yes we certainly earned our jaffa cakes that day! Respect to the guys who maintained these jets day in day out in, say, Egypt for example. I suspect the 30+ degrees we had on Saturday is small potatoes by comparison...

As to PA474's visits; of course when we get 63 moved in and sorted, there's another 10l per engine and a good few more HP to go at. She sings quite a song...
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

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Well after the overwhelming reaction on here to the news that 788 had grown an engine ( :rolling_eyes: ....) This week's tale of rearranging the Naughty Corner ready for some more parts arriving and to make our corner of the hangar a lot better working area is bound to blow your socks off...
I was in the other day, and managed to get the dummy landing light for WL168 finished and fitted
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Much better than a hole in the wing!
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I'll chuck some paint at it next time I feel so inclined. I also started digging through the electrical components out of the undercarriage bays as these are goosed, and new ones are in the offing so I needed to make a shopping list. To make a list though, I needed part numbers. Which are really obvious on rusty, paint encrusted components!
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A bit of careful rubbing back started to yield results though
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BINGO!
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So, I reckon 2 of these can go on "ze list", as 788's look a tad careworn
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In the bays themselves, lurk 2 of these corrosion monsters
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Turns out they are 'Switch Magnetic Relay Type "K3" ', 5C/2472. Best add them to the list too...
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(Sorry the pic is upside down. You get the idea though) We also will be wanting this natty junction box/suppressor combo...
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And there's a JB in one u/c bay which has been missing its lid for so long the innards received at least one coat (blathering) of Light Aircraft Grey, along with the rest of the bay interior, during the jet's time at Leeming!
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The box in the back of the JB intrigued me. I was amazed the screws undid and the lid came off...
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A quick bit of tlc to the box lid in daylight revealed it to be a contents gauge resistance unit, for the fuel gauging system. Another one of those won't go amiss, looking at the left hand 2 units which look to have been a little warm some time... Finally, I added some terminal blocks (5C/868 flavour) to the list.
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Back to Monday now, I was back in and decided enough was enough, our corner needed a sort out. Behind where our racking shelves were there was a load of dead space, occupied by a fibreglass JP nose and accompanying mould (don't ask...) which seemed a waste of the space to me. So, I turfed the fibreglass JP stuff out, then began the process of emptying and moving our shelves to give us a dedicated storage area and, once the workbench was moved to where the shelves had been, more working space. Easier said than done by myself in a limited space and the heat! Work in progress...
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But after much sweating and cursing, job done!
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A semi-ordered spares area!
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And actual space between jet and bench!
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Of course, security is paramount...
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We even have a library area set up, for when we wish to pretend we can actually read...
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Later I even rigged electricity for the pillar drill and our strip light, which I 'fitted' to throw light into the stores area
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Far too posh for the likes of us!
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Last job of the day was fitting our extra bench vice to the workbench
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No more fighting over the big vice! The tubby little B-17 approves of the new setup too...
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Today the Grand Tidy Up continued. I had a box of AGS given by Tony Agar when he departed to East Kirkby with his Mossie. Rather a large box.
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It's been a pain to dig through when looking for that elusive little screw, so I decided it was time to bite the bullet and sort it into our ex-RAF Linton on Ouse cabinet.
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Tedious? Yes. Boring? Yes. Fun? No. Not one bit. By lunchtime I was making headway though
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Finally, mid afternoon I prevailed! That bl**dy green tray was empty for the first time in living memory
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It's not a 100% sort, more an "ish" sort. If you're looking for a particular nut, bolt or screw you've only to use your eyes to gauge which compartment you need to be digging in, rather than going the full Time Team dig on that big green box
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A much tidier, and I hope user friendly, setup is the result
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With room to even stow Mal's toolboxes in the bottom! Finally, I popped into the rear fuselage bay on 788 as I was looking for (and found) a spanner I thought I had left in there. It was like an oven! So, to try and get some airflow through the jet, and also because the control runs are well due a greasing, I removed the fuselage panels
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It might help, we don't want to cook poor Monty when he's working in there next time!

More next time folks. If anyone is still reading after the tedium of this week's update that is!
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by TonyC »

Nice and tidy, I've got a garage and shed in need of a clean up, are you free? :rofl: :rofl:
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

Not.
A.
Chance.

