The Updates

UPDATES


	DECEMBER 2011
It has been some time since we presented an update on the website, but that does not mean there has not been progress. In fact, since we last reported, there has been a huge amount of work undertaken, and we now have an essentially complete, working aircraft. Now the paperwork has to catch up, and as everyone knows that is always a major challenge - but we are seeing strides made in that area as well. Over to Ron Gretton: “Project 2014, a Bristol Military Boxkite for the RAAF Museum, has been underway since April 2006. We originally estimated that it would take 4-5 years to construct the aeroplane. The Boxkite build was essentially completed in April 2011, five years after wood was first cut. Anyone visiting the RAAF Museum on a regular basis will have seen the Bristol Boxkite gradually being assembled over the past 16 months in the Museum’s Maintenance Hangar after many of the smaller wood components, brackets and fittings were manufactured. The task of completing the control surfaces (foreplane and elevator, rudders and balancers) and control cable runs to the control column is now complete with the last of the balancer (ailerons) control cables being attached to the control column on 31 May 2011. The engine was ground run in its temporary ground support stand and the complete module (seats and engine) was installed in the aeroplane prior to Christmas 2010. The aeroplane has been registered with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the registration being VH-XKT. An aircraft weight and balance was performed shortly afterwards, followed by calibration of the fuel gauge. There was the first engine run as a complete aircraft on 4 October 2011, and then a final rigging check and lock-wiring of all the turnbuckles. The aeroplane will be prepared for an ‘Experimental’ Certificate to be issued by the Sports Aircraft Association of Australia, being classified as an aeroplane in the ‘Exhibition Category’. The Museum is in the process of preparing a submission to the RAAF Airworthiness Board for consideration and permission to fly the aeroplane at the Point Cook airfield during 2012.” Ron Gretton. See photos >>>
	JUNE 2010
The Project has clocked up a number of significant milestones since the last update. A big push led by Ron Gretton and Geoff Matthews saw the aircraft put together with help from other volunteers and on show to the public at the RAAF Museum’s successful Pageant on February 28, 2010. It is now structurally complete and with the nacelle complete, but not attached. The rigging of this main structure and wings has been completed by Ron. The last areas of fabric work on the wings have been completed by Geoff and the wings now attached, including the extended upper mainplanes making it the larger ‘Military’ Biplane. The Rotec engine, fuel and oil tanks, seats (now upholstered) and controls have all been fitted to the nacelle, and wiring of the instrumentation also now complete. While the original Boxkites were usually operated with only a piece of string as a drift control and sometimes an aeronoid barometer, this machine has full engine instrumentation. The undertaking has now become a formal RAAF Museum project overseen by RAAF Museum staff and within the Museum’s official mandate. The project continues ahead of schedule and under budget, thanks to extensive support of the select sponsors and the careful management by Geoff and Ron, and further major milestones will be achieved in 2010. A selection of photographs illustrate some of these achievements and myriad details. See photos >>>
	NOVEMBER 2008
The project has continued to make significant progress since the last report, with many small items being fabricated, and brought into complete sub assemblies – all of which is exciting and encouraging for the team and its supporters. The next stage will be making these into larger assemblies. That might sound prosaic, but the mixture of increasing numbers of important ‘widgets’ appearing in the workshop, combined with increasing numbers of mostly flattish wooden units of odd shapes is clear visual progress and means we are getting closer to a complete, flying aeroplane. As of the end of September, 2008, the following items have been fabricated: 1. All vertical struts 2. Forward booms 3. Rear booms 4. Foreplane 5. Upper & lower wing centre sections 6. Upper & lower tail planes 7. Elevators 8. Rudders (x3) 9. Most metal fittings 10. Engine bearers and pilot seat 11. Instrument box (mounts basic flight & engine instruments) 12. Control column & rudder bar 13. Undercarriage struts and skids 14. Tail skid 15. Main wheels 16. Wing ribs & compression ribs 17. Wing spars Work in progress The propeller is being manufactured by Wayne Holden at Lightning Ridge. The engine mounting frame, fuel and oil tanks are being made by Rotec Engineering. The engine mounting frame is a steel tube structure which mounts on top of and at the rear of the wood engine bearer beams. (The engine is, of course, in a pusher configuration.) The fuel and oil tanks will look like the originals but will be of welded aluminium to suit the Rotec R2800 engine. The outer wing panels will be assembled in the same jig used for the centre section. It is hoped that all the major structural parts will be completed by early 2009. A trial assembly before covering will then permit manufacture of the hundreds of bracing wires. Most of the major sub assemblies – the tail surfaces, struts and booms, wheels, skids, and the pilot’s ‘toboggan’ unit have been completed ready for fabric or rigging or other units to be added. The current work is focussed on the wing centre sections and then the next items will be the six wing panels (this being a Military Biplane, it has two large upper wing extensions, taking the standard biplane four units to six.) By the time the team get to the last wing section they think they’ll be both quite quick at making it and probably have had enough ‘ribbing’. (For further information, press details and high resolution photos suitable for publication, please feel free to contact us via the details on the ‘Contact’ page.) So here’s some photos of the recent developments, and the next update should be able to show some major assemblies under way.
