LP2 SAR Hull No 316 Restoration.

[Matt Stephenson]

Progress is......progressing, but not as much as I had hoped.

Lately, I've had some long needed time away from work, which was an excellent opportunity to get some work done on the carrier, with the hope of getting it sandblasted and painted before going back to work.

I made up a list of things that needed to be accomplished before it could go away, which I guessed wasn't too great a task to achieve, however a spanner was thrown in the works, and its still not quite ready to go just yet.

I started off with some greatly appreciated help from Darrin Wright, who helped me to split the tracks. The mounting brackets on the floor in the front drivers/gunners section were all replaced and welded in. The mounting brackets for the Lewis ammo box and the ration boxes were also welded in place, but this is were it all came to a massive train wreck of a halt.

My previous attempts to fix the hole left in the floor under the engine and gearbox was no good. All the welds from the original steel to the new steel cracked, despite pre-heating and using different types of wire in the mig welder. Faced with this problem I consulted the local brains trust and tired to educate myself further by doing a google search, which revealed a previous thread on MLU on the problem of welding old face hardened, fatigued and brittle steel. After reading the thread and then talking with a mate who is a mechanical engineer and has much more experience welding than me, it was decided to cut out the section back to the engine rails and make it a more neater section to replace. So with the new floor plate plate piece, with the taping frames for the sump and gearbox already welded on, the new piece was carefully welded in using and arc/stick welder. I cant recall the type of welding rods used, but I do know that it has worked, and that the new piece is securely welded in place with no evidence of any cracking or welds not sticking.

I have since decided to leave the welds on the floor as is, as grinding them smooth might be tempting fate, and given that its under the engine, which itself is under a cover, then they are not readily noticeable.

Moving on from that drama, I began to grind all the other welds smooth from the reconstruction of the missing upper armour plates, and rebuild part of the missing mounting frame for the instrument panel, and then re-tap the multitude of mounting blocks for all the fittings in the carrier.

It was about this time that I decided that I was rushing things, and that I was rushing for no other reason to try and get it in and sandblasted while I was off on leave from work. I then remembered something my Dad told me once when I was younger; "Rushing only leads to cutting corners and stuff ups, which you will only regret later on". A quick phone call to the sandblaster had it postponed to a date to be confirmed.

I've still got a bit left to do before its actually ready to go away for sandblasting and paint. I still need to take out the driver's floor plate and steering column, unbolt the diff from the hull and remove the front idlers on their mounting plates from the hull. I also need to weld on some new exhaust shrouds under the hull, as the old ones were bent and twisted out of shape. As yet, I've got no bloody idea how I'm going to get that one done....

Lately, I've also been experimenting with paint colours for the carrier. Gina's recent thread on colours has been very helpful, and will help greatly on the final Khaki Green colour it get painted. I did do a test pot I had made up on part of the side of the hull, but it looks more olive green than khaki green to me.....

I've also done some work on the instrument cluster, which you can see in the attached pic.

For now, progress has slowed a bit, but I am enjoying the work more than I was when it felt I was rushing. The restoration of my carrier was never intended to be a race, it was intended as something I can enjoy and to help take my mind off the crap I have to deal with every other day at work.

Comments, criticism and advice welcome as always.

[colin jones]

Hi Matt, your carrier is looking good! Haste certainly can make waste and I can tell you from experience. I would not grind the floor weld either as they are never seen. When ever I have done welding on carriers I do cut back where I can to have clean steel to weld to and have always run my welder quite hot and always used gas and not gasless. I just don't think you get enough heat out of the small portable migs but your floor repair looks very good. Keep up the good work and pics.
Colin.

[Matt Stephenson]

Hi All,

Not much progress on the carrier lately as we begin to enter the silly season at work. I recently picked up a ration/utensil box from a rural junk/antique shop. It has a slot cut into the back and was painted yellow, and had been used as a letterbox. It had something like 6 layers of enamel paint which, aside from being a pain in the a%*e to remove had preserved and protected the box well over the years. Once stripped there was absolutely no rust, just a couple of minor dents and dings but nothing major after the better part of 70 years.

Also, last week I was fortunate enough to take a look at a recent arrival to Albury. Its not CMP, allied or even a land vehicle. I got to have a look at what is termed an "Original Rebuild" Focke Wulf FW-190. As it happens the aircraft's owner, who is not a local, had decided to put his collection of original FW-190 parts to good use and have an air frame built around them. I'm told that a minimum 10% original parts are required to meet the requirement of it being classed as an "Original rebuild". Nonetheless, its a thing of beauty, and something that I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to look over, under and all around and take a few photos. I'm told by the owner of the FW-190 it will remain here in Albury for a while along with a few other war birds also residing here, as he learns how to fly it.

As usual, pics attached. All comments welcome.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Matt Stephenson

Also, last week I was fortunate enough to take a look at a recent arrival to Albury. Its not CMP, allied or even a land vehicle. I got to have a look at what is termed an "Original Rebuild" Focke Wulf FW-190. As it happens the aircraft's owner, who is not a local, had decided to put his collection of original FW-190 parts to good use and have an air frame built around them. I'm told that a minimum 10% original parts are required to meet the requirement of it being classed as an "Original rebuild". Nonetheless, its a thing of beauty, and something that I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to look over, under and all around and take a few photos. I'm told by the owner of the FW-190 it will remain here in Albury for a while along with a few other war birds also residing here, as he learns how to fly it.

As usual, pics attached. All comments welcome.

Hmm, registration: VH-WLF is attributed to a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, although it was written off in an accident so the registration may have been reused.

Also, it looks smaller than the original so it may be one of the 80% scale replica's which are being built?

Interesting to see, nevertheless!

[Keith Webb]

I think it's full size Hanno - they wouldn't be making such a fuss here over a scaled down version - we've seen those before.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

I think it's full size Hanno - they wouldn't be making such a fuss here over a scaled down version - we've seen those before.

Keith, maybe a full size one, but still mostly a replica...

"Aircraft restorers have long subscribed to the theory that the most important component for any restoration is the aircraft data plate; anything else can be fabricated."

Ref. http://forum.keypublishing.com/showt...d-to-Australia

But like I said, interesting to see, nevertheless!

[Matt Stephenson]

Kieth and Hanno,

The FW-190 is full size, Keith you are absolutely spot on there.

Hanno, yes it is mostly replica. The owner is not making any claims that it is 100% original. For that matter, it is still a Focke Wulf FW-190. For years companies in England, the US and in New Zealand have been using surplus crated aircraft engines and components and putting them into new built Spitfire, Hurricane and Mustang air frames. Does anyone dispute that they are not a Spitfire, Hurricane or a Mustang? I would suggest that a complete original flying FW-190 exist in the same place as Unicorns and Sasquatch, and the few originals to still remain are either too valuable to risk flying or not in an air worthy condition anymore.

Personally, I believe that anyone who is willing to spend such a considerable amount of their money to not only rebuild these things, but to also put them in the air is commendable and worthy of our praise. It is not too dissimilar to what others here on this forum are attempting to do, which ultimately is to preserve history.