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Gainsborough Loading Shovel M.O.D.

Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
You all know so much, it’s really interesting to read and try and understand at least some of it..all I can contribute is a picture of a beautiful bird..IMG_5512.jpeg
You probably know this is a Stinson Reliant..mid 1930’s I think.. I first saw it probably 8 years ago, at a combined fly in and classic car show, with the star being.. Jack Brabham the race car driver from the 1960s..apart from the exterior the interior is, indescribable..those pics are on my computer so I’ll load them separately. I had seen the aircraft locally at a fly in.. I was at the local post office and sat outside was a guy in a convertible 69 mustang.. I walked over and it turned out he had restored it.. oh and I’ve restored an airplane too.. I asked him..a Stinson Reliant?.
Yes.. I knew he owned a property about a mile away with a grass strip on it.. I asked if he would mind taking me up sometime, I told him I’d chip in.. he called me up later that day saying I’m going up in half an hour if you can get here.. I did, and I’ve got the video but for some reason when I select photos to upload my videos aren’t available..any thoughts on what I need to do please?.
And I hope the term ‘bird’ isn’t too naff.. and Ozdozer will relate to this, the owner made his money at least initially as a sheep shearer..
 
skyking1

skyking1

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2020
Messages
7,767
Location
washington
Love it! My friend Russell was getting into old planes, and we flew across the US to do a pre-purchase inspection on a Reliant in North Carolina. My partner is an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic with Inspection Authorization (A&P, AI).
We headed out Friday after work and nonstop Renton to Rapid City SD @19000 feet.
Spent the night and then two legs to get to NC.
It was in flying shape so he took it for a spin, then we tore into it, inspecting the engine and airframe.
It is the later model SR-77
78H_rightprofile.jpg
It was good to go so they shook hands on the deal. He came back later to fetch it home.
We flew out to Emerald Isle on the Atlantic that night, to stay at his grandparents beach house.
Friday night Seattle, Saturday night I slept in a screened porch and listened to the gentle surf of the Atlantic Ocean. It was an epic run.
The next day we did some body surfing and then slogged back home, even staying at the same hotel in Rapid City.
 
skyking1

skyking1

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2020
Messages
7,767
Location
washington
Ian coombs said:
I’ve got the video but for some reason when I select photos to upload my videos aren’t available..any thoughts on what I need to do please?.
Click to expand...
you need to upload those to a 3rd party site and then post a link. If you upload to youtube and then click on the 'share' link below it, that will paste directly into a reply here, no need to select photo or link or anything.
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
skyking1 said:
you need to upload those to a 3rd party site and then post a link. If you upload to youtube and then click on the 'share' link below it, that will paste directly into a reply here, no need to select photo or link or anything.
Click to expand...
How do I export to YouTube please skyking1??
That was a flight to remember.. what did you fly at 19000ft??
what did you fly the Reliant at?? any flying I’ve done has been at 1500.. except a 1990s Waco that I asked the young pilot if we could get low so he dropped to 500ft.. I’ve got video of that but obviously need YouTube again.. I couldn’t believe how quiet the Reliant was and I’ve got to admit I couldn’t get the smile off my face, so much so that I had to apologise, it was a highlight, he owns a Tiger Moth too.. I’ve done probably half a dozen joy flights in whose and I’ve got to admit one of my favourite movie scenes is the Moth flight in Out of Africa.. there is actually a town called Finch Hatton in North Queensland I forget which relative it is named after..
 
skyking1

skyking1

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2020
Messages
7,767
Location
washington
Ian coombs said:
How do I export to YouTube please skyking1??
That was a flight to remember.. what did you fly at 19000ft??
what did you fly the Reliant at?? any flying I’ve done has been at 1500.. except a 1990s Waco that I asked the young pilot if we could get low so he dropped to 500ft.. I’ve got video of that but obviously need YouTube again.. I couldn’t believe how quiet the Reliant was and I’ve got to admit I couldn’t get the smile off my face, so much so that I had to apologise, it was a highlight, he owns a Tiger Moth too.. I’ve done probably half a dozen joy flights in whose and I’ve got to admit one of my favourite movie scenes is the Moth flight in Out of Africa.. there is actually a town called Finch Hatton in North Queensland I forget which relative it is named after.
Click to expand...
Regarding uploading videos.
Go to YouTube .
Create an account there. I believe it will still be free for you.
After that, you log in and you'll see a button up in the upper right of the web page that says create.
Now you can start uploading your videos.
Be sure to select "made for children" so they don't bother looking at to see what the content is.

