XM655

[Amanda_h]

Hi Sooty,

Great news, let's hope it all goes smoothly, a bit cold for that sort of thing though!

That's what impresses me is the dedication of the engineering team on 655.

I keep saying this but I must try and get down to offer my help one Saturday.

Keep up the good work and Happy New Year to all of you!

[Bovril]

only cold on the fingers

[Sad Sam3]

Well at least you had the opportunity to head North for a bit of a practise run!

Hope it all goes well for you.

Oh and if you need a drawing for the sling you'll need to get the top half off the compressor casing, I still have a copy of the drawing somewhere.

[Bovril]

Thanks Sam. We too hope all is well

Hope all goes well for you in 2010 and beyond

[Sooty655]

Well at least you had the opportunity to head North for a bit of a practise run!

Hope it all goes well for you.

Oh and if you need a drawing for the sling you'll need to get the top half off the compressor casing, I still have a copy of the drawing somewhere.

Thanks, Sam. The "training exercise" up at Woodford was very useful, and everything we did yesterday seemed very familiar.

Luckily we have the slings for both compressor casings, and we have practiced on the seized engine we got from Woodford last year. The LP main and extension casings are both off, and the HP is well on the way.

We have also made a puller to extract the zero-stage stators from the seized engine, so we can use the good ones to replace those that are cracked in our installed engines.

[Sploosher]

I think that 655 is superb. I have yet to see and hear her running, but she sure is well looked after.

Keep it up guys..........

[Sooty655]

I think that 655 is superb. I have yet to see and hear her running, but she sure is well looked after.

Keep it up guys..........

Thank you, Sploosher. We think so too!

Come along any Saturday for a taster, then enjoy the NOIZE at Wings and Wheels on June 20th.

[Mackrick]

You not had a camera with you Sooty655 ?
What no photos

[Crew chief]

You not had a camera with you Sooty655 ?
What no photos

Nothing really to take pictures of until we start to drop the engine.
I'm sure you will see something then.

cc.

[Mackrick]

be interested to see... last one I saw was 558's

[Sooty655]

be interested to see... last one I saw was 558's

We'll make sure there are some good photos of our activities posted.

I'm avoiding posting pictures of our work on the seized engine, because the condition is pretty bad, and I don't want there to be any confusion with our installed engines.

[Amanda_h]

Weather looks a bit rough for Saturday,
Let's hope all the snow stops and goes away!

AJH

[Bovril]

wont stop me getting there i hope

[Sooty655]

We have reluctantly had to cancel the engine removal planned for this coming weekend.

We need a full crew available to carry out the work safely, and the present and forecast weather conditions suggest that some of the crew may not be able to get to Wellesbourne. To add to the problem, our Crew Chief has done what Crew Chiefs do, and dislocated his kneecap this morning. Must be something about the power they have that goes to their heads and leaves their legs unsupervised.

As the work requires us to hire in equipment, we have decided to postpone (hopefully for just one week) until we can be more confident of both starting and finishing within the day. This keeps the cost down, and also ensures that the aircraft is not left in an insecure state for a week.

We will keep you all up-to-date with progress as and when we make any.

[Saracenman]

what a shame you don't have 4+ of RR's finest paraffin-powered snow melting devices!

sm

[Gully]

Fortunately, they have 3 pairs of Bristols instead...

Gully

[Xplumberlives]

Fortunately, they have 3 pairs of Bristols instead... Gully

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

[Sooty655]

Only a handful of the crew made it to Wellesbourne today, and we weren't able to make any progress on the engine removal. I was hoping to finish the disconnections and leave the engine ready to drop, but we found we had other priorities which needed our attention. More details later, when the photos are processed, but for now, have a look at this one on our website:-

http://vulcanxm655.fotopic.net/p62841509.html

[Dan4th]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!

Vulcan Cake with Vanilla Frosting!

Giant Cherry Required!

Danf.

[Pujgnie]

She still looks great - even covered in snow

[Gully]

Great picture!

Do you ground anchor the nose as they did at Goose Bay (and probably here too) to stop the weight of snow tipping her back on her haunches?

Thanks,

Gully

[Sooty655]

Do you ground anchor the nose as they did at Goose Bay (and probably here too) to stop the weight of snow tipping her back on her haunches?

Thanks,

Gully

XM655 sits on a pan designed for a much smaller aircraft. If we pushed her back far enough to secure the nosewheel leg to a ground anchor, we would have demolished all our workshops in the process.

We have two of the ECM cans out and we keep the fuel forward to help with the CofG, but in extremis other action also has to be taken.

Wait for the photos from today and all will become clear.

[Mackrick]

You don't want this happening do you ....
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showpost.php?p=1513931&postcount=1

[RLN]

Ooooops

[Amanda_h]

Hi,

Funnily enough I seriously thought about heading to Wellesbourne today,
then I thought "What if no one else makes it!"

Those are sure good pictures of XL319, is there much damage?

Back to 655 is the idea to drop the engine and get it undercover
to examine it?

Presumably the engine bay can still be closed and locked without the engine in.

It seems a bit of a tall order to remove the engine examine it and get it back in
all in one day.

AJH