Repairing the cockpit seat covers

Torstai 28.11.2024 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

This blog talks about the situation of the Caravelle’s cockpit seats and their covers.

There are four seats in Caravelle’s cockpit: the captain’s and co-pilot’s seats in front, the third crew member’s seat at the back on the right-hand side and an auxiliary seat on the left-hand side, located on top of the box containing the manual library. The third crew member seat can be moved into multiple positions along a curved rail fastened on the floor. The auxiliary seat has no seatback and is literally shaped like a box. The seat frames are made of metal sheet, they are in good condition and their adjustment controls seem to work, so there is no need for repairs.

Photo 1: There are several levers for position control under and beside the pilots’ seats.

The seat covers were removed to be cleaned and repaired. There was a multitude of snap fasteners to be unfastened in the most difficult places! The seatback covers of the pilots’ seats are in fair condition, both covers have a small worn area and a hole in the upper corner, probably where all visitors have been leaning when talking to the pilots. The captain’s seat cushion cover is very worn and is almost transparent in a large area. It will need thorough repair or renewal. The co-pilot’s seat cover is not in as poor condition as the captain’s. The third crew member seat covers are almost undamaged.

Photo 2: The captain’s seat cushion cover has worn thin. Photo by Jouko Tarponen.

The cover for the rectangular auxiliary seat is badly broken on top and on the side. The fabric cover has been made to hide the original leather-covered seat cushion, which remains inside in very poor condition. The padding will have to be replaced and probably also the top part of the fabric cover.

All seat covers are light grey but partly so dirty that they have turned dark – or this is what we first thought. The third crew member seat cover was taken off for a wash test. The test proved that the dark grey colour is not dirt but probably very close to the original fabric colour and the lighter part has faded in the sun. The original colour has remained unchanged on the snap fastener strips under the seat, on the rear side of the seatbacks and their seat pockets.

Photo 3: The seat covers have partly faded in the sun.

At this point a sub-plot must be told. When the storage shelves of the restoration workshop in the Finnish Aviation Museum were cleared, a cardboard box was found, and it was labelled “Finnair upholstery patterns”. The museum let us have a look at the material. The patterns, made of cardboard, proved to contain a good number of patterns for Caravelle seat covers. Among the 50+ sets of patterns there were four piles for Caravelle’s cockpit seats. We made copies from these patterns on non-woven fabric and took the copies to Turku to be test-fitted on the pilots’ seats. We were not lucky this time: none of the patterns found in the museum matched the seat covers on the flight deck of our Caravelle. Obviously the pilots’ seats on the Finnair aircraft were different from the ones on the SAS aircraft (our Caravelle was originally the SAS SE-DAF). Finding the correct patterns for the seat covers would have been a real stroke of luck, but it will be possible to repair the covers even without the patterns.

Photo 4: The seat cover and other upholstery patterns found in the Finnish Aviation Museum.

Plans for patching and partly replacing the fabric on the pilots’ seat covers and the auxiliary seat cover have been made. The following step will be to choose a new fabric which matches the original one. The aim is to have all flight deck seat covers repaired and the seat belts maintained before the spring season in the Caravelle refurbishment begins in March. There is a load of work ahead.

Photos by Erja Reinikainen except if otherwise mentioned.

Refurbishing the passenger seats, Part 3: All sorts of odd jobs and layers of history

Keskiviikko 6.11.2024 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

The Turku team of Caravelle volunteers has been working hard this autumn and the interior work in the cabin has progressed well. The front part of the cabin, which will be furnished with passenger seats, is now separated from the rear part with refurbished partitions. The surfacing material is in place on the walls and ceiling, electrical wiring has been installed and the new distribution panel connected. Only the strip of led lighting in the ceiling is missing. All floorboards are in place, but the carpet is waiting to be installed before the seats are brought in. The cabin curtain tracks have been fastened on the new wall covering and the curtain slides were fiddled back on the track. Everything is ready for installing the curtains.  

Interior refurbishment has been started also in the rear section of the cabin. This part will be an open exhibition area which can also be used for gatherings and meetings. The new wall surfacing material progressed well before the winter break. Hopefully we can start building a Caravelle exhibition in the spring.

Photo 1: Caravelle volunteers from the Turku team and the Helsinki team having a coffee break.

This blog talks about the progress of the passenger seat refurbishment. The so-called Helsinki team has been responsible for this work. (Funny though that not one of the four members of the Helsinki team actually comes to Turku from Helsinki…)

In the beginning of this autumn we were hoping that there will be one refurbished demo seat ready before the winter, fitted with new padding and “dressed” in repaired seat covers. We didn’t quite reach this goal.

The refurbishment work includes four seat rows, i.e. 8 seat frames with a total of 19 individual seats. These include five 2-person seats and four 3-person seats. Mechanisms of the armrests and seat tables were repaired, the broken seat back structures were reinforced and broken seat back rubber bands were replaced. Fortunately we have some seat frames in the storage container, and they have been stripped of various spare parts.

Photo 2: The seat backs have needed all kinds of repair and maintenance. Photo by Erja Reinikainen.

When dismantling the seats we have experienced some time travelling: the arm rest shield on the aisle side seat holds a good deposit of “history” from the time when the aircraft carried passengers. In this case this means nondescript lint. Among hair, dog hair, dried bread and other food residue, etc. we have found hair pins and coins, dropped by the passengers, and various kinds of small metal parts, which probably have escaped from the fingers of technical staff. The Caravelle team has now a collection of some Swedish crowns, but the big hoard of gold has not been found yet.

The seat frames have been painted several times when they were in use from the 1960s to the 1980s. (You may remember that the seats are from the Transwede Caravelle 10BR (SE-DEC) which was damaged beyond repair in an unsuccessful take-off in Arlanda in January 1978) The latest layer of the cream white paint was crackled and had partly peeled off. The painted surface is mainly visible on the seat legs and on the baggage guard rail, which prevents the baggage under the seat from moving uncontrolled on the floor. From these parts of the seat the layers of paint were sanded off before repainting. The sanding work was done outdoors, in rainy weather under the Caravelle’s wing. When sanding, we found some chewing gum under the seats, placed there conveniently out of sight at the time.

Photo 3: The seat frames were sanded under the Caravelle’s win.

Photo 4: The seat frames have been painted with primer and are drying in the autumn sun.

Towards the end of October the passenger seat legs and baggage guard rails were painted. The undercoat paint could be applied outside but the topcoat painting was done in the Caravelle area “container office” as the weather got colder. The “office” has proved to be very multifunctional, it serves the volunteers as an office, visitor centre, storage space, coffee room, paint shop and as workspace for the interior refurbishment.

Photo 5: Topcoat painting under way in the office.

The passenger seat frames were stored for the winter in the DC-3 fuselage which is located beside the Caravelle. This aircraft (DO-5) served last in Utti as a ground training device for the paratroopers and it has canvas seats by the walls with a wide empty space in the middle. So the DC-3 is quite suitable to be used as a storage – but there seemed to be mice dwelling in it. Small uninvited visitors are not wanted to build nests in the foamed plastic pieces, cut for the passenger seat padding. Therefore we decided to move the padding material to the sea container for the winter.

