A Long time yet for this Mossie

[109ROAMING]

Hey everyone,

Guttorm's prompted me to start this thread showing a few pics of the DH.98 Mosquito FB.VI restoration I spend my saturdays working on

Based on 2 aircraft NZ2328 and HR339 ( NZ2328's fuslage and HR339's wings)

Photos 1-3 General shots showing whats left of NZ2328's fusalage
Photo 4 starboard side Merlin
Photo 5 only Hydraulic pump we have for both Merlins , which was my first task when I joined earlier in the year to clean up ( before and after photo)
Photo 6 Another General one of the workshop
Photo 7-8 Show before and after of aft bomb bay doors which was my second job , painted they didn't come out to shabby after a sh!t load of cleaning

Last few months I've been slowly hacking away at the Cannon doors , one of these was alot cleaner than the other but either way dried up hydraulic fluid is a b!tch to sand down . last saturday I stripped both them of their fabric and will be painting their interiors this coming weekend .

At this place where the Mossie is , there is also a Hudson , Harvard , Vampire ,C-47 with skis( USAF Antartic flight) 'City of Christchurch' Viscount quite a few crop dusters .Helicopters , Hughes 3 and 500 , Westland Wessex ( as mentioned elsewhere on forum) and the remains of a Bell 206 longjet . Lastly the vast majority of a Sunderland's cockpit and of course the spares

Enjoy,

 

[Heinz]

Great shots Daniel and good on you for your efforts!

 

[Colin1]

Is that a 'before and after' of the Merlin, or are they two different engines?
Nice job if it's the same one 8)

 

[109ROAMING]

Nah mate they're 2 different engines , seen pics though of its original state and its not that different from pic 1

Cheers Alex

 

[Airframes]

Great work and pics Daniel.

 

[Gnomey]

Very cool Daniel! Great pics and work.

 

[B-17engineer]

Lucky you Dan!!

Way to go

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Wow Daniel. Way to go!!!! The job of a lifetime!!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Awesome Daniel!

It's bad enough that I'm jealous of Junker88, now I have to add you to the list!

 

[109ROAMING]

Thanks fellas! will post more when theres more to post

 

[GrauGeist]

I know that's gotta be hard work, but it's worth the effort!

Great photos, looking forward to more!

 

[A4K]

Yep, with all - great shots mate!

Didn't realise NZ2328 had lost her wings in the process! Anyone wanting to model her (I will be one), notice the original codes still in place on the port fues (YC-C)

 

[109ROAMING]

Cheers Dave and Evan ,

Unfortunately yes Evan , Gas torched off like most RNZAF Mossie's .In the last photo , you can see a fin up on the shelves with the intials 'ROR' , were the initial's of the bloke who brought up large RNZAF Mossie wise , seen a photo of the guys backyard with 65 Merlins stacked up ,all later murdered. prick wouldn't even keep one despite his son's protests

NZ2328's wings are apparently at Wiggy , love to have have a look at them ,I dunno what they're planning to do with them?

fs

 

[A4K]

Cheers Daniel! I'm a bit out of touch it seems. When I was at Wigram, they were restoring the wings of the MoTaT Mossie (NZ2035). When did they get '28s, do you know?

As for the scrapping, I heard of a farmer who bought 3 for components (mainwheels for wheelbarrows, etc) - all wooden parts were ueless to him. Two were apparently hacked up for firewood (which I wonder about due to the glues used in the construction), and the third resided in a paddock till someone thought what a great 'Guy Fawkes' bonfire it would make...
Very sad if true. Nice to see a few atleast coming back to life though - keep up the good work!

 

[Heinz]

Interesting stuff guys.

Reminds of the Catalina at my closest museum. Its a genuine Black cat and participated on one of the longest raids done by the RAAF. Someone turned it into a houseboat and filled it with concrete ballast, heres what it looks like as of last weekend.
Sorry Dan not to highjack your thread mate.

 

[A4K]

I can't get the pics on th work computer Alex, but I'll check those out at home. (Am I going to cry?)

 

[Heinz]

Could be worse Evan, but certain mods like the nose made into a wheel house and extra windows are kinda cruel.

 

[109ROAMING]

These stories are so sad , you really wonder why with that Cat! ( no worries too about posting the pics , please feel free if ya got anymore)

Cheers Daniel! I'm a bit out of touch it seems. When I was at Wigram, they were restoring the wings of the MoTaT Mossie (NZ2035). When did they get '28s, do you know?

As for the scrapping, I heard of a farmer who bought 3 for components (mainwheels for wheelbarrows, etc) - all wooden parts were ueless to him. Two were apparently hacked up for firewood (which I wonder about due to the glues used in the construction), and the third resided in a paddock till someone thought what a great 'Guy Fawkes' bonfire it would make...
Very sad if true. Nice to see a few atleast coming back to life though - keep up the good work!

bloody unbelievable!!! what'd I'd do for just 2 pair a Merlin exhaust stacks!

 

[beaupower32]

109, will the Mossie be only a static display, or will she fly again. Sorry if you posted it somewhere, I didnt see anything about what yall were going to do once she was all back together.

Great pics by the way. She has a long way to go, but looking good none the less.

 

[109ROAMING]

Hey Beau 32 ,

Shes static , due to spending many decades outdoors her body's somewhat buggered , add to that a borer infestation she'll never fly again ( rather fragile as it is)

Not to mention getting the 2 Merlins running again , 130,000 US each

Up north theres 3 more Mosquito's , 1 to fly ( Avspecs - Mosquito August 05 Report)
and the other 2 , 1 is an RNZAF FB.VI privately owned and the other a RAAF dual trainer at a museum (MOTAT) both complete