The DO-5 fuselage on display at the Turku AirshowPerjantai 23.6.2023 - Tuesday Club member The fuselage of the Douglas C-47 A, registered DO-5, owned by Aviation Museum Society Finland was on display at the Turku Airshow as part the Aviation Museum’s stand. The DO-5 fuselage, which was used by the Finnish Air Force for training paratroopers in the 1960’s, was refurbished enough in the Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club for the fuselage to be brought on display to Turku. The Airshow visitors could be allowed inside the fuselage to see how the aircraft was used in training the paratroopers.
Photos by Janne Salonen
Photo my Lassi Karivalo The DO-5 fuselage was transported from the Aviation Museum’s yard at Vantaa to Turku Airport on the Thursday before the Airshow weekend. The Aviation Museum Society’s stand was situated in the Airshow area close to the mighty Boeing C-17 Globemaster. So there they were in close vicinity, the USA Air Force Air Transport aircraft from the 1930’s and the 1990’s, albeit in different calibre.
Photos by Lassi Karivalo The Society had also brought on display the “Snoopy” aircraft donated to the Society and awaiting full restoration. This experimental aircraft from 1969 was constructed by the brothers Ari and Esko Hietanen from Turku.
Photo by Janne Pauni The DO-5 fuselage drew great interest among the Airshow visitors. On both show days, Saturday and Sunday, people poured into the DO-5 to hear about the history of this individual aircraft and about the refurbishing projects done by the Tuesday Club, including the full-sized photo in the cockpit of the instrument panel of the Kar-Air DC-3 OH-VKB, which is situated in the Aviation Museum.
Photo by Juha Veijalainen
Photo via Jarmo Kaipainen We told the visitors in particular how the DO-5 was used at Utti as a jump aircraft to train paratroopers and after it was taken off from flying, how the fuselage was utilized on the ground as a dry run platform before the first real jump as a paratrooper. We didn’t keep count how many persons visited the interior of the DO-5, but we estimate that the number is nearer 2000 than one thousand. It was a pleasant incident, when someone visited the aircraft and said that he had jumped from this very aircraft in 1963 on his conscript time, when it still served as a jump aircraft. Those who visited the aircraft were also very interested in the Aviation Museum Society’s DO-5 project in itself. They thought it was commendable that Aviation Museum Society Finland saved from the scrap yard an aircraft used by the Air Force in the 1960’s, with the cabin still in its original paratrooper training attire. Our project isn’t solely to preserve a C-47 because there are plenty of them still flying in the world, including converted airliner flying “Dak”, the OH-LCH, owned by Airveteran Oy. In preserving the DO-5 we’ll be able to save for the future generations Air Force history from the 1960’s concerning paratrooper training. We at the Tuesday Club can be proud as Punch for what we have already done to refurbish the fuselage. Without our input the fuselage wouldn’t have been in such a condition that it could have been put on display. There’s still a lot to do with the DO-5, but time will show how far we can go. The positive feedback we received at the Turku Airshow only confirmed how important our idea was, from the point of aviation history, to save the DO-5 used by the Air Force in training paratroopers more than 50 years ago. We, inside the DO-5 telling the visitors about the history and use of the aircraft, were literally in a hot spot. The scorching weather and the sun blaring from a cloudless sky heated the interior really hot. The temperature must have been nearly +50 degrees Celsius, even though we had installed a few fans to ease our existence. We did survive the hours’ long “sauna” of both airshow days. It must be admitted that cases of mineral water and Coke relieved the situation in preventing dehydration. The positive attitude of the visitors motivates Aviation Museum Society Finland to carry on with the refurbishing of the DO-5. From the point of view of the Tuesday Club the situation is problematic, because for the time being the DO-5 remains in Turku and our club operates in the Finnish Aviation Museum’s premises in Vantaa in co-operation with the Museum.
Photos by Janne Salonen After the Airshow the DO-5 fuselage was transported to Turku Airport to the vicinity of the Caravelle III, which was restored as Finnair’s “Bluebird”, and is owned by Aviation Museum Society Finland. There the Old Lady DO-5 can stay by the little younger Old Lady the “Bluebird” on public display.
Photos by Janne Salonen The former SAS Caravelle (SE-DAF) presently in Finnair colours, outside the actual Airshow area also interested the Airshow visitors very much. So about 1300 people popped in to get acquainted with the Caravelle “Bluebird” on their way from the Airport terminal bus-stop to the gates of the Airshow area. It was well worth getting acquainted with, because the newly painted Finnair “Bluebird is a truly resplendent sight. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Tuesday Club, C-47, DC-3, DO-5 |
Thank you to the supporters of the Caravelle projectKeskiviikko 21.6.2023 - Erja Reinikainen We managed to restore the SAS Caravelle III Sven Viking, abandoned on the edge of the airfield for decades, to the Finnair OH-LEA Bluebird in the schedule we had defined. It was open to the public during the Turku Airshow at Turku airport, on June 17th and 18th. On both days there was a queue at the Bluebird’s gate and the volunteer guides, who have been involved in the restoration work, had an interested audience. After a successful effort – the restoration and the airshow weekend – the team of volunteers can relax and enjoy a well-earned summer holiday.
Photos by Jouko Tarponen We think that this is a good moment to thank all those who have supported the Caravelle project. Without you the Bluebird wouldn’t be ready to be presented to the public. In this period of about a year and a half we have received financial support for the procurement of many important items. In a society operating on membership fees we appreciate your support very much. Many of you have lent us special tools which are needed in the disassembly and reassembly work. Without your help we wouldn’t have been able to get these tools. Furthermore, we have been given access to Caravelle archive data, we have been given lots of valuable advice and all kinds of help in the problems we have encountered during the project. We thank the companies and societies which have supported us. They are mentioned at the end of this blog. We thank all the private persons who have helped us in various ways during the project. And last but not least, we thank the family members and other close ones of our volunteers for patience and understanding for the OH-LEA Bluebird. Caravelle-project supporters: Statens Maritima on Transporthistoriska Museer (Sweden)
Arlanda Flygsamlingar (Sweden) / Jan Forsgren
Le Caravelle Club (Sweden) / Ulf Nyström
Swedavia (Sweden) / Andreas Persson
Danmarks Tekniske Museet, Helsingør (Denmark) / Susanne Krogh Jensen
Ahola Special
Finnlines
Rantala-yhtiöt
P. Tyllilä Linja Oy / Juhani Tyllilä, Katri Tyllilä, Kimmo Koskinen
Select Service Partner Finland Oy
Kuljetus R. Stenvall Oy / Jussi Mäkelä
Nostot & kuljetukset R. M. Laine Oy / Mikko Laine
Toolpoint
Hyvinkään Ilmailukerho ry
Finnair Tekniikka
Granlund
Finavia / Juha Aaltonen, Veli-Matti Paasikivi, EFTU kunnossapito
Canon
Port of Turku
RMR Merirakenne
Companies in the Pansio shipyard area
Teknos / Markku Uusitalo
Anzo / Oy C.E. Lindgren Ab
Jalmeri
Arctic Decals / Mika Jernfors
Peter Lampinen
Ronema
Consolis Parma
NCC
Ossi Harjula
Finnish Aviation Museum
The Media
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Tuesday Club's DO-5 work completedKeskiviikko 21.6.2023 - Tuesday Club member The hard work of the Tuesday Club members was instrumental in getting the fuselage of the type C-47A DO-5, owned by Aviation Museum Society Finland, into sufficient shape for putting it ready for showing before the Turku Airshow. It was touch and go because the last tasks weren’t finished until two days before the fuselage of DO-5 was transported from the yard of the Finnish Aviation Museum to Turku Airport on June 15th, 2023. The last significant project was to install new plexiglass panes for the cockpit. The Air Force DO-5 hasn’t had original panes in the cockpit for decades. Part of the windows lacked panes altogether, resulting rainwater and snowstorms ruining the cockpit badly, whilst the fuselage lay forgotten for decades in the Utti forests. Because the original cockpit panes and the large sliding panes on both sides of the cockpit weren’t available, we ended up with acquiring plexiglass panes for the window openings. On top of that we decided to attach the plexiglass panes to their frames with a mixture of glue and sealant mass. In this way the windows become watertight, preventing water to seep into the fuselage. This also meant that the big sliding panes on both sides of the DO-5 cockpit couldn’t be slid open anymore.
