The Coventry team meet
the Duxford team
May 2007
Once more a busy month for us which began in earnest on Friday 4th May. Previous owner Tim Moore brought a consignment of parts up from Bedfordshire on his trusty trailer. We took delivery of one of the engines, the three complete prop units which came as part of the deal (we are missing a unit so if anyone has a lead we would love to hear from you) along with all engine mounts, one more spinner and the nacelle petals. Tim was most useful in lifting the engine from the trailer and his experience allowed the task to be completed in no time at all. Although it was good to receive some substantial parts it was also nice to finally show Tim the aircrafts new home and just where on the site she would sit in relation to the museums collection.
This month we have been planning for the arrival of our Viscount at the Midland Air Museum and looking at depth into the dimensions of the concrete pads we require. To save on costs and time we are initially going to lay three pads for the aircraft to stand on. As time goes on we will look at covering the remainder of the area where she will rest with concrete or a similar material.
Many years ago I designed and built a radio control scale aircraft. Using original manufacturers drawings and dimensions I was most disappointed when the model was completed to find that the information on these drawings was incorrect. I had been assured that this wouldn’t be the case with the dimensions listed for the Viscount in the manuals and handbooks……… but just to be on the safe side we decided to visit both Cosford and Duxford to double check some measurements. Any excuse for a day out to another museum.
The trip to Cosford was straightforward and after explaining to museum staff what we wanted to do we put the tape measure into action and measured some key dimensions on the area once occupied by the Viscount which now rests at East Fortune. Although we were confident with the measurements we took, the pads were not sitting in a perfect triangle so we were unsure how the aircraft would sit on them.
Two days later we were at Duxford. Dave Waters of the Duxford Aviation Society had arranged a visit where we could have a look in and around G-ALWF which is affectionately known as Alfie. Upon arriving at Duxford we were met by Chris Giles who kindly showed us around the DAS Viscount spares holding and then allocated a volunteer to us who showed us in and around Alfie, as a bonus we were also given a guided tour of the DAS Avro York inside and out.
Alfie presently sits in the restoration facility of the Airspace complex and looks in stunning condition. Tape measure’s out we now have accurate dimensions from a complete aircraft and guess what………… the manuals were spot on. We also took a lot of pictures of Alfie as reference material ready for when we get to work on Vicky. Before readers assume that we will be going to go down the BEA route I will say we will not I repeat NOT be painting our girl in those colours. Many thanks to Chris and his team for making us feel so welcome on our visit.
Despite giving the impression we have just been swanning around the country visiting museums we have been working hard at the Midland Air Museum preparing for F-BGNR’s arrival as have a number of other individuals for which we are hugely grateful.
A couple of months ago we moved the first airframe, the Folland Gnat. This was more to aid measuring the area where she will sit than for any other reason. Next removal was the museums Bofors gun. A good friend and huge supporter of our efforts Mark Painter used his trusty Land Rover to tow the gun up the site. Cheers Matey your efforts will be rewarded.
Our chief engineer Malcolm Lambert has also been aiding us and assembled a team to remove the blades from the museums Westland Whirlwind G-APWN so that she could be moved to a new location on the site. This move being successfully undertaken late afternoon early evening on Friday 18th May.
Interestingly we have found out that the IPMS group which holds its meetings at the Midland Air Museum has two huge Vscount fans. Very kindly these guys have offered the loan of a large number of Viscount models once the aircraft is assembled so we will be able to do a small display within the aircraft telling people just how important this wonderful aircraft type is.
May 2007
Once more a busy month for us which began in earnest on Friday 4th May. Previous owner Tim Moore brought a consignment of parts up from Bedfordshire on his trusty trailer. We took delivery of one of the engines, the three complete prop units which came as part of the deal (we are missing a unit so if anyone has a lead we would love to hear from you) along with all engine mounts, one more spinner and the nacelle petals. Tim was most useful in lifting the engine from the trailer and his experience allowed the task to be completed in no time at all. Although it was good to receive some substantial parts it was also nice to finally show Tim the aircrafts new home and just where on the site she would sit in relation to the museums collection.
This month we have been planning for the arrival of our Viscount at the Midland Air Museum and looking at depth into the dimensions of the concrete pads we require. To save on costs and time we are initially going to lay three pads for the aircraft to stand on. As time goes on we will look at covering the remainder of the area where she will rest with concrete or a similar material.
Many years ago I designed and built a radio control scale aircraft. Using original manufacturers drawings and dimensions I was most disappointed when the model was completed to find that the information on these drawings was incorrect. I had been assured that this wouldn’t be the case with the dimensions listed for the Viscount in the manuals and handbooks……… but just to be on the safe side we decided to visit both Cosford and Duxford to double check some measurements. Any excuse for a day out to another museum.
The trip to Cosford was straightforward and after explaining to museum staff what we wanted to do we put the tape measure into action and measured some key dimensions on the area once occupied by the Viscount which now rests at East Fortune. Although we were confident with the measurements we took, the pads were not sitting in a perfect triangle so we were unsure how the aircraft would sit on them.
Two days later we were at Duxford. Dave Waters of the Duxford Aviation Society had arranged a visit where we could have a look in and around G-ALWF which is affectionately known as Alfie. Upon arriving at Duxford we were met by Chris Giles who kindly showed us around the DAS Viscount spares holding and then allocated a volunteer to us who showed us in and around Alfie, as a bonus we were also given a guided tour of the DAS Avro York inside and out.
Alfie presently sits in the restoration facility of the Airspace complex and looks in stunning condition. Tape measure’s out we now have accurate dimensions from a complete aircraft and guess what………… the manuals were spot on. We also took a lot of pictures of Alfie as reference material ready for when we get to work on Vicky. Before readers assume that we will be going to go down the BEA route I will say we will not I repeat NOT be painting our girl in those colours. Many thanks to Chris and his team for making us feel so welcome on our visit.
Despite giving the impression we have just been swanning around the country visiting museums we have been working hard at the Midland Air Museum preparing for F-BGNR’s arrival as have a number of other individuals for which we are hugely grateful.
A couple of months ago we moved the first airframe, the Folland Gnat. This was more to aid measuring the area where she will sit than for any other reason. Next removal was the museums Bofors gun. A good friend and huge supporter of our efforts Mark Painter used his trusty Land Rover to tow the gun up the site. Cheers Matey your efforts will be rewarded.
Our chief engineer Malcolm Lambert has also been aiding us and assembled a team to remove the blades from the museums Westland Whirlwind G-APWN so that she could be moved to a new location on the site. This move being successfully undertaken late afternoon early evening on Friday 18th May.
Interestingly we have found out that the IPMS group which holds its meetings at the Midland Air Museum has two huge Vscount fans. Very kindly these guys have offered the loan of a large number of Viscount models once the aircraft is assembled so we will be able to do a small display within the aircraft telling people just how important this wonderful aircraft type is.