The engine bearers and pilot seat on the assembly jig. This assembly mounts on to the lower wing centre section spars.
Foreplane ready for covering.
Elevator being assembled.
Elevator frame ready for covering. Note the cord trailing edge at the top.
The rudder parts in the jig. Three rudders are fitted to this version.
The three rudders under construction. There is a complete rudder in the foreground, cap strips being glued in the next example and Ron Gretton in the background sanding the third.
The three completed rudder frames ready for covering, with part of the elevator frame visible in the background This clearly shows the relative size of these tail control surfaces.
Elevator control horns. Made from spruce with birch plywood reinforcement, these bolt to metal brackets on the elevator spar.
Some of the many aluminium saddles used to attach the tube ribs to wing and tailplane spars. The steel form block (top right)…
…is used to press these saddles in a hydraulic press, seen in being demonstrated here by Ron Gretton.
The upper tailplane in assembly jig. The elevator will hinge on the spar on the right of the picture. In the background is the engine and pilot’s unit, sometimes known as ‘the toboggan’.
	OCTOBER 2007
Geoff and Ron have been powering ahead with the construction of the hundreds of items required for the aircraft, thanks in part to materials being delivered or turned around promptly by our many suppliers. Challenges like rare woods and the requirement for un-stamped covering material are faced and so far have all been overcome, and we are heartened and grateful for the support we have received from numerous organizations when they understand what the project is about. The Bristol Military Biplane disassembles into numerous sub-assemblies, themselves made up of a myriad of small pieces. A very few of these can be obtained ‘off the shelf’ such as the turnbuckles, while the majority have to be made and then combined into larger assemblies. This is a long way of saying there’s a lot of ‘making small things’ before everything can be assembled into a complete aircraft. In the meantime, unlike the build or restoration of a later design, there is little major visual progress. Larger units have now been started, and are undergoing assembly, including the foreplane and the nacelle which looks more like a toboggan than a fuselage! We present here a quick photo roundup of where we are up to. James Kightly. (All photos are by and copyright Project 2014.)
Two views of various fittings ready for cadmium plating. First, strut sockets to go on the booms...
.. And second, some sockets and associated fittings batched together. While there is a strong resemblance to a make-it-yourself Meccano set, it’s much more necessary to ensure each piece goes in the right place. Many fittings look similar, but are subtly different.
Laminated wing ribs in a gluing jig.
The floor being used for full scale lofting and then assembly work on the front and rear booms including the separating struts. Geoff Matthews wonders what’s missing.
The three-piece wheel hub ready for assembly. Four of these are needed.
A set of finished wheels. Because of the large size of the Bristol, the wheels are often thought of as being bicycle like, but they are much more robust and more motorbike sized. As they aren’t powered and don’t have brakes fitted, they don’t need to have crossed spokes.
Geoff shaping one of the forward ends of one of the front booms.
Various lengths of spruce being prepared as boom and wing spars.
Some of the hundreds of various fittings after cadmium plating.
The boom attachment socket being fitted to the rear boom by Geoff Matthews.
Spruce wing rib laminations after steam bending.
The foreplane being assembled.
A test-fit of the foreplane pivot with the front boom support bracket laid in front.
A test mounting piece. While this is the other cutting edge of aviation technology, something from the earliest days of aeronautics, some of the methods used then have been lost in the mists of time, and a degree of reinventing the wheel is required. Some test pieces can be useful exercises.
Various metal fittings ready for painting.
Ron Gretton shows the carefully hand-crafted pilot’s seat as it fits to the nacelle. The rudder bar will be in front, the stick to one side and the fuel and oil tanks behind the pilot, themselves in front of the engine.
Some careful shaping is evident in the nacelle forward cross bar.
The tail skid was one of the first things made, laminated in a jig. Now shaped, the metal mounting attaches it to the mounting post, and it’s ready for the bungee shock-absorber.
	APRIL 2007
The wing ribs under construction, clamped as the glue dries. J Kightly.
The Boxkite replica’s construction is progressing well with a significant number of metal fittings have been cut, welded and plated, and the ribs, fore and aft booms being constructed. The tailskid and wheels have been made, and plans for the many aspects of construction are well underway. Orders have been placed for the remaining required material, and although, due to the nature of the aircraft, there is little to show, the team are pleased with the progress and the generous support received so far. The Project 2014 website is the final item to be launched in this phase, and is intended to enable you to follow the project as it develops. The website has been donated by MMP Books and is managed by James Kightly. We aim to release regular updates on progress, and if you would like an e-mail notification as they come out, please subscribe with your e-mail address with the word ‘UPDATE’ in the subject line.