Tired…
That’s what I am this morning after my first full day at the Bentwaters Cold War Museum yesterday…. I spent all day in a hardened hanger taking the flap and slat assemblies off a Sepecat Jaguar fighter. I literally spent all day climbing up and down ladders with screwdrivers and wrench es in my hands at all times.
Its blindingly obvious why aircraft restoration is such a long job – I had some exposure to this when I bought my Boeing 727 flightdeck, but the Jaguar is a complete aircraft. Other involvement yesterday included attaching landing gear rods, installing gauges into the cockpit, fitting the heatshields, and even attaching the top strobe light panel…plenty to do. The aim is to get the Jag (XX741 is the aircraft) back to an almost new state as far as possible and then get the electrics working via a generator… This is going to be a nightmare to troubleshoot wiring as the looms are tighter than tight and channelled into SMALL spaces all over the aircraft…. Plenty to do before that particular worry arises though….
I have also got day trips INTO RAF Lakenheath and Mildenhall coming up next week – the former has been arranged by the Bemtwaters crew, and the latter by the Mildenhall Aviation Society(that I have also joined!). Full days inside, USAF tour guide, access to aircraft, hangers etc etc. My camera will melt down over those 2 days I believe.
Just never enough time….boo boo boo.
