Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
Mosquito RS700 Restoration
- Thread starter Crimea_River
- Start date
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Looks great Andy! Thanks for the update.
- Thread starter
- #144
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks all. Here's a little teaser for a documentary we are putting together about our project. You can see the top of my shiny head working on the Merlin engine, which is in fact the one for our Hurricane.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Great preview Andy, and fantastic work being done by all.
Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
Cool!
- Thread starter
- #149
Crimea_River
Marshal
My, my, a year already! Time for an update methinks.
First off, I'd like to beg you patience for a minute so that I can post the following pics so that I can link them for someone looking for help on another forum. The following pics have to do with the the aileron attachment points and aileron trim mechanism. This first pic shows the starboard access panel for the aileron servo on the upper wing surface at the aileron/flap junction. There's a lot missing here as the area behind the rear spar on the wing is pretty much destroyed. This is where the rib extensions should be that pick up the upper skin just forward of the aileron and flap. Aft is up. Aileron would be to the left and flap to the right.
Diagram of the wing access panels.
Mechanism for the aileron servo and trim mechanism.
Back soon with progress pics
First off, I'd like to beg you patience for a minute so that I can post the following pics so that I can link them for someone looking for help on another forum. The following pics have to do with the the aileron attachment points and aileron trim mechanism. This first pic shows the starboard access panel for the aileron servo on the upper wing surface at the aileron/flap junction. There's a lot missing here as the area behind the rear spar on the wing is pretty much destroyed. This is where the rib extensions should be that pick up the upper skin just forward of the aileron and flap. Aft is up. Aileron would be to the left and flap to the right.
Diagram of the wing access panels.
Mechanism for the aileron servo and trim mechanism.
Back soon with progress pics
- Thread starter
- #150
Crimea_River
Marshal
Picking up from where we left off showing the fuselage closure seam to the nose, this is from our 2Q17 Report:
Starting from the front of the fuselage and working aft, work continues on the following areas. The center line of the fuselage forward of the cockpit windscreen has been re-bonded. A new strip was added once the joint was cleaned and re-glued. There are two strips on the internal side, both of which are reinstalled originals. These were reinstalled after the skins were re-glued on both sides of the joint.
Jack, Andy, Cam and Michael all focused on the centerline of the upper fuselage from the windscreen to the nose.
The ferrules are the round inserts used to attach the anchor nuts to the structure. The ferrules are in various conditions from requiring cleaning to missing completely. The ferrules around the center strip are missing completely with more on the way (see above). Andy is focused on repairing and installing all the ferrules in the cockpit area. When reinstalling the ferrules we also have the chance to re-bond the internal skins to the balsa core. Most of the rest of the crew is focused on other areas to leave Andy unencumbered in the cockpit.
Gary is reworking the canopy opening, with the intent of streamlining the canopy frame installation through rebuild of damaged internal structure and the installation of new material missing around the opening. Gary's talents will be concentrated here until we can get back under the floor in the cockpit to complete the installation of floor support structures. These parts are ready for install but at the moment, the temporary floor covers this area.
Gary's efforts have focused on the area circled in red; the rear canopy frame area. [That's me working on the ferrules in the nose]
Cam is nearing completion of rebuilding the openings for the wing attach brackets. These two openings are a tapered opening for the fittings to slide through. We have built the area up with multiple plys of veneer which has added considerable stability to the area. The left side is essentially completed and the right side maybe a day or two from complete.
Everyone busy at their stations as described above: Cam on the wing attach bracket area, Gary on the rear canopy edge, Davey on bulkhead #3 and Roger replacing balsa.
Michael has been moving around the area between bulkhead 2 and 3 repairing various loose or damaged components. We are focused on finishing any repairs in this area so we can commence installation of some of the outer skins.
Roger has been working on the outside of the same area, installing or repairing the balsa which seems to be a constant problem. Very little of the balsa has remained bonded to the internal skin and where exposed, it is easily damaged. Roger has all but a few areas left for repair of the balsa between bulkheads 2 and 3 with re-gluing starting soon.
Wade has completed repairs on areas around bulkhead 3 were he has installed patches, as we could quite literally see through the fuselage. Wade has also been working up through the camera bay. When he is not present, other volunteers have been removing components for cleaning and repair where the camera mounts behind the bulkhead.
We have been bouncing around between bulkhead 2 and 3, cleaning, gluing and yes painting. Don Y., Don H. and Davey have been working every corner we can find to ensure the glue joints are tight and the debris removed.
Paul, Don and Jack have been preparing metal components and repainting them for reinstallation once the wood structure is ready. Things like the oxygen fill box and the structure into which it fits have been rebuilt though it still looks rough and crude as Spartan's standards of design and workmanship were not high when this installation occurred, circa 1956.
The Spartan designed and built oxygen fill port ready to be reinstalled into the starboard side rear fuselage. Both the box and the hole were crudely modified for the task.
Starting from the front of the fuselage and working aft, work continues on the following areas. The center line of the fuselage forward of the cockpit windscreen has been re-bonded. A new strip was added once the joint was cleaned and re-glued. There are two strips on the internal side, both of which are reinstalled originals. These were reinstalled after the skins were re-glued on both sides of the joint.
Jack, Andy, Cam and Michael all focused on the centerline of the upper fuselage from the windscreen to the nose.