To acquire new 5mm polycarbonate plexiglass panes we made a template out of thin plywood for each of the window openings. For the windscreens we had already in the autumn acquired from ETRA plexiglass panes ready cut to form. Cold weather and the oncoming winter, however, put paid to carrying on with the installing of the windowpanes. We fastened then the plexiglass panes and the temporary panes in the other windows with plastic tape from their edges to wait for the warmer temperatures of the spring, when we could continue with the cockpit windows.
Photos by Lauri Veijalainen
Other tasks to refurbish the DO-5 fuselage in the spring delayed attaching the new plexiglass panes, so that we didn’t get to it until May 2023. Then the plexiglass panes for the large sliding windows on the sides of the cockpit were acquired.
Photos by Lauri Veijalainen
Each plexiglass pane was squeezed into its frame and a thin rubber strip was installed under the lower edge of the pane in order to get the pane at the right elevation in its groove. After that the edges of the panes were taped either by masking tape or with plastic tape so that there remained a suitable zone for the glue and sealant mass. The tape is to protect the rest of the surface of the pane from the sealant mass to spread and that the seam of the sealant mass will be clean.
Photo by Lauri Veijalainen After the taping, the glue and sealant mass was squeezed out along the seam of the pane and the frame. After that the mass was formed even with a plastic forming spatula. As mass we used black Soudaseal and Würth glue and sealant mass. When the seaming was ready, we extracted the protective tapes along the pane edges and the protective film on the panes. The seaming of each pane turned out to be very neat.
Photo by Lauri Veijalainen There are also small sliding windows in the cockpit that can be opened. For them we received original framed panes from Airveteran Oy. Installing them proved to be a bit problematic. Both the sliding window frames lacked a locking screw from the bottom, with which the window was pressed with its rubber seal tightly against the frame to make it watertight. On top of that, both the frames of the sliding windows we received were both for the right-hand side. Luckily the right- and left-hand side pane differ from each other little enough, so we pushed the right-hand side pane deep and tightly enough into the grooves of the left-hand side frame. There it can remain for the time being, until we’ll find a suitable pane for it.
We noticed that along the windscreen and cockpit side window frames there were empty screw holes. What for, we wondered? To stop water from leaking into the fuselage, we blocked the holes by screwing groove-headed sheet metal aluminium screws into each of them.
Photos by Lauri Veijalainen
Photo by Janne Salonen With the windows we had accomplished all the agreed tasks to refurbish the DO-5, so for our part the fuselage was ready to be transported to Turku Airport and to be on show there at the Airshow on June 17th -18th. The DO-5 fuselage left for Turku on Thursday June 15th. Photos by Lassi Karivalo except if otherwise mentioned. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Tuesday Club, C-47, DC-3, DO-5 |
Turku Airshow - Caravelle flight to Las PalmasMaanantai 19.6.2023 - Erja Reinikainen During the weekend, June 17th and 18th, Turku airport was the venue for the Turku Airshow 2023, which was the main airshow of the year in Finland. Early this year this date was written in large numbers on the coffee room wall in the hall in Pansio, where the Caravelle was under restoration. The aim was to present the Caravelle to the public, outside and inside, and tell its story until this day.  The Caravelle was outside the actual display area and because of this only those who came to the airshow by bus from Turku could visit the aircraft. On the other hand, the location by the pedestrian route allowed quick and easy access to the aircraft.
There were more visitors than we expected. On Saturday there were 865 and on Sunday 430 visitors, in total 1 295. At times the passenger stairs were crowded but some queuing didn’t seem to bother the good-humoured visitors. They told the Caravelle guides many stories about the aircraft. Sometimes it even seemed that the roles were interchanged. The visitor number 1000 was rewarded with a Caravelle key fob. Danial was the lucky winner who was congratulated by Jari Myrsky and received the key fob.
Photos by Ismo Matinlauri Another visitor must be mentioned. The WWII fighter veteran and Caravelle pilot Mauri Maunula stopped by to have a look at the replica of his previous aircraft. During his brief chat with the Aviation Museum Society Finland’s chairman Janne Salonen several colourful incidents from Mr Maunula’s Caravelle times were told.
There was a small but busy Aviation Museum Society Finland sales stall by the Caravelle. Caravelle caps, T-shirts and mugs were sold there. On the second day of the airshow old aviation magazines were handed out for free to those coming to see the Caravelle. The magazines were popular especially among the younger visitors. Photos by Jouko Tarponen except if otherwise mentioned. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Busy day at Turku AirportTorstai 8.6.2023 - Erja Reinikainen On Wednesday, June 7th, there were about a dozen volunteers at work to prepare “the Bluebird” for public display. The work started at about 10 am and was continued until 6 pm. Now the weather was nicer than last week, the sun was shining, and it was almost warm.
Photo by Ismo Matinlauri
Photos by Jouko Tarponen The aim is to take down the scaffolding before the end of this week, so the work in the tail has been prioritized. The stencil stickers for painting the “AERO” text on the fuselage below the horizontal stabilizer were fastened into place and the text was painted in blue. In the tail fin there are several fillets and panels and the last of them were fastened into place. When the others were leaving, two men remained on the scaffolding finishing the panel sealings.
Photos by Jouko Tarponen
Photo by Erja Reinikainen There was activity on ground level as well. The right-hand side main landing gear was being cleaned. The result was surprisingly good although there was no water available. Under the aircraft the panels under the wing to fuselage joint were installed into place. Polishing was under way, too, on the wings and in the nose section. Furthermore, the blue paint on the window line had been slightly damaged by the crane slings when the fuselage was lifted. The damaged areas were sanded and re-painted.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen
Photo by Jouko Tarponen
Photo by Erja Reinikainen The cleaning of the cabin, started the day before, was continued. Now the cabin, flight deck, toilets, and aft upper cargo department have been vacuumed and cleared. The wall panels and overhead shelves have also been wiped with a damp cloth. This was a quick tidying of the appearance so that the inside of the aircraft can be presented to the public on the Turku airshow days. The restoration of the interior will be a project for the future.
