It's difficult to tell from the remnants and the Vol 3 doesn't give any clues. It's non-structural so we've gone with pine for cheapness and practicality. It might have originally been spruce but that would probably have been overkill for where it is
I can assure you that lots was done this Saturday although you'd be hard to spot it in the attached photos. The keels are moving slowly forwards, with all of the lower attachment holes drilled out to 5/32", this is evidenced by having the yellow gripper pins replaced by blue. The doubler holes have been opened out as well.
With only myself and Graham on site it meant we were a bit limited although Graham has started stripping down bomb door hinges ready for mounting on the keels.
Our good friend Sorin from Amada UK dropped by to give us a laser cut Stirling silhouette to mount as a sign outside the workshop. Have to say it really looks the part.
By: Prop Strike
- 19th March 2024 at 08:56Permalink
My initial understanding was that this was to be a cockpit/front fuselage recreation , but the photos indicate this is to be much more substantial ( hurrah !) . Apologies if this is already explained back somewhere in the many many pages, but maybe you could update us on the extent of the planned build.
Essentially we're recreating the entire forward fuselage to just aft of frame 14, which is just before the front spar at fr15/16. This will encompass all the main crew positions (Bomb Aimer/Front Gunner, 1st and 2n Pilot's, Nav, W/Op and Flt Eng).
Belated update, but personal life takes priority sometimes.
With just myself and Cliff in this Saturday, progress was always going to be limited. That said I'm pleased to state that work has started on the Port bomb keel if only to drill one of the lower extruded angles using its Stbd match as a template. With 2 of us drilling, disassembling and deburring this took most of the day unfortunately
However, I took some time out and started to disassemble the stbd keel to keep on top of the deburring. This led to the first keel diaphragm doubler getting deburred, cleaned and primed ready for assembly.
Next week should see the return of some old friends...
Posts: 1,952
By: 12jaguar - 12th March 2024 at 17:04 Permalink
Thanks guys. There's a surprising amount of wood in the structure and thankfully a lot of it has survived to use as patterns😎
John
Posts: 385
By: Oracal - 12th March 2024 at 17:32 Permalink
John, is that plain sawn pine? Was that what they originally used or was it ash?
Posts: 1,952
By: 12jaguar - 12th March 2024 at 20:15 Permalink
It's difficult to tell from the remnants and the Vol 3 doesn't give any clues. It's non-structural so we've gone with pine for cheapness and practicality. It might have originally been spruce but that would probably have been overkill for where it is
John
Posts: 1,952
By: 12jaguar - 18th March 2024 at 18:25 Permalink
Hi all
I can assure you that lots was done this Saturday although you'd be hard to spot it in the attached photos. The keels are moving slowly forwards, with all of the lower attachment holes drilled out to 5/32", this is evidenced by having the yellow gripper pins replaced by blue. The doubler holes have been opened out as well.
With only myself and Graham on site it meant we were a bit limited although Graham has started stripping down bomb door hinges ready for mounting on the keels.
Our good friend Sorin from Amada UK dropped by to give us a laser cut Stirling silhouette to mount as a sign outside the workshop. Have to say it really looks the part.
Till next
John
Posts: 462
By: Prop Strike - 19th March 2024 at 08:56 Permalink
My initial understanding was that this was to be a cockpit/front fuselage recreation , but the photos indicate this is to be much more substantial ( hurrah !) . Apologies if this is already explained back somewhere in the many many pages, but maybe you could update us on the extent of the planned build.
Posts: 1,952
By: 12jaguar - 19th March 2024 at 09:26 Permalink
Hi PS
Essentially we're recreating the entire forward fuselage to just aft of frame 14, which is just before the front spar at fr15/16. This will encompass all the main crew positions (Bomb Aimer/Front Gunner, 1st and 2n Pilot's, Nav, W/Op and Flt Eng).
Quite a sizeable chunk of aircraft!
John
Posts: 1,952
By: 12jaguar - 14th April 2024 at 19:58 Permalink
Hi all
Belated update, but personal life takes priority sometimes.
With just myself and Cliff in this Saturday, progress was always going to be limited. That said I'm pleased to state that work has started on the Port bomb keel if only to drill one of the lower extruded angles using its Stbd match as a template. With 2 of us drilling, disassembling and deburring this took most of the day unfortunately
However, I took some time out and started to disassemble the stbd keel to keep on top of the deburring. This led to the first keel diaphragm doubler getting deburred, cleaned and primed ready for assembly.
Next week should see the return of some old friends...
John