XM655

[Nickolas]

Look, take it home, stand it in the hall all weekend and by Monday morning you should be well above 10 deg C.

I'm sure SWMBO won't mind as you have probably attempted similar before.

Needs must etc............

[RLN]

Thank you, Sooty.

[Sooty655]

Look, take it home, stand it in the hall all weekend and by Monday morning you should be well above 10 deg C.

I'm sure SWMBO won't mind as you have probably attempted similar before.

Needs must etc............

Great idea, Nickolas, let's divide up the work. I'll carry the lacquer AND the catalyst AND the brushes, you can just bring the engine.

[Nickolas]

Look, take it home, stand it in the hall all weekend and by Monday morning you should be well above 10 deg C.

I'm sure SWMBO won't mind as you have probably attempted similar before.

Needs must etc............

Great idea, Nickolas, let's divide up the work. I'll carry the lacquer AND the catalyst AND the brushes, you can just bring the engine.

Okey Dokey...........
Do you have a wide front door are are you going to rely on me getting up a bit of momentum and enlarging the opening 'As we go'!!

[WaddoVet]

More praise for Sooty -

We now have a fully functional Pitot-Static leak tester thanks to Sooty dismantling and re-assembling a very complicated valve assembly.

Amazingly, despite age and cold weather, both Pitot systems were as good as any Vulcan I've ever done a Pitot-Static leak test on when the OAT has been only just above freezing and well within leak limits - and all 3 ASIs read the same as the meter on the leak tester!

Sooty has now been tasked with manufacturing a couple of static bungs and a static adapter so we can test the static systems too. His engineering skills never fail to impress.

[Sooty655]

Yesterday morning we finished putting all the plumbing back on the No 4 engine. We were blessed (??) with a wet day, but working under a big triangular umbrella kept us fairly dry. This pic shows the engine ready for re-installation.


We used aluminium sheets to cover the rough patches on the concrete pan, so we could roll the engine and stand (all three tons of it) into position under the engine bay.


This pic shows the engine lifted clear of the stand.


A full frontal of the engine on the way up.


And here she is in position. The front mounting bolt has been fitted and the A-frame released and partially lowered. The pip pins are in place under the main trunnions, and Bovril is busy installing the trunnion bolts.


All the photos were taken by Charles Brimson.

By the end of the day we had the doors back on so the aircraft is secure. We also re-connected some of the electrics. The next couple of weekends will be spent connecting the jetpipe, refitting the end cap, and installing all the airframe to engine plumbing. After that, wet and dry cycles and an EGR will complete the work.

As you have already seen from the pictures we posted earlier, the engine proved to be in very good condition for its age, and as we have replaced the two cracked zero-stage stators it is now in better shape than when we removed it. We will be completing an inspection report for the various interested parties, and we are confident that we have fully addressed all the concerns which were raised last year.

We are now looking forward to the next Wellesbourne Wings and Wheels on Sunday 20th June, and to many more in the years to come.

[Dan4th]

Yeow!

I'm just amazed at the photos that keep
showing up on here! I could look at those
all day!

Not sure about that "Full Frontal" thing, though..........

Shouldn't there be a disclaimer???????????

Don't blame you for being "Chuffed", as you Limies
are so fond of saying..........

Can't Wait!

Dan4th

[Mayfly]

Excellent news Sooty well done to you & the rest of the team!!!

Now a question after which I shall don my tin hat............

As you have said you replaced two cracked zero-stage stators, Is it worth while checking the other 3 engines in the same way, say 1 a year for the next 3 years?

[Crew chief]

Excellent news Sooty well done to you & the rest of the team!!!

Now a question after which I shall don my tin hat............

As you have said you replaced two cracked zero-stage stators, Is it worth while checking the other 3 engines in the same way, say 1 a year for the next 3 years?

That maybe the plan


cc.

[Mayfly]

Excellent, would you need to wait for the winter or would you have time July - September to avoid the worst of the winter weather?

[Sooty655]

As you have said you replaced two cracked zero-stage stators, Is it worth while checking the other 3 engines in the same way, say 1 a year for the next 3 years?

We don't need to remove the engines to inspect the stators - we know that there are cracked stators in all three remaining engines. They aren't getting any better, but with the low numbers of running hours every year, they aren't getting any worse.

It would be nice to think we could do one each year, but it all depends on what else needs to be done. Apart from the aircraft, we also have to keep all the ground equipment serviceable. Because of the effort on the No 4 engine this winter, we have made no progress on the refurbishment of the tug, and no progress on our reserve air starter.

After the run day, we will draw up a priority work programme for next winter. I'm sure the remaining engines will all be done eventually, and as sooty I will be pushing for it, but I think monopolising the next three winters might be asking a bit too much.

Excellent, would you need to wait for the winter or would you have time July - September to avoid the worst of the winter weather?

July to September is a bit of a tight time scale if we have a members day planned. In any case, Sooty655 takes the summer off for boating activities, and if the other guys try to do one without me, I'll kill 'em.

[Mayfly]

Yeah I know you have your members day which is why I said September. Poor Bovril - no work on his tug, how has he survived!!!

[Crew chief]

Yeah I know you have your members day which is why I said September. Poor Bovril - no work on his tug, how has he survived!!!

Bovril has been like a pig in sh*t working on the aircraft rather than his tug.

cc.

[Mayfly]

The two timer!!!!

[Mackrick]

Nice photos sooty ....

[Sooty655]

Nice photos sooty ....

Ooops - I forgot to credit the photos to Charles Brimson. I'll edit the original post.

[Mackrick]

There still nice photos whoever took them ....

[Bovril]

Yeah I know you have your members day which is why I said September. Poor Bovril - no work on his tug, how has he survived!!!

i hope to get back on the tug and do a bit more on the tug before W&W and a lot more before members day

i have spent most of my time of the tug at welles so work on the plane is a very welcome change. I even did my first bit of body work on the girl

[Dan4th]

I even did my first bit of body work on the girl

Ah, Memories!

Danf.

[WaddoVet]

The Tug isn't getting totally neglected.

We did get the head off the compressor on Saturday and did a bit of work on the valves to try and improve the braking efficiency a little.

I'm looking forward to getting some time with the power on so I can make a start on getting some of the avionics up and running again.

[Gully]

The Tug has avionics?!

Gully

[Bovril]

well the electrics work.. i have just been contemplating putting the triangle beacon back on the front

if you fancy printing one off and putting up somewhere? click on the image for a hires version (or right click "save target as")

[Bovril]

another good day at welles

[Crew chief]

Hi all.

We hope to give XM655 an engine run tomorrow IF the planned wet/dry cycles go ok.As you all know No4 engine has been out and checked and refitted and its the first egr we have done since members day last year.IF everything goes ok then we aim to start all four engines and maybe rattle a few windows in the village.


cc.

[Wedgy]

Good luck!