Photo by Curt Oksa There were several visitors during the day. Maybe the Caravelle article on Helsingin Sanomat website today and the beautiful weather encouraged people to come and see “the Bluebird”. There were also visitors from Turku customs office, four officials and a dog. No traces of old smuggled goods were detected. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
The "Bluebird" assembly teamLauantai 3.6.2023 - Erja Reinikainen The blogs written this week mention several times the Caravelle assembly team. So it is more than appropriate to introduce this group which was working on the Caravelle at Turku airport on two occasions in the past weeks. The first work phase took place on May 22nd-23rd, when the wings were transported from Pansio and joined at the airport. The second work phase was longer, May 29th-June 2nd, when first the fuselage was assembled on the wing and then the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical stabilizer were assembled on the tail. When written like this the task may sound simple, but it was far from that. During the winter the Caravelle technical team, consisting of Markku Ahokoski, Kari Nyman, Martti Saarinen and Ismo Matinlauri, was coordinating the Caravelle restoration work which was going on in Pansio. Last year Markku, Kari and Martti planned how the Caravelle can be disassembled and now they planned and scheduled how it can be put back together. Lifting the parts of the aircraft from a trailer and getting them accurately into place in the strong wind was a challenging task. Fastening the fuselage-wing joint bolts in the cramped keel tunnel wasn’t easy as it was almost dark there. Getting the vertical stabilizer and rudder into place on the scaffolding, in the torrents of rain, was quite an achievement, too. Assembling all the wing root fairings required a lot of patience from the team, as there were dozens of panels and hundreds of rivets. In addition to the demanding assembly work there were plenty of other activities during the week: jacks, plywood boards, pallets and car tires were moved where needed, items were taken out from the sea container and put back, slings and cargo straps were used for multiple purposes, there were several visits to the hardware store, etc. The assembly team was led by Markku Ahokoski and in addition to Kari Nyman and Martti Saarinen, there were Reima Lindroth, Hannu Penttilä and Jouko Rinne, who had also been in Arlanda during the disassembly. Martti Saarinen wasn’t in Turku, but he participated in discussions on the phone during the assembly week. Yrjö Honkavaara and Elias Viitanen from the Pansio group were assisting in the assembly work and Erja Reinikainen worked as an overall helper. This team of eight volunteers assembled the Caravelle “Bluebird” in five days, not including the days when the parts were lifted on trailers. Now the Pansio team can continue and assemble the remaining fairings and panels and go on with the sanding, painting, and polishing work.
Photo by Jouko Tarponen on May 29th, 2023. This photo of the assembly team was taken in the Pansio hall on May 29th when the Caravelle fuselage had been lifted on the Ahola Special Transport trailer and the Society’s banner had been straightened. From the left: Hannu Penttilä, Yrjö Honkavaara, Reima Lindroth, Markku Ahokoski, Ismo Matinlauri, Elias Viitanen, Erja Reinikainen and Jouko Rinne, on far right ”Curre” who came to see what is going on in the hall. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Making the lower part of C-47 (DO-5) nose coneLauantai 3.6.2023 - Tuesday Club member In an earlier blog I told that we were lent the lower half of a DC-3 (OH-VKC) nose cone to make the missing lower half of the DO-5 nose cone out of fibre glass. The DO-5 operated at its time in the Finnish Air Force as a jump aircraft for paratroopers. Aviation Museum Society managed to buy the DO-5, which was heading for scrap yard. Unfortunately the middle section of the wing is missing.
We needed the lower part of the nose cone on loan to make an outer surface fibreglass mould. With the help of the mould we’ll make the missing lower half out of fibreglass. Why do we make the lower half out of fibreglass and not of sheet aluminium? Simply because making the lower half out of aluminium is much more challenging and, on the other hand, because the fibreglass lower half of the nose cone fills its place well in the nose of the non-flying DO-5.
The lower half of the OH-VKC nose cone we loaned, and the DO-5 nose cone upper half are of the same DC-3 family, but they have been manufactured in different times and places. Because of this we still wanted to test, whether the OH-VKC lower half and the DO-5 upper half are a match. They weren’t an exact match, but close enough for us to use the loaned lower half of the nose cone to make a fibreglass mould.
The first phase in making the fibreglass mould was to stiffen the lower part of the OH-VKC nose cone so that it wouldn’t distort when under work. This was because the lower half, made of thin aluminium sheet, detached from the nose of the OH-VKC is “sloppy” and won’t retain its form. A wooden cross stiffener was made between the opposite corners of the lower half. Then curved stiffeners in the form of the lower half edges were sawn out of 20 mm thick film plywood, which were attached to the edges of the lower half of the nose cone. The stiffeners were fastened by utilizing the existing attachment screw holes in the edges. Now the nose cone lower part will stay in form when handled.
Photos by Reijo Siirtola Before making the fibreglass mould the bottom surface of the nose cone had to be cleaned into aluminium from the paint and filler covering it. The mottled history of the OH-VKC could be seen in the many layers of paint on the nose cone. An attempt to remove the layers of paint using a grinder failed because the sanding discs got choked instantly. Next a paint removing agent and scraping the paint off was tried. Suitable for our purposes proved to be Solmaster MP EKO Maalinpoisto (paint remover). Plenty of Solmaster was applied onto a restricted area of the aluminium surface and the area was covered with fabric to prevent evaporation. When the substance had worked a while, the paint could be scraped off with a wooden spatula. The wooden spatula worked well, and it doesn’t damage the aluminium surface of the lower half. Because the surface remained sticky, the final cleaning was done with thinner and xylene. In this way, phase by phase, the nose cone lower half’s surface was cleaned. Finally the surface was buffed with a nylon slip disc (Mirka nylon 60x30x6m).
Photo by Reijo Siirtola Before layers of fibreglass fabrics, impregnated in polyester resin, could be applied on the surface of the lower half of the nose cone, the surface had to be carefully sealed. The sealing is important, because the sealer prevents the resin impregnated fibreglass mat from sticking on the aluminium surface below. Five layers of Miracle Gloss 8 sealer by Kevra Oy were rubbed on the lower half’s surface. Three first layers were rubbed on the cone surface with an interval of an hour, then a 12 hour pause, and finally the last two layers again with an interval of an hour. After 24 hours the lamination could be started. As lamination mat Biltema woven fibreglass fabric 30-512 was used, and as resin Biltema Polyester resin 36-0780”. The Polyester resin was chosen because its price was a shy quarter of the corresponding epoxy resin, and it won’t stick easily on the sealed surface of the mould.
Photo by Reijo Siirtola. Before the real lamination with fibreglass fabric, a test lamination with a small piece of fibreglass fabric was made. A piece of fibreglass fabric was impregnated with polyester resin while the piece of fabric was spread on cardboard. When the white colour of the fabric changed into transparent, it was turned over and polyester resin was applied on the other side, too. The cardboard from a cardboard box is an excellent base for this purpose. It’s strong enough to withstand the fibreglass mat to be impregnated with polyester resin and the resin won’t absorb into the cardboard to any significant degree. The piece of fibreglass fabric, impregnated with polyester resin, was “squeezed” tightly with a roller onto the surface of the lower half of the nose cone. The fabric stuck on well, and what was most important, after drying the fabric came off the next day without damage. So the sealing was a success.
Photo by Reijo Siirtola Now we could start to laminate the whole of the surface of the lower half with fibreglass fabric. For that purpose three pieces covering the lower half surface were cut out of the fibreglass fabric. First the surface of the lower half of the nose cone was completely covered with polyester resin. After that the first piece of lamination fabric was impregnated with resin and it was laminated on the surface of the lower half of the nose cone. Three layers of fabric were laminated. Finally on top of the layers thick ropes were laminated with polyester resin, which after drying would form a supporting structure keeping the mould in form.
