1. We have reassembled the hydraulic selector levers in preparation for fitting to the selector when the overhaul is complete. We have removed the hydraulic system regulating valve, undercarriage emergency release valve, non return valves and tail wheel flow valve from the fuselage remains for overhaul. All the steel fittings and caps for the flow valves have been sent away for plating but the aluminium castings and forgings still have nice anodising and can be reused as they are.

2. Pilots cold air duct holding fixture finished. We built a steel jig fixture to support the duct, welded up the various holes on the assembly and pumped the unit full with oil to “Blow” it back into shape. We cut out the plugs prepped and repainted the complete assy.

3. The fuel filler necks and caps for the fuselage fule tanks # 10 and 12 have been overhauled. Original hardware plated, alignment and straightening carried out prior to finish painting.

4. Some items from the pneumatic sub panel have been removed for work. Non return valves overhauled and tested. System charging valve overhauled. Water trap/filter overhauled.

5. Rubber seal retaining strips for the fuselage side panels, bomb doors and gun bay doors fabricated from new sheet material using the twisted and bent originals for patterns. Strips for the 0.303 machine gun doors in the nose cut and trimmed to fit and temporarily attached to the doors.

6. direct vision sliding windows and original glass windscreen temporarily fitted to the canopy frame to allow the correct woodwork to be constructed on the top of the forward fuselage deck..

7. Overhaul of the throttle/pitch control torque tube bracket and elevator/rudder cable differential completed..

8. The elevator trim tabs have been completed and both elevators are now complete.

Woodwork

Work this month gone has concentrated mostly on the fin build up and its attachment to the fuselage. The fin attach plates are mounted to the rearmost bulkhead and the one just forward of that. The rear bulkhead is still to be finally glued in place, and there has been a lot of work gone into correctly locating the plates that hold the fin. Difficult work because that access to that area is through the rear opening of the fuselage. When the fin as finally correct on the mounts, the rear bulkhead can be glued and screwed and bolted in place.

The cockpit floor, the browning gun bay floor and the instrument panel support structures have all been finally glued into place and the area finish painted.

The fin structure has been built up so as to enable the placement of the mounting plates.