Mosquito RS700 Restoration

[Crimea_River]

Wow, over a year since I updated this. We've still been working on the Mossie and the Hurricane. Here's a link to the 2Q15 quarterly report on both aircraft showing what we've been up to.

The Calgary Mosquito Society

 

[Gnomey]

Coming along nicely, thanks for the update!

 

[Wayne Little]

Thanks for sharing that Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

I've been extremely delinquent in keeping you guys abreast of what's going on with our Mosquito. Fact is, we are chasing a lot of poorly done repairs through the fuselage and reskinning these areas from the inside out - a time-consuming and manhour intensive process. The example below shows what's going on behind the canopy in the dinghy box area. The new skin that you see is the inner face of the inside sheet of 2mm plywood. The new skin is lapped and glued onto the existing inner skin and over that will be a layer of 7/16 inch balsa, followed by the outer skin.

I will try to do better and post some more progress shots, and also get you up to speed on our Hurricane. In the meantime, we have created a You-tube channel of videos related to our project and the use of post-war Mosquitos by Spartan Air Services to map northern Canada using aerial photography. Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMvwQfjhUSYDt7v9r-64q1g

 

[nuuumannn]

Great stuff. Power to your collective elbows, Andy.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

NICE!

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Andy, and thanks for the up-date and the link to the Spartan operations.
The pic of the re-skinning, being virtually an empty shell, really shows just how tight the Mosquito cockpit area is, more so than a shot of a complete, 'furnished' cockpit.
If I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity of a ride in a 'Mossie', I'd need to be coated in grease and forced in through the hatch, as there's no way I could manage to get in (or out!) these days !!

 

[Crimea_River]

Yes, it is very tight and I can only imaging what it must have been like for the observer to get from his "seat" to the bomb-aiming position. Fold and stow maps, pencils, parallel squares, fold and stow map table, unbuckle harness, unhook O2, squeeze around pilot and crouch into the narrow passage to the nose (careful you don't accidentally grab the landing gear actuator levers!), reconnect O2 and start the bomb run procedure, all that while going 300 knots and being buffeted by flak!

I had the fortune of being able to climb into Bob Jens' F for Freddy out in BC last year, so long as I promised not to sit anywhere, touch anything, nor post any of the many pictures I took while inside.

 

[Airframes]

Yep, it's tight alright. I was fortunate to sit in the BAe Mosquito T.III back in the early 1980's, before it was tragically lost at Barton, Manchester, in 1996. More or less the same layout as the FB.VI, and a contortionist's act to get in and out off - and that was when wearing jeans and shirt, so it must have been a real squeeze when wearing Irvin jacket, 'Mae West; and parachute harness.
No wonder 'Mossie' pilots could be identified by the wear to the left sleeve of their tunic or flying jacket, caused by rubbing against the cockpit rim !!

 

[Gnomey]

Looks great so far! Thanks for the update.

 

[Micdrow]

Looking good!!!

 

[Crimea_River]

The following update is copied from our 4Q16 Progress Report.

Starting from the nose of the aircraft and working aft with the progress on the fuselage:

The ring supporting the [clear] nose blister had a large amount of distortion and delamination on the right side from roughly the 7 o'clock to 11 o'clock position. The old glue was removed by picking out the old material with dental equipment. The gaps and depths are large enough that the gluing is being done in stages, with filler being added to eliminate sagging. The first layer is complete. The bottom bulkhead of the ring was badly chewed up so a new piece was constructed and fitted to the ring.

The center line split was removed; new parts were made and installed. This eliminated an antenna hole that was badly damaged as well as allowing us to re-bond the center line forward of the door area. The original glue joint had crystallized and dental picks
were used again to clear the joint.

We continue to go over the inside of the fuselage inch by inch starting at the area below the floor boards. Depending on the type of damage, delamination, holes, gouges or just plain rot will dictate the repair method. A variety of methods from pressing glue into the joint or applying .025 inch veneer patches to the top layer of plywood appear to do the trick. Dick has been working with rare earth magnets, which work very well to hold smaller pieces in place as the glue dries.