The ferrules are the round inserts used to attach the anchor nuts to the structure. The ferrules are in various conditions from requiring cleaning to missing completely. The ferrules around the center strip are missing completely with more on the way (see above). Andy is focused on repairing and installing all the ferrules in the cockpit area. When reinstalling the ferrules we also have the chance to re-bond the internal skins to the balsa core. Most of the rest of the crew is focused on other areas to leave Andy unencumbered in the cockpit.
Gary is reworking the canopy opening, with the intent of streamlining the canopy frame installation through rebuild of damaged internal structure and the installation of new material missing around the opening. Gary's talents will be concentrated here until we can get back under the floor in the cockpit to complete the installation of floor support structures. These parts are ready for install but at the moment, the temporary floor covers this area.
Gary's efforts have focused on the area circled in red; the rear canopy frame area. [That's me working on the ferrules in the nose]
Cam is nearing completion of rebuilding the openings for the wing attach brackets. These two openings are a tapered opening for the fittings to slide through. We have built the area up with multiple plys of veneer which has added considerable stability to the area. The left side is essentially completed and the right side maybe a day or two from complete.
Everyone busy at their stations as described above: Cam on the wing attach bracket area, Gary on the rear canopy edge, Davey on bulkhead #3 and Roger replacing balsa.
Michael has been moving around the area between bulkhead 2 and 3 repairing various loose or damaged components. We are focused on finishing any repairs in this area so we can commence installation of some of the outer skins.
Roger has been working on the outside of the same area, installing or repairing the balsa which seems to be a constant problem. Very little of the balsa has remained bonded to the internal skin and where exposed, it is easily damaged. Roger has all but a few areas left for repair of the balsa between bulkheads 2 and 3 with re-gluing starting soon.
Wade has completed repairs on areas around bulkhead 3 were he has installed patches, as we could quite literally see through the fuselage. Wade has also been working up through the camera bay. When he is not present, other volunteers have been removing components for cleaning and repair where the camera mounts behind the bulkhead.
We have been bouncing around between bulkhead 2 and 3, cleaning, gluing and yes painting. Don Y., Don H. and Davey have been working every corner we can find to ensure the glue joints are tight and the debris removed.
Paul, Don and Jack have been preparing metal components and repainting them for reinstallation once the wood structure is ready. Things like the oxygen fill box and the structure into which it fits have been rebuilt though it still looks rough and crude as Spartan's standards of design and workmanship were not high when this installation occurred, circa 1956.
The Spartan designed and built oxygen fill port ready to be reinstalled into the starboard side rear fuselage. Both the box and the hole were crudely modified for the task.
- Thread starter
- #151
Crimea_River
Marshal
3Q17 Report:
As opportunities present themselves we continue to acquire parts and resources to assist in the restoration. In June we were contacted by a couple in Nova Scotia who spotted at a garage sale what they thought was a Mosquito nose blister. Through some misunderstandings they acquired it for us and in turn one of our members purchased and donated it to the society. It is not the right style for our aircraft, but it is great trade material.
Newly acquired Mosquito nose blister. Many Canadian built Mosquitoes were posted in the Maritimes during the war in Operational Training Units.
The component shop of Sunwest Aviation in Calgary was good enough to disassemble and inspect two spare tail wheels for us as we were looking for a potential serviceable unit to trade to the Mosquito Bomber group in Windsor, ON.
Making international news in August was the incredible discovery of 22,300 drawings and plans for the Mosquito in an Airbus plant in England that was slated for demolition. The Peoples Mosquito organization, with whom we have had an affiliation for some years, gained worldwide attention with this find. They have begun the process of indexing and cataloguing the find, which contains many one of a kind technical drawings for repairs and modifications, many of which were considered but never developed. It also includes repair schemes for the prototype Mosquito.
One of the drawings from The Peoples Mosquito group showing the modifications required to convert a B.35 model Mosquito into a PR.35.
The organization contacted us when they discovered the drawings, developed in 1950 by Marshall's Flying Club of Cambridge, to convert the B.35 Mosquito model into the PR.35 model at the request of the Royal Air Force. Our airplane was the very first to undergo these modifications, thus becoming the prototype PR.35. The chief engineer for The People's Mosquito group took time from his indexing work to copy two sheets and send them to us, making us the first organization to benefit from this historic find.
Progress on RS700:
We will start from the tail of the aircraft and move forward. We have started to build work stands around the aft left side of the fuselage to facilitate access to the top side area. Externally there are two skins that require removal, one small and one large. From past experience we are confident they are very poorly bonded to the internal structure.
It is my opinion we have lost about 70 to 75 % of the adhesion and worse still was where the birch contacts the balsa. This has been consistent throughout the aircraft at this point. As well, the inner skin is suffering from the hundreds of staple holes which were used to clamp the skins together in some earlier crude restoration attempt. At this point I am hoping we can lay a new skin over the old structure as we had previously done in other areas.
On the inside rear of the fuselage, Don Y. has been cleaning and removing components so we can determine the level of damage around the tail wheel attach points. The area between the two aft bulkheads has a different issue than the rest of the fuselage. The area, which had large amounts of dirt and oil, was simply varnished over at some time and now has the texture of 60 grit sandpaper.
Down the left side of the fuselage all the balsa that was damaged has been replaced. There remains a small section on the right side which will be completed within a week. Andy and Cam have about one days' work left to finish the balsa on the right side so they can move on to other areas.