Photos by Reijo Siirtola The next day the fibreglass mould could be detached. The detaching succeeded with ease, and no traces were left on the aluminium surface – thanks to the excellent sealer. Extra bits out of the edges of the mould were cut off. Slight unevenness was noticed on the inner surface of the detached mould. The uneven patches were sanded, and the surface was spackled with Biltema’s fibreglass filler (36-0137) and buffed. Thus the fibreglass mould had been finished for the lamination of the lower half of the nose cone.
Photo by Reijo Siirtola The lamination of the lower half of the nose cone began with the sealing of the inner surface of the fibreglass mould. After sealing the lamination was started, but this time with fibreglass mat. The reason for this was that with using of fibreglass fabric some unevenness seemed to remain, which necessitated extra buffing. With the fibreglass mat, which was pressed out of short glass fibres, the fibres criss-cross with each other. That gives a very smooth surface when laminated with a roller. Due to the structure of the mat it has also a good tensile strength in every direction.
Photo by Reijo Siirtola A piece covering the inner surface of the mould was cut. Polyester resin was first applied to the surface of the sealed fibreglass mould. After that the polyester resin impregnated pieces of fibreglass mats were laminated with a roll, one after the other, onto the inner surface of the mould. After the fibreglass had dried out the laminate was detached from the inner surface of the mould. It could be seen that the surface of the lower half of the fibreglass cone was remarkably smooth, nearly ready for painting.
Photos by Reijo Siirtola Because the fibreglass lower half of the nose cone wouldn’t hold its form without support, new supports cut out of thick plywood were installed. Thus it was secured that that the new fibreglass lower half of the nose cone stays in form when fitted on to the nose of the DO-5. The surface of the fibreglass lower half was spackled and sanded and primed with grey primer. When the lower half of the OH-VKC nose cone and the fibreglass lower half were put side by side, they looked identical, as was planned.
Photo by Juha Veijalainen
The new lower half of the nose cone was ready to be fitted onto the nose of the DO-5. During the fitting it will be seen how much we’ll have to work on its edges, so that we’ll be able to get it settle the way we want, against the upper half of the nose cone. To fit the lower half of the nose cone onto the DO-5 nose, we removed a sheet metal covering plate, which had protected the “cut off” nose. Behind it all sorts of rubbish, accumulated in the nose during the decades, was revealed and had to be cleaned off.
After cleaning we installed the upper half of the DO-5 nose cone in place and started fitting the fibreglass lower half in place. When fitting the lower half we noticed that the lower half was just within the tolerances, as we had hoped it would be. Naturally the edges of the lower half and the plywood supports inside had to be modified a few times so that the lower half of the nose cone was settled in the way we hoped, against the fuselage and the upper half.
The fibreglass lower half of the nose cone was ready waiting for the finishing coat of paint. At this stage it was painted grey and is allowed to stand out from the original upper half of the cone. If the DO-5 aluminium fuselage is to be polished at some stage, the fibreglass lower half of the nose cone will be painted with a paint that will emulate the aluminium surface. Photos by Lassi Karivalo except if otherwise mentioned. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Tuesday Club, C-47, DC-3, DO-5 |
The "Bluebird" has been assembledPerjantai 2.6.2023 - Erja Reinikainen On Friday, June 2nd, the Caravelle assembly team and the assistants who came to help from Pansio were facing the dreariest conditions of the week at the Turku airport: it was +6°C in the morning, there was a strong wind from the north and there were heavy showers of rain during the day.
Photo ny Janne Pauni
Photo by Erja Reinikainen In the morning the scaffolding builders extended the scaffolding around the tail. The rudder was unloaded from the sea container and pieces of metal net were fastened on the holes in the leading edge of the rudder to prevent birds from getting inside the rudder. A new cable was installed for the anti-collision light – it will wait for the new electrical system to be installed later. The rudder and the elevators were locked into a fixed position by preventing the movement of their servos.
Photos by Erja Reinikainen The assembly team prepared to assemble the vertical stabilizer and the rudder in the usual way: the tools and accessories, bolts, safety harnesses, cargo straps, etc. were arranged for use. First the vertical stabilizer was lifted from the ground, a rather challenging operation in the strong wind. High on the scaffolding around the tail the tall stabilizer was inched into place although a shower of rain disturbed the assembly team. The main bolts could be installed quite easily. The rudder is a difficult item to lift, tall and narrow, and it had to be fitted accurately into place in the strong wind. The cargo straps held by the assistants prevented the rudder from swinging during the lifting and assembly. This time it took more effort to install the fasteners – and another heavy shower disturbed the team on the scaffolding. By lunchtime the rudder was in place and the Finnish flag was up on the Caravelle’s tail – a fine sight. It was time to call the aircraft by its Finnish name, “Sinilintu”, i.e. “Bluebird”.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen
Photo by Janne Salonen
Photo by Erja Reinikainen The Friday afternoon was spent on miscellaneous tasks. The installation of the stabilizers was finalized on the scaffolding, the floor in the cabin was temporarily fixed with plywood boards, the car tires, and pieces of cardboard on which the stabilizer and rudder had been on the ground were collected, the cargo straps were picked up, the contents of the containers was arranged, etc. The repaired and painted radome was installed on the Caravelle’s nose, and this changed its appearance remarkably.
Photo by Janne Salonen During the day an electric cable was pulled from the Finavia area to the right-hand side of the nose wheel. Hopefully the installation will be ready next week, and power will be available on the site. This would make it possible to start sanding, polishing and installation work.
Photo by Jouko Tarponen The assembly team (Markku, Kari, Hannu, Jouko, Reima and Erja) were relieved, they had completed this phase in the Caravelle’s restoration successfully and in the planned schedule. Now the Turku (former Pansio) team can continue and finalize the outside of the aircraft and prepare the cabin for display during the following weeks before the Turku Airshow. The daily reporting of the assembly work ends to this blog. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Assembly of the horizontal stabilizer and farewell to the hall in PansioTorstai 1.6.2023 - Erja Reinikainen On Thursday, June 1st, the Caravelle’s horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer were lifted on the Ahola Special Transport trailer, and these were the last items to be transported as special transport. This load was not tall and not very wide either, so it could be taken to the airport during the day. The last items were packed into the sea container and the Pansio hall was ready to be vacated.
Photos by Jouko Tarponen
Photo by Janne Salonen At the airport the assembly work was continued in windy weather. In the morning preparations were made for assembling the horizontal stabilizer and the assembly team checked that all needed special bolts, tools, safety harnesses, etc. were at hand. The “hiab” loader crane arrived soon after noon. When everything was ready for the lift, the wind got stronger, there was a brief hailstorm and sand dust was flying in the air.
Photo by Jouko Tarponen First the vertical stabilizer was lifted from the trailer and lowered to the ground on car tires to wait for assembly on the following day. The rudder was brought to the airport from Pansio in the afternoon, in the sea container which had been loaded there in the morning.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen The Caravelle’s horizontal stabilizer is large and lifting it in the gusty wind on the fin root on top of the fuselage was quite an achievement. Fortunately the wind was blowing against the nose of the aircraft and towards the tail, so the stabilizer didn’t swing too much from side to side during the lift and assembly. Cargo straps had been fastened to the tips of the stabilizer and the assembly team members holding the straps were prepared to prevent the swinging. Once again there were professionals at work – assembling the stabilizer on the scaffolding and operating the crane – and the stabilizer was soon in place without too much effort. The main bolts could be fastened without major difficulties and the assembly team could sigh with relief. Then it was time for a coffee: the aggregate was started, coffee was brewed, and the team sat beside the sea container, in shelter from the wind.
