It is a somewhat complicated season between work and social commitments; but be certain that we are several who are aware of your progress.
A big hug for you and your family on these dates and we will keep in touch.
And compliments of the season to you and yours, too Luis!
A night in the shed last night and the majority of the lid done for the Mk V. It still needs to be squared up and finished off....at the moment the left hand side (to camera) is finished, the right needs to be bent and filed square.
My apologies to those following for the long break, I've been out of sorts. Over the last few days I have done some lathe work and drawing of patterns for the radiator shutter gate and assorted "bits", I am revisiting the radiator controls as I was not happy with the old gate's inaccurate size and shape going in to the new build. So the lever has now been lengthened and is almost the right length (within an inch) which will not be out of place. The gate is now engaged at the correct distance above the pivot point, meaning that the unit can be mounted at the proper height and doesn't need to be raised as it would have had to have been under the old design. I have also provided for the horizontal bar to be added, running to starboard, so that the area under the seat will properly include the full mechanism that operates the pivot on the starboard side that runs down and attaches to the radiator flap (the push-rod to the flap will not be built as it is "outside" the cockpit. A pot will be fitted to the lever mount and hidden under the gate. I have also got the great drawings from Ross to redo the Landing Lamp Control and am currently making patterns to scale from them.
You can see that the old plastic gate was the wrong shape and raked the wrong way. The new one will be made to spec but will have a small stainless steel gate behind it to reinforce it as the spring mechanism and steel bolt fit more tightly into the gate than the real design and so need more than 1.6mm ali.
I will keep myself busy with these smaller jobs until I am feeling more up to the harder physical "metal banging" that I need to do on the frames etc.
My words exactly Terry. However, if left be, there will always be that one guy(Not me of course. It could have been pink for all I know) who would say, "That's not correct."
The answer to that is: "please share the reference proving that I'm wrong". I'm anticipating that comment when we roll out our Hurricane in Canadian wartime colours.
I share the admiration for your work Darryl, it really is a meticulous process full of pieces made in detail and with a very good quality, you too have relied on people who work very well what they do and in addition to those pieces that you have achieved get to complement your project .
On the other hand it will be formidable to see a Hurricane in Canadian wartime colors.
I, of course, see ALL of the errors, inconsistencies and compromises.
The remaining "problem area" is "the assumptions" and to those, Andy, my answer is most definitely the same as yours!
Below: The radiator gate strengthening plate.. which will be either 3mm steel or 2mm stainless, according to what Chris is next cutting!
The CorelDraw version and my graph paper pattern.