Andy and Cam applying T88 epoxy glue to the new strips of balsa wood on the port side of the fuselage. [Andy EDIT: In the area surrounded by red vinyl tape (used to protect areas from epoxy) you can see epoxy glue being applied by yours truly to the exposed INNER SKIN. Below that can be seen strips of NEW BALSA, about 9/16" thick. Once the new balsa is set, it will need to be planed and sanded smooth to the contour of the aircraft.]
Michael, Don and Davey have moved aft to bulkhead 3 were work has commenced on the structure which contains the lower wing attach points. It seems a normal thing for aircraft; all but one bolt has been removed from the left side. There is a large amount of rust and we will look closely at the bolts with the thought of installing new hardware in those positions since they are crucial to securing the wing.
In the same area, the lower forward skin on the bulkhead has been removed with very little trouble thanks to poor bonding. The skin has been cleaned, the ribs are cleaned and the area is masked off for painting. It did not have paint originally but in the interest of protecting the area we have decided to cover it over. As well, it will be caulked on the aft side with epoxy to reinforce the back side without removal.
The Spartan modified lower half of bulkhead 3 with the front face removed. To the right are the mounting brackets that seem to defy logic in how they were installed. As per the text below, we pioneered a new technique to clean them.
The removal of the skin has given us a couple of benefits, one being the removal of the steel nails that were rusting and exposure to the inner structure. This area is not original to the aircraft at build, but was redesigned and modified by Spartan Air Services as an add-on for the Wild camera mounts, making it unique to our aircraft. We are still trying to figure out how it was put together as the attach brackets overlap. We have theories, but not a conclusive answer.
A new method for paint removal on those attach points has yielded success; Wayne had suggested using an airbrush eraser. The process is slow but we achieved the results we need using a media of baking soda, both cheap and user friendly as opposed to the more conventional aluminum oxide. [Andy EDIT: Baking soda blown through an airbrush removes paint!]
The canopy frame installation work has stopped as we require the external skins to be fitted before the rest of the material can be installed. We continue to go over the cockpit area looking for loose corners and bad joints before paint is applied. Various small gussets and spacers are being removed cleared and reinstalled there again because of the poor bonding issues. Andy has all the original ferrules installed with a small number of missing to go.
Gary and Dick concentrate on the canopy frame area while Davey continues to work on the crew entry hatch area.
The structural repair work in the cockpit area is slowly coming to completion with small areas being glued following close inspection. The last remaining large job is to complete the tunnel from the main crew entry door to the floor boards. Gary has the components done and he flips between that and the canopy frame work depending on whom else is working where.
Paul and Jack are currently cleaning and painting various metal parts with Davey putting them back on templates.
Two areas that are holding us up are the tap and dies, as well as gaskets. The tap and dies have been ordered from a tool manufacturer in eastern Canada with scheduled delivery early in October. We have to go down the road of British Association, British Standard fine and British standard Whitworth so one set of each is on its way. Remembering that the British method of safety is to hit the end of a bolt with a hammer (calibrated size) rather than use a split pin with the result that all the bolts are galled on removal and require the threads to be cleaned before reuse.
On the gasket side, a local company has volunteered to make gaskets for us but we need to supply them with templates which we have yet to make. The gaskets are required for where metal parts are mounted inside the wood fuselage.
With the summer season complete we will get back to physically spreading out a little with a few more projects on the go. The side panels will likely be brought over before the snow flies so we can start on the components attached to the sides. We have been busy fixing some of the tooling as well, such as the bead blaster to get up to speed with cleaning things like the wing attach components.
The crew are now taking some satisfaction in the discernible progress in many areas; we can now see a lot of the little things that have been accomplished. The cockpit is approaching the point where we will start painting, much to the chagrin of most involved as we are the only ones that appreciate the long hours that have gone into repairing, cleaning, and preparing the beautiful wood surfaces, only to have to cover it all with paint.
After hundreds of hours invested in paint stripping, cleaning, and restoring the wood of the cockpit area, there is some reluctance to paint this area and hide all of the good work and beautiful wood.
As opportunities present themselves we continue to acquire parts and resources to assist in the restoration. In June we were contacted by a couple in Nova Scotia who spotted at a garage sale what they thought was a Mosquito nose blister. Through some misunderstandings they acquired it for us and in turn one of our members purchased and donated it to the society. It is not the right style for our aircraft, but it is great trade material.
Newly acquired Mosquito nose blister. Many Canadian built Mosquitoes were posted in the Maritimes during the war in Operational Training Units.
The component shop of Sunwest Aviation in Calgary was good enough to disassemble and inspect two spare tail wheels for us as we were looking for a potential serviceable unit to trade to the Mosquito Bomber group in Windsor, ON.
Making international news in August was the incredible discovery of 22,300 drawings and plans for the Mosquito in an Airbus plant in England that was slated for demolition. The Peoples Mosquito organization, with whom we have had an affiliation for some years, gained worldwide attention with this find. They have begun the process of indexing and cataloguing the find, which contains many one of a kind technical drawings for repairs and modifications, many of which were considered but never developed. It also includes repair schemes for the prototype Mosquito.
One of the drawings from The Peoples Mosquito group showing the modifications required to convert a B.35 model Mosquito into a PR.35.
The organization contacted us when they discovered the drawings, developed in 1950 by Marshall's Flying Club of Cambridge, to convert the B.35 Mosquito model into the PR.35 model at the request of the Royal Air Force. Our airplane was the very first to undergo these modifications, thus becoming the prototype PR.35. The chief engineer for The People's Mosquito group took time from his indexing work to copy two sheets and send them to us, making us the first organization to benefit from this historic find.
