Catalina Engine Problem

[imagineifyeswill]

Condi said:

matchmaker said:

Despite some of the predictions of doom on here, looks to have been quite straightforward!

Amazing how civilized the Scots are these days.

From some of the comments you would have thought getting a crane to Loch Ness harder than getting dust off an asteroid.

Obviously no one on here who remembers the Wellington Bomber that was lifted out of Loch Ness in 1985 and again using a local Crane company. Plenty of heavy cranes around the North of Scotland due to the oil construction companies that have operated around here since the seventies and there requirements for cranes also all the windfarm towers and generator equipment which gets transported by sea into Inverness and Invergordon.
As for access there are a few places where you can get a heavy crane right t the side of the Loch, Temple Pier being just one.

[Arnie Cunningham]

I do! I ever remember them testing out a landing light at the time. It looked like a mangled mess, the brooklands lot have done a lovely job piecing it back together.

[MarkwG]

Arnie Cunningham said:

I do! I ever remember them testing out a landing light at the time. It looked like a mangled mess, the Brooklands lot have done a lovely job piecing it back together.

Me too, although I don't have much recollection of the details: I imagine there's quite a lot of difference between hauling out an already damaged aircraft, versus one that you're trying desperately not to damage at all, it would be interesting to compare the two. The point about crane availability in Scotland is well made though, not disputing that at all.

[GliderRider]

Burrow01 said:

I can imagine corrosion checks are a pretty important part of the servicing of a 70 year old flying boat to get an airworthyness certificate :-)

Especially so after the 1998 Catalina accident in the Solent, in which a corroded nose leg door torque tube started a chain of events causing the aircraft to fill with water and drown two passengers. tAAIB Report VP-BPS

[Moose.]

Afternoon all,

Little update for those interested. She's out of the water and the scaffolders are round today to begin erecting the platforms needed to work on the damaged engine before its removal from the airframe this week. The spare engine is already on site and once the damaged engine is off, the next week or so will be spent swapping over all the ancillaries before the spare engine is craned into position.



We're getting really close to our funding target now so if you have a few quid down the back of the sofa and fancy donating the link is:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/misspickup

Please share with anyone who you think might be interested!

[dr_gn]

imagineifyeswill said:

Condi said:

matchmaker said:

Despite some of the predictions of doom on here, looks to have been quite straightforward!

Amazing how civilized the Scots are these days.

From some of the comments you would have thought getting a crane to Loch Ness harder than getting dust off an asteroid.

Obviously no one on here who remembers the Wellington Bomber that was lifted out of Loch Ness in 1985 and again using a local Crane company. Plenty of heavy cranes around the North of Scotland due to the oil construction companies that have operated around here since the seventies and there requirements for cranes also all the windfarm towers and generator equipment which gets transported by sea into Inverness and Invergordon.
As for access there are a few places where you can get a heavy crane right t the side of the Loch, Temple Pier being just one.

Now at the Brooklands museum? I seem to remember the first version of the lifting frame they used collapsed and caused damage to the remains of the airframe. Then someone else had another go with a much more substantial version.

[Eric Mc]

Yes - it's the one at Brookland - and a magnificent beast she is too.

[aeropilot]

Moose. said:

Afternoon all,

Little update for those interested. She's out of the water and the scaffolders are round today to begin erecting the platforms needed to work on the damaged engine before its removal from the airframe this week. The spare engine is already on site and once the damaged engine is off, the next week or so will be spent swapping over all the ancillaries before the spare engine is craned into position.

Well, my back of an envelope calcs for weight vs. reach were about bang on then for the crane that would be reqd....

I was worried that they would be able to get one of those down that tight track from the main road, so that driver earnt his pay looking at it

[Chrisgr31]

Moose. said:

Afternoon all,

Little update for those interested. She's out of the water and the scaffolders are round today to begin erecting the platforms needed to work on the damaged engine before its removal from the airframe this week. The spare engine is already on site and once the damaged engine is off, the next week or so will be spent swapping over all the ancillaries before the spare engine is craned into position.



We're getting really close to our funding target now so if you have a few quid down the back of the sofa and fancy donating the link is:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/misspickup

Please share with anyone who you think might be interested!