Photos by Jouko Tarponen
Photo by Janne Pauni There were other activities during the day too: more wing to fuselage fillets were assembled and fastened using rivets and screws. The pop rivet guns were causing some trouble again, the battery driven one didn’t function well and the manual one broke the day before. The large rivets are so thick that the tools are strained to the limit. There was also activity in the cabin, after a long silence, when the wall upholstery was tidied, and the toilets were fixed. The plywood floorboards will have to be repaired before the public can be allowed to come and see the cockpit and cabin. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Work on the nosewheel and wing filletsKeskiviikko 31.5.2023 - Erja Reinikainen On Wednesday, May 31st, the Caravelle assembly team worked at Turku airport in windy weather, concentrating on smaller and less impressive, but nevertheless important details.
Photos by Erja Reinikainen The assembly of the wing to fuselage fillets was continued. In the wing root there are several fillets, of different shapes and sizes, fastened with rivets and screws. The assembly team spent all day fitting these fillets into place, on top of the wing and below it. Fasteners, which had been drilled out in Arlanda had to be removed, holes were opened, and countersunk edges drilled. New fasteners were installed, screws with cup washers and pop rivets. Probably hundreds of pop rivets were used during the day. Unfortunately the bottleneck in the assembly work was that there was only one battery-driven pop rivet gun in use.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen The nose landing gear has been retracted since Arlanda as the fuselage has been on supporters on the floor. Now an external hydraulic pump was connected to the actuating cylinder of the nose landing gear and using the emergency manual unlock mechanism the landing gear was extended. The nose was lifted a little with the jacks under the front fuselage and now the aircraft looks as if it is positioned on the nose wheels, although its weight is still on the jacks. In the future a support will be made for the nose landing gear to take the weight off the wheels.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen During the day scaffolding was built around the tail for the assembly of the stabilizers. On Thursday, June 1st, the horizontal and vertical stabilizers will be transported from Pansio to the airport. The aim is to lift the horizontal stabilizer from the trailer on the Caravelle’s tail. It remains to be seen whether this is possible or not if the wind is as strong as it was today.
Photos by Jouko Tarponen While the riveting of the wing fillets was going on at the airport, the Pansio hall was cleared. The hall contract ends on June 1st and all the parts, tools and accessories which are still there will be brought to the airport in a sea container. In the coming weeks the Pansio team will go on with the remaining painting and polishing work at the airport. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking;OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
The fuselage is installed on the wingTiistai 30.5.2023 - Erja Reinikainen The Caravelle’s fuselage was transported from Pansio to Turku airport during the night, May 29th-30th. The load on the trailer was so tall that the Ahola truck had to do quite a detour to get to the airport. On Tuesday morning the Caravelle trailer was waiting for the assembly team to arrive.
Photos by Jouko Tarponen
Photo by Janne Salonen In the morning there was a mobile crane with two hooks and a “hiab” loader crane, on which the free-turning cable pulley system was fastened. This made it possible to lift the fuselage and to turn it around all its axes. First the fuselage was lifted from the trailer and supported by the cranes. The assembly team placed groups of three jacks on plywood boards under the fuselage, one group in front and another in the rear. Then the fuselage was lowered slowly into its position on the wing.
Photos by Erja Reinikainen The fuselage was carefully manoeuvred downwards, inch by inch, guiding it to meet the assembly points on the wing and the front and rear edges of the wing joint. The final inches required accuracy from the crane operators when the fuselage had to be turned towards the road or towards the forest, the nose or the tail had to be lowered or the whole fuselage rolled slightly. Fortunately there were calm professionals on the crane controls as well as in the assembly team and eventually the fuselage settled into place. This phase took about one hour.
Photos by Erja Reinikainen Getting the bolts connecting the wing and the fuselage into place took more time. The fuselage was still supported by the crane slings when the position of the fuselage was manoeuvred so that the bolts could be fastened. The first fasteners were easy to get into place but the attachment bolts in the fuselage keel tunnel area and especially the front lower fittings were the most difficult to install. To get the bolts into place the position of the aircraft was inched by using the tripod jacks, changing the position of the wings, and trying to get weight into the tail. A couple of times all members of the assembly team climbed into the tail section as weight load. By lunchtime all bolts had been installed.
Photos by Erja Reinikainen In the afternoon a large tripod jack was brought under the tail to support it, assembly work in the keel tunnel was continued, and the assembly of the wing leading edges and the wing to fuselage fillets was started. During the disassembly in Arlanda the leading edge, flaps and wing root fillets of the left-hand wing had been removed – and now they will be installed back into place. A lot of fasteners will be needed, and there will be demand for the fasteners which were cleaned in the ultrasonic washer in Pansio. A leak was observed in the hydraulic system of the integral stairway, now it was repaired, and the stairway is operating again.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen Members of the Pansio team and of the airport staff came to see the Caravelle and to take pictures. There were also curious visitors who had read about the aircraft in the local paper, Turun Sanomat. There will be more to see on Thursday when the vertical stabilizer is lifted into place. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking;OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Last-minute rush in PansioMaanantai 29.5.2023 klo 22:00 - Erja Reinikainen The transportation of the Caravelle’s fuselage is approaching and the Pansio team members have been busy all weekend, completing the last tasks on the fuselage. The fuselage will be lifted on a trailer on Monday evening, May 29th, and transported to the airport during the night.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen The last tasks included the stencil stickers, which were fastened on the fuselage for painting the texts and logos according to the Finnair paint scheme. The stencils came from the print cut into individual text sheets and the largest Finnair texts divided into several parts. The letters and logos which will be painted were picked away from the sheets – i.e. there are holes in the areas which are painted. When this had been done, an adhesive foil was placed on the stickers to hold the letters in shape when the stickers are fastened on the aircraft. The stickers used as stencils are placed carefully on the fuselage and the texts, logos and registration are painted with a roller, following the holes in the stencils. When the paint has dried, the stencils are removed.
Photos by Ismo Matinlauri The stencil stickers for painting Finnair and OH-LEA, which are the largest and most difficult stickers to handle, were fastened on both sides of the fuselage on Friday, May 26th. The stencils stayed well in place when the adhesive foil was removed, and the texts have been painted. Some of the stencils have already been removed, some of the texts are still drying.
Photo by Jouko Tarponen During the weekend the blue stripe on the window line was painted once more. The blue paint is drying and the preparations for transporting the fuselage are on the way. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Caravelle towbar restoredLauantai 27.5.2023 - Tuesday Club member The original towbar for Caravelle III (SE-DAF), acquired from Sweden by Aviation Museum Society, was brought along. It was used by SAS. The towbar was abandoned by SAS along with the termination of the Caravelle fleet’s career. The towbar had lain decades at Arlanda Airport along SE-DAF.
The towbar was taken under restoration at the Tuesday Club in the autumn of 2022, in a similar fashion as the derelict Super Caravelle towbar was restored, used by Finnair. The SAS towbar is of the first version made by the Sud Aviation industries. For its part the Super Caravelle towbar used by Finnair is of the third and last version. The differences between these towbars are minimal and concern mainly the wheel rack of the towbar.
Along with the spring all the parts of the towbar were refurbished and painted. The last job before assembling the towbar was to repair the wheel rack to working order. When the towbar wheel rack was dismantled in the autumn season, it was noticed that the rim of the other wheel was so far gone that it was unusable. The other wheel’s rim was sound enough to be usable with a bit of welding. A new tyre and inner tube were bought for it and one of the bearings, which had broken when the wheel was dislocated from the axle of the wheel rack. When the rim had received its blue colour, the inner tube and the tyre were fitted in place.