Progress on RS700:
We will start from the tail of the aircraft and move forward. We have started to build work stands around the aft left side of the fuselage to facilitate access to the top side area. Externally there are two skins that require removal, one small and one large. From past experience we are confident they are very poorly bonded to the internal structure.
It is my opinion we have lost about 70 to 75 % of the adhesion and worse still was where the birch contacts the balsa. This has been consistent throughout the aircraft at this point. As well, the inner skin is suffering from the hundreds of staple holes which were used to clamp the skins together in some earlier crude restoration attempt. At this point I am hoping we can lay a new skin over the old structure as we had previously done in other areas.
On the inside rear of the fuselage, Don Y. has been cleaning and removing components so we can determine the level of damage around the tail wheel attach points. The area between the two aft bulkheads has a different issue than the rest of the fuselage. The area, which had large amounts of dirt and oil, was simply varnished over at some time and now has the texture of 60 grit sandpaper.
Down the left side of the fuselage all the balsa that was damaged has been replaced. There remains a small section on the right side which will be completed within a week. Andy and Cam have about one days' work left to finish the balsa on the right side so they can move on to other areas.
Andy and Cam applying T88 epoxy glue to the new strips of balsa wood on the port side of the fuselage. [Andy EDIT: In the area surrounded by red vinyl tape (used to protect areas from epoxy) you can see epoxy glue being applied by yours truly to the exposed INNER SKIN. Below that can be seen strips of NEW BALSA, about 9/16" thick. Once the new balsa is set, it will need to be planed and sanded smooth to the contour of the aircraft.]
Michael, Don and Davey have moved aft to bulkhead 3 were work has commenced on the structure which contains the lower wing attach points. It seems a normal thing for aircraft; all but one bolt has been removed from the left side. There is a large amount of rust and we will look closely at the bolts with the thought of installing new hardware in those positions since they are crucial to securing the wing.
In the same area, the lower forward skin on the bulkhead has been removed with very little trouble thanks to poor bonding. The skin has been cleaned, the ribs are cleaned and the area is masked off for painting. It did not have paint originally but in the interest of protecting the area we have decided to cover it over. As well, it will be caulked on the aft side with epoxy to reinforce the back side without removal.
The Spartan modified lower half of bulkhead 3 with the front face removed. To the right are the mounting brackets that seem to defy logic in how they were installed. As per the text below, we pioneered a new technique to clean them.
The removal of the skin has given us a couple of benefits, one being the removal of the steel nails that were rusting and exposure to the inner structure. This area is not original to the aircraft at build, but was redesigned and modified by Spartan Air Services as an add-on for the Wild camera mounts, making it unique to our aircraft. We are still trying to figure out how it was put together as the attach brackets overlap. We have theories, but not a conclusive answer.
A new method for paint removal on those attach points has yielded success; Wayne had suggested using an airbrush eraser. The process is slow but we achieved the results we need using a media of baking soda, both cheap and user friendly as opposed to the more conventional aluminum oxide. [Andy EDIT: Baking soda blown through an airbrush removes paint!]
The canopy frame installation work has stopped as we require the external skins to be fitted before the rest of the material can be installed. We continue to go over the cockpit area looking for loose corners and bad joints before paint is applied. Various small gussets and spacers are being removed cleared and reinstalled there again because of the poor bonding issues. Andy has all the original ferrules installed with a small number of missing to go.
Gary and Dick concentrate on the canopy frame area while Davey continues to work on the crew entry hatch area.
The structural repair work in the cockpit area is slowly coming to completion with small areas being glued following close inspection. The last remaining large job is to complete the tunnel from the main crew entry door to the floor boards. Gary has the components done and he flips between that and the canopy frame work depending on whom else is working where.
Paul and Jack are currently cleaning and painting various metal parts with Davey putting them back on templates.
Two areas that are holding us up are the tap and dies, as well as gaskets. The tap and dies have been ordered from a tool manufacturer in eastern Canada with scheduled delivery early in October. We have to go down the road of British Association, British Standard fine and British standard Whitworth so one set of each is on its way. Remembering that the British method of safety is to hit the end of a bolt with a hammer (calibrated size) rather than use a split pin with the result that all the bolts are galled on removal and require the threads to be cleaned before reuse.
On the gasket side, a local company has volunteered to make gaskets for us but we need to supply them with templates which we have yet to make. The gaskets are required for where metal parts are mounted inside the wood fuselage.
With the summer season complete we will get back to physically spreading out a little with a few more projects on the go. The side panels will likely be brought over before the snow flies so we can start on the components attached to the sides. We have been busy fixing some of the tooling as well, such as the bead blaster to get up to speed with cleaning things like the wing attach components.
The crew are now taking some satisfaction in the discernible progress in many areas; we can now see a lot of the little things that have been accomplished. The cockpit is approaching the point where we will start painting, much to the chagrin of most involved as we are the only ones that appreciate the long hours that have gone into repairing, cleaning, and preparing the beautiful wood surfaces, only to have to cover it all with paint.
After hundreds of hours invested in paint stripping, cleaning, and restoring the wood of the cockpit area, there is some reluctance to paint this area and hide all of the good work and beautiful wood.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Great up-date Andy, and some fine work going on there.
