Yesterday it finally felt like Spring had sprung! The sun was out (initially at least), the weather was dry, and we arrived at the museum with something resembling a plan of attack. The museum site itself felt like it was coming back to life after Winter hibernation too, as many of the aircraft usually found in the hangar were outdoors for a slight reshuffle and to put the Halifax back indoors after starring in the museum's nightshoot on Friday.
Back to Meteor business, our plans for the day were to remove the lid for the fuselage centre section to see what remained within, power wash the main undercarriage bays and the main u/c legs, and get a bit more air in the mainwheels. In addition Rich wanted to finish the removal of the wing leading edges; this was a job I had started, Andy had lent a hand with in the interim, and then Rich had taken on.
First job was to get the canopy cover off and the canopy open. Rich finding and closing the cabin depressurization valve on our last visit has made a big difference to the amount of moisture getting in, as we were greeted by that nice smell of old aircraft cockpit instead of the odour of dampness. I set about freeing the fasteners on the centre section lid off (after doing battle with a couple of seemingly invincible wasps, just coming out of hibernation under the rear canopy fairing!) while Rich battled the leading edges. After much work, and not a little filling the air with some good Anglo-Saxon, I had freed off the fastenings and extracted the remains of the upper rear fastenings. These have suffered a combination of time's ravages and simple old fashioned butchery. I may need to make new locking pins for them, but they will be restored and refitted. Rich had defeated the Port wing leading edge too, and after summoning me to help him, we were able to slide it off. The wing structure is in really good condition, and we found some AW builder's plates, dated 1953!
He soon had the starboard one off, at which point we noticed an anomaly. The inside of the starboard one was painted in the same primer as the wings' interior, yet the port one was grey inside. Closer inspection of the port leading edge's data plates revealed why;
It had in fact started life fitted to a Meteor NF.11. I wonder if it is a legacy of the accident marked on 788's record card late in her career...
Next job after lunch, after reinflating the mainwheels, was to get the canopy off which we soon sussed out. The canopy is lighter than it looks, and can easily be lifted by 2 people. 788, cabriolet style!
We lifted the lid, then climbed in to the tank bay to see what chaos lay within.
We found remarkably little corrosion, which was good. The fuel tank has gone, and there has been a lot of wire cutting-type tomfoolery carried out in there, but other than that it looks encouraging. One of the elevator control rods is still present; one of the things we are toying with reinstating is the control surfaces, so once we have sorted just what of the control runs is missing we will see if this is feasible, then start seeing if the parts are out there to be acquired. But at least that is one bit we don't need to source!
With the paint in there being flaky I decided to photograph all the markings, inspector's stamps, pencilled notes etc. I could find to record them. In doing so we found this one on the rear bulkhead of the centre section
Does this mean the centre section originally belonged to WS744 I wonder...?
It then started to shower a little, so we decided to get everything buttoned back up. Before we did I took this unusual view of the cockpit, just as Rich was closing the DV window
Last job of the day was to break the power washer out and give the main legs and undercarriage bays a good blast out to clean out. I thought this was the easiest way to shift several decades of crud and layers of flaky paint. As you can see in the pic below, judging by the debris on the floor it worked!
We then buttoned the jet up and called it a day.
We had a welcome visitor in the afternoon, who had taken the time to photocopy and deliver the Vol.1 and the pilot's notes for the NF14 in exchange for a brew and a look around 788. He even helped us put the jet to bed at the end of the day! Many, many thanks, much appreciated!
... I jus loves de fettlin' ... 