To replace the unusable wheel, we managed, after a spot of searching, to find a wheel with an inner tube looking like the original wheel, and fitting the towbar’s 25 mm axle. A majority of the “wheelbarrow” wheels on sale were made for a 20 mm axle. When the rim of the new wheel had also been painted blue you could hardly tell them apart. The wheels were attached on to the wheel rack’s axles, after which the test assembling of the towbar could be commenced.
The test assembling will be necessary, because the towbar will be transported in parts to the Turku Airport area, where it will be assembled on show next to the ex SAS Caravelle SE-DAF, now being restored as the Finnair “Bluebird”. By test assembling it will be ensured that the assembling in Turku will take place without surprises.
The towbar test assembly was started by setting against each other the flanges of the halves of the towbar. We had to do some thinking, because the guiding pins for the flanges of the towbar halves didn’t line up with their holes so that the lifting handles are in the same line. We established that the towbar halves must have been 180 degrees out of line of each other already when they came to Finland.
This we hadn’t noticed when dismantling the towbar, because the towbar lacked the lifting handles, which would have indicated the position. If they had been there, we would have noticed that one handle was beneath the towbar, the other one above. So our conclusion is that the towbar was wrongly assembled at Arlanda. An indication of this is that in the photos we took before the dismantling of the towbar, the metal support of the towbar which should touch the ground is sticking to the skies.
To solve the problem of test assembling we sawed off the guiding pins and pressed the flanges of both the bar halves against each other so that the lifting handles were above the towbar and lined up properly with each other. After this the flanges were locked to each other with two locking collars around them. The collars were tightened fast by their brackets with bolts. This way the towbar halves had been connected.
Now it was time to attach the wheel rack to the towbar. The wheel rack was attached to the towbar by its attachment collars. The rack wasn’t attached in the middle of the towbar, but some way on the pull loop end side of the centre of gravity. Thus the aircraft towhead end, which connects with the nose gear, weighs down and leans on the ground by its support. Finally we attached the manufacturer’s plaque on the side of the towbar. The towbar is still lacking the Caravelle logo, which will be painted on its side before it will be ready to be delivered to Turku.
The derelict towbar underwent a complete transformation at the hands of the Tuesday Club. It changed from the rusty and partly damaged towbar into a renewed one, resembling the towbars used by the Finnair Caravelle fleet. It received the same appearance as the Finnair Super Caravelle towbar we restored a year ago. Photos by Lassi Karivalo Translation by Matti Liuskallio |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking;OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird;Tuesday Club |
Caravelle's fuselage is paintedTorstai 25.5.2023 - Erja Reinikainen While the assembly team was working at the airport with the wing junction, the upper part of the Caravelle’s fuselage was being painted white in the port hall in Pansio. The spray-painting was done by a contractor (Maalausliike T. Nikander). A layer of white paint was sprayed on the fuselage surface on two consecutive days, so two layers. Finally a protective layer of lacquer was sprayed on the painted surface.
The Pansio team found spray-painting to be a challenging task for amateurs and decided to hire a professional to do the work. The project schedule doesn’t allow any practise rounds at this point. The spray-painted area looks good, thanks to the professional.
Photo by Ismo Matinlauri. Actually we ran short of time with the painting work because the spring was very cold, the temperature in the unheated hall remained low for so long that the painting couldn’t be started in the planned schedule.
Photo by Ismo Matinlauri
When the paint and lacquer on the fuselage have dried, the protecting plastic can be removed from the window line and the stencil stickers can be fastened on the fuselage for painting the airline and aircraft type texts. Photos by Jouko Tarponen except if otherwise mentioned. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
Caravelle's wings are transported and assembledTiistai 23.5.2023 - Erja Reinikainen At the end of May the lease of the port hall in Pansio will terminate, and during the winter all Caravelle’s restoration, painting and assembly work has been scheduled to keep this deadline. The assembly phase started on Monday, May 22nd, when the assembly team (6 people) and an experienced aircraft polisher came to help the hard-working painters and polishers in Pansio.
Photos by Erja Reinikainen A lot happened in the hall in just half a day, when preparations were made for the transportation, painting, and assembly, which were at hand. The list of completed work is long: The lower part of the aircraft’s fuselage on the left side was polished, mainly below the wing area. A large area of shiny polished surface was completed. The ready painted and polished surfaces of the fuselage were covered with thin plastic to protect them from the spray painting of the upper fuselage, which will begin on the following day. The remaining fasteners of the wing junction were cleaned. The stabilizers, which have been painted and polished, were covered with tarpaulins. Aviation Museum Society Finland banner was fastened on one wing for the transportation as a commercial. The sea container, which has been used as a storage in the hall, was emptied. All essential aircraft parts, tools, fasteners, assembly accessories, etc. which are needed in the assembly work, were loaded into another sea container, parked outside the hall. Only the tools, paint, and stencil stickers, which are needed in the painting and polishing work during the next ten days were left in Pansio.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen The assembly team spent part of the afternoon on the aircraft’s future location at Turku airport, measuring and planning how to make sure the wings are in the correct position and can be joined.
Photo by Janne Salonen In the afternoon the sea container was packed and ready to be taken to the Caravelle’s future location at the airport. Moving the container on the trailer was not an easy task, but eventually the chains were in the correct position and the container was on the trailer. The truck carried also a couple of passenger stairs and two large jacks.
Photos by Jouko Tarponen
Photo by Juha Paju
Photo by Jouko Tarponen Loading the wings on the Ahola Special Transport trailers went well, the same procedure had been done in August 2022 when the aircraft was brought from Arlanda. The bridge cranes in the hall were used to lift up the wings, one at a time, then the trailer was reversed under the wing. When the position of the wing had been checked the wing was lowered on its supports on the trailer. The two trailers were taken to Turku airport before midnight.
In Pansio the hall was almost empty now and it is really strange that the hectic final push is almost over. The top part of the fuselage will be painted during this week and the stabilizers are waiting to be transported at the end of May.
Photos by Erja Reinikainen. On Tuesday, May 23rd, the wing assembly work began at Turku airport. In the morning two mobile cranes were on site bright and early. Before the wings were moved, the aircraft’s future position was measured carefully and marked on the concrete slabs, which had been dug into the ground. The left wing was lifted from the trailer. Finding the correct position required some work and patience from the crane crew and the assembly team members who were measuring and operating the jack. Finally the wing was lowered on the ground, its weight resting on the support under the landing gear, on a wing jack and on two wing supports. The right wing was aligned into place, inch by inch, using the two cranes. The wing junction brackets met each other, and they were secured using the assembly pins which had been made to assist in the aligning. When some final adjustments had been made on the wing position, the wing junction expansion pins could be installed, and the wing lowered on its supports. By mid-day all expansion pins were in place and the assembly team could sigh with relief: everything had gone far better than expected.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen The wing junction’s canted brace struts were installed into place, then all tools and assembly accessories were collected into the sea container and the aircraft was surrounded with warning tape. The assembly will be continued next week when the fuselage has been painted and it will be transported from Pansio and lifted on the wing. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking, OH-LEA, Sinilintu, Bluebird |
The work in Pansio is taking the final sprintTorstai 18.5.2023 - Erja Reinikainen During the last weeks of May the Caravelle team in Pansio is facing the final push when the finishing touch is put on the restored parts of the aircraft before they are transported to Turku airport. The transportation of the wings is planned to take place on May 22nd, the fuselage is transported during the night on May 29th-30th, and the stabilizers at the end of that week.