Regarding the flight at 19,000 ft.
That was the 310 Cessna Riley rocket. It has four Rayjay rurbochargers with manual wastegates, so I could normalize power almost that high.
I think I had about 21 inches of manifold pressure.
I we had a 30 knot tail wind up there, so it paid to wear the oxygen masks that day.
That kicked our ground speed up to about 250 mi an hour.
We were able to non-stop that 830 nautical mile leg in about 4 hours.
The whole trip across the country was about 11 hours.
 
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Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
skyking1 said:
Regarding uploading videos.
Go to YouTube .
Create an account there. I believe it will still be free for you.
After that, you log in and you'll see a button up in the upper right of the web page that says create.
Now you can start uploading your videos.
Be sure to select "made for children" so they don't bother looking at to see what the content is.

Regarding the flight at 19,000 ft.
That was the 310 Cessna Riley rocket. It has four Rayjay rurbochargers with manual wastegates, so I could normalize power almost that high.
I think I had about 21 inches of manifold pressure.
I we had a 30 knot tail wind up there, so it paid to wear the oxygen masks that day.
That kicked our ground speed up to about 250 mi an hour.
We were able to non-stop that 830 nautical mile leg in about 4 hours.
The whole trip across the country was about 11 hours.
Click to expand...
That trip sounds brilliant… and thanks for the YouTube info..
 
W

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,663
Location
Canada
Aircraft engines have always been way more advanced than vehicle engines. They had things like water injection back in the 40's, maybe even earlier.
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
Back to pushing dirt again, Canada 1979..A477.JPG
Lovely small rocks to doze after the first blast on the last outcrop.A480.JPGA481.JPG
In this 'hole' we put the biggest culvert, I never stood next to it but it was massive, it must have been at least 8 feet in diameter though..you can see there wasn't a huge amount of fill from the rock so a massive amount of coarse sand was trucked in by Herbies fleet, the cut for the culvert was so deep that the sand fill only seemed to add a few yards of road length for a couple of days.


A482.JPG
 
OzDozer

OzDozer

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
2,207
Location
Perth, Western Australia.
Occupation
Semi-Retired ..
Oooh, that amount of rock looks like hard going. Hard on tractors, and hard on operators. We've got hard rock in the W.A. Goldfields here, that completely wears out ripper tips in under 2 hrs ripping.

