Underneath the aircraft, the team continued panel removals and stripped out a bay containing one of the hydraulic reservoirs and subsequently removed the reservoir itself.Ī lengthy process of jacking the aircraft up again had the RH side raised enough to lift the landing gear out of the hole to allow the successful replacement of the deflated wheel. In some instances, it has been far easier to cut the panels away as the corrosion to both panel and screws has been that bad. It`s estimated that around 75% of all the screws removed so far have had to be drilled out. Panel removal is always a tedious, unloved but vital task undertaken by the volunteers and is made exceptionally difficult owing to the aforementioned corrosion issues.
With the removal of both outer wings, a major milestone has been achieved by the team with regards to the relocation part of the project. The LH outer wing did however came off relatively easier than the RH outer wing despite the corrosion on the hinge pin.
The process was also complicated by the fact you can't get hydraulic pressure to lower the flap. Thankfully the Ulster Aviation Society had loaned the team a hinge pin puller which made a task easier. For example, it took a couple of hours of concerted effort to remove the RH outer wing as it involved lowering the leading edge flap to gain access and removing the hinge pin. Almost every single part shows some form of corrosion with stuck- fasteners, panels, connections and hinges being the most obvious and problematic. One of the major challenges of the project is the fact that the aircraft has stood outside, fairly close to the sea, for nearly three decades which is actually longer than the aircraft served in both RAF and United States Navy. The main aims for the weekend were the removal of both outer wings, the fuselage tailcone, replacing the deflated RH mainwheel and progressing access to the internal structure, which needs to be removed to separate wing and fuselage. They had also cut all the long grass from around ZE360 saving the team a number of hours of work on the Saturday. On arrival the group was pleasantly surprised to discover that the RAF team from Manston had removed the remnants of an English Electric Canberra which had previously been resting behind ZE360. The bright and sunny weekend of August 1st and 2nd saw the largest BPAG working party assembled so far recommencing work on Phantom F-4J(UK) ZE360.
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