The painting of the wings has been completed and the surfaces have been covered with a layer of lacquer which increases the lifetime of the painted surface and makes its maintenance easier. The registration markings (OH-LEA) will hopefully be painted on the upper surface of the wing before the wings leave the Pansio hall. The polishing work on one wing is lagging behind and only its flaps have been polished. This means that some polishing remains to be done at the airport. The wing junction expansion pins were cleaned this week and the work will be continued. The wing junction’s canted brace struts and their bolts are still waiting to be cleaned.
When the wings are taken to the airport, they will have to be placed in the correct position, so that it will be possible to lower the fuselage on the wing. This manoeuvre was planned this week when the fuselage was lifted from its trestles and into a horizontal position, using a levelling instrument. Then the position of the wing-to-fuselage fittings were measured.
The lower side of the fuselage has been sanded, excluding the lowest area. We aim to polish the tail section and the wing junction area before the fuselage is moved from the hall. Then about half of the fuselage polishing would be ready and the rest will be done at the airport.
The painting of the Finnair blue stripe on the window line has been started in the tail section. The painting line has been marked all the way along the side of the aircraft. This was easier said than done in the nose section, where the surface curves in two directions. The blue stripe and the narrow white line below will be completed this week. Then the only remaining painting task is to paint the upper fuselage white. When the wings have left the hall, a company specialized in spray painting will apply the two layers of white and the finishing lacquer.
The engine nacelles were painted and covering plates were installed in the air intake and exhaust nozzle. The plate in the air intake looks very much like a real Avon engine with its spinner. The covering plate in the exhaust nozzle is grey with the logo of Aviation Museum Society Finland.
Photo by Ismo Matinlauri. Work has been started also at the future Caravelle site at Turku airport. The three hollow-core slabs, donated to the project, have been dug into the ground under the landing gear positions. The second driveway has been built and the sheathing for the power cable has been installed into its trench. However, the power supply won’t be available when the assembly work will be started on the site.
Photos by Ossi Harjula Next week the Caravelle work is picking up speed when the Pansio team is busy with the final painting work and the Vantaa team begins the assembly work at the airport. The work can be followed in these blogs, there will be several updates in the coming weeks. Photos by Jouko Tarponen except if otherwise mentioned. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking, OH-LEA, Sinilintu |
Caravelle is getting its appearanceTiistai 9.5.2023 - Erja Reinikainen Today the teams in Pansio and in Vantaa were working on the most significant elements of Caravelle’s outward appearance, which define its identity and its Finnish look.
In Pansio Caravelle’s former registration SE-DAF was covered when the lower side of the wing was painted with primer. It will be replaced with the Bluebird’s registration OH-LEA. Furthermore, the blue cross of the Finnish flag was painted on the horizontal stabilizer and rudder. The painting team was worrying about how to get the cross level and straight as there is a gap between the stabilizer and the rudder. It looks great! It was almost like a topping-out ceremony, although the stabilizer is still on the floor and “the flag was not hoisted”.
In Vantaa a team of volunteers worked on the stencil stickers which will be used when painting the registration, airline name and logos on the aircraft’s fuselage. The stencils came from the print pre-cut but intact, and the volunteers picked out the letters and logos which will be painted – that is to say: made holes to the areas which will be painted. When this had been done, an adhesive foil was placed on the stickers to hold the letters in shape when the stickers are fastened on the aircraft. The stickers used as stencils will be placed carefully on the fuselage according to the paint-scheme. The texts, logos and registration will be painted with a roller, following the holes in the stencils. When the paint has dried, the stencils will be removed.
Photo by Erja Reinikainen. Working on the decals proved to require good eyesight and a surgeon’s scalpel. The large Finnair and OH-LEA texts were easy enough to pick out from the sticker, but the more complicated Caravelle and Bluebird texts required more work. Placing the adhesive foil on the sticker sheets was also rather challenging, but a best practice was soon learned, and major wrinkles were avoided. Another work session is needed for picking the dozens of “No step” stencils. Photos by Jouko Tarponen except if otherwise mentioned. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking, OH-LEA, Sinilintu |
DO-5 cabin to get new window panesTiistai 9.5.2023 - Tuesday Club member The windowpanes in the cabin of the DC-3 (C-47) – aircraft, owned by Aviation Museum Society, have gone opaque or non-transparent during the decades of storing in the woods. It has been decided to renew the panes. We’ll have time at the Tuesday Club to renew at least the port side panes before the Turku Airshow. The DO-5 fuselage will be on display at the Aviation Museum stand. The DO-5 panes will be renewed using UV-shielded polycarbonate plexiglass. It’s a lasting and easily workable material.
On both sides of the ”DAK’s” passenger cabin there are seven windows. The windowpanes are 47,7 x 34,9 cm in size. Their thickness is 5 mm. The panes have been fastened with 20 3,8 mm thick and 18 mm long roundhead grooved screws. The holes for the screws are situated in each window according to standard, at the same place. Between the frame and the pane there’s a 2 mm thick rubber seal. The seal has a speciality that it has holed rubber studs for each 11 mm hole. The studs press themselves into the screw holes so that the screws go through the rubber studs. The rubber studs prevent the screws being in direct contact with the plexiglass and operate as vibration dampers. The screws have been tightened against the plexi glass surface with nuts and washers, or instead of the washers with a supportive metal batten.
We started to renew the panes on the port side of the fuselage. At first we detached the pane from the window nearest to the door. One of the detachers was outside the fuselage and held the grooved screw in place with a screwdriver and the other one inside of the fuselage unwound the nut with care. The nuts had inch thread, so they were original. We detached all 20 nuts relatively easily and the screws were detached. The pane’s original rubber seal with studs appeared still to be in good condition, so it could be fitted back with the new pane. The empty window opening was covered from the outside with a plastic sheet fastened with duct tape. The detached rusty screws were cleaned, and their heads painted with anti corrosion paint.
When we continued detaching the panes, it was observed that that the screws of the remaining six windows had millimetre threads and were of various sizes, as if picked out of a junk box. Thus the screws aren’t original and fitted in the ”U.S of A”. Furthermore, the panes were without the rubber seals and attached only with less than ten screws instead of twenty. Because of this the window frames had empty screw holes for water to leak between the frame and the pane and to the cabin. Part of the panes were also thinner than the original ones. So it’s evident that DO-5 hasn’t flown with these panes assembled. The panes have most probably been fitted to the DO-5 cabin at Utti, when the fuselage was transformed into a ground training platform for paratroopers, or after the writing-off of the fuselage and abandoning it into the woods.
We decided to replace all the panes we had detached with 5 mm. thick plexi glass (as was the case in the original), 20 attachment screws and rubber seals. This means that we will have to buy seven panes of plexi glass, new attachment screws and some rubber mat for making the seals. Rubber seals with studs like the originals we are, however, unable to make. We bought the seven polycarbonate plexi glass panes sawn into measurements at ETRA. Because only one pane was original with original rubber seals, the 11 mm screw holes responding to the rubber studs will only be drilled to that. All the other six panes will be drilled holes for only 5 mm thick attachment screws, because these panes will be fitted with a 2 mm thick smooth rubber seal. We made a drilling frame out of a sturdy plate and battens, to drill the 20 screw holes into the panes in exactly the right spots. The drilling began into the plexiglass pane for the original window. The new plexiglass pane, still covered with a protective film, was placed under the drilling frame. On top of that was placed the original pane, which had 20 holes of 11mm in diametre for the rubber studs and attachment screws, which was meant as a drilling template. The panes were locked into the drilling frame with clamps.