- Thread starter
- #153
Crimea_River
Marshal
From the 4Q17 Report:
We continue to work with and support the Windsor Mosquito Bomber Group in their efforts to build a flying Mosquito. We loaned them two fairings which they will use to manufacture replicas. VP Jack McWilliam was able to fly a small crate to Ontario for one of their people to pick up. The crate also contained a spare tail wheel which we donated to their cause in exchange for a crew access ladder that we will gain in the trade.
Jack from the Windsor Mosquito group used our rudder fairing to first create a mold and then manufacture a new piece in carbon fibre.
CMS member Rick F. continues to keep an eye open for Mosquito parts on eBay and with his extensive network of contacts around the world. As with the nose blister acquired last quarter, a member purchased and donated these new items, which we will use as trade material.
A minor electrical panel and an undercarriage/flap/bomb door hydraulic selector unit which we have added to our collection of potential trade materials. The bomb door selector lever is not present indicating that this particular unit was for the fighter version of the Mosquito.
RS700 Progress:
For this report we will start at the front of the aircraft and move toward the tail. Inside the very front of the aircraft, various quadrants in the cockpit are now being painted as are several of the forward bulkheads; all of which require a number of coats of paint. As with most jobs on the airplane, it is time consuming work, using small brushes to get into all the corners. As well, we have to plug all of the threaded holes in the ferrules to prevent the paint from clogging them.
In the cockpit area as well, Andy has taken the time to map the location and keep track of all the grounding straps and he has temporarily installed small nails in each nail hole so the original locations and paths can be followed. Once the painting is completed we will start restoring the grounding straps which are badly wrinkled and cracked.
[Andy EDIT: the below pic shows location of some of the original grounding straps and temporary nails used to locate where these were attached to the inner skin]
..end of EDIT]
Upper: We reached a significant milestone in starting to paint the interior of the nose and cockpit area which means all the structural repairs in this area are complete, all damaged ferrules replaced and we can now start to reinstall restored components. Lower: Not quite the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but Michelangelo (Don H.) takes similar pride in his work.
Gary has finished with the crew entrance area bulkhead and the temporary floor is reinstalled to protect the bulkheads. Painting beneath the floor has started in small areas and will expand shortly. We have gone over bulkhead 2 as much as possible to ensure that cracks and delamination have been repaired. The aft side of this bulkhead has been painted with one coat. More of the metal components for this area have been painted, with repair work for the hydraulic tubing to start once tooling is acquired.
Davey has been hard at work cleaning threads on all the fasteners for the armour plates and reattaching them to the template. Material used to protect the wood and armour from fretting now needs to be sourced and cut for fit.
We are near completion for repairing the damage to the fuselage between bulkhead 2 and the stress fracture on the right side of the fuselage with only holes to be drilled.
The 'ceiling' area between bulkhead 2 and 3 has been inspected with most areas repaired. One more final inspection for any loose ends and it too will be ready for paint. From the cockpit back to this area is a uniform green colour so we will endeavor to complete this to avoid mix ups in paint colours.
The Master and his young apprentice: Here Davey D. shows one of our newer and younger volunteers, Geoffrey C. the finer points of thread cleaning on hardware used to attach the armour plate to bulkhead 1.
On the top side, Andy and Cam have completed most repairs to the structure like cracks, voids and balsa replacement. Andy is now roughing the contours on the outside left to get ready to install new skins. Gary has invented a sander which appears to work well for scarfing areas on the aircraft, eliminating one more technical problem.
In the area of the camera mount, a shelf was added by Spartan which is still firmly attached, making it one of the few areas that are completely intact and original. That said it also happens to be an area we need to access in order to remove bolts that held the lower wing attach points together. Michael and Don have worked to clean the hardware and remove debris to help gain access to these critical bolts.
Andy W. has installed all new balsa wood in the area aft of the cockpit canopy. Once glued in place the balsa has to be sanded to create a smooth curved surface prior to covering with new birch plywood skin.
Although the new balsa wood will be completely covered by the outer skin, we use a permanent ink stamp which reads "Calgary Mosquito Society 2009" on all new material added to the airplane. This is in alignment with best practices, which for future reference will identify and distinguish from original all of the work done and new materials used by our organization in the restoration process.
[Andy EDIT: an additional pic showing the above area after initials shaping:
..end of EDIT]
During inspection some of the joints appeared to require bonding, for which there was no easy fix. Dick came up with the idea of cutting lightening holes parallel to the fasteners so we could get wrenches on them. Of course the most difficult fasteners were the worst to remove and it was no surprise to find them badly corroded. Once repaired, this area will be caulked with epoxy, using fasteners to squeeze it down. Various other locations have also been caulked since we have no access to the joint area. Once the area has been bonded, plugs will be cut to fill the lightening holes.
A lot of work is going into this area, but it is critical to the structure and safety of the aircraft as these are two of only four areas to which the wing attaches. Some injection bonding will likely take place on the skins in this area as well.
Moving aft on the port side of the fuselage, our last piece of bogus skin patching has been removed. Again, this is work that was done after the airplane arrived in Calgary and was in the care of the Air Museum of Canada. It represents the largest patch on the aircraft and the last piece to be removed from the left side of the fuselage. The damage was similar to other areas we have worked on, with poor bonding resulting in delamination, more staple holes, small areas of rot, missing material and last but not least, more cedar below the skin where balsa should have been used.