Photo 6: Caravelle seat frames and new padding material stored inside the DC-3.

Photos by Jouko Tarponen except if otherwise mentioned.

Refurbishing the passenger seats, part 2: Padding

Maanantai 21.10.2024 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

Refurbishment of the Caravelle’s passenger seats is under way. We repaired and washed original seat covers and now padding for 22 seats has been acquired. The refurbishment work includes four seat rows, i.e. 8 seat frames with a total of 19 individual seats. These include five 2-person seats and four 3-person seats. We are still debating about adding 2+2 seats to the open rear cabin area.

This is how the seats will be placed in the cabin. When this picture was taken the cabin partitions and ceiling material had not yet been installed.

This blog talks about replacing the seat padding.

We have only one original seatback padding piece, made of foamed plastic. We had to order new padding to fit the seats and the original seat covers. Muovikum Oy from Raisio cut new seat cushion and seat back padding for 22 seats, based on seat measurements and on the test versions we had prepared. The new padding was delivered in the beginning of August.  

The seat cushion (40x40 cm) was cut from 10 cm thick E30 quality foamed plastic. Its thickness at the rear edge of the seat is about 5 cm and at the front edge 10 cm. The cushion will be covered with thin felt plate to hide the bevelling in the material, needed for the change in the cushion thickness. With the felt plate the seat cover will also fit better and look neater. This finishing job we will do ourselves.

The seatback padding is made of 5 cm thick E30 quality foamed plastic. The size of the padding is about 41x75 cm. Preparing new padding for the seatback proved to be rather arduous because at the top there is a piece of foamed plastic, placed horizontally on top of the seatback edge as padding and supporting the seatback padding in its position. Originally this supporting piece has been made of hard foamed plastic and had a rounded shape. To save costs we didn’t acquire similar material or had it cut to shape but made it from E30 foamed plastic.

Left: The upper part of the original seatback paddin. Right: The first prototype of the upper part of the new seatback paddin.

First we made some prototypes of the supporting piece to find the right shape and make sure the seat cover fits nicely on the padding. Fortunately Muovikum had given us the waste pieces from cutting the seatback padding so there was plenty of foamed plastic for prototype tests and practising with the spray glue.

The parts for the upper edge of the seatback padding were cut from foamed plastic waste pieces.

After three test rounds, we had the seat cover top shape and angle right and “series production” could be started. Two foamed rubber pieces, cut to shape, were glued to the top edge of the actual seatback padding, using spray glue purchased from Muovikum. Spray gluing proved to be rather messy, fortunately we could work outside.

New seatback padding on the ”gluing line”, with finished items drying in the background.

The following step in the padding will be to cover the seat cushion with the 20 mm thick felt plate to make the seat cover look good.

We aim to get the seat frame refurbishment as far as possible this autumn. Hopefully we will have one refurbished demo seat ready before the winter, fitted with new padding and “dressed” in repaired seat covers.

Photos by Erja Reinikainen except if otherwise mentioned.

Refurbishing the passenger seats, part 1

Sunnuntai 29.9.2024 - Erja Reinikainen

The interior work in the Aviation Museum Society Finland owned Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle III at Turku airport is under way and the passenger seat refurbishment has also been started. There will be four rows of seats in the cabin, with a partition at the back, separating the open area in the rear section from the actual cabin part. The front seats on both sides of the aisle will be double seats, but the other three rows will have the original lay-out with three seats on the RH side and double seats on the left. We have original textiles and seat belts for fitting about twenty seats.

This blog talks about starting the seat refurbishment.

All the seat frames in our possession have suffered from the decades of storage and they will have to be repaired. The work was started by choosing from our storage sea container eight seats, which were in the best condition. In good weather the repair and refurbishment work has been done outdoors, with the Caravelle’s wing sheltering a little from the heat of the late summer sun. On rainy days we have been using the cabin of the DC-3 (registered as DO-5 in the Finnish Air Force), standing next to the Caravelle, as a workspace.

The condition and functioning of the seat back, arm rests and seat table are checked and tested. If some part is not moving as it should, the aim is to repair and fix it to functioning condition. Especially the arm rests are broken or not moving. The plastic covers at the end of the seat frame, under the arm rest, have suffered from transport and storage, some of the covers are broken.  The seat back webbing is made of rubber belts, some of them have dried and crumbled and the metal hooks, fastening the webbing to the seat back frame, have broken. It seems that during their lifetime the seats have been repaired several times, mainly the arm rests and the seat back webbing.

Photo by Erja Reinikainen.

Fortunately we have six more passenger seat frames stored in the sea container and it has been possible to dismantle armrests, seat tables, seat frame plastic covers and seat back webbing from them to use as spare parts for the seats under refurbishment. Up to now the functioning parts on a couple of seats have been checked and refurbished, faulty and broken parts have been dismantled and replaced with spare parts – and the work continues. Seat tables have been overhauled and cleaned. In some seats the seat back structure, made of light metal, has broken and it has been strengthened with a patch sheet. The life vest pouches were removed from the seats. We don’t have any life vests and the pouches under the seat obstruct the refurbishment and painting of the seat frame.

The following step will be the sanding of the seat frame legs, where the paint is flaking and peeling off. The legs will be painted using paint which matches the hue of the plastic cover on the seat end.

Photos by Jouko Tarponen except if otherwise mentioned.

Caravelle's seat covers repaired

Sunnuntai 11.8.2024 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

Caravelle two years ago. Some of it clearly belonged to the SE-DAF but there was also material from some former SAS Caravelle and probably from other types of aircraft as well. The material could be partly from the Transwede Caravelle 10BR (SE-DEC) which was damaged beyond repair in an unsuccessful take-off in Arlanda in January 1978.

In autumn 2023 we rummaged through the crates in the storage container at Turku airport. We found out that there were enough seat covers and other material for the 4-5 seat rows which were to be assembled in the front section of the cabin. The Caravelle seats could be fitted with original seat covers and seat belts. Original seat padding or cushion material has not been preserved so new ones will have to be made.

This blog describes how the old seat covers were repaired for use.

The dark green seat covers, made of some kind of wool mix fabric, consist of three parts:

• the cover of the actual seat part which is fastened to the bottom of the seat frame with four poppers (snap fasteners)
• the seatback “hood” which is pulled on the seatback frame and its padding, and fastened with Velcro tape on the backside of the seatback and by its lower edge on the seat pocket part
• the upholstery material for the seatback’s backside and the seat pocket which is fastened on the seat frame with screws by its upper corners, some glue and two hooks connected to the seat pocket, furthermore the lower edge of the seat pocket is fastened on the lower edge of the seatback hood with Velcro tape  

Further examination of the textile material showed that there were about 40 seat part covers, some of them broken and worn beyond repair. There were far less seatback hoods, about 25 of them. They are mainly rather worn and already patched. Seat pockets we have in large numbers, but many of them are dirty and several are broken. However, the situation looked good and there was useful material for covering about 25 seats.

