WACO UPDATE, DECEMBER 2008

The Waco team have been making brilliant progress on the aircraft over the last three months, focusing specifically on wing construction and restoration. The Waco will be restored in a different way to the Tiger Moth and Horsa and instead of being a complete display aircraft it will be fully completed and restored on one side and left open for internal viewing on the other. The Waco team hope that this innovative idea will allow members of the public to understand and observe the design and construction techniques involved in the Waco’s composition. We are also hoping to place manikins inside the aircraft to show what the Glider Pilots would have worn and to illustrate the restrictive conditions these men would have had to have flown in.

• The team have recently been working on completing the Nose, Intermediate and Rear Ribs for the Wing as well as finishing the wooden skin to act as the wing covering.
• The controls have been inserted into the wing and onto the Main Spar. These controls operate the spoiler which effectively acts like a brake and the team are hoping to keep these controls on show for public viewing by covering that section of the wing with clear Perspex as appose to wood.
• The team are working on a ‘Stub Wing’ for the open-viewing side of the Waco. The ‘Stub’ will be approximately a metre in length and will allow the public to observe the internal layout of a Waco wing.
• Two replica emergency doors have recently been created for the glider leaving the original to be used as an educational tool in schools and workshops.
• Research is currently being conducted on the design and position of the Glider’s Tripod (attached above the nose of the Glider) by a member of the team and in 2009 that will be constructed and fitted to the aircraft.
• The Glider contains working controls and in early 2009 the brakes will also be installed and then connected up to the wheels.

Thanks for all your hard work boys!!
 

Education News

The Trust has seen an explosion in the number of people through its doors this year and in particular has witnessed a rise in the amount of educational visits, workshops and lectures. This is largely due to the impressive educational package that has been devised by Tim Jenkins which incorporates aspects of the curriculum as well as providing young people with the opportunity to interact with their aviation heritage and aeronautical engineering.

We are continuing to develop strong links with heritage organisations and educational establishments both across the West Midlands and Nationally. During October the Trust received another visit from the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust. Members of the RRHT were impressed with our progress and we are currently and we are currently exploring a closer working association between the two establishments.

During November Tim Jenkins (Director of Education) and Martin Locke took a trip down to the Tower of London to represent the AGT of behalf of the Midlands Region at the Nationwide Community & Heritage Awards 2008.

Nationwide Building Society has teamed up with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to launch the Nationwide Community and Heritage Awards 2008, inviting the public to nominate people or groups who deserve recognition for community or voluntary work that has made a real difference to people’s lives.

Unfortunately we did not win the national award but we were in the final eight which was an amazing achievement and it has been fantastic for the whole team to receive recognition for their hard work

Tiger Moth Progress Report November 2008

Fuselage Controls – The copies of the Technical Manuals regarding Tiger Moth construction were obtained from original documents and have been used and followed by the Volunteers to produce an authentic aircraft that is true to the original design.

The tank was taken off the aircraft and restored with the addition of using wax oil for the inside of the tank to lubricate the interior and prevent damage or disintegration. The tank was then re-doped and repainted alongside the rest of the fuselage.

The instrument panels of the Tiger were badly damaged and have undergone an extensive rebuild and all the instruments have been re-serviced and will soon be ready to install in the aircraft.

The back seat of the Tiger underwent partial restoration as damage to the original was minimal but the front seat had to be completely rebuilt and both were then repainted.

Lower Starboard Wing – This took approximately 3 weeks to complete.

The internal bracings of the Tiger have been re-rigged to ensure that all bracings are tightly secured to the newly restored wing. 

Materials & Construction

During the three week restoration/construction of the lower wing the broken ribs from the original Tiger Moth were repaired and replaced alongside the metal work. The whole wing has been silver doped in order to offer the materials, in particular the wood (Douglas fir), adequate protection from moisture etc.

Current Tiger Moth Activity

Port Lower

Work is progressing well on the Port Lower and Upper Starboard wing sections. The next step in development is to conduct a trial rigging before covering the wings with unbleached Irish linen (madaplin).

Engine

The engine (Gypsy Major) of the Tiger has been stripped down and is now ready for the rebuild to commence.

The Trust now has its own Facebook page

www.facebook.com/pages/Shrewsbury-United-Kingdom/Assault-Glider-Trust/47904435934