Warbird Information Exchange

We actually found Japan. We flew over the Canadian Arctic coast, over the Barent's sea, down over Eastern Siberia and Sakhalin Island, and got to this spot.



Then after some Sapporos, tempura, and a 24 hour layover, we even found North America, and ended up back in Toronto. See everyone grinning? It must mean I passed the ride.



And even the Relief Pilot was smiling -- it was a check ride for him too.

Then Stan arrived at the hangar with a handful of cylinder wrenches, and we commenced further Warner engine disassembly.



With a bit of finagling, we got #2 cylinder off. (The exhaust uses an interior "intensifier tube" to get hot air for carb heat. It makes the exhaust pipes very hard to remove.)



And there it was on the bench!



But wait, what's this? Is that push-rod-tube actually crimped?

Oh fer Pete's sake... look at that.



This engine has been leaking oil since we bought it, and the bottom of #2 cylinder has always been wetter than the rest. That crimped end must have happened during the last time the cylinder was installed. Then the rubber sleeve which fits over top of it, and over the nipple on the crankcase, didn't quite cover the crimp completely, and thus the thing leaked. I wonder how much came out? Maybe a cup an hour? That's messy! And also expensive at $8 a quart, for several hundred hours.

Anyway, it's an easy fix. We'll make that crimped end nice and round again, and also use a longer sleeve (just ordered from Aircraft Spruce).

Dave

At least it is a fairly inexpensive fix. And now it won't leak anymore

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A&P/I.A., A.A.S./Aviation Maintenance technology
Warbird salvage/recovery
One day I'll get that P-40!

Congrats on passing your check ride Dave and thanks for posting the photos on the cylinder pull. I like seeing how different engines go together.

As the old saying goes, "It's not leaking -- it's marking it's territory!"

Anyway, thanks for the wish Cooper, but I still bought a King-Sized jug of SafeSolv for the coming season -- which is the finest stuff I've ever seen for cleaning up oil. (It's better than varsol and smells like orange juice.) I expect I'll still be under the belly at the end of each day's flying. And thanks also, Avian -- it's nice to be finished with the Training Department and be released onto the Line.

Stan came while I was flying and got the cylinder on.



New piston, rings and exhaust valve. I'm sure glad I spent the extra money and bought the Spitfire Guy's collection of parts. And we were fortunate to find an "old guy" engine rebuilder who in his personal tool stash had a rig that would re-grind a fresh surface onto the exhaust valve seat -- apparently it's not a simple set-up in the Warner.

The new piston does not look like this anymore...



So Stan had me re-install the exhaust manifold. That's an awkward bloody assembly of parts. I needed 5 hands to line everything up. Each section is individual, and inside there's an intensifier tube threading it's way down to the carb air intake.

Eventually, with enough fiddling and enough skin removed from various knuckles, it all lined up and the joining collars fitted into place.



Then I spent most of a day running around town trying to buy some brass exhaust nuts, and a few other simple bolts and bits of hardware. Total waste of time. All I could find was car-grade stuff made of zinc-plated steel that I won't bring near the airplane. "Coned" lock nuts? Where did they come from?

The exhaust studs on a Warner are 1/4" fine thread, and if a ferrous nut corrodes onto it, and siezes, then later if you try to get it off, you end up turning the stud out of the head -- bad idea, considering the labour involved if a cylinder has to come off to put a helicoil in for a larger thread. About half the studs on this engine have had that done over the decades...

Anyway, I'll order some brass exhaust nuts. No big deal. But it would be nice if a town the size of Barrie had something beyond what you would use to build a chipboard house. (Rant now complete.)



Next, Stan arrives in a few days and we complete the Annual. I hope.

Then got to Gatineau for a test-flight in the Tiger Moth. It's now finished it's re-assembly and since we have a gig for it coming up, it needed to be flown.



There were a few tweaks to be done, so while low-ceilings and poor vis kept us in the hangar, we sorted these out. Then went flying on a glorious sunny winter morning. I have no photos of that yet, but here's one from same time last year -- the day was just like this!