The repairing of the seat covers was started with a washing test. The seat cover parts of one seat were washed in an ordinary household washing machine, in a 30°C gentle wash cycle, and dried. Comparing the washed parts to the unwashed ones proved that the fabric didn’t shrink. The wet fabric had a really odd smell, maybe it was due to decades of storage in the wooden box, or maybe it was some fire-retardant chemical from the 1960s… After the washing test the repair work commenced, the repaired seat covers would be washed later.

The first parts to be repaired were the actual seat parts. The typical damage included ripped seams, broken or missing poppers, round holes – probably caused by a cigarette fallen from a passenger or by the ash fallen from a cigarette. As patching material some non-fraying green cotton fabric was bought from Eurokangas, the colour proved to be very close to the original one. The patching fabric was washed before use. The holes and worn or frayed areas were patched by placing a piece of patching fabric under the area and stitch criss-cross over the hole area, using a household sewing machine. Poppers were moved from seat covers beyond repair to the ones in better condition but missing poppers. 

Then the seat cover hoods were repaired. The typical damage in them were ripped seams and threadbare areas in the lower parts of the hood where the seat belt and the seatback movement have rubbed the fabric. There are so few seatback hoods available that repairing the worst ones meant sewing new patches on old patches. The household sewing machine couldn’t handle the trickiest patches and help from a friend with an industrial sewing machine was needed.

The last item to be repaired were the seat pocket parts. At the time they have been removed from the seat frames without opening the screws on the top corners, so the corner pieces have been ripped off. Nearly all seat pocket parts needed their corners patched. The actual seat pocket is a pocket sewn on the fabric covering the backside of the seatback. There has been an elastic band at the top edge of the pocket, fastened on the seatback frame with small hooks. We don’t have any original elastic bands or hooks. Developing a new elastic band and hook system took some time. Eventually a small birdcage lock clips which fitted a 20 mm elastic band were found and the clip will be easy to fasten on the seatback frame. The downside of this solution is that it was quite arduous to slip the elastic through the seat pocket edge and sew the clips on the elastic band on 24 seats…

When all seat cover parts had been repaired, they were washed in 30°C gentle wash cycle. The ugly stains (maybe coffee?) on the seat pockets came off quite nicely even in the household washing machine. Weather permitting, the washed textiles were hung outside to dry to get rid of the odd smell.

There are plenty of turquoise seat belts in our container and we could select the ones in best condition to be reused. A pressure washer was used for washing the seat belts, then they were hung out to dry. The fastening mechanism on both ends of each seat belt needs to be checked and oiled. Each belt has a label with the manufacturing or installation date, the belts have been labelled in the 1960s and 1970s.

The repaired and washed seat covers and seat belts are now waiting for the seat frames to be repaired and for the new padding material to arrive.

Photos by Erja Reinikainen.

A busy weekend at Caravelle at Turku airport during July 13th and 14th

Maanantai 15.7.2024 - Ismo Matinlauri

Suomeksi

This weekend was the busiest we have had so far this year at our Caravelle. In this blog you will find some photos from the successful events.

Saturday, July 13th

On Saturday there was a display of French vintage car technology beside the Caravelle.

Club Renault de Finlande is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. They started their Finland Tour from Turku airport on July 13th. For Renault 2024 is a year of celebration as well, the company was established 125 years ago.

Below some photos from the sunny Club Renault de Finlande event. The weather conditions were favourable, and the temperature climbed to +26 degrees Centigrade.

There was a nice collection of vintage Renaults on display.

The day was successful also for Caravelle as we had well over 50 visitors.

Sunday, July 14th

On Sunday morning it was rainy in Turku and the temperature was much lower than on Saturday, only +18 degrees Centigrade. Despite the drizzle, we celebrated the National Day of France and hoisted the flag appropriately. In the staff room “Café Caravelle” there were naturally fresh croissants available for our volunteers.

There were less visitors than on the previous day, probably due to the weather. However, there were more than a hundred visitors during the weekend, and we can be very satisfied with these summer events.

Next week we will have the main effort of the summer as Caravelle will be open to the public during the Tall Ships Race event in Turku. The aircraft is open daily from 10 am to 3 pm from Thursday to Sunday, July 18th – July 21st.

If you are in the Turku area next week, come and visit us at the airport!

Photos by Ismo Matinlauri

Translation by Erja Reinikainen.

Caravelle's holiday season

Lauantai 6.7.2024 - Ismo Matinlauri

Suomeksi

The Caravelle Turku team volunteers finished their spring season at the end of June. The team members started their well-earned holiday at their cottages, travelling or being active in other hobbies. In the beginning of August they will return to Caravelle restoration work.

During the spring season the Turku team and the assisting technical team totalled almost 850 hours of voluntary work. Some news about the most recent work in June are shown below. Furthermore, the polishing of the lower part of the aircraft’s fuselage was continued whenever weather permitted.

The office

Ramirent Oy (the equipment rental company) donated us two modular containers which were joined and assembled beside the Caravelle. Now we have a combined office and shop on site.

A power supply was installed, and the office was furnished. Everything is ready inside and outside and we can use our new space during the summer season. A housewarming event will be arranged in August.  

Also our unofficial “Café Caravelle” (i.e. the Turku voluteers’ coffee break facility) was moved from the aircraft cabin into the new office. Now there is more space for the future interior work, and it is also easier to move in the cabin as there is less material and furniture.

The passenger door and cabin partitions

The left-hand side passenger door’s complicated opening and counterbalancing mechanism was repaired during the spring. This was quite an effort and a series of four blogs was written about it earlier. The repaired door mechanism works fine, and the passenger door is open during the visiting hours.

The partitions in the front part of the cabin are fitted into place in the two photos. The passenger door is open to confirm the correct location of the partitions so that the door opening mechanism is not disturbed. The partitions will be resurfaced in August, using material which resembles the original one, and then assembled into place.

Electrical installations

The electrical installation work is almost completed. Power outlets are already in place and connected. The wiring for lighting is almost ready, too. In August when the work continues, LED lighting will be installed on the flight deck and in the toilets and galley area in the rear section.

A LED-strip will be installed in line with the upper edge of the cabin overhead hat rack. The photo shows its wiring, waiting for the ceiling surface material installation. After that the LED-strip mounting can be assembled.

The last photo shows the white main distribution board which will be installed into the former equipment rack behind the flight deck, on the left-hand side. Wiring from the distribution board is located under the cabin floor. The wiring was being installed when the photo was taken.

Before going on holiday we collected all tools and tidied up inside the aircraft for the visitors’ events. The Caravelle will be open to the public on several occasions in July. Our volunteers will be on site to introduce the aircraft and its history.

Photos by Ismo Matinlauri.

Translation by Erja Reinikainen.

