Starboard pressure ducting missing?

Update by Denys Jones

Since the last report work has been progressing well, but then we struck a problem! As we worked forward with the pressure ducting on the starboard side of the under-floor bay, we suddenly found a bit is missing. Or was there a difference between what the parts book was indicating and the parts issued to ZK-BRF? The only course of action was to go to the front of the run and re do the installation working backwards, ending up with a gap that can be resolved later, though we are hoping to end up with a bit that fits.

The first duct piece has two flanges that are bolted through the fuselage wall to link with the feeds from the two starboard engines. This entailed us working in the starboard rear fuel bay with access tight even by Viscount standards, and is just large enough for your head and shoulders to enter. Entry entails you putting your hands above your head and entering the bay in a swimming dive type of action. The photo shows the access and further impediment caused by the fuel quantity sensor hanging down from the top of the bay.

All the plumbing that had gone out the root end, had been removed while the wing was detached from the aircraft. Now that the wing is attached, we had to disassemble all the bits that we had, thread them up into the bay and then reassemble them there.

First in are the two silencers, note the different shades of green that may indicate that one is a replacement.

They then join onto the rather heavy control valve that has a spill outlet through the wing under-surface.

Then the ducts make a couple of fancy turns and link up with flanges bolted to the fuselage wall and to the ends of the inner duct run that brought us to all of this. You can also see the mounting bracket for the control valve actuators tucked away in the back corner, again this was painted a quite distinctive green. We can't find the actuators that mount on it yet.

Onto the fuselage wall flanges go two butterfly valves and two elusive bits of ducting to close the gap back to the control valve.

The starboard fuel inter-tank valve before restoration.

The starboard fuel inter-tank valve after restoration.

Meanwhile the fuel system plumbing work goes on. We found two handed valves and brackets that gave us a clue or two about where they fitted, though only one had a pipe attached. However this enabled the other to be found in the piles of spares and now both of them have been joined onto the valves we showed a couple of months ago.

Cheers for now.

Denys

For more information on this project visit the Ferrymead web site and watch the news pages here at the Vickers Viscount Network.

Ferrymead Heritage Park, Ferrymead Park Drive, Heathcote, Christchurch, New Zealand. Phone +64 3 3841970

or contact Denys at:- denys.jones@vickersviscount.net