It seems I have a free evening for once, so as the year is done as far as physical spannering on 788 is concerned I thought I might as well sit down with a brew and compile for your reading pleasure....
Meteor WS788 Project Review 2020
...such as it is. it started OK, had a half decent couple of months in the Summer.... and that was it. Anyway...
January
So the year started with the canopy stripped, and the frame beginning to recieve some tlc.
It also saw the beginning of putting right this mess, the rear fuselage rudder cable pulleys
The removal of these smashed brackets was a long, drawn-out affair due to the fact that access is rather on the poor side!
But I prevailed, and they would prove invaluable in making up templates for manufacturing new brackets for the jet. We also got a replacement for the missing IFF aerial under the nose made up
While the NF(T) didn't carry IFF, the aerial was still fitted. I suspect 788 lost hers after retirement at Kemble.
February
began very positively, with a visitor from South Wales, Jason Holloway bringing us the forward rudder cables removed as surplus from his Meteor T.7 cockpit project
Thanks to his generosity, this was another missing part of the 788 jigsaw 'in the bag', and a load more work set up for ourselves. I also dismantled the trim tab control box, as it was very scruffy and letting the cockpit down badly
After a restoration, repainting of the captions on the panel, and new transparencies made up for the trim indicators, it looked much nicer
Also one of our outsourced jobs started to come together, the rudder mounting frame. Ours was missing, so we borrowed one to copy off the nice chaps at East Midlands Aeropark (more on them later), and had this replica made...
We also began running the newly acquired rudder cables where no complete control cable had been since 1966...
And, in among all this, I made a start on reinstating the front cockpit electrical systems, starting with the lighting.
March
started brightly (literally) with a full set of lamps ready for refitting to 788's front office
and in fact we got some fitted and running directly from our test battery straight away!
As I had some back issues early in the month, I stuck to the lightweight job of trying to modify 2 spare instrument panel feed looms to become the next looms along the line. This would give us feeds to all the instruments, and all the lighting and their controls on the main panel, from their respective junction boxes.
A lot of chasing blue and yellow spaghetti with a meter ensued...
And then... Covid-19 happened, and that was that. Lockdown. No more Meteor-ing for a while. Fortunately I had just moved before lockdown, so I was kept busy with decorating etc. I kept my Meteor 'fix' though, by building an Airfix 1/48 model of our F.8 WL168(marked as WK864)
as well as getting my Meteor photo archive something like organised
April
...well what a month that wasn't! Apart from some bits on my Lincoln panel project no full size aircraft-ing happened. I did finish the F.8, and built a second 1/72 one as VZ568, the Sennybridge range Meteor we scavenged for parts a couple of years ago. Going up a scale back to 1/48, near the end of the month the Sword release of the NF.14 which I had consulted on plopped onto the doormat, which was a nice thankyou
With nothing better to do with my days, this was straight onto the build bench!
May
started as April finished, trying to keep occupied. Models helped massively, I finished the builds in 1/72 of 568 and 788
The Sword 1/48 NF didn't hang around on the bench for long either!
Towards the middle of the month, I was able to get my hands on some bits of 788 once more! The cockpit components of the Rebecca system and the tail light and fairing sent to me for restoration, and the radio racking out of the back of the jet was sent to Simon for similar TLC
June
saw another project arrive, as I was asked to tidy the museum's Dragonfly panels, and enable the instrument lights to be powered up. These panels had had issues with radioactivity, so the affected instruments had been removed and repalced with incredibly convincing 3d printed replicas supplied by Replitek.
So after digging out an old computer PSU to provide a reliable 12v power supply, and giving a set of 12v bulbs the red paint treatment, I set to work. The result being a kit of parts working off the battery switch, and running all cockpit lighting off the dimmer switches, even boasting an operational voltmeter!
A thoroughly enjoyable little challenge/project for the museum. I look forward to bringing life to more of the YAM exhibits in this way.
Also in June, the main panel out of 788 arrived with me for a refurb.
I know it doesn't look bad... but it could look much better. So I set to, stripping the instruments out and cleaning and restoring them as required. These all came up nicely, the horrible paint on the panel defied my attempts to remove it though, so off it went to our friends Joe and Lyndon Blackburne who had kindly offered to strip it back and repaint it for me. I carried on working my way through the instruments, including the pilot's oxygen regulator
Then, in late June, I was able to get my hands on 788 for the first time since March!
Simon and I were among the younger, less Covid vulnerable volunteers who had been asked in to help get the museum ready for reopening, so we did a few days tidying aircraft, reorganising our corner a bit, going round site moving exhibits and aircraft to make the site Covid-friendly, blowing up tyres, general maintenance stuff which had been unable to happen for 3 months really. But it was so good to be back! I was able to get the panels refitted to the Dragonfly too.