'The sins of the fathers': Here Jack supervises Cam and Don as they remove a large section of skin that was stapled in place by volunteers with the Air Museum of Canada back in the mid 1960s. Under the bogus skin we found an abundance of non-standard cedar in place of the balsa, as well as a badly damaged inner skin section.
Roger and Peter have worked this area building an internal frame to support the skin shape, cutting out the bad material and preparing the new insert. The new skin will be bonded underneath the existing stringer and will be spliced to the old material.
Gary is scarfing the aft area getting ready for the first external patch, after which we will move forward from this point working back to bulkhead 3.
After the bogus skin was removed Peter and Roger went to work removing the cedar and cutting out a section of damaged inner skin.
Not a job for the large or claustrophobic. Deep in the rear fuselage, Roger installs the temporary structure built to support the new inner skin. Because of the taper of the fuselage and its compound curves, every skin replacement requires a new custom build structure.
Don is busy removing varnish painted over all the dirt in the tail end of the aircraft. This is a very confined space requiring patience and short bursts of work. The aft sheet of plywood on bulkhead six probably has a nail every 1/4 inch.
Inside, Janelle has installed a patch on bulkhead 5, Cam is repairing the internal skin damage on the hell hole door where the aft door striker plate was ripped out.
We continue to work with and support the Windsor Mosquito Bomber Group in their efforts to build a flying Mosquito. We loaned them two fairings which they will use to manufacture replicas. VP Jack McWilliam was able to fly a small crate to Ontario for one of their people to pick up. The crate also contained a spare tail wheel which we donated to their cause in exchange for a crew access ladder that we will gain in the trade.
Jack from the Windsor Mosquito group used our rudder fairing to first create a mold and then manufacture a new piece in carbon fibre.
CMS member Rick F. continues to keep an eye open for Mosquito parts on eBay and with his extensive network of contacts around the world. As with the nose blister acquired last quarter, a member purchased and donated these new items, which we will use as trade material.
A minor electrical panel and an undercarriage/flap/bomb door hydraulic selector unit which we have added to our collection of potential trade materials. The bomb door selector lever is not present indicating that this particular unit was for the fighter version of the Mosquito.
RS700 Progress:
For this report we will start at the front of the aircraft and move toward the tail. Inside the very front of the aircraft, various quadrants in the cockpit are now being painted as are several of the forward bulkheads; all of which require a number of coats of paint. As with most jobs on the airplane, it is time consuming work, using small brushes to get into all the corners. As well, we have to plug all of the threaded holes in the ferrules to prevent the paint from clogging them.
In the cockpit area as well, Andy has taken the time to map the location and keep track of all the grounding straps and he has temporarily installed small nails in each nail hole so the original locations and paths can be followed. Once the painting is completed we will start restoring the grounding straps which are badly wrinkled and cracked.
[Andy EDIT: the below pic shows location of some of the original grounding straps and temporary nails used to locate where these were attached to the inner skin]
..end of EDIT]
Upper: We reached a significant milestone in starting to paint the interior of the nose and cockpit area which means all the structural repairs in this area are complete, all damaged ferrules replaced and we can now start to reinstall restored components. Lower: Not quite the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but Michelangelo (Don H.) takes similar pride in his work.
Gary has finished with the crew entrance area bulkhead and the temporary floor is reinstalled to protect the bulkheads. Painting beneath the floor has started in small areas and will expand shortly. We have gone over bulkhead 2 as much as possible to ensure that cracks and delamination have been repaired. The aft side of this bulkhead has been painted with one coat. More of the metal components for this area have been painted, with repair work for the hydraulic tubing to start once tooling is acquired.
Davey has been hard at work cleaning threads on all the fasteners for the armour plates and reattaching them to the template. Material used to protect the wood and armour from fretting now needs to be sourced and cut for fit.
We are near completion for repairing the damage to the fuselage between bulkhead 2 and the stress fracture on the right side of the fuselage with only holes to be drilled.
The 'ceiling' area between bulkhead 2 and 3 has been inspected with most areas repaired. One more final inspection for any loose ends and it too will be ready for paint. From the cockpit back to this area is a uniform green colour so we will endeavor to complete this to avoid mix ups in paint colours.
The Master and his young apprentice: Here Davey D. shows one of our newer and younger volunteers, Geoffrey C. the finer points of thread cleaning on hardware used to attach the armour plate to bulkhead 1.
On the top side, Andy and Cam have completed most repairs to the structure like cracks, voids and balsa replacement. Andy is now roughing the contours on the outside left to get ready to install new skins. Gary has invented a sander which appears to work well for scarfing areas on the aircraft, eliminating one more technical problem.
In the area of the camera mount, a shelf was added by Spartan which is still firmly attached, making it one of the few areas that are completely intact and original. That said it also happens to be an area we need to access in order to remove bolts that held the lower wing attach points together. Michael and Don have worked to clean the hardware and remove debris to help gain access to these critical bolts.
Andy W. has installed all new balsa wood in the area aft of the cockpit canopy. Once glued in place the balsa has to be sanded to create a smooth curved surface prior to covering with new birch plywood skin.
Although the new balsa wood will be completely covered by the outer skin, we use a permanent ink stamp which reads "Calgary Mosquito Society 2009" on all new material added to the airplane. This is in alignment with best practices, which for future reference will identify and distinguish from original all of the work done and new materials used by our organization in the restoration process.
