Pete in Lincs Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Hoorah! (and possibly Whizzo!) The Martian saves the day again. Permission to sing the old school song? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said: Hoorah! (and possibly Whizzo!) The Martian saves the day again. Permission to sing the old school song? Permission granted, as long as you share it with us. Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Ah, when I say sing, tradition dictates that the school song be performed using heliograph (If wet, semaphore) so if you have sharp eyesight, look towards Lincoln. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teuchter Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Errr, it's dark now.... do you have a signalling lamp? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 1 minute ago, Pete in Lincs said: Ah, when I say sing, tradition dictates that the school song be performed using heliograph (If wet, semaphore) so if you have sharp eyesight, look towards Lincoln. You could at least give us the lyrics so that we can sing/heliograph/semaphore along, or do we have to consult @general melchett for a second hand version/ Martian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 7 minutes ago, Teuchter said: Errr, it's dark now.... do you have a signalling lamp? A bit advanced for that neck of the woods methinks. Had Speckled Jim not done a runner, I suspect our revered General would be sending the music by pigeon post. I am curious to know what the Lincolnshire traditional instrument is. Martian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I must admit, I am a bit rusty on some of the words, I can't remember what's supposed to rhyme with orange, Oh, and strawberry. There's also a verse about a Donkey and a bicycle. So far as I know, the General was involved in an attempt to track down the sole surviving hymn book after that tragic fire which started in Matrons pantry. As for a signalling lamp, despite the breeze I'm trying to make do with a large box of Cooks matches. I think her cat got there before me though. Traditional instruments in Lincolnshire include, the Kazoo, The Bazooki (woodwind and/or brass) , Speedometer and of course the Shepherds pie. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 12 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said: I must admit, I am a bit rusty on some of the words, I can't remember what's supposed to rhyme with orange, Oh, and strawberry. There's also a verse about a Donkey and a bicycle. So far as I know, the General was involved in an attempt to track down the sole surviving hymn book after that tragic fire which started in Matrons pantry. As for a signalling lamp, despite the breeze I'm trying to make do with a large box of Cooks matches. I think her cat got there before me though. Traditional instruments in Lincolnshire include, the Kazoo, The Bazooki (woodwind and/or brass) , Speedometer and of course the Shepherds pie. Thanks for the clarification Pete and thanks for introducing some insanity We are on page four and I was beginning to worry that things were a bit too sensible for one of my threads. Martian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 You Sir, are very welcome. Any time my friend. (Sorry, the sandpaper's fallen off the matchbox now, drat!) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 1 minute ago, Pete in Lincs said: Sorry, the sandpaper's fallen off the matchbox now, drat! I told you it was a pants idea to use it to prep that vacform you bought the other day. Martian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I was trying to burn the mould off the mould. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 Just now, Pete in Lincs said: I was trying to burn the mould off the mould. I see, sensible techniques for a better model. Martian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 4 minutes ago, Martian Hale said: sensible I done a course, didn' I? https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTA2NDYxOGYtYjU1Mi00Y2QzLTgxMTQtMWI1MGI0ZGQ5MmU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDk3NzU2MTQ@._V1_UY190_CR1,0,128,190_AL_.jpg 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Slips in very late at the back of this latest masterclass. I've not been around here much lately due to too many things to list, but am getting a chance to drop in now and then on my fav builds. Excellent choice of subject Martian, and a jolly good start. Anything Naval gets my vote, and a big horizontal (almost) fan on top is even better. I have some Danish Lynx pics somewhere, taken on board a Danish Frigate in Portsmouth some years ago. I'll see what I can find. Press on sir! Terry 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 On 1/30/2020 at 6:19 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said: I’m away from home, so I have limited access to photos - but this probably illustrates what I mean: Not that many prominent rivets... [My boys doing an emergency main gear box change on ZD260 on board HMS Broadsword, alongside in Gibraltar, 1990.] Impressive service, a bit over and above what my RAC membership offers....... Curious regarding the hoist being used which is clearly attached to the airframe assuming that pole/support crossing the gearbox attaches similarly behind the two chaps on the right? I suppose I would have expected a ground supported hoist to be used but this idea seems to work. Maybe this is a more rigid/stable option? Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 As far as I know sporange is the only rhyme for orange in the English language. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 (edited) 59 minutes ago, Terry1954 said: Impressive service, a bit over and above what my RAC membership offers....... Curious regarding the hoist being used which is clearly attached to the airframe assuming that pole/support crossing the gearbox attaches similarly behind the two chaps on the right? I suppose I would have expected a ground supported hoist to be used but this idea seems to work. Maybe this is a more rigid/stable option? Terry Funky piece of kit, isn’t it? Every Lynx flight had one, but I only saw it used twice; this one and a similar gear box change at anchor in sheltered waters in the Falklands. You are right that it attaches to the airframe. It uses built-in strong points; at the bottom, aft end to the stub-wing attachment (so therefore undercarriage) & forward to the rear of weapon carrier (hidden by my M3’s knees here), and at the top to the fittings for the main gear box feet - between them, those are probably the strongest parts of the entire airframe. What you can’t really see here is that the nose wheel is anchored by the “mangler” (mechanical handler; very heavy), and the main wheels were heavily lashed to keep the aircraft as stable as possible. That red thing slipped over the top of the main oleo is an anchor point for additional lashings to supplement those fitted to the normal D-rings on the stub-wing. The problem with a deck/ground supported hoist would be how to ensure that it is completely steady - you’d have to build some kind of foot into the deck, and even then you’d have to align the aircraft extremely accurately to be sure that the hoist plumbed the load. Simpler and more flexible to attach it to the airframe; you can then use it absolutely anywhere, for instance if the cab puts down into a field in the middle of no-where with a gearbox problem - and you can pretty much guarantee that the hoist is in exactly the right place. There is an awful lot of work that precedes this; the gearbox arrives as just a gearbox, so you have to transfer the serviceable oil pumps and all the other auxiliary stuff from the outgoing one - you can see here that the No.1 Generator is yet to be fitted: the circular coupling visible on the box, immediately above the blue thing (which is a hydraulic fluid reservoir). There’s also the very delicate process of removing and then re-fitting the head itself, including the “spider” control rods that run down through the centre (the Lynx has no swash plate). I have a few other pictures of this evolution if people are interested - but I don’t want to hijack Martian’s build. @Martian Hale, your call! Edited February 3, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 1 hour ago, Terry1954 said: Slips in very late at the back of this latest masterclass. I've not been around here much lately due to too many things to list, but am getting a chance to drop in now and then on my fav builds. Excellent choice of subject Martian, and a jolly good start. Anything Naval gets my vote, and a big horizontal (almost) fan on top is even better. I have some Danish Lynx pics somewhere, taken on board a Danish Frigate in Portsmouth some years ago. I'll see what I can find. Press on sir! Terry Thanks Terry, the pictures would be great if you can find them. I shall press on as soon as the second kit arrives. The missing part only has to be the most complicated bit in the entire kit. The only good thing about the whole hiatus is that I have dug out a long staled Belvedere build and got that moved along. 21 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: Funky piece of kit, isn’t it? Every Lynx flight had one, but I only saw it used twice; this one and a similar gear box change at anchor in sheltered waters in the Falklands. You are right that it attaches to the airframe. It uses built-in strong points; at the bottom, aft end to the stub-wing attachment (so therefore undercarriage) & forward to the rear of weapon carrier (hidden by my M3’s knees here), and at the top to the fittings for the main gear box feet - between them, those are probably the strongest parts of the entire airframe. What you can’t really see here is that the nose wheel is anchored by the “mangler” (mechanical handler; very heavy), and the main wheels were heavily lashed to keep the aircraft as stable as possible. That red thing slipped over the top of the main oleo is an anchor point for additional lashings to supplement those fitted to the normal D-rings on the stub-wing. The problem with a deck/ground supported hoist would be how to ensure that it is completely steady - you’d have to build some kind of foot into the deck, and even then you’d have to align the aircraft extremely accurately to be sure that the hoist plumbed the load. Simpler and more flexible to attach it to the airframe; you can then use it absolutely anywhere, for instance if the cab puts down into a field in the middle of no-where with a gearbox problem - and you can pretty much guarantee that the hoist is in exactly the right place. There is an awful lot of work that precedes this; the gearbox arrives as just a gearbox, so you have to transfer the serviceable oil pumps and all the other auxiliary stuff from the outgoing one - you can see here that the No.1 Generator is yet to be fitted: the circular coupling visible on the box, immediately above the blue thing (which is a hydraulic fluid reservoir). There’s also the very delicate process of removing and then re-fitting the head itself, including the “spider” control rods that run down through the centre (the Lynx has no swash plate). I have a few other pictures of this evolution if people are interested - but I don’t want to hijack Martian’s build. @Martian Hale, your call! Feel free to post the pictures Crisp. It all adds to the thread and provides some interest while I await the second Lynx kit's arrival. Martian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Definitely interested in more pics Crisp. Engineering solutions of all kinds have always fascinated me immensely! Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 (edited) OK: the same gear-box change, a few seconds after the previous photo - you can see both generator mounts here, and that fork thing next to the guy’s head on the right (sorry, Rob!) is the attachment point for one of the control jacks. I remembered wrong when I posted earlier; the other MRGB change in my time was not in the Falklands (that must have been an engine change, I guess), but at Ascension. Here the start of the process, removing the blades: Getting ready to remove the rotor head, but always time for a posed group shot, obvs. To my surprise, we are clearly under way in this picture; we must have decided it was so calm that we didn’t need to anchor. The mangler is pretty obvious in this shot, and you can also see that we’d engaged the harpoon deck lock (under the belly, into the stainless steel grid): The rotor head coming out; the rod sticking out of the bottom fits right through the gearbox. The control runs are attached to the bottom of it, and it controls the “spider” pitch control rods (the Haynes Manual on the Lynx has a good explanation of this): So where the Hell do you put a rotor head while you install a gearbox? In its own special stand, that’s where. You can just about see the “spider” in this photo; one of its arms is poking out of the head just by my right forearm (I’m the geezer in the green-and-smellies). Back to Gib: the box being lowered into its case - or possibly hoisted out of its case, since it seems to have the oil cooler fan fitted (the thing on the right with the large flexible oil pipe above it). Not the best quality pic (it’s a scan of a copy of a copy), but you can just about see the flexible couplings here which attach to the two engines; as we look, the front of the gearbox is on the left, and remember that the Lynx engines are behind the gearbox. Here a good view of the Gibraltar change from on top of the hangar roof. You can clearly seen the front of the two engines (with red blanks fitted to make sure nothing falls into the intakes!). The two blue boxes are the two hydraulic packs - on a complete Lynx (as opposed to in bits, like this one) there are two windows in the GRP aerodynamic fairing on top of the cockpit (Airfix show these as two decals); they allow you to see the sight glass in each hydraulic pack to check fluid levels. The control rods run along the pronounced bump above the cockpit, finishing under the centre of the gearbox. As for the box itself, you can see that it has a temporary lifting eye fitted (the yellow thing on top), and that it’s sitting on a special stand (which forms part of the case in which it is transported). Back to Ascension: everything off. Yours truly leaning against the aircraft.... 30 years ago (struth). [Edit: I’m still a Lieutenant in these pictures, which means they were taken before 1 August 1990 (when I was promoted to Lieutenant Commander).]. The nice thing is that I am still in touch with all these guys. Just for completeness, here (out of focus, well before digital cameras!) is the same hoist being used to change the port engine. [You can also see the sight glass in the hydraulic reservoir here - & the cylindrical thing on the far left of the MRGB as we look is one of the generators]. Hope those are entertaining and/or enlightening. No, I am 100% not planning to build a model of this operation! Crisp Edited February 3, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU 8 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 Super pictures Crisp! Martian 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: One other thing. In this picture, look closely at the deck on the left, immediately this side of the shadow of the rotor blade. Can you see a slight depression / dent in the surface? That’s where the Argentinian bomb came through the deck (travelling upwards, having bounced off the sea and gone through the side of the ship) on 25 May 1982. In cold weather you could see it very clearly, because when they patched the deck they must have missed out some insulation; the rest of the deck would be frosty, but the bomb hole melted. Here is a photo taken the following day; note also the cannon shell holes, I think from a different attack. Believe it or not, I have flown that very airframe - indeed, it finished up as a Mk.8 - for all I know, parts of it might even be in a Wildcat by now! Edited February 3, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Great pictures indeed and a fascinating fact 're that bomb strike. Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Brilliant series of pictures and description of the operation Crisp, thank you. I look forward to seeing your model of the damaged (borrowed wasn't it?) Lynx in the near future. Good head of hair that man. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 1 hour ago, perdu said: Good head of hair that man. And in an outrageously unfair piece of news for the more folically challenged of us, he still has a fine head of hair. Not that I'm jealous or anything. You just can't tell when a Martian is green with envy. Hands/tentacles/other forms of appendages up all those who think Crisp should be made to do the gear box change diorama as a penance? Not Envious of Mars 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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