Caravelle's passenger door mechanism is repaired - Part 4

Maanantai 27.5.2024 - Erja Reinikainen ja Martti Saarinen

Suomeksi

The reparation procedure of the left-hand side passenger door’s complicated opening and counterbalancing system has been described in the previous blogs and the story is completed in this one.

During our previous reparation visit the door was already functioning in the desired way but after a long working day the last adjustments and final inspection were not done. Therefore the door could not be taken into use yet. In the week before our latest visit to Turku we asked the Turku team to check whether the bungee ropes are still tight when the door is closed. The reply was reassuring, they are tight all right. This meant that nothing had failed or broken while the counterbalancing system had been carrying a full load for a week while the door remained closed.

After arriving we lifted the cabin floorboards and checked the bungee ropes in the side tunnel under the floor. The ropes were still tight, so everything was ok. The polishing team was working outside, polishing the lower section of the passenger door and we had to wait for a while before we could open the door. It could be opened without problems.

Photo by Ismo Matinlauri.

When the door was open and in its highest position, we could see that the bungee ropes had slackened a little. This we had expected to happen. There is a convenient adjustment at the far end of the each bungee cord attachment cable: the fastener pin is moved on the connecting piece into the hole where the desired tightness of the bungee rope is achieved. The adjustment was done in a couple of minutes and the door operation was tested again. Everything worked fine. After this the last installations were done, and the final inspection was completed.

The Turku team members were given user training on how to operate the door. Now it can be used safely and there is no need to go back and forth through the small and low service door. The passenger door was open for the visitors during the weekend opening hours on May 25th – 26th.

Meanwhile, work on the flight deck was continued to have the side windows replaced. The small triangular windows had already been replaced and now the large rear windows were under work. The windows are the emergency exits for the flight deck crew, so they are easy to remove by opening the locking levers and lifting the window away.

However, this was easier said than done after the aircraft had been standing outside for almost fifty years. A lot of gun oil and some patience were needed to open the locking mechanisms but eventually they could be opened. Installing the new window on the left-hand side went smoothly but the right-hand side was more difficult. Some machining was needed and two assistants helping before the window was in its place.

Photos by Martti Saarinen except if otherwise mentioned.

Translation by Erja Reinikainen.

The right-hand side wingtip of Caravelle III "Bluebird" is delivered to Turku

Sunnuntai 26.5.2024 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

The Caravelle III "Bluebird" (OH-LEA), on display in Turku, has until now been without the wing tip piece of its right-hand side wing. For about a year, the wingtip has been under repair and parts of it have been rebuilt at the Tuesday Club, working at Finnish Aviation Museum. The leading edge of the wingtip had been destroyed while the Caravelle, in SAS colours at the time and carrying registration SE-DAF, stood by the edge of Arlanda airport for decades. Probably some airport vehicle had bumped into the aircraft.

The repair work of the right-hand wingtip section was completed at the Tuesday Club, but it wasn’t taken to Turku until now. The wingtip was transported from Finnish Aviation Museum in Vantaa to Turku airport, to be assembled on “Bluebird’s” wing. The wingtip section is too large to be transported in an ordinary passenger car. It was packed properly and loaded on the Aviation Museum yard on a trailer. The journey towards Turku could begin.

The vehicle was welcomed at Turku airport by the Caravelle Turku restoration team. The team unloaded the wingtip from the trailer and carried it under Caravelle’s right-hand side wing to wait for assembly.

Right-hand photo by Reijo Siirtola.

Now all Caravelle work allocated to the Tuesday Club have been completed. The work included repairing the nose bulkhead edge and the damaged radome, refurbishing and painting the wall panels of the flight deck and the corridor leading to the flight deck, repairing the glare shield above the flight deck instrument panel, building the frame for the navigation light on the right-hand wingtip and preparing the navigation light globes by 3D-printing.

Photo by Ismo Matinlauri.

Furthermore, in 2022 we built stands for supporting the Caravelle’s fuselage and wings during the transportation from Arlanda to the former shipyard hall in the Pansio harbour area in Turku. We also restored the Caravelle III towbar, brought from Arlanda, which was in poor condition. The towbar is already in place, fastened on “Bluebird’s” nose wheel.

Photos by Lassi Karivalo except if otherwise mentioned.

Translation by Erja Reinikainen.

Caravelle's passenger door mechanism is repaired - Part 3

Tiistai 14.5.2024 - Erja Reinikainen ja Martti Saarinen

Suomeksi

The reparation procedure of the left-hand side passenger door’s complicated opening and counterbalancing system has been described in the previous blogs and the story continues in

During the previous reparation effort the door could be opened with a manual winch, but the bungee ropes which were tested, were too weak to be used for opening and counterbalancing the door. There were also problems with the new roller chain and the door seemed to be slightly tilted. The technical team thought the problems might be caused by wrong adjustment of the cables or bungee ropes, or due to some part being bent in the process. Stronger bungee ropes were ordered from the US, and when they arrived it was time to try again to make the door work.

The attachment pieces at the door end of the new roller chain had been modified a little and this seemed to help to correct the door position. It now moved down without tilting on one side. Terminals made of copper tube had been prepared for the two new bungee ropes in the lifting mechanism, to fasten the bungee ropes to the sliding carriage and to the door lifting cables. For establishing the correct length of the bungee ropes, temporary fasteners were prepared for the rear end of the ropes to fasten them to the end cable of the bungee track. In the first phase the blue bungee rope in the middle was not changed, it remained as it had been in the previous testing.

 

The day was spent adjusting the length of the bungee ropes and cables, testing the door movement every now and then, and adjusting some detail once again. Some changes were also made on the bungee rope track. Eventually the door could be opened smoothly and rather lightly but closing it fully from its down position still required a fair bit of force.

At this point terminals from copper tube were made also for the rear end of the two outer bungee ropes and the temporary fasteners were removed. The third bungee rope in the middle was replaced with a sturdier one and terminals were made for its ends. With this arrangement the door could be moved with less force but closing it fully was still difficult. After some additional adjustments the door was functioning as it should, but it was not taken into operation yet. The technical team had been working for full eight hours at this point, so it was time to call it a day. Next time the installation will be completed, and the adjustments will be checked after the bungee ropes have been under tension for a longer period when the door has been shut.

During the day there were naturally also other activities going on: The assembly of the office and visitor centre (which is a prefabricated reusable and movable small building) was continued and the space was prepared for the opening hours on the coming weekend. Tables and sales items were moved from the aircraft into the new building. The broken sealing strip on the passenger door was replaced with a new one.

On the flight deck there was a time-consuming battle to open the emergency exit windows’ locking mechanism which had rusted solid. Among the material brought from Arlanda in 2022 there are two windows for both sides of the flight deck. They are in better condition than the existing ones and they will used to replace the old ones. Eventually the rust on the mechanism began to yield and the locking of the windows can be opened.

The planning of the new padding for the passenger seats was continued. A workable solution is beginning to take shape.

Photos by Erja Reinikainen.