The bonding of the internal skin to the balsa core is an issue, as large areas are delaminated. We will switch from T88 to less viscous epoxies to re-bond certain areas of the skin. Both a general epoxy and cold cure will be injected under the plywood depending on the individual requirements. Tech support at System Three, the makers of T88 epoxy, have suggested we also add some silica to the general epoxy while injecting it as fill. There is a higher clamping pressure required for the cold cure so we will make telescoping supports to push out on the skins. A large number of the injection points will be areas were the ferrules containing the anchor nuts are missing or require re-gluing.

The bulkhead under the floor on the right side with the crew ladder access door has been replaced. The original plywood was broken in multiple pieces, but the rib was intact.

You will recall the rib had worn grooves from the crew ladder being installed. The new plywood was bonded to the rib, sanded to match the wear marks of the rib. We are very happy with Gary's installation as we can still see the exact path of the ladder each time it was slid into place.

The left side was exactly the opposite, as the plywood survived but the rib was falling apart. A new rib has been fitted but will be installed after more cleaning is completed in the area of the crew door sill. Components of the crew door sill have been removed for repair; the sill itself is still firmly attached at the center line. Delamination on 50 per cent of the outboard section of the sill requires us to gently lift it to remove all the years of debris and crystallized glue.

The cockpit floor repairs are complete and Andy [yours truly] has reassembled the primary structure with the floor boards now ready for paint. Paint matches are done and the first gallon of interior paint is ready to be applied. We will run some tests on the paint to check how it covers on both the new wood and the old. It is a self-priming paint but we have yet to discover how many coats will be needed.

Various metal parts for the floor board are now being painted so they can be re assembled on the floor. The armour plates are ready for paint and will be installed as soon as possible to reinforce bulkhead two as it is rather flimsy without them.
Some of the plumbing from beneath the floor is being cleaned internally and inspected for damage. The lines will be pressure tested as well, given that their location under the floor means that once installed they are all but inaccessible.

Moving aft of the cockpit, the internal structure is basically cleaned out and inspection of the structure is continuing. Large brass screws which hold the main wing attach points together are being worked on, with some of the screw, having the heads missing, backed out or broken off. Once this area has been satisfactorily inspected and repaired, new skins will be installed on the outside.

Repairs on the left side of the fuselage around the two windows are now complete. A slightly different approach was used on the skin around the windows. Instead of removing the skin and splicing in new skin, a new sheet of plywood was bonded to the inside of the old skin. This worked faster than splicing but wasn't without its problems. The massive number of staple holes [previously botched repairs] throughout the inside made the old skin look somewhat like an art display. After removing the new glue excreting through all the holes it has left us with a large number of indentations from the old staples that now need filling.

The de-ice tank has been repaired by a local machine shop that took it as a challenge. Trillion Industries welded the corrosion holes then pressurized the tank with water, doing a very nice job of cleaning up the bent filler neck. The tank was then strapped to a vibrating tumbler and filled with corn to clean the inside of the tank. The tank now requires just an acid wash inside, resurfacing with a sealant and painting.

We continue cleaning the inside of the fuselage with it now showing signs of progress, but also exposing more areas of damage. A method of cleaning the original brass screws has now worked very well and a large number are ready for reinstallation. Soaking them in a vinegar and salt solution, then tumbling them in green corn has them looking like new.

Member Rick F. continues to work on restoring the cockpit instrument panels for both the Mosquito and Hurricane. Period instruments and controls are great souvenir and collectable pieces and almost all have had to be sourced as the originals are no longer with the airplanes.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Some additional pics:

This is the damage around the portholes on the port side mentioned in the above reports. These were added for the camera operator who sat being the bomb bay.

This is me poking my head through the crew hatch and checking the fit of a newly fabricated bulkhead.

Your's truly working on the cockpit floor. Fortunately we have a drawing!

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Excellent report Andy, and good to see a 'Yankee' in operation again - one of my favourite tools, handed down to me by my Dad.
Some great work going on there, by all the team, and it's fortunate, you have a drawing - but have you a colour picture for a Mossie you're building ................. I've got me coat !

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Simply superb and what a great experience for you Andy. I have to admit I am jealous.

Jeff

 

[Old Wizard]

 

[A4K]

Terry!... :Lol:

Andy, great update and pics mate, thanks for posting! Well done to you and the team for the work done so far.