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!"

Beer Anyone?

Here is a pic of a original Victor K2 beer mat - would be great if we could persuade a brewery to do special ale as a tribute to the Victor fleet.

Any brewery up for the challenge?

Signal Flare Rack

XL231's signal flare rack, mounted in the cabin roof, removed for over overhaul and repainting.

The RAF had carried out a crude repair to reinforce the rack as the stowage socket for the Navigators oxygen and comms lead 'umblical' had at some point been been torn out. I decided to leave the repair as it would have been a major task to totally rebuild the panel

The old paint was removed before the panel was bead blasted clean, the clips for the flares are steel and were slightly rusted, so blasting was the only option. Once repainted used flares were put back in the rack as we can't have live ones!

Fuel Tank Switch Panel

Following overhaul of the co-pilot's fuel flow panel it was necessary to loosen the fuel tank switch panel. This panel controls which tanks are refueled and which are not, flicking the switch forward puts the tanks refuel solenoid valve to 'IN USE'. 

Some of the switches were intermittent in their operation, not many were matching and all were original to XL231 and the panel was also cosmetically looking its age. Therefore I decided to bite the bullet and remove it, not an easy task while making sure the aircraft is still capable of being live during the task in hand. 

However, it was removed successfully and then stripped and repainted the correct light aircraft grey colour and new switches trial fitted, as well as a replacement magnetic indicator for the fuel probe nitrogen purge system. The adhesive captions for the switches are being replicated by team member Ian Finch .

Fuel Flow Indications

On the second to last last taxy run I noted that the fuel flow meter indications were not quite correct and that 3 out of the 4 engines were showing incorrect values. For the last taxy run in November I changed the main amplifier unit which is located in the main electrical compartment, known as the 'plenum chamber'. Changing the amplifier made no difference to the fault conditions and we deduced the problem to be in the cockpit area instead. Each engine has its own 'windmill' type flow-rate transmitter and we deduced that it was highly unlikely that 3 out of 4 engines had faulty transmitters!

As we have now sourced a fuel flow meter and a fuel density manual corrector I decide to remove the offending panel for overhaul and to replace the two suspect items on the left of the picture.  This was easier said than done as I reckon it was last disturbed during the K2 tanker programme back in the mid-1970's. The 4 selector flow-meter is probably okay and this will have its components checked out to become a spare unit as there was no sign of damp ingress, the density corrector however is not sealed and I found it has corrosion inside, so its probably that which is causing the problems.

Much cursing and a couple of hours passed before the panel was out but it was worth the effort as the ravages of time had lifted quite a bit of the grey paint and the original B2 'Bomber Black' was showing through quite a lot. I had been waiting for the reason to remove this panel for a while and last weekend was the day!

Anyway the refurbished panel is her to see, less the two replacement parts. The fuel meter that is now fitted back checks out fine as does the magnetic indicator, both of these items are original to the panel. 

All things being equal it should be back in this coming weekend.

Best Restoration Project – Aerospace X Awards

Hello everyone, it’s been a while!

First of all, Happy New Year! I’m rather excited that my first guest blog for 2014 is for XL231! I’m even more excited to be part of the team awarding XL231 with the Best Restoration Project of 2013 Aerospace X Award!

In December of last year, I guest presented on the Aviation Xtended Podcast, and we all chose a few different things for the Xtended 12 Days of Avgeek Christmas, but later decided to actually award our chosen days out, products, projects, airfields and more!

I chose Handley Page Victor XL231 as the winner for Best Restoration Project 2013. I chose Team Victor because not only do I think they have done an absolutely outstanding job on restoring Lindy and keeping her in a working, taxi-able, order; I have worked alongside them and they have offered me amazing opportunities.

The team deserve this award and so much more!

If in any way you can offer support, donations, a helping hand, I know the team appreciate it very much, and again, they deserve it!

Throughout 2013, Team Victor achieved so, so much! 3 taxy runs, Lindy’s 20^th birthday, featured on ITV’s Calendar, and BBC’s Look North East and Cumbria, engine runs, Thunder Days, bloody mint birthday day out for someone (cough, me, cough), a night shoot, lots of triumphs engineering and restoration wise, and of course, winning an Aviation Xtended Aerospace X Award!

I am very proud to have supported the team throughout 2013, and I know other supporters of Lindy have been very proud too, and that pride and support will continue through 2014!

I am really looking forward to see what 2014 has in store for the team!

Finally, congratulations to Team Victor on your award, you most certainly deserve it!

Pod