With the main fuselage paintwork mainly complete we moved our attention to the tail group. Last month we finalized the transport joint issues and have since be able to prepare the tail for installation./ The first jobs were to remove the original paint from the fuselage/fin section and the horizontal stabs. Any dents and irregularities in the surfaces were corrected and the internal surfaces have been painted in Silver polyurethane and the horizontal stabilizers fitted with new mounting hardware. The trim pulley mounting fixture has also been painted and installed along with the overhauled rudder and elevator bellcranks. The trim jack assemblies for the tail have been fully overhauled and installed in the stabilisers. A new electrical conduit for the tail light has ben fabricated and installed. A number of pieces of fuselage hardware and bracketry have also been overhauled and painted including the main radio tray and ballast weight mount. Wear strips for the seat harness have also been fabricated.

Work has continued around the firewall area and the metal reinforcement washers and spacers for the front armour have been fabricated and fitted to the firewall and the new armour plate has been attached to the firewall. Fourteen new tank panel attach brackets have been fabricated from panel steel and the longerons drilled to mount these brackets. The rear landing for the tank cover and the instrument panel mount anchor nuts have been fitted also. In addition to this has been the layout and drilling of the firewall for mounting the water trap and booster coil and the routing of the boost line, vacuum line, hydraulic and pneumatic lines.

Work continues on the overhaul of the landing gear and associated hardware. The main legs have been re-assembled with all new seals and the charging valves have been installed. Final testing has been put on hold until the last few plated parts are on hand.

Work has begun on the coolant system plumbing now that the pipes are on hand. The pipes pass thru the spar carry thru structure at frame 5 and the web has been opened out to accommodate the pipes. The coolant thermostat has been overhauled and tested by immersing in hot water to confirm correct bellows operation.

Work has continued on the fuel tanks with the new fittings now sealed into the lower fuel tank. We have begun the assembly of the top tank with the outer skin riveted to the baffles, the inlet and outlet fitting installed and the main mounting brackets in place. All rivets and joints have been sealed and when the sealant is fully cured we will fit the end plates.

We have completed the overhaul of the right aileron and completed the installation of the control bellcrank system for this wing. This has meant we can start the fabrication of the right wing tip and this is progressing well with most of the internal structure completed and mounted to the wing ready for the skins. Work has continued also on inspection panel fabrication and assembly of the special fasteners and a number of panels are now complete and fitted with the new fasteners.

The instruments and cockpit equipment overhauls have been started in earnest this month with the ASI, VSI, turn and slip and engine tacho instrument faces all receiving attention with new matt black faces and the numerals and increment marks all being re-touched with a special matched cream colour creating a nice uniform look when compared with the other instruments. A batch of cockpit placards and mount brackets have been re-engraved to improve the lettering definition and these have also been painted and the lettering highlighted.

Wiring conduits for the U/C selector and the one from frame 8 have been refurbished and painted. The two original fuselage/wing wiring plugs have been refurbished and fitted with new insert assemblies and pins. The cockpit electrical fuse box trays and lower tray have been refurbished and painted as has the terminal block mounting plate for the fuselage/wing wiring with the lettering re-detailed. The camera master and pitot heat switch brackets have also been done this way. The windscreen de-ice tank and de-ice pump have both been overhauled along with the on/off valve and associated mounting plate. The engine Ki-Gass fuel primer has been overhauled also.

The overhaul of the throttle quadrant has been started and most of the components are now refurbished and the unit is ready for assembly. The main U/C selector has been dis-mantled to enable some re-plating of the steel components and this can re-assembled when the parts are back from plating. Numerous other cockpit items have been re-furbished including the cockpit access door, crow bar, remote contactor etc.