Caravelle right-hand wingtip is finalized with the navigation light globe

Lauantai 27.4.2024 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

When the new leading edge had been built to replace the destroyed right-hand side wingtip leading edge on the Caravelle III (OH-LEA Bluebird), we could begin the installation of the navigation light globe into its place on the leading edge.

We don’t have the original navigation light globe because it has been destroyed together with the wingtip. We could not find a globe as a spare part either, so we had to make one. We chose to do this by 3D-printing. We used the partly broken navigation light globe from the left wing as a model. A new globe was printed for the right wing and also for the left wing navigation light.

The new navigation light globe was installed on the OH-LEA Bluebird’s left-hand wing earlier in the summer of 2023. The right- hand wing, however, had to wait until March 2024 for its new globe to be put already in early into place after the new leading edge of the destroyed wingtip had been finished.

The 3D-printed navigation light globe is made of stiff plastic, and in the beginning it didn’t fit properly into place. We heated the globe with a hot air blower so that it could be moulded to fit into its mounting on the wingtip. The globe was fastened tentatively on the edges of the mounting with a couple of screws. This was necessary for holding the globe in place while making the fastening frame. The globe is fastened on the aluminium edge of its mounting with a frame. The frame has holes for screws, and it presses tightly against the sides of the globe, and the screws in the frame holes are tightened through the globe edge into the aluminium edge underneath.

Diverging from the original solution, we decided to make the fastening frame for the globe from two parts. This made it easier to build the frame. Nevertheless, the frame we made will cover the most part of the navigation globe edge. A connecting piece will be needed on the top of the globe to connect the ends of the frame.

When the globe had been fastened with a couple of screws, broad paper tape was fastened on its edge. The shape of the globe frame was drawn on the tape. Based on the drawn line, a model for the frame was made of cardboard. The model was taped on a 1 mm thick aluminium sheet, which had already been pre-cut into the frame shape. After this we began to modify the sheet with a cutter to match the shape of the cardboard model.

The aluminium frame was test-fitted into place and modified several times. Gradually the frame reached its final shape and it rested against the lower edge of the globe as §planned. When the desired shape had been reached, the blue plastic film which had protected the aluminium surface was removed from the frame.

A strip of paper tape was fastened on the surface of the finalized fastening frame for marking the location of the fastening screws at regular intervals with a pencil. Holes for the fastening screws were drilled at the marked locations, then the screws were fastened one by one. This made the navigation light globe press into its place between the fastening frame and the edge of the globe mounting. Now the navigation light globe on the right-hand side wingtip was in place.   

The last phase was to make the 5 cm connecting piece between the fastening frame ends on the top of the navigation light globe. First a cardboard model was made of the connecting piece. The connecting piece was cut and moulded from aluminium sheet, following the model. When the blue plastic covering had been removed from its surface, the connecting piece was fastened between the fastening frame ends, using two screws with washers. Finally the screws were tightened.

Under the globe, out of sight, is the socket for the navigation light bulb and its green glass globe. The socket was lathed from aluminium and installed into place at the Tuesday Club. The Caravelle’s right-hand side wingtip is ready for housing a powered navigation light, if there is need for it at some point.    

Now the Caravelle Bluebird’s right-hand side wingtip had been completed. Re-constructing the destroyed leading edge took a whole year. The wingtip can be delivered to Turku to be assembled on the Caravelle Bluebird, which is on display near the passenger terminal at Turku airport.

Photos by Lassi Karivalo.

Translation by Erja Reinikainen.

Caravelle's passenger door mechanism is repaired - Part 2

Torstai 25.4.2024 - Erja Reinikainen ja Martti Saarinen

Suomeksi

Until now access to the Caravelle’s cabin has been through the small right-hand side service door and aft stairway. The passenger door operating mechanism has been damaged, and the door can’t be used before the mechanism is repaired. This blog describes the first phase of the passenger door repairs.

When the passenger door is opened, it moves first straight inwards and then it is manually lifted along its rails up to the cabin ceiling. The door weighs 53 kilos, so opening and closing is assisted with a counterbalancing system. The system consists of roller chains, steel cables and three bungee cords (rubber ropes), several metres long and located under the cabin floor. There are no spare parts available for this system anymore, so the new parts have been designed and made by the technical team.

On its visit to Turku on April 12th, the technical team started the door mechanism repair work. The first phase was to install the new roller chains into the door rails (the broken chains had already been removed). The new roller chain is slightly different from the original one and some parts for it were made by order in a laser cutting company, and others ordered from abroad.

When the two roller chains were in their rails, their lower ends were fastened to the brackets on the passenger door and their upper ends to the counterbalancing cables. The roller chains and cables run through the door rails and down to the guides, which are located on the sides of the right-hand side service door. There are 4 guides on each side of the door.

Under the cabin floor, in the side tunnel of the baggage compartment, the cables are connected to the bungee cords on a sliding carriage. The sliding carriage and its stops allow the bungee cords to operate in sequence, as the need for counterbalancing force depends on the position of the door. When closing the door, in the beginning the strength of one bungee rope is sufficient for the required counterbalancing. When the door moves downwards on the rails and is reaching its vertical position, the need for counterbalancing increases. This is when the two other bungee cords join in. The mechanism is complicated and not very reliable. When the Caravelle was in operation, the system needed regular repair and maintenance. The original bungee ropes have become brittle and can’t be used. The technical team is still looking for suitable material to replace the original ropes as the bungee ropes in the regular hardware store are too soft and slack for the purpose.

At this point the roller chain and the door function were tested without the bungee ropes by fastening the cables and the sliding carriage to a manual winch.

It was not that simple to operate the winch in the cramped space under the floor. The lifting force was measured with the digital scales connected to the winch. The original bungee ropes and their supporting rollers can be seen on the upper right corner of the picture.

The test arrangement worked: using the winch the passenger door could be opened, but not fully. At this point the door was secured with a couple or car tyres in the doorway.

The problem appeared to be the roller chain and cable guides, located on the sides of the service door: the new roller chain didn’t move smoothly through the guides. After some discussion the team decided to disassemble and adjust the guides. As a test, the upper guide was disassembled and cleaned, and installed back into place a little bit differently. This helped to solve the problem, so the other guides will be disassembled before the next visit of the technical team when the door mechanism repair will continue.

During the day there was also other activity in the Caravelle: three new instruments were installed into the instrument panel on the flight deck. It looks quite good already but there will be some more additions later.

The cabin curtains were unfastened from their popper slides to have them out of the way when the interior work begins. Fortunately the curtains are mainly in quite good condition, but dirty. They will be washed and ironed before putting them back. This won’t be done before the interior work has been completed.

Work was going on outside, too: the SAS prints were removed from the aft stairway before repainting. The best work method has proved to be to heat the painted area first with a blower and the scrape the paint off.

Photos by Erja Reinikainen.

Caravelle's passenger door mechanism is repaired - Part 1

Tiistai 16.4.2024 - Erja Reinikainen ja Martti Saarinen

Suomeksi

Until now access to the Caravelle’s cabin has been through the small right-hand side service door and aft stairway. The passenger door operating mechanism has been damaged, and the door can’t be used before the mechanism is repaired. This blog describes the first phase of the passenger door repairs.