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

Post by TEXANTOMCAT »

Proper job 👍👍

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

Post by Blue_2 »

Its been a busy few working days for sure!
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by hunterxf382 »

Fabulous update again Graham, and an admirable job on the 'housekeeping' tidying up all those nuts and bolts into some sort of order!
There's just something about this project that is genuinely riveting - whether you've slung an engine in; painted a panel; thrown grease at a stubborn fixing; whacked electricity through a reconnected long-forgotten wire; or reassembled a major component - it's all fascinating to read. And reading progress makes us all feel like we're a part of the journey! That's brilliant!
I'm sure you wouldn't have sourced some of the difficult-to-find spare parts if someone hadn't followed progress and thought ' I'm sure I've got one of them tucked away'....

Just one small thing concerns me....

Where's the official storage for the Jaffa supplies for gawds sake - have you overlooked this vital commodity in the rush to taxi 788 out of the hangar in the fullness of time?

Come on - focus....lol!
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

Fear not; in the reorganise of our corner the jaffa cakes have certainly not been overlooked! They have safe and secure storage...

As for searching out parts, we've had a day in the legendary sheds of St Bruce of Norwich, and let's just say it was a very fruitful trip and I'm glad we took a van!
Full report to follow this week sometime.
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Re: A-W Meteor NF.14 WS788 Restoration Project

Post by Blue_2 »

Here we are again, slightly late but it has been a busy few days as you'll see. Just back from work, dinner is bubbling away contentedly to itself on the hob, got a cheeky pint of Black Sheep, so I best get on with...

31/08/2022 Update
Before I do, a sneaky plug disguised as a thankyou. Max Blood is probably known to a number of you as a restorer, as well as a maker of perspex things. He did a brand new pair of windscreens for my Lincoln which I finally got round to fitting in the week, and they make such a difference
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Fitted perfect too, no alterations, adjustments or even swearing necessary! So, if you want anything in the way of aircraft glazing I would urge you to contact Max. Anyway, back to Meteor stuff...
It's been a busy Bank Holiday weekend (holiday? yeah right!). Friday afternoon I was at YAM, checking to see if there was anything I had missed off my shopping list for 788. While doing this, I found I had one of those magnetic relays in stock which I had clearly forgotten about
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Like the ones in 788's undercarriage bays, it looked like it had spent the last 4 decades in the sea, but I figured it'd be an interesting exercise to see just how salvageable these items are. First job, take it off it's mounting plate...
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This done (amazingly both screws undid, albeit grudgingly) it was time to see if it would come apart... to my surprise the answer was an only slightly begrudging "aye, ok then..."
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revealing the innards to be in surprisingly good order. The contactors looked like new...
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so the next job was to clean up the main terminals and test the relay. If it worked it was worth spending more time on, if not...no!

so far so good. Next, rub back, prime and paint the corroded shell
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Once this was done and dried, reassemble and retest, using the continuity "beeper" on my meter to check the terminals are making properly

