Phantom Revisited

Phantom Revisited …

Three volunteers at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum got together to start putting the smaller pieces back onto the Phantom. First to go were the leading edge plates. These are fitted with a piano hinge at the bottom and retaining screws at the top. The first took about 25 minutes and the second around ten. That left the wing leading edges complete.

The next task was the air brakes, these were three simple bolts, quickly and easily fitted. Sadly the hydraulics are long since seized and thus they will have to be displayed open. Total time, half an hour.

Next came the starboard flap, aileron and fuel vent. More piano hinges with bolts onto the hydraulics and aileron controls. Getting the supporting pin into the flap hinge involved one of our number climbing into the engine bay. Did they really have to remove an engine in order to change a flap? This was followed by the port side, total time around an hour. The flaps will be displayed up, we are working on how to stop the ailerons from drooping so that they too are displayed up.

The last big task of the day was the tail cone. A large item, and not easy to lift. With the aid of a sectioned platform, this was achieved rather easier than we had expected, half an hour later and it was secure.

That was all the large items attached, now for the smaller ones. First up was the elevator hinge cover. This is attached to the elevator and held in place by guides which it slides along. Easier said than done. Each side is in two pieces, one at the top, and one underneath. Held together by hinge pins, almost impossible to get into place as you have to work above a very large tailplane. After calling the cover plates rather naughty names a couple of times they were eventually fixed. Time to fit both sides, an hour and a half!

Still to go, hopefully, this week sometime is the emergency Ram Air Turbine (a generator that can be lowered into the airflow in the event of normal electrical failure), and the engine bay cover plates plus a few other inspection covers. That can’t take long, can it…