[Andy EDIT: an additional pic showing the above area after initials shaping:
..end of EDIT]
During inspection some of the joints appeared to require bonding, for which there was no easy fix. Dick came up with the idea of cutting lightening holes parallel to the fasteners so we could get wrenches on them. Of course the most difficult fasteners were the worst to remove and it was no surprise to find them badly corroded. Once repaired, this area will be caulked with epoxy, using fasteners to squeeze it down. Various other locations have also been caulked since we have no access to the joint area. Once the area has been bonded, plugs will be cut to fill the lightening holes.
A lot of work is going into this area, but it is critical to the structure and safety of the aircraft as these are two of only four areas to which the wing attaches. Some injection bonding will likely take place on the skins in this area as well.
Moving aft on the port side of the fuselage, our last piece of bogus skin patching has been removed. Again, this is work that was done after the airplane arrived in Calgary and was in the care of the Air Museum of Canada. It represents the largest patch on the aircraft and the last piece to be removed from the left side of the fuselage. The damage was similar to other areas we have worked on, with poor bonding resulting in delamination, more staple holes, small areas of rot, missing material and last but not least, more cedar below the skin where balsa should have been used.
'The sins of the fathers': Here Jack supervises Cam and Don as they remove a large section of skin that was stapled in place by volunteers with the Air Museum of Canada back in the mid 1960s. Under the bogus skin we found an abundance of non-standard cedar in place of the balsa, as well as a badly damaged inner skin section.
Roger and Peter have worked this area building an internal frame to support the skin shape, cutting out the bad material and preparing the new insert. The new skin will be bonded underneath the existing stringer and will be spliced to the old material.
Gary is scarfing the aft area getting ready for the first external patch, after which we will move forward from this point working back to bulkhead 3.
After the bogus skin was removed Peter and Roger went to work removing the cedar and cutting out a section of damaged inner skin.
Not a job for the large or claustrophobic. Deep in the rear fuselage, Roger installs the temporary structure built to support the new inner skin. Because of the taper of the fuselage and its compound curves, every skin replacement requires a new custom build structure.
Don is busy removing varnish painted over all the dirt in the tail end of the aircraft. This is a very confined space requiring patience and short bursts of work. The aft sheet of plywood on bulkhead six probably has a nail every 1/4 inch.
Inside, Janelle has installed a patch on bulkhead 5, Cam is repairing the internal skin damage on the hell hole door where the aft door striker plate was ripped out.
Great stuff Andy!
- Thread starter
- #155
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks Hugh. Attaching a diagram of the fuel relief valve needed by someone who needs the link:
turbo
Staff Sergeant
COOL!!!!
fubar57
General
Great update
- Thread starter
- #158
Crimea_River
Marshal
From our 1Q18 Report:
The work accomplished in the first quarter of 2018 is very similar to that in the fourth quarter of 2017. The cockpit area is being painted with a second coat. After the first coat of paint, which was thinned to help penetrate the dry wood, we took a look for any defects that the paint exposed. This included any areas where additional sanding, filling and gluing were done to facilitate repairs. The 'finished' (to this point) product looks quite clean at this point and is in sharp contrast to the days when we first started on the fuselage.
The hardware for the armour plate below the crew positions is almost complete, with only the gasket between the bulkhead and plate remaining to be cut before the plate is reinstalled.
Then and Now: 2012 and 2018. Standing in the bomb bay looking forward into the cockpit and nose area.
The rubberized cork has arrived so discussions are underway to determine the best way to cut the sizeable gasket. We look forward to attaching the armour plate to the bulkhead as it will provide some significant structural integrity for this area of the fuselage. Even Spartan Air Services learned the importance of the plating, which they had removed at one point because of its weight, only to reinstall it after recognizing that it served a structural purpose.
Davey D. working on the bulkhead prior to reinstalling the armour plate which protected the crew's lower legs and provided significant structural strength to the fuselage.
The structure around the aft lower wing attach points has been opened, with a great deal of old glue removed were possible with the joints being re-glued. Wooden plugs were made to fill holes cut in the camera operator's shelf in order to gain access to the hardware that bolted the structure together. New hardware will be sourced and installed as corrosion in this area was extensive.
Work is progressing from the 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock position aft of bulkhead 2 with work around the attach brackets for the hydraulic tanks. The skins have already been patched or repaired in the area so work is progressing rapidly with Dave D. putting the final touch to the area.
Bouncing around a little, the rearmost area of the fuselage interior has been cleaned and stripped from outside the last bulkhead, which now requires us to enter the tail area from the hell hole in order to complete the cleaning, paint stripping and repairs. The coating that had covered the grime in the tail has been quite difficult to remove, especially given the limited and awkward access to this area. Don Y. and Don H. have been taking turns cleaning the area as it is quite physically demanding.
Don Y. reaching in the back door to clean out and paint strip the rearmost area of the fuselage.
Roger D. has completed the structural repairs to the port side of the rear fuselage including the balsa installation. This leaves only the exterior skins to be installed.
We continue to experiment with and learn about vacuum bagging to facilitate installing the exterior skins, with a few challenges yet to be resolved. Equipment should be in place to move forward with this by the end of the week.
Roger examines the inner skin of the rear port side fuselage to determine how much will have to be replaced due to water damage that has rotted the wood and weakened the structure.
Gary T. is handling the vacuum bagging work and is now working on a patch on the starboard side of the fuselage which is slightly larger than the first patch on which this process was first used. The starboard side of the fuselage has significantly less damage than does the port, so there will more patching and far less full skin panel replacement.