refit the cover, last dust over of paint...
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Declare and label serviceable, put on stock shelf!
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I also spent some time with an ex-Meteor man who happened to be visiting, Sandy Crosthwaite, reaquainting him with an NF and listening to his reminiscences. As is tradition, I got him to sign the JB door
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Ironically he remembered taking part in air to air firing exercises at RAF Sylt, which means he probably shot at our F.8 as she spent part of her career there as a target tug!
On to Saturday. This was going to be a looong day, with Gary and I battling Bank Holiday traffic heading for Norfolk in the name of aircraft preservation. We had been invited down to Bruce Gordon's shed, the shed which has been providing parts for 1940's onwards aircraft restoration projects for many years now. Sadly Bruce has decided to wrap up his operation, and after offering to donate us a pair of intakes after 788's proved to be in a far worse state than previously envisaged, he invited us to come down and pick over his stock for anything else we would need. so, a slightly misty 0600 rendezvous at YAM...
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and we were off. A number of hours later we arrived at Bruce's shed. I had been warned the place is overwhelming... and it is. Absolutely stacked with stuff. Some of the smaller stuff, and some of the Meteor specific stuff, is easier to go through as it is racked.
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But the main stuff is just an amazing chaos
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A Canberra nose leg here, a Vulcan landing lamp there, some Argosy spinner backplates, couple of Vampires, brand new Meteor ailerons and T.7 rudders, more Direction Indicators and Artificial Horizons that I have ever seen in one place before... The place is just mad! We spent the whole day foraging and we only scratched the surface. There is so much treasure there. We certainly managed to fill the van, and left around tea time tired, filthy, suffering from cardboard box fatigue, but very very happy
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We arrives back at YAM at 2230, having made the wise decision to unload the van the next day. The day finished as it started, with a photo of our Qatari Hunter...
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Sunday arrived after all too short a sleep, and we cracked a hangar door open to get our ill gotten gains out of the van (when Gary eventually arrived!)
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Gary, Scott, Tom and I unloaded what we had brought home...
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Quite a haul! Not all of it is ours, some are Halifax and other items (including the NOS Elsan seat Bruce 'very kindly' gave me...) but you can see we have done very well. Loads of small bits, 2 more engine driven gearboxes, one still in its crate, which takes us from 1 to 3, and of course the intakes
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Donated by Bruce, they couldn't be any more NOS if they tried!
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The sharp eyed among you will have noticed something. They are what are known as "small breather" intakes, ie they have a smaller intake diameter than the later "big breathers" 788 and all the NF.14's have. This isn't a worry, as the F.8 wears a pair of big breathers. These are not incorrect for an F.8, many later ones came out of the factory with them and many earlier ones were retrofitted on the squadrons, but hers are actually an NF set. So, we'll have a game of "musical intakes" at some point, the new ones going on 168, and 168's going on 788.
With the van unloaded, Gary went home, leaving us to sort out the goodies. Tom set about washing decades of storage muck and grime off the intakes while Scott and I sorted the bags of stuff I had picked out of the barn. Most went on the shelves, but one little find I was particularly proud to make went straight from the packaging it has nestled in for the last 6 decades straight onto the jet
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A sunscreen glass for the gunsight. Fresh from the factory packaging! 168 was next to benefit, with some missing switchgear made good from Bruce's stock
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Incidentally, we have an Open Cockpit day this Saturday, if you fancy trying that view for yourself... We then took one of the gearboxes and hung it and a compressor on the jet for safe keeping.
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It also helps explain the jet's systems if you've something there to point at! First time since the 60's she's had this kit fitted
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If you think that gearbox looks minty fresh, you should see the other one still in its packing crate!
Tom did a great job of cleaning off the intakes. Here they are drying in the sun...
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A couple of minor repairs needed but overall they are in great condition. The woodwork of the rings is perfect!
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The rest of the day was spent sorting stock. While we were cataloguing and putting away, Tom was reassembling a kit of parts to make a Type 100 inverter, using our existing one as a pattern
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Done!
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I fitted another new part, one of the starboard nacelle clearance panels. Won't even need painting!
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Look, 2 gearboxes!
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We had a move around, and hauled the now clean intakes indoors
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Finally calling it a day with everything on the shelves or in the container. We did hook up one other little acquisition to 24 volts though...
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Front and rear fairings for a Meteor U.16 drone port wingtip camera pod! At least we know where we have a spare working light fitting and bulb now. I have a plan for these, to help tell another little known aspect of the Meteor story, their use as unmanned target drones. Watch this space... No, I'm not about to start coverting 168... or am I ?!
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Again huge thanks to Bruce for his generosity with the intakes and looking after us handsomely with the other items, Gary for driving, and Graham Vale from East Midlands Aeropark and Tony Hoskins (Spitfire fettler) for being top barn searching companions!

More next time folks...
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
Shack WR963, Coventry
Other types meddled with by request!

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TEXANTOMCAT
Posts: 357
Joined: Sat 09 Aug 2014, 5:40 pm

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

Post by TEXANTOMCAT »

Well done team and especially well done Bruce!

I too have been on a hunt this week at RAF Halton and some goodies stashed for 788 - just got to get them to the Peoples Republic of Yorkshire!

TT

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TonyC
Posts: 367
Joined: Sat 02 Nov 2019, 3:01 pm
Location: Lost, if you find me, please let me know...

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

Post by TonyC »

Generous of Bruce indeed, it must have been like all your Christmas's in one go!

Mind you, looking at the 'lay-out' of the shed, I'm not sure where you would have started, let alone keep focused on looking for Meteor parts! :grin:
...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in Space cos there's bugger all down here on Earth!

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Blue_2
Posts: 895
Joined: Thu 13 Jan 2011, 10:29 am

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

Post by Blue_2 »

Cheers TT, it's much appreciated!

Tony, I sort of wished I'd taken my works vehicle; imagine how much Meteor I could have brought back on an artic!! :rofl:
Meteor WS788/ Chippy WK640 Restoration Project, YAM
Shack WR963, Coventry
Other types meddled with by request!

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