When the passenger door is opened, it moves first straight inwards and then it is manually lifted along its rails up to the cabin ceiling. The door weighs 53 kilos, so opening and closing is assisted with a counterbalancing system. The system consists of roller chains, steel cables and three bungee cords (rubber ropes), several metres long and located under the cabin floor. There are no spare parts available for this system anymore, so the new parts have been designed and made by the technical team.

On its visit to Turku on April 12th, the technical team started the door mechanism repair work. The first phase was to install the new roller chains into the door rails (the broken chains had already been removed). The new roller chain is slightly different from the original one and some parts for it were made by order in a laser cutting company, and others ordered from abroad.

When the two roller chains were in their rails, their lower ends were fastened to the brackets on the passenger door and their upper ends to the counterbalancing cables. The roller chains and cables run through the door rails and down to the guides, which are located on the sides of the right-hand side service door. There are 4 guides on each side of the door.

Under the cabin floor, in the side tunnel of the baggage compartment, the cables are connected to the bungee cords on a sliding carriage. The sliding carriage and its stops allow the bungee cords to operate in sequence, as the need for counterbalancing force depends on the position of the door. When closing the door, in the beginning the strength of one bungee rope is sufficient for the required counterbalancing. When the door moves downwards on the rails and is reaching its vertical position, the need for counterbalancing increases. This is when the two other bungee cords join in. The mechanism is complicated and not very reliable. When the Caravelle was in operation, the system needed regular repair and maintenance. The original bungee ropes have become brittle and can’t be used. The technical team is still looking for suitable material to replace the original ropes as the bungee ropes in the regular hardware store are too soft and slack for the purpose.

At this point the roller chain and the door function were tested without the bungee ropes by fastening the cables and the sliding carriage to a manual winch.

It was not that simple to operate the winch in the cramped space under the floor. The lifting force was measured with the digital scales connected to the winch. The original bungee ropes and their supporting rollers can be seen on the upper right corner of the picture.

The test arrangement worked: using the winch the passenger door could be opened, but not fully. At this point the door was secured with a couple or car tyres in the doorway.

The problem appeared to be the roller chain and cable guides, located on the sides of the service door: the new roller chain didn’t move smoothly through the guides. After some discussion the team decided to disassemble and adjust the guides. As a test, the upper guide was disassembled and cleaned, and installed back into place a little bit differently. This helped to solve the problem, so the other guides will be disassembled before the next visit of the technical team when the door mechanism repair will continue.

During the day there was also other activity in the Caravelle: three new instruments were installed into the instrument panel on the flight deck. It looks quite good already but there will be some more additions later.

Photo by Jouko Tarponen.

The cabin curtains were unfastened from their popper slides to have them out of the way when the interior work begins. Fortunately the curtains are mainly in quite good condition, but dirty. They will be washed and ironed before putting them back. This won’t be done before the interior work has been completed.

Photo by Jouko Tarponen

Work was going on outside, too: the SAS prints were removed from the aft stairway before repainting. The best work method has proved to be to heat the painted area first with a blower and the scrape the paint off.

Photos by Erja Reinikainen except if otherwise mentioned.

Caravelle's overhead storage shelf is moved

Tiistai 2.4.2024 - Ismo Matinlauri

The interior work of Caravelle III, restored as Finnair OH-LEA Bluebird, started in March after the winter break. The first work item was to move the rear part of the left-hand side overhead storage compartment to the front RH side. (In this case the compartment is actually a shelf, and it will be called that in this blog.) On the right-hand side all overhead storage shelves and the ceiling structure have been dismantled in Sweden for the needs of the local Caravelle III SE-DAI.

Our aim is to build a part of a passenger cabin to the front part of the fuselage, with four rows of seats. For this purpose the overhead storage shelf had to be disassembled from the rear part and installed to the other side in front. The rear part of the cabin will be an open space for future events and exhibitions.

Disassembling the overhead storage shelf proved to be an arduous operation. This seems to be the first area in the Caravelle where screws have not been used sparingly. Obviously the shelf has not been meant to be disassembled regularly during maintenance work.

Dozens of small screws had to be unfastened and on top of that, four locking bolts had to be unfastened through the passenger service unit. We had to build a long-handled tool specifically for this purpose.

Fastening battens for the overhead storage shelf were fastened on the RH side, starting from the service door. The lower aluminium batten could be moved but the upper batten proved impossible to unfasten and move, so we decided to use a wooden batten instead.

Reassembling the overhead storage shelf happened as the disassembly but in reversed order. First we fastened the row of air conditioning and loudspeaker panels into place.

The fasteners of the overhead storage shelf had to be modified to fit into their new location. The original spacing of the fasteners didn’t fit because the shelf had to be turned around to assemble it to the other side.

The final fastening of the shelf was done through the passenger service unit (PSU). This time the fastening bolts were replaced with self-drilling screws. We decided not to move the brackets for the fastening bolts, we estimated the screws to be sufficient.

Above the overhead storage shelves we stretched the covering material we had taken down from the other side. Now the front part of the cabin looks identical on both sides. Finally we installed the metal grilles to cover the air-conditioning and loudspeaker panels.

We had been doubtful about moving the overhead storage shelves because of the amount of work and breaking the existing structure. Actually disassembling the shelf proved to be the most difficult and the most time-consuming phase. After that the reassembly into the new place was quite straight-forward.

There will be a partition at both ends of the shelf so that the cut ends of the shelf will be covered. Building the partitions will be another story and we will come back to that later.

Photos by Ismo Matinlauri.

Translation by Erja Reinikainen.

The Caravelle right-hand wingtip leading edge is completed

Keskiviikko 27.3.2024 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

Owned by Aviation Museum Society Finland and now on display at Turku Airport, the Caravelle lll (OH-LEA Sinilintu, Bluebird) has had its damaged right-hand wingtip leading edge restoration completed. The wingtip in the Caravelle is a separate entity, which can be detached from the wing. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll use the term wingtip for this structure in the future.

The last task in building the new leading edge for the wingtip was to rivet the edges of the upper and lower covering sheets to the centre line of the leading edge. The edges of the covering sheets meet at the centreline of the leading edge. Otherwise the covering sheets of the new wingtip had already been riveted in the wingtip structure.

To be able to rivet the covering sheet edges on the leading edge centreline, the sheet edges were tightened against the leading edge using a cargo strap, tied around the wingtip. After this, rivet holes were drilled at both ends of the sheets and the edges were riveted on the centre line with pop rivets.

It was noticed that a gap of 1-4 mm was left between the edges. The edges of the sheets therefore didn’t reach each other to form a butt joint. It was decided to cover the gap with an aluminium covering strip, running along the leading edge centre line.

