Meet 'Fred' the Kiwi

I'm delighted to introduce the newest member of the team Fred. 

Fred travelled to the UK with a group of fellow kiwi's from New Zealand last week, for a tour of Bomber County. This was the second visit to Lindy by the group in two years, Fred enjoyed his visit so much he has decided to stay on! 

Some of the group remembered the Vulcan accident at Ohaka, when the visiting Vulcan B1, clipped the edge of the runway threshold, damaging the undercarriage leg, resulting in a long stay for repairs. Worse still, the crew blew off the canopy, so more headaches for the riggers and armourers! 

A special thank you needs to go to the group who's support has provided a quantity of ACF50 for Lindy's continued conservation. 

Thanks guys, we look forward to seeing you next time. 

June's Maintenance run

As part of the pre-season work up. XL231 had her monthly anti-det (anti deterioration) run on Sunday.  This was delayed by 2 weeks due to a snag with the APU Artouste engine that caused a bit of concern. Happily this turned out to be a partially sticking ADV (air delivery valve) that was soon cleared and the APU fuel control main solenoid valve was also removed and lubricated, as I was not happy with it.

APU slight wet start!

As a partial ant-det run the week previous and to thoroughly test the APU, I briefed Rich on how to 'dry run' the main engines and he carried out his first engine turns successfully, with myself on the the external intercom and John inside controlling the APU and other systems from the AEO position.

The main anti-det runs were carried out with Ollie on the external comms, John in the back and myself in the Left hand seat. Young Sam was sitting in the co-pilots seat and I wet-ran the engines. Basically, putting fuel through the burners and out of the back as vapour without actually igniting it. This ensures the fuel system is never allowed to dry out and that the engine has been turned to ensure oil pressure and lubrication. John also checked all 4 main engine alternators were generating AC power. I then let Sam dry turn the engines and he did this very nicely for his first time. A dry-turn is a full spin, but without fuel being introduced and it helps to dry the fuel vapour in the jet pipes.

We then carried out full hydraulic functionals, exercising the flaps to all 3 positions, air brakes to the full range of full out & full in and the Ram Air Turbine scoops (RATs) on top of the rear fuselage. The nosewheel steering was also tested and the Flight Refuelling Hose Drum unit (HDU) lowered and raised several times.  The flying controls which are fully powered and self contained were then all tested. No snags were noted, apart from the Starboard RAT sticking in the open position occasionally.

HDU lowered

Anti-det run

XL231 is now waiting eagerly for her next outing.

Mainwheel Tyre change

After the last taxy run we noticed that one of the mainwheel tyres on the port side had lost part of its tread and was showing signs of de-laminating further.

As the taxy run was the last one of 2013 we decided to leave the tyre until into the following season, the tyre was holding pressure and was fine for standing the aircraft on and it did not interfere with engine runs and other winter/spring maintenance.

Now the season is here and pending taxy runs are on us, we decided to tackle that particular wheel this last weekend. As far as taxy runs go this has been a late start due to events around the site and the Tour De France coming through the area 5th/6th July.

The Victor and identical Vulcan mainwheels are a single wheel with twin tyres and are of a split rim construction. The first job is to ensure the tyres are deflated and the valves removed. The outer locking ring is removed and the outer tyre with its two sliding removable beads is taken off first. Usually this involves a lot of cursing and sweating, with large rubber mallets and pry bars. If the outer tyre is the culprit (as in this case) then the inner wheel can be left alone. However, an inner tyre means a full wheel strip down and it is hard work. Under the sliding beads and between the main rim and bead are large sealing O rings, these can get stuck to the sliding bead and are difficult to sometimes free up. Especially if the wheel has been built up for a considerable time. Fitting new tyres usually means changing the O rings as well (if they are available). If the O ring is flattened then its unlikely to be re-useable. We have found silicone grease is the best product to smear the O rings with in order to help seal and protect them.

Outer tyre removed

Ollie returning the wheel to Lindy 'wheelie good!'

Once the wheel is rebuilt it is then test inflated to check for leaks. Because there are so many seals the tendency for leaks is very real and likely. 100% leak free wheels are a rarity when you don't have access to most parts in a new condition.

Negative Phase Sequencing Unit

Last week XL231 decided that she didn't want to accept 200 Volt ground power, this caused a bit of head scratching, and John to get his electrical brain cells into action. At first we assumed that the GPU (ground power unit) to be at fault, however, after carrying out checks we decided that the GPU wasn't the culprit.

The aircraft then suddenly accepted ground power and we were relieved. Unfortunately this was short lived and power soon tripped again, it then re-set for a similar short time before tripping yet again.

We checked the aircraft to ensure no heavy loads were on and tried again, all seemed okay but only for a short time before it re-tripped!

It was then that I noticed an orange warning lamp illuminated on the AEO's panel. The port side NPSU (Negative Phase Sequencing Unit) had tripped.  "No problem I'll reset it" I thought and did so using the push reset button. The Ground power came back on and then re-tripped yet again!

It was then we realised that we had a problem, so out came the books over a coffee in the NAAFI and John decided the NPSU for the port busbars had failed.

The 2 NPSU's were fitted basically as a protection unit during the Tanker conversion programme to protect the aircraft's AC ground and APU electrical systems in case of failure of the powerful AC motor on the Air to Air Refuelling Hose Drum Unit (HDU).  It was deduced that the motor in a fault condition could in a worse case scenario seriously damage the aircraft's electrical system.

Fibre glass distribution board

Port NPSU

Luckily, we had spares-recovered spare NPSU's from Victor K2 XL164 'Saucy Sal' back in 1994 and I was able to remove one of them from the complete distribution board that we had taken out of the aircraft all those years ago.

It was a bit of a task to change it in the aircraft but once fitted proved to be serviceable. Rick will check the removed unit out for repair.

Codename: Operation Mugshot

Fancy drinking your mug of tea with Lindy looking back at you?

In an exclusive #twitterVforce competition we are looking for a photo of Lindy to feature on our 2014 mugs. 

Our outgoing mugshot!

To be in with a chance of your photo featuring on our mugs visit http://twittervforce.com/blog/?p=674

Mugs featuring the chosen image will be available to purchase from early May with all proceeds going to the ongoing upkeep of Lindy. 

Co-Pilot's Fuel Panels fitted back

I have completed restoration of the co-pilots fuel panels and the panels re-fitted.  Making sure that all of the switches and wiring went back exactly where they should, was a bit of a headache and Rick Gill 'ably assisted' here.

Replacement parts included; the fuel flow meter 4 engine selector unit, manual density corrector and the magnetic indicator for the fuel de-fuel cock. The latter caused a bit of a snag as the original switch was left untouched and the indicator replaced, however when selected closed it indicated open and vice versa! The panel was removed and the wiring double checked. The wiring proved correct so we deduced the indicator was terminated incorrectly and altered it to make it indicate correctly.

The final job to do is for Ian Finch to install the switch captions which he is manufacturing, these are quite complex so are taking some effort.

Morse Key acquired!

 XL231  has finally been 're-acquainted' with the correct type of Morse Key.

The RAF removed the original key as part of the de-commissioning process in 1993 and it has taken over 20 years to locate the correct one.  It was spotted by chance on ebay only last week and swiftly obtained!

I knew it matched original photographs but until I actually dropped it into place and all 4 mounting bolt holes lined up then I wasn't 100% convinced. However, it is now in and hard-wired and Al Stephenson the AEO has been asked to brush up on his Morse code. His answer when I told him was "Morse is like riding a bike, never forgotten!"