Gary T. experimenting with vacuum bagging new skin to the fuselage. Michael H. looks on as SAIT students Janelle and Kerona take some instruction from Dick S. above.
Andy W. is working to repair a stringer on the starboard rear side of the fuselage. It appears that impact damage has given the stringer a concave shape and that a scarf joint in the area has separated, complicating the repair efforts. Roger W. is working his carpenter's magic building forms to hold the stringer in position for gluing and repair. Patch locations have been drawn out on the outside of the starboard fuselage where we will move in increments to keep the patches as small as possible.
Andy W. working to repair a stringer on the rear starboard side of the fuselage. It has bowed inward and split at a scarf point.
We have begun to build a list of hardware necessary to start bolting some of the structure back together. The original metal hardware on this aircraft is both peened over and corroded beyond belief in some areas as it is embedded in the wood, much of which has held a great deal of water for years. Andy W. has located a company that may supply us with copper strips that we can use to replace any of the iconic bonding straps that crisscross the interior of the fuselage.
I am optimistic we should be well on our way to getting the exterior skins installed before the summer season. We will continue to get some of the mechanical pieces ready for installation once the painting is complete. The job of painting small metal bits and pieces is a surprisingly time consuming task.
The work accomplished in the first quarter of 2018 is very similar to that in the fourth quarter of 2017. The cockpit area is being painted with a second coat. After the first coat of paint, which was thinned to help penetrate the dry wood, we took a look for any defects that the paint exposed. This included any areas where additional sanding, filling and gluing were done to facilitate repairs. The 'finished' (to this point) product looks quite clean at this point and is in sharp contrast to the days when we first started on the fuselage.
The hardware for the armour plate below the crew positions is almost complete, with only the gasket between the bulkhead and plate remaining to be cut before the plate is reinstalled.
Then and Now: 2012 and 2018. Standing in the bomb bay looking forward into the cockpit and nose area.
The rubberized cork has arrived so discussions are underway to determine the best way to cut the sizeable gasket. We look forward to attaching the armour plate to the bulkhead as it will provide some significant structural integrity for this area of the fuselage. Even Spartan Air Services learned the importance of the plating, which they had removed at one point because of its weight, only to reinstall it after recognizing that it served a structural purpose.
Davey D. working on the bulkhead prior to reinstalling the armour plate which protected the crew's lower legs and provided significant structural strength to the fuselage.
The structure around the aft lower wing attach points has been opened, with a great deal of old glue removed were possible with the joints being re-glued. Wooden plugs were made to fill holes cut in the camera operator's shelf in order to gain access to the hardware that bolted the structure together. New hardware will be sourced and installed as corrosion in this area was extensive.
Work is progressing from the 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock position aft of bulkhead 2 with work around the attach brackets for the hydraulic tanks. The skins have already been patched or repaired in the area so work is progressing rapidly with Dave D. putting the final touch to the area.
Bouncing around a little, the rearmost area of the fuselage interior has been cleaned and stripped from outside the last bulkhead, which now requires us to enter the tail area from the hell hole in order to complete the cleaning, paint stripping and repairs. The coating that had covered the grime in the tail has been quite difficult to remove, especially given the limited and awkward access to this area. Don Y. and Don H. have been taking turns cleaning the area as it is quite physically demanding.
Don Y. reaching in the back door to clean out and paint strip the rearmost area of the fuselage.
Roger D. has completed the structural repairs to the port side of the rear fuselage including the balsa installation. This leaves only the exterior skins to be installed.
We continue to experiment with and learn about vacuum bagging to facilitate installing the exterior skins, with a few challenges yet to be resolved. Equipment should be in place to move forward with this by the end of the week.
Roger examines the inner skin of the rear port side fuselage to determine how much will have to be replaced due to water damage that has rotted the wood and weakened the structure.
Gary T. is handling the vacuum bagging work and is now working on a patch on the starboard side of the fuselage which is slightly larger than the first patch on which this process was first used. The starboard side of the fuselage has significantly less damage than does the port, so there will more patching and far less full skin panel replacement.
Gary T. experimenting with vacuum bagging new skin to the fuselage. Michael H. looks on as SAIT students Janelle and Kerona take some instruction from Dick S. above.
Andy W. is working to repair a stringer on the starboard rear side of the fuselage. It appears that impact damage has given the stringer a concave shape and that a scarf joint in the area has separated, complicating the repair efforts. Roger W. is working his carpenter's magic building forms to hold the stringer in position for gluing and repair. Patch locations have been drawn out on the outside of the starboard fuselage where we will move in increments to keep the patches as small as possible.
Andy W. working to repair a stringer on the rear starboard side of the fuselage. It has bowed inward and split at a scarf point.
We have begun to build a list of hardware necessary to start bolting some of the structure back together. The original metal hardware on this aircraft is both peened over and corroded beyond belief in some areas as it is embedded in the wood, much of which has held a great deal of water for years. Andy W. has located a company that may supply us with copper strips that we can use to replace any of the iconic bonding straps that crisscross the interior of the fuselage.
I am optimistic we should be well on our way to getting the exterior skins installed before the summer season. We will continue to get some of the mechanical pieces ready for installation once the painting is complete. The job of painting small metal bits and pieces is a surprisingly time consuming task.
fubar57
General
Thanks for the update
turbo
Staff Sergeant