To make the covering strip, an 8 cm wide and 40 cm long aluminium strip was cut out of 1 mm thick aluminium sheet to conceal the seam between the covering sheets. The aluminium strip was shaped to the curved form of the leading edge by shaping it against a suitable size iron tube. The concealing strip was arduous to shape because the wingtip leading edge slopes to various directions. The strip was, therefore, moulded phase by phase, fitting it to place at times. Thus the concealing strip was made to press tightly against the leading edge ridge.

Now the blue plastic films protecting the aluminium sheet could be removed and start the riveting of the covering strip. For the riveting the covering strip was tightened to place at both ends with a cargo strap. Masking tape was applied to both ends of the covering strip to mark the places of the pop rivets. The places were marked on the surface of the tape at even spaces with a compass and pencil, and the holes for the rivets were drilled accordingly.

We discussed what would be the best order to rivet the covering strip, so that it would best confirm to the shape of the wingtip leading edge. We ended up in starting the riveting from the rear end of the covering strip, proceeding rivet by rivet towards the wingtip. In doing so, the covering strip riveted itself tightly to the wingtip leading edge. Finally, the edges of the covering strip were tapped with a hammer and a piece of wood to press it still more tightly to the underlying surface of the covering material.

The demanding task of rebuilding the destroyed wingtip leading edge of the Caravelle III was now ready. Let’s not forget the fitting of the 3D-printed navigation lamp cover to its place in the leading edge tip.

Photos by Lassi Karivalo.

Translation by Matti Liuskallio.

To the sunny south by Super Caravelle

Maanantai 26.2.2024 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

I wrote in my travel diary on June 22nd, 1966: “The airplane is still on the ground, the engines are running. … We have been in the air for quite a while now. We had lunch and we will be in Warsaw in about 30 minutes. … We took off from Warsaw a long time ago and are flying high above the clouds. Soon we will land in Constanta. We will go by bus from the airport to Hotel Lotus”.

We were on a holiday trip to Mamaia beach resort in Romania, on the Black Sea coast. I was 10 years old. The aircraft was Finnair Super Caravelle, but I haven’t noted its registration, and it can’t be seen in the photographs. On the way there and coming back we stopped in Warsaw to refuel.

In the same diary there are stories from a trip on the Swedish charter airline’s Internord DC-6 from Helsinki to Naples and back in 1967. Flying over the Alps on a sunny day was an experience for a child from Finland where there are no mountains: “Ahead of us there are magnificent and beautiful mountains! The majestic Alps with their wonderful valleys glide by”. Some superlatives from a 11-year-old.

Between the diary pages there is a leaflet by Aurinkomatkat travel agency “Relaxing holiday to Rhodes, May 29th, 1968”. It shows that our flight was a Kar-Air flight, the aircraft belonged to Aero Oy.

The following year we are in the air again and I write in my diary on May 29th, 1968: “Once more on a Finnair Super Caravelle. We are heading away from Seutula airport and towards Rhodes. … A map-like view opens below us with forests, lakes, and fields. The clouds drift by, soft and white. This time we will stop in Budapest to refuel. … Now we are in Budapest, but they won’t let us out. Why not?? So this is Budapest, looks very ordinary to me: a radar, an Interflug airplane and fuel trucks”.

Erja and her mother in the Rhodes harbour. This is the photo which everybody who goes there will have.

In 1969 we were on the way to Rhodes again, this time the Caravelle was OH-LSB “Tampere”. I drew a picture of it in my diary. It is rather short and the windows are not triangular, but otherwise it is almost recognizable: engines on the rear fuselage, the horizontal stabilizer is almost the right size and there are boundary fences on the wings.

Drawing of Super Caravelle from 1969.

Some background information for the travel stories: my father was an air force mechanic during WW2, and he wanted his family to experience what it was like to fly. I was 6 years old when we travelled from Helsinki to Tampere on a Kar-Air DC-3. In 1962-69 and in the early 1970s I travelled somewhere with my parents every year, usually by air. And I thought flying was fantastic.

Stories from the Caravelle's winter

Sunnuntai 11.2.2024 - Jouko Tarponen ja Hannu Hedman

Suomeksi

There are several Caravelle veterans among us. During coffee breaks and in different conversations colourful stories have been told from those days. Below two personal experiences.

My first trip by air in a Caravelle

When we were 13-14 years old, my friend and I were real aircraft fans. We lived in Raisio and we came often to Turku airport or the nearby Sikovuori nearby to see airplanes. Mainly we came there by bike but sometimes our parents drove us there.

In spring 1982 my friend and I saved money to travel by air from Turku to Helsinki, the aim was to fly in a Super Caravelle which Finnair was about to remove from service. I was already then a Caravelle fan, which must be because it was probably the first aircraft I was able to recognise as a child. In those days a weekly charter flight from Turku to Heraklion was flown by a Caravelle. The Finnair Super Caravelle flew a scheduled flight from Helsinki to Turku on Saturday evening and the departure time to Heraklion was 9.15 pm - if I remember correctly. The return flight to Turku landed on Sunday morning at 7.15 am.

The great day was Sunday, May 23rd, 1982. We bought tickets for the morning flight from Turku to Helsinki, departing at 7.45. The aircraft was Super Caravelle and the ticket cost 70 Finnish marks. We returned home by taking a bus from Helsinki-Vantaa airport to the Helsinki railway station and from there by train to Turku.

I felt very nervous and thrilled about flying because I had never experienced it before. In the morning we left Raisio in sunny weather, taken to Turku airport by car by our parents. When we got there, the information display said that the aircraft will return from Heraklion almost two hours later than scheduled. Then we drove back home to Raisio and returned to the airport about one hour and a half later.

Finnair’s Super Caravelle OH-LSD ”Oulu” from Heraklion landed in Turku at 9.10, full of passengers. When the passengers had disembarked, and the aircraft had been refuelled, there was an announcement: “departure on Finnair flight AY204 to Helsinki, gate 1”. At that point I felt for a moment that the situation was almost insuperable.

I felt slightly better when my friend and I started to walk from the gate to the aircraft. I was a first-timer in air travel, my friend wasn’t. I could only look at the floor, during take-off the uneven surface of the runway could be felt inside the aircraft, and this was a new experience for me. When we were in the air, the travelling became smooth.

Soon I looked out of the window for the first time. That was something new and awesome. I don’t remember being afraid anymore, except when the aircraft was turning when coming in for landing. I was 14 and my friend was 13. The whole experience of the first flight was and still is one of my most memorable experiences. At that time air travel was rather luxurious, compared today. Travelling south on holiday was not that common then. This was really a great experience and overcame my fear of flying. Now I knew what flying was about. It was really safe in those days too.  

An encounter in the dark

In this poor-quality picture you see a page from my pilot’s logbook from more than 50 years ago. At that time I was on a night VFR and basic instrument course in Kuopio. We were flying training flights and solo flights in the dark. I flew my first solo flight at night on February 4th, 1972. At that time the evening flight AY555 from Helsinki to Kuopio was flown on a Super Caravelle.