After a short flight I determined there were some rigging changes to be made, so back it went into the hangar, but I understand it did indeed fly at the ski-plane rendezvous at Montebello. Success!

Lots of work going on in the hangar. The Spitfire engine is out for a good once-over.



And the Mark XII Hurricane is starting to look like an airplane.



We even stuck the WWII nose-art cowl on it to make sure of alignment -- I doubt we'll use it in service, of course.



A long way to go yet, but a very great deal has been done. Those are newly rebuilt wings propped up beside it. I believe completing it will be a high-priority item for next winter. Right now we're busy with Annuals and other work, to be ready for the 2012 season.

Dave

Thanks for the close up on the cylinder work, don't forget a very teeny dab of ANTI-SIEZE on those threads. I'll bet you were the only guy in town looking for brass nuts and in this day and age stores don't stock stuff that just sits the shelf, and that sort of stuff can't be found @ HOME DEPOT AEROSPACE.

Why not use the original side cowl? heritage sort of thing isn't it?

What's your impression of the 'trip' now that the 'new' has worn off a bit?

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Thanks for the Fairchild post Dave. I needed a Fairchild fix.
Those 1/4" brass nuts can be purchased under the Continental part numbers of either, 21247 or 22022. The A-65 Continental engines found on Cubs and other planes take these.

Jim

Dave
Great to see the progress on the Hurricane and the Fairchild hope to see you next flying season!
Steve

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“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”

Inspector, good advice about the anti-seize. And hey, I don't shop at "Walmart Aerospace". I wouldn't think of it. Up here, all righteous pilots shop at "Princess Auto Aerospace". We have standards, after all.

As for the cowl, I really don't know. We wouldn't want to lost the art, and also I'm not sure how good the metal is after all these years. I'll find out.

About the "trip", which one?

Jim, my pleasure, and I've got an order-in to Aircraft Spruce. I recognize that I need to lay in a stock of hardware.

Steve, yes, I'll be checking out on the Hurricane as soon as feasible this spring. We want a bit of pilot scheduling flexibility for the "Warbirds of the Med" airshow displays this year.

I did get a few photos of the Moth test flight. It was cold out on the ramp, particularly as it didn't start right away. The impulse mag wiring got sent to the other switch during the repair, so we were trying to start it on the wrong one. Took a while! But when we selected the other one on she fired at the first swing.







Dave

We'll have to rename you "Buzz" for the Med show this year!

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“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”

Better be called "Buzz" than "Screwball", which was his actual name in the service.

Finished the Annual on the Fairchild. Always grounds for relief! I pulled all the fairings and inspection plates, and loosened the rocker covers and so on, so Stan was able to get it done in one long day.



Here he is barking the skin off his knuckles putting the lockwire back on the oil filter screen. (Which was clean -- always good to see.) That's one of those jobs I'm happy to pay him to do -- very difficult to get at.



When we took the wheels off, I was pleased to see that the springs were not rusty. (The Old Spitfire Guy had troubles with that.) Probably the fact that it's a heated concrete-floored hangar has made a difference -- with him the aircraft was stored in an open-front hangar on a dirt floor. And the drums and pads were fine. Just pack the bearings with fresh grease (guess who got to do that!), and back on they went.





I've been very conservative with brakes since we bought it. I very rarely use them to "make an intersection". I let it roll, then do a 180. So far we haven't had any trouble with the hydraulic-bladders, and I don't want any.

An engine-run revealed no leaks (er, no new leaks) and all well, so 2 days later I was joined by Matt W, a friend from the Edenvale Classic Aircraft Foundation, and we got it airborne.



First, I did a test-flight, solo of course. The weather was spectacular, a wonderful break, unheard-of in Mid-Feb around here. No snow, and temp was +5C. The strip was clear, with the ground still frozen, and most of the puddles still hard, although I tried to dodge them on each take-off and landing just in case.





Lovely to get her airborne again after a 3 month layoff!

All was well, so Matt hopped in, and we wandered away.