To drill the holes precisely in the middle of the holes in the template pane, we lathed out of brass a drilling guide, which fits snugly into the 11 mm. hole. In the middle of the guide a hole was drilled for the 5 mm drill bit. The guide was placed into the 11 mm hole in the old pane, which was on top of the new plexi glass pane and through the guide a 5 mm preliminary hole was drilled into the pane under it. Thus a 5 mm hole was drilled into all the 20 holes. After this an 11mm bit was changed in the column drilling machine, and the template pane was removed from top of the new pane. The 11 mm bit was centred on the first 5 mm hole, and it was enlarged to 11 mm. Thus all the 20 holes were enlarged. After the drilling was done, the size of the holes was tested by fitting the rubber seal with studs from the original window to the new pane. The rubber studs fitted perfectly into the drilled holes.
The six other panes were made in a different way, because they will be fitted with a smooth 2mm thick rubber seal. Into these panes 20 holes were drilled with a 5 mm bit. This means that the panes’ screw holes will lack the vibration damping effect given by the studs, but on the other hand this DO-5 fuselage will never again fly, apart from a little shaking when moved about. When all the holes had been drilled to the new panes, it was time to make the rubber seals. A metre of 1,4 m wide rubber mat was bought from ETRA. Because the panes measure 47,7 x 34,9 cm. there’s enough material for eight seals, enough for a couple of extra ones. A funny thing happened when buying the mat; the shop assistant asked: ”would you like the smelly mat or the one without smell”? The brand without smell turned out to be double the price. To save Aviation Museum Society’s funds we bought the “smelly” brand. By Jove it did smell revolting, but soon the smell evaporated.
To cut the seals from the rubber mat for the six new plexiglass panes, a template out of plywood, exactly like the seal, was made. With the aid of the template the necessary six rectangular shaped rubber seals were cut. Now the seals lacked only the holes for the pane’s 20 attachment screws.
The screw holes were marked in each seal by using one new plexi glass pane as a template, into which 20 screw holes 5 mm in diametre had been drilled. The plexi glass pane with the screw holes was lined precisely on the rubber seal. A mark was made with a pen through each hole. After that the holes for the screws were made in the seal by using a leather piercer. This procedure was repeated on all the six seals.
We still had to find as many as possible new screws with a low round head and groove, resembling the original ones, with nuts and washers, to attach to the windows. You can’t find them in modern ironmongers’ anymore. Luckily the screws we were after could be found at Uudenmaan Pultti in Järvenpää. They were 4 mm thick and 20 mm long. With millimetre threads but being almost a match to the original 3,8 mm thick and 18 mm long screws. The heads of these new screws were painted in silvery grey, so that they wouldn’t stand out gleaming on the side of the DO-5 fuselage. Now everything is ready for the new panes to be installed to the port side windows of the DO-5 cabin. Photos by Lassi Karivalo Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Tuesday Club, C-47, DC-3, DO-5 |
Hollow-core slabs for Caravelle's display siteTorstai 4.5.2023 - Reino Myllymäki The Caravelle III, which is owned by Aviation Museum Society Finland, will be placed on display at Turku airport. The display site is a fenced area, which now has gravel surface. The aircraft will be displayed with its landing gear down, but a trestle will be placed between its tyres and the ground. The ground plate of the trestle is 300 x 300 mm. An aircraft made of duraluminium is light but with the snow, wind and visitor loads considered, the Caravelle weighs so much that the surface pressure which is created under the ground plate will require some sort of concrete slab under it. After some calculations it was decided that three 1 x 2 m concrete slabs are sufficient. Consolis Parma hollow-core slab factory in Tuusula checked their surplus storage and found three hollow-core slabs, three metres long, and donated them to the Caravelle-project. We appreciate this kind of recycling!
Photo by Jussi Mäkelä. You may wonder whether hollow core slabs could not have been found closer to Turku, where the aircraft is. Yes, they probably would have, but this solution has an extra twist: during the winter Aviation Museum Society acquired a 40-foot sea container from an auction and it has been waiting on the transporting company R. Stenvall’s yard in Tuusula to be moved to Turku. To kill the famous two flies with one blow, Jussi Mäkelä from R. Stenvall fetched the hollow-core slabs and loaded them into the sea container, and the journey to Turku could begin. The cherry on the cake was that Mäkelä borrowed a 1968 Vanaja truck from Raimo Stenvall’s private car museum to fetch the slabs!
The hollow-core slabs were delivered to Turku airport and the sea container was taken to the hall in Pansio, where the Caravelle restoration work is going on. At the end of May the aircraft will be assembled on the three slabs at the airport.
Finavia (the airport operator in Finland) lent a helping hand and unloaded the three hollow-core slabs, each weighing about 1,5 tons, from the sea container with a wheel loader fitted with forks. The slabs were placed on the ground to wait for assembly. The aim is to dig the slabs into the ground so that only the top part is visible. The slabs will be placed under the main landing gear and the nose wheel so that the area can later be surfaced with asphalt. This, however, has proved to be so expensive that a sponsor will be needed. Take part in the Caravelle’s fund-raising campaign! Photos by Janne Salonen except if otherwise mentioned. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking |
Caravelle team on a picnicKeskiviikko 26.4.2023 - Erja Reinikainen In the past weeks the volunteer team in Pansio has been working so efficiently sanding, painting and polishing the Caravelle that it was time to take a breath and spend some free time together. On Tuesday April 25th a group of Pansio volunteers and members from the Caravelle technical team went on a Picnic cruise on Viking Line ferry from Turku to Maarianhamina (on Åland islands) and back. There were 11 participants on the cruise: Elias, Hannu, Ismo, Jari, Kari, Markku, Mikko, Risto H, Risto P, Ykä and Erja.
M/S Viking Glory left Turku in the morning (heading to Stockholm) and in Maarianhamina we changed to M/S Viking Grace (coming from Stockholm) which arrived in Turku in the evening. Unfortunately, the weather was very foggy and there was not much to see of the beautiful archipelago between the mainland and Åland islands, just a glimpse of the Ruissalo area outside Turku in the morning.
On the way to Maarianhamina we had a conference room reserved for us and we spent the morning talking about the Caravelle restoration and assembly work which is ahead. The weeks between the First of May (a spring carnival in Finland) and the Turku Airshow (on June 17th and 18th) will be very busy when the aircraft is being painted, polished, and assembled. Ismo Matinlauri and Markku Ahokoski had made a daily schedule of what is happening in Pansio and at the airport after the first parts of the aircraft are transported there on May 23rd and this was discussed thoroughly with the group. We also looked at the photos which were taken in Arlanda when the aircraft was dismantled for transport. This was very useful when discussing the details of the assembly work.
On the way back to Turku we enjoyed a lunch from the ferry buffet and concentrated on informal conversation. This group will not easily run out of aviation stories! Or fishing, car, travel, and other stories either… Photos via Ismo Matinlauri. |
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Kommentoi kirjoitusta. Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, Caravelle, SE-DAF, Sven Viking, OH-LEA, Sinilintu |
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