On these late flights I was often in the air at the same time with the Caravelle. Once flight controller Kalle Linden in the Kuopio tower warned me when I was heading south by the Kurkimäki masts: “OH-PCD, look around, the Finnair Fiver (555) is ahead”. The Caravelle acknowledged: “We can see the small one”. That was when I noticed there was an enormous pool of light flying on my left side.

After that I was more careful, and we met often in the air in the Kuopio APP area. It was rather stirring that the tower cleared my plane on the ramp close to the Finnair Caravelle. I had to go round and kick the wheels on my plane to make myself important. And yes, the guys waved from the Caravelle’s window.

First story: Jouko Tarponen, the photographer from the Turku team and documenter of the Caravelle restoration project

Second story: Hannu Hedman, also from the Turku Caravelle team and a pilot with his heart and soul. He also likes to wear a red robe before Christmas…

Mid-winter Caravelle news from the writing desk

Sunnuntai 14.1.2024 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

About six months ago Ismo Matinlauri wrote a blog on this website where he talks about the amount of work and accessories used so far for Caravelle’s restoration project. At the end of 2023 the number of working hours spent on Caravelle’s disassembly, restoration and reassembly totalled 5,653 hours.

Photo via Ismo Matinlauri.

Paraphrasing Ismo’s text from last July: "Restoring the Caravelle has required a fair number of volunteers’ working hours. The job can’t be done by restoration work volunteers alone, a lot of paperwork is also needed".

Photo via Ismo Matinlauri.

The successful running of the project has required comprehensive commitment from the key personnel, especially for planning, procurement, and practical arrangements before each actual phase of work. In the three years since the beginning of the project, a large number of Caravelle-related meetings have been arranged by various groups involved in the project:

• follow-up meetings of the Aviation Museum Society Finland board in the critical phases of the project
• gatherings of the technical planning team, every other week in average
• meetings for the transport planning
• meetings for organizing competitions for equipment and service providers and procurement meetings during the disassembly phase and later in the reassembly phase
• weekly meetings for work planning and material procurement during the restoration phase
• furthermore, several unofficial ad-hoc work sessions have been arranged, especially by the technical crew.

A memo has been written of nearly all meetings. We can say that the project has been rather well documented for the future aviation history researchers.

The background crew of the project have also taken care of informing the various stakeholders about the project, as well as of Facebook posting, press releases, media interviews, photo processing, project material filing, etc. My estimate is that there are about 8-10 of us who have been involved in the project as PR officers, writers, translators, bloggers, photographers, etc.

Photo by Erja Reinikainen.

About 50 blogs have been written yearly on the Caravelle project website, and all blogs have been complemented with photographs and translated into English. The web pages went through a thorough update in October 2023. Several articles have been written about the Caravelle and the project phases, mainly for the Feeniks journal of the Aviation Museum Society, but also for other aviation history magazines.  

Based on an unofficial and rather freely formulated Excel spreadsheet, about 70 meeting memos have been prepared so far in the Caravelle project. About 80 person-workdays have been spent in meetings when all participants and the memo writing are considered. It can be also estimated that about 40 person-workdays have been spent on publishing all the blogs, including writing, translation, photographs, and publishing.

As the year 2024 progresses and the Caravelle restoration work continues, there will be more weekly meetings, blogs, articles, and photographs – and the documenting team will be busy again…

Repairing the Caravelle right-hand wingtip

Sunnuntai 14.1.2024 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

Acquired from Sweden by Aviation Museum Society Finland, the Caravelle (OH-LEA) restored at Turku airport as Finnair’s “Bluebird” had had its right-hand wingtip leading edge badly damaged during its stay in Sweden. It was damaged for a distance of ca. 40 cm, and at the process the wingtip navigation light was also destroyed. Luckily the left-hand wingtip is intact, so that it can be used as a model when rebuilding the right-hand smashed wingtip. So the destroyed wingtip must be remade.

The remaking the right-hand wingtip was started by dismantling the damaged area. The rivets on the crumpled aluminium sheets were drilled away, so that the wingtip covering could be bent open, and the covering sheets detached from the wingtip support frame. We tried to straighten the detached aluminium sheets to their original shape, but they turned out to be so brittle, that they broke when straightened to their shape. So we concluded that the right-hand wingtip leading edge had to be covered with new sheets of aluminium.

We dismantled the detachable support frames of the damaged area. Part of the structure didn’t need to be detached, so it could be used as such in reconstructing the wingtip leading edge. The detached and usable frames were straightened to their original shape. They were fastened with pop rivets to their places, utilizing the intact left-hand wingtip when positioning the support frames.

After this the back wall and bottom plate of the right-hand wing navigation light bay was constructed with the left-hand wing navigation light bay as a model. The back wall and bottom plate were cut off from 1 mm thick aluminium plate. When the navigation light bay back wall and bottom plate were tentatively in place, the wingtip leading edge was nearing its original shape.

An opening was made in the bottom plate of the navigation light for the wiring of the navigation light. Also a cup-like socket was lathed for the later fixing of the light in mind. After that the whole navigation light bay was locked from its edges to the remaining original frames of the wingtip with strips cut from 1 mm thick aluminium plate. The fastening was done with pop rivets.

The next phase was to make a support frame between the edge of the intact area in the wingtip and the back wall of the navigation light, where the original frame had been destroyed. The edge of the intact area is formed by the wingtip’s original curve. However, the curve is somewhat damaged in its upper edge, but repairable and will be hidden by the wingtip new covering.

The support frame was made of 2 cm wide strips cut off from 1mm thick aluminium plate. To be able to rivet the ends of the support frame strips to the edge of the curve, the original damaged aluminium covering which had been on the frame, was cut off with a Dremel blade. Five strips were fastened between the edge of the curve and the back wall of the navigation light. The fastening was made with pop rivets. To make the structure sturdy enough to bend and fasten the aluminium cover sheets on the frame, two additional crosswise support strips were riveted to the structure. Now we’ll be ready to start covering the right-hand wingtip leading edge with 1 mm thick aluminium sheets.

Photos by Lassi Karivalo.

Translation by Matti Liuskallio.

Caravelle's Turku team and a nice Christmas lunch

Lauantai 23.12.2023 - Ismo Matinlauri

Suomeksi

On Tuesday, December 19th, the Caravelle Turku restoration group gathered for a Christmas lunch. The place was Krookila Wanha Tupa (Old Farmhouse). The history of the place goes as far back as 1490, and in the summer the farm is open to the public as a museum. We enjoyed a nice and traditional Christmas lunch in this historic and beautiful surrounding.

The group picture shows 13 members of the Turku team with Aviation Museum Society Finland chairman Janne Salonen and his mother Liisa Salonen. Liisa has participated in the Caravelle restoration project and has encouraged and cheered up the Turku team on several occasions. Our chief photographer Jouko Tarponen is missing from the picture – he was naturally behind the camera.

This team will continue its work with the Caravelle after a hopefully short winter break. If we are able to find a suitable warm workshop we will start restoring the passenger seat frames and cabin partition walls while waiting for the weather to get warmer.

Photos by Jouko Tarponen

Translation by Erja Reinikainen