The month ended with a tidy Naughty Corner, and us lot champing at the bit eager to return
July
July 4th saw the country come out of the stifling conditions of lockdown, and YAM was able to reopen. While the museum found its feet we engineers were unable to attend, so for most of the month while the museum settled into the new normal we waited patiently. At the very end of the month, we were able to return for out first real working day since mid March! This was very much a reorientation day for us, but I was able to get the hydraulic tank out of the jet as we have a better example to swap it for
We also received the kind donation of a NF radome cover!
August
We were all settling into the new normal of social distancing from other engineers and the visitors. We usually like to interact with our more interested visitors, so this all felt very alien to us. I got the new hyd tank ready to fit
And Simon finally claimed victory in his battle to extract the rudder autostabiliser!
This meant he could get on with stabilising the corrosion in its bay on the fin and make replacements for the metalwork which had corroded away, which was the original point in removing the autostabiliser. He really has had a Battle Royale with this most stubborn little *insert expletive here*, but he won in the end.
The next task I moved on to in August was making up the replacement rudder cable pulley brackets. I find fabricating new components quite an enjoyable process and challenge, and these new brackets with mangled twisted scraps as my only guide proved to be no exception
The metalwork theme continued in the month, with me adding the replacement bracketry in the rear fuselage...
...and Simon doing likewise for the rudder autostab bay
We also received the panel back from the Blackburne boys!
Who had brought the replica they had made for themselves using ours as a guide along too
Perfect fit!
It's one of these panels I have coming soon for myself, as a sort of WS788 travelling exhibit. It'll look pretty good! Last job for the month was homework, taking the bare panel home and reuniting it with its instruments and wiring loom
The very last weekend of August saw the panel dropped back in the jet, wired up... and working for the first time since 1966!
As months in 2020 go, August was about the best the year could scrape together really. The only month which felt genuinely productive.
September
saw me back on messing about jobs, as I had damaged my back at work (again) so making aerial mounts
and removing access panels for future jobs was about the limit of ambition for me. She finally had her IFF aerial fitted under the nose
Simon continued his good work making good the autostab bay in the fin
and I cleaned out the nose bays of the jet we had been dumping junk in. In the process I pulled out the old equipment racking in the upper bay, as there is some corrosion in there needing some looking at. While it was out the racking was sorted out too
Late September saw a road trip for Simon and I, a run to the only other museum I have visited this year, East Midlands Aeropark. We were delivering some parts we had exchanged with them for some of their aircraft, some Argosy manuals I had donated, and the canopy perspexes for the Meteor. These will be used as masters for 2 new sets at least, one for East Mids' WS760 and one for our jet, plus further sets for any other interested museums. Many of the NF's in captivity really could benefit from new glazing, it seems to be an Achilles heel as they either cloud, crack, or both! After a great day being shown around, we left with a boot full of swapsies, and we have more to go back and collect!
One item we were given was one of the engine driven ancilliary gearboxes, this went straight on 788 to get it out of the way!
I cannot recommend EMA enough. A great little museum, friendy people, give them a visit and support when such things are allowed again. I am looking forward to going back, partly because of gathering the rest of the kit they have very kindly offered us, and partly just because its a good day out among likeminded mates.
Some other minor tail metalwork was completed... and after offering Simon and the returned Scott one last fight the autostabiliser finally went back in!
October
This month saw the continuation of the work on the JP's nose section which, as a higher priority than 788, took up my working days at the beginning of the month. Once it became a game of waiting for the penetrating oil to do its thing, I was able to turn my attention back to the Meteor and continuing the threading through of the rudder cables. As this required an amount of deskinning and reskinning this took most of the working days in the month, Scott was a great help as Simon was out of action with a knee injury and as it turned out running these cables really is much easier with 2 people. But... the month's end saw the 2 pairs of cables in and done
November
....and lockdown was looming large in people's minds on the first working day of the month and, as it turned out, the last working day of the year, not that we knew that back then. I finished the riveting under the starboard side of the nose back together, and we reinstated the elvator controls, bolting the insides of the tail assembly back together once more
December
YAM made the call not to reopen, which while it saddened us deeply I can understand. I hope we can get back to working on the aircraft early in 2021, and I really hope that when I sit down to write the review of next year it'll be a very much more positive set of scribblings.
While I don't know when it will be, I do know normal service
WILL be resumed. None of what has been thrown at us this year, as people, a team, a country, or a species, is going to change that. We are more determined than ever to see this project through to it's shiny silver and dayglo conclusion, we've a lot of people's support and kindness to repay, and a small number of people to stick 2 fingers up at for doubting us and trying to derail our efforts!
See you in 2021
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