Avro Lancaster NX611 ‘Just Jane’

Winter Maintenance 2014

Week 1

Progress has been quick this week with our largest team yet-

Bob Mitchell (Airframes)

Keith Brenchley (Powerplant)

Martin Lawton (Powerplant ‘Oily Rag’)

Sean Taylor (GDB)

So far jobs completed are as follows-

Number 3 oil tank

removal

This has been removed to be

sent to Retro Track and Air

for flushing a minor repair.

Number 1 Radiator and Oil cooler removal

These have been removed to be flushed at Anglia

Radiators and a minor leak on the coolant radiator to be

fixed.

The two header tanks (kidney shaped) are spares to be

overhauled and pressure tested.

Number 2 Prop spinner and back plate removal

The spinner and back plate from Number 2 engine

have been removed ready for repair at Supermarine

Aero.

Number 4 Carburettor removal

We have removed the carb from number 4 engine to

solve a running issue from the 2013 season. The carb

is apart and the problem identified.

Cleaning the cowlings

Sean has been cleaning up the cowlings ready for 2014 and

repairs to Dzus fasteners. There are lots of cleaning and paint

stripping jobs over the winter period and Sean will be busy

working away to complete all these.

Undercarriage removal

We will be removing the port

undercarriage for inspection and overhaul this year;

depending on our progress we

may also be able to overhaul

the starboard side. The first

job is to jack and steady the

aircraft so that all 3 wheels are

off the ground.

This is the first time the Lancaster has been

fully off the ground since she was assembled in

1988.

After jacking and steadying the

aircraft the wheel was removed

using the ‘chariot’.

The undercarriage has not been

removed since the aircraft was

built (to our knowledge), when

the aircraft was transported to

East Kirkby the undercarriage

was retracted.

The dismantling of the

undercarriage is proving

somewhat difficult; some of the

pins and bolts are seized and

split pins mangled so it is slow

progress as we try to remove

the oleos and u/c sections.

The radius arms and u/c jacks are disconnected and the bracing structure is well on its way to be removed.

This leaves the bolts at the top of the oleos for which we are making a bespoke spanner to safely remove

them.

Oleo bolt proving to be very difficult to remove.

Number 2 and 3 Propeller removal

We have removed the props from number 2 and 3 engines for inspection and overhaul with CFS.

As progress continues we will keep updating you with information and photographs.