The Mechanics Corner 1
The Valiant Effort team is gearing up for our first work weekend on Annie, and this will be my first weekly Mechanics Corner post. I will be writing a weekly post regarding our repairs and I hope you all look here to keep up with our status. Now that we have Annie moved inside we've been hard at work getting supplies, tools and other necessary items moved into the hangar. We've acquired a set of aircraft jack-stands that will allow us to lift Annie correctly via her jack points and secure her in the air so that we can once again remove the struts for rebuild. Although there is no visible damage, we will be removing the strut attachment bulkheads from the wing and sending them out for X-ray analysis. The struts will be disassembled and the housings will be sent out for media blasting and powder coating. We've found a source for the seals and tools needed to rebuild them and will be acquiring those soon, along with this will be new wheel bearings and races, tires, brakes and brake lines. Our first work weekend will consist of preparing Annie for a very thorough inspection. As part of this we will remove all inspection covers, the engine cowling and all removable panels. The BT13 was designed for ease of maintenance and this is clear once you see how quickly and easily you can remove all of the paneling on the side of the two cockpits and how much this opens up and exposes the structure of the fuselage for inspection and repair. In preparation for the work weekend we will be moving a WW2 aircraft mechanics work bench that I have to the hangar, a tool box, some wire shelving, an assortment of AkroBins that will be used for organization and performing an overall clean up and organization of the hangar. Stay tuned, I will have some pictures next week of the hangar after we get it organized and ready to work!