airnutz wrote:
warbird1 wrote:
You gotta love the new nose job! I'm so used to seeing the "indentation" on the nose of that thing, that it will take some getting used to seeing it "normally".
I really have hoped the Mk I would have been farther along by now, as do I'm sure, many others.
Sure. Doing it right, effectively around 'the day job' takes time. Donations are welcome and will expedite the process.
Membership of the Blenheim Society, a worthy support organisation, would do that
and give you the inside track on what's going on.
In the meantime, here's some inside track on the web - From the Blenheim Society website:
http://www.blenheimsociety.org.uk/Quote:
Blenheim progress
The work on the nose is continuing and we have now completed the internal and external painting of all of the tubular structure that carries the glazing and this is now permanently fitted to the nose.
The main task now is to make all the sheet metal fittings that carry the glazing and we are finding this very time consuming as there are over seventy separate items plus the glazing. We did believe that we could rescue a good number of the originals but find that most had been modified when it was transformed into a car so are having to remake them. As I have said previously we need to complete as much of the nose as is possible in the workshop as this will save an enormous amount of time later.
The seat frame has been modified to carry the British style hydraulics which is now painted and ready to fit as is all of the tube work that carries the trim wheels and hydraulic levers.
A number of components have been riveted to the structure including such items as the observer’s seat frame plus the transfer box that carries the flying cables to the airframe.
Other items that have progressed and ready to fir are the fuel shut off and transfer levers, which are interestingly made completely of ‘Tufnol’, including the made fixing bolt. ‘Tufnol’ is a man made resin and cloth material.
Also being put back together are the controls for the carb cut-outs, pitch change and hot air levers.
Engine wise we have shipped a complete set of cylinders to the USA to have a ceramic coating to the bores and it is intended to put one engine into the engine bay as soon as we have completed the one we are building for a Lysander in Canada. Hopefully this will be within the next two months.
Although the visual progress appears slow, and it is good for morale to see major components being fitted, it’s the small bits that make up the whole, so progress is still good.
Finally the Society did its marvellous fund raising again in 2008 and donated £21,000 to the project. We are absolutely astounded that a small society such as ours can raise such funds, much to the envy of much larger societies. Thanks you once again from us at ‘Blenheim Palace’.
Smudge, February 2009
(extract taken with permission from The Journal of Blenheim Society Issue 63 of March 2009)
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