This page will plot the restoration progress of XM369 from initial delivery to our house through to the eventual running of the engine and small taxi under its own power.

2006

Not much happened with 369 in 2006 as work and house maintenance got in the way.  we did manage to get a few things done though including :-

Fitting both ejector seats.
Fitting the Rebecca Mk8 Control Panel
Fixed the leaks on both U/C legs



31-December-2005

Things have slowed down on 369 due to the weather, however here is a quick update on jobs we have managed to get done since the last update.

  • Starboard wing wiring is now built and installed, this means the undercarriage indicator lights now work for all 3 u/c legs.
  • The 115volt AC system is now installed, although we are missing the connectors from the Type 12 control panels to the filter box's.
  • Flap position desyn transmitter is now wired up, although we dont have the mounting bracket, we will make one of those with help from XS186 crew.
  • We obtained the access panel from below the cockpit area, this has now been installed, closing up the last big hole in the fuselage.
  • Vertical fin and rudder have been reattached and connected, including the link rod to the elevator's.
  • All undercarriage legs are now pumped up to the correct height, this makes working under the aircraft much easier than before.

10-October-2005

The whole rear of the fuselage, including tail plane and vertical fin has now been painted in the rather nice blue and yellow colour scheme, and the new XM369 lettering applied to the rear fuselage. Next is to attach the vertical fin to the fuselage, and some of the panels that are ready to go back on, the control surfaces will be painted next year.

13-September-2005

Work has now started on the repainting, we have managed to etch prime and undercoat the tail plane and rear fuselage up the the rear of the engine bay, hopefully we will get the upper part of the fuselage primed and undercoated up to the front of the engine bay this week, the under side of the fuselage should hopefully be painted in the next couple of weeks.

1-September-2005

The instrument panels have been reinstalled and electrically connected up, there are still a couple of switches missing and some of the plastec panels on the port side.  Static and Pitot air supplies have yet to be connected.

20-August-2005

We have purchased a hydraulic servicing rig and nitrogen charging rig, this should help with many items on the aircraft.

2-August-2005

Rudder pedals and brake units were installed and hydraulic fluid pumped into the cylinders, the brakes still need bleeding and fully testing once the triple brake pressure gauge is properly connected.

17-July-2005

During the weekend 15th/16th July the hydraulics system was loaded with hydraulic fluid and the hand pump in the engine bay and after about 20 operations of the hand pump and lots of noises from pipes etc the air brakes started to retract!.
After a few hours of tightening up pipes and replacing the triple brake gauge (it leaked internally) we now have an operational hydraulic system,  The hydraulics for the undercarriage will be tested at some point, but there is no reason that this will not work that i can see.

The wings were attached in 2004, and the long job of sanding down the old paint started. As of June 2005 the paint sanding is virtually complete, and we have started the undercoating of the wings.

The cockpit was totally stripped and we have also started painting the cockpit, Instrument panels have been painted and some of the instruments installed.