The Bluebird Project

Have you got everything now to complete the boat?

The canopy and the new launch/recovery trailer are currently in-build. Otherwise we have everything. That said, the boat we'll be taking to Scotland will be a long way from finished. Mostly unpainted for a start, and with modifications for running purposes, offboard air for starting and additional bilge pumps, which of course need adequate outfalls. Everything will be bolted down and secure, no leaks (hopefully) and operational but once finished with the crew training we'll pull her apart again just to see whether anything was beginning to fail. There are one or two areas of special interest.

Got the first draft of the canopy CAD model yesterday and it's spot-on at the first attempt so ten out of ten to our partners there. Hopefully it will soon be a program for the 5-axis router to cut the tool then vac-form the part. CAD work on the new trailer is almost complete too so we have a meeting with the fabricators next week to sign off the model before they begin cutting steel.
In the meantime, days in the workshop are either brilliant and everything just bolts together or he old bitch fights for every 32nd of an inch.
Yesterday the JPT indicator refused to work when we connected up the thermocouples - always did before so why not now? Took hours to catch and kill the gremlin but it's working now.
Then we finally filled and tested the whole hyd system in-situ and bolted up for good - well, until we come back from Scotland for the strip inspection - and it worked perfectly first time. That was until it blew a hose at the water brake end and pumped half a gallon of very expensive hyd fluid directly into the floor corrugations. never had so much fun with soapy water and a wet-vac - grrr! Moving a crimping machine into the workshop today to put new fittings on the hoses, which can't be removed then refitted because the modern day fittings won't pass under the bulkheads and we can no longer get reusable fittings as they used in the day. Nothing on this job is ever simple.

The Hyd run up was still a success though, I was expecting a LOT more issues than we got in the end (given the sheer complexity of the widgets and various pipes and unions)

Mind, given that the hose failure let go at 1600 psi, I was surprised how well contained the mess was... emptying around 5ltrs of Hyd in less than 3 seconds.

But this is why we do what we do, rather here than out there ! once your happy to sign it off bill, I will need someone who is better than me at wire locking to go around the system and lock it all off

Another job off the list, then onto the next task !

What folk don’t see (yet) is just how much kit has been packaged into the boat back in the day, although we jest at times at the “cowboy” nature of some components, in reality the guys did a cracking job making it all fit “after the fact”. I happen to know who ever fitted the Hyd system the first time around had very slim arms, (just like me) it is physically impossible to get regular sized arms in those gaps that’s for sure. :S

Sorted the fittings on the water brake hoses then refilled, bled and pressurised the system but that only revealed that the actual problem was with the shuttle valve that sends oil to either the up or down side of the ram. It would extend but not retract because one of the solenoids that pushes a shuttle valve wasn't pushing hard enough resulting in an over-pressure event. Having made this discovery I dismantled the offending adjuster and promptly dropped a shower of tiny parts into an inaccessible corner of the hull. Much teamwork with a boroscope and magnets resulted in them all being retrieved after a long struggle so tomorrow I'll put it all back together again and attempt to get it working. The seat harness went in today and eight bolt fixings were drilled and Helicoiled into the front spar and that was it for the day. There's always some ill-informed moaner complaining that the boat is taking a long time to build. I so wish we could round them all up and make them stand in the workshop on days like today.

[quote=Renegadenemo post_id=24163 time=1522278293 There's always some ill-informed moaner complaining that the boat is taking a long time to build. I so wish we could round them all up and make them stand in the workshop on days like today.
[/quote]
I saw just such a comment on your favourite social media site this morning.
Open question: If the presence of Bluebird is as vital to Coniston's local economy as some folk would have you believe, then how has any business managed to survive in the town since January 1967?

Open question: If the presence of Bluebird is as vital to Coniston's local economy as some folk would have you believe, then how has any business managed to survive in the town since January 1967?

Bluebird doesn't even need to be there to make a difference. It's such an inspiring and emotive subject our followers were buying into it when all we had was a corroded pile of bits. The possibilities are endless if properly managed yet another thing we hear from time to time is, why bother to run her? Why not just put her in the museum and shut the door?

Over my dead body!

Have to reassemble that damned valve today and see if it will adjust to throw the shuttle and let the brake travel properly. Assuming that goes well there's another eight fixings to drill and Helicoil in the spar (new BSF bolts arriving today) then the rest of the spar fixings can go in and we can start work on the nose, which is a mass of captive nuts and stiffeners. Hyd pump has to go on the engine and have its drains fitted, plumbing for the catch tanks might get started today if we're lucky too. Hey-ho - here we go again!

Major Engineering Projects.

Consider and compare the following:

A fully working steam locomotive, which had been 'owned' by the Nation for about two years, was found to be in need of a major overhaul (other words used were to be "complete refurbishment"). Why? Because the Museum involved wished to have "the locomotive steaming as a live museum exhibit". [The cost was budgeted to be £1.5m].

The work started in 2006 and was completed in early 2016. Just short of ten years. [The amount of money eventually spent was £4.2m, but it is the time we should be focusing on, the amount spent just shows how extensive the work became]. The locomotive has featured heavily in documentary programmes this year - it is of course the "Flying Scotsman".

The BBP may be 'delivering' a jet powered hydroplane as a live museum exhibit sometime around the end of 2019, from the starting point of a wreck that had been at the bottom of a lake for 34 years. Not to make light of the tragic accident which took a man's life, it was a damaged part hull with corroded power unit and many separate large and small pieces, most of which might be described as 'damaged goods'. [It also required re making of the many pieces recovered in 1967, which had become lost parts]. That jet powered hydroplane is Bluebird K7.

So how many years should the restoration work take .......... just as many as are needed to reach the goal of a proven live museum exhibit.

Thanks, Malcolm... At least some folks understand what we're doing here.
Good news is the shuttle valve is now reassembled and working. Hyd system holds steady at 1500psi and the brake extends and retracts smoothly every time with two spare extension and retractions without the pump and an accumulator pressure of 400psi. Got a leak on the oil end of the accumulator but l'm on it.

Gremlin still not dead - the selector valve is still playing up and it's an electrical issue. Whether it's a failure or a wiring glitch will hopefully be revealed tomorrow when we try out a theory from our electrical wizards. This has now occupied us for three days but we would prefer the brake working and reliable for added safety. The leaky accumulator is probably a symptom too because the selector valve problem is causing an over-pressure event. Back at it soon as the sun comes up.
Front spar is now bolted in, though, so we have made some progress.