Where has the plane actually been lifted too? Doesnt appear to be room between the crane and the water.

[FourWheelDrift]

Chrisgr31 said:

Where has the plane actually been lifted too? Doesnt appear to be room between the crane and the water.

https://twitter.com/IndoPilot/status/1319292009530...

[Moose.]

Sorry folks; I've been neglecting this thread but if you want to keep up to date with the progress, I post on the GoFundMe page regularly:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/misspickup

and also on my twitter account @IndoPilot

At the moment, the replacement engine is almost ready to be craned into position (booked for tomorrow) using a much smaller crane than the one used to lift the aircraft out of the water. Blister repairs are on going and a temporary fix should be completed by next week along with engine tests. All being well we're hoping to have her back on the water at the end of next week.

[Simpo Two]

Could they have retracted one wing-tip float, turned the 'plane 90 degrees and brought it alongside the jetty so that the damaged engine was over land for repair? Then no crane needed. Or is it more important not to leave it sitting in water for any longer than essential?

[Moose.]

The engines are very close to the fuselage so I'm not sure that would work really. Also, with it floating and at the mercy of the wind and waves, it would make craning the damaged engine off and replacing it rather treacherous. I guess during wartime you might do whatever you can but with such a rare aircraft, we're taking the safest option to ensure minimal risk.

[MarkwG]

Moose. said:

The engines are very close to the fuselage so I'm not sure that would work really. Also, with it floating and at the mercy of the wind and waves, it would make craning the damaged engine off and replacing it rather treacherous. I guess during wartime you might do whatever you can but with such a rare aircraft, we're taking the safest option to ensure minimal risk.

I'd also guess the change in balance as the dead engine is removed would risk tipping the whole thing sideways? At least on land you can support the structure on both sides?

[Simpo Two]

Moose. said:

The engines are very close to the fuselage so I'm not sure that would work really. Also, with it floating and at the mercy of the wind and waves, it would make craning the damaged engine off and replacing it rather treacherous. I guess during wartime you might do whatever you can but with such a rare aircraft, we're taking the safest option to ensure minimal risk.

There's at least one epic tale of recovery I can recall in https://www.amazon.co.uk/Empire-Flying-Boat-Manual...

[andym1603]

Went down with camera in hand the other day to capture a few pictures. Unable to get near due to sign at the top of the drive stating it was private and no pedestrians or access were permitted.

[imagineifyeswill]

dr_gn said:

Now at the Brooklands museum? I seem to remember the first version of the lifting frame they used collapsed and caused damage to the remains of the airframe. Then someone else had another go with a much more substantial version.

When the plane was first found in the seventies it was still complete, but over the next few years pieces started to be removed from it by divers for souvenirs. In the early eighties a decision was taken by the preservation society set up that the aircraft would need to be salvaged from the loch soon whilst still savable, Fund raising was started and a lifting frame was designed and built by British Aerospace in preperation for the salvage. The frame was an aluminium structure all angles and braces, very high tech looking but ultimately not up to the job
.
The plan had been to lift the plane from the loch over a space of three weeks but due to weather conditions the job ran well over and it was into the fifth or sixth week before the attempt at lifting went ahead. During the night between Tuesday and Wednesday the lift went ahead but with the plane a few feet of the loch bed the lifting frame broke sending the plane back to the bottom and breaking off the front turret

On the Wednesday morning a press conference was held and while the project manager was explaining that the project would now have to be ended and the plane would stay on the loch bed a call came through from Cromarty Firth Engineering to say if all the contractors would agree to stay on site that they would build and deliver a replacement lifting frame within 24 hours , which they duly did. On the Saturday morning the plane was raised from the loch bed to six feet below the surface, it was then towed down the loch to Lochend where it was brought to the surface at the canal mouth, from there it was craned onto a barge and taken down the canal to Inverness where it was dismantled to be loaded onto trucks for the journey south.

Edited by imagineifyeswill on Sunday 15th November 22:50

[chopper602]

I'm guessing this is the same Catalina returning from Scotland

[bobbo89]

I'm assuming so, I just clocked something in the distance over Holmfirth area and got all giddy when I grabbed the binoculars and realised what it was!

[Eric Mc]

That's the one.