The iron ore is bad, too, I've seen a set of tracks totally destroyed in just 800 hrs. Strangely enough, the track shoes wear out rapidly from the iron ore rock, but when the iron ore is pulverised to powder, it's not anywhere near as abrasive.
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
By that stage of the project, about 3 months we had already had some really hard going, after the first blast most of the rock was big, some so big that a ramp had to built so the drill rigs could access the top and re-drill them to be blasted again..so you can imagine how big the rest was.. then between the two major outcrops were smaller ourcrops, these were too small to blast, so you would prize away at key slabs and rocks..
The Goldfields rock sounds bad and as you say it’s surprising that it’s so different when it’s smaller, I suppose it’s less resistance?.
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
I think we were just happy to actually be doing some real earthmoving, instead of our regular usage of machines, so we were all, mostly enjoying it, then again maybe I was the only one enjoying it?. as I said earlier I was only working on the machines on the weekends with a couple of others, and I love dozers, of which this was really my only experience other than training and a couple of small jobs..
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
skyking1 said:
Love it! My friend Russell was getting into old planes, and we flew across the US to do a pre-purchase inspection on a Reliant in North Carolina. My partner is an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic with Inspection Authorization (A&P, AI).
We headed out Friday after work and nonstop Renton to Rapid City SD @19000 feet.
Spent the night and then two legs to get to NC.
It was in flying shape so he took it for a spin, then we tore into it, inspecting the engine and airframe.
It is the later model SR-77
View attachment 304241
It was good to go so they shook hands on the deal. He came back later to fetch it home.
We flew out to Emerald Isle on the Atlantic that night, to stay at his grandparents beach house.
Friday night Seattle, Saturday night I slept in a screened porch and listened to the gentle surf of the Atlantic Ocean. It was an epic run.
The next day we did some body surfing and then slogged back home, even staying at the same hotel in Rapid City.
Click to expand...
So has your friend Russell still got old aircraft, skyking1?. who is licensed to work on the old stuff?. My neighbour the Harrier instrument man could hardly work on anything because he wasn’t current and couldn’t catch up, and another guy I bought a Bronco off years ago, used to work on the Sea King helicopters, but as a civilian wasn’t licensed. I forget what job he was doing but it wasn’t in aviation..
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
skyking1 said:
He does the bulk of the rebuild stuff with the supervision of an A&P.
Click to expand...
That sounds like an ideal situation and I expect you will be involved too..
You mentioned before about touring the SW of UK.. I’m not trying to be your new best friend, but when I drove from Heathrow to Devon I went to Yeovilton , the Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm museum, there is a Corsair displayed there. I then looked to see if they still had an Airshow, unfortunately they don’t until 2028 apparently.. but that then got me to thinking about the other aircraft museums in UK..The Army Air Corp museum is at Middle Wallop just off the same road..A303..it’s quite small but it is crammed with aircraft and exhibits, including the origins of military flying in UK which actually started with the Corp of Royal Engineers that I was in, and just typing that reminded me there is the museum at Farnborugh, that has I believe an exhibit of William Cody an American who helped pioneer aviation in UK as you may already know.
I looked at Duxford, the Imerial War Museum location for aircraft and arguably the best air shows in UK..which then reminded me of the RAF museum in North London, which I checked on google maps is only 35 minutes from Heathrow, with Duxford just North of that
Should you ever go to Duxford I would allow a day for the show obviously and an extra day for the static exhibits, and from what you have posted maybe an extra day talking to people who are working on aircraft..
www.iwm.org.uk

Duxford Summer Air Show: D-Day 80

See historic Duxford's D-Day story take flight in this year's extra special 80th anniversary commemorative Duxford Summer Air Show.
www.iwm.org.uk www.iwm.org.uk
I should probably post this on the aviation thread too..
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia
Nige said:
From Google Maps what was the Engineering Office building, Assembly Shop, & Machine Shop appear to be still there. Everything else has gone.
Click to expand...
www.oxforddiecast.co.uk

Oxford Diecast AEC 690 Dumper Truck Wimpey

1:76 Scale Model of the AEC 690 Dumper Truck Wimpey. Manufactured by Oxford Diecast one of the worlds leading producer of Scale Model vehicles.
www.oxforddiecast.co.uk www.oxforddiecast.co.uk
I found a Wimpey dump truck.. easier to park .. but I did enjoy driving them and now the memories of those times..
 
skyking1

skyking1

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2020
Messages
7,767
Location
washington
Ian coombs said:
That sounds like an ideal situation and I expect you will be involved too..
You mentioned before about touring the SW of UK.. I’m not trying to be your new best friend, but when I drove from Heathrow to Devon I went to Yeovilton , the Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm museum, there is a Corsair displayed there. I then looked to see if they still had an Airshow, unfortunately they don’t until 2028 apparently.. but that then got me to thinking about the other aircraft museums in UK..The Army Air Corp museum is at Middle Wallop just off the same road..A303..it’s quite small but it is crammed with aircraft and exhibits, including the origins of military flying in UK which actually started with the Corp of Royal Engineers that I was in, and just typing that reminded me there is the museum at Farnborugh, that has I believe an exhibit of William Cody an American who helped pioneer aviation in UK as you may already know.
I looked at Duxford, the Imerial War Museum location for aircraft and arguably the best air shows in UK..which then reminded me of the RAF museum in North London, which I checked on google maps is only 35 minutes from Heathrow, with Duxford just North of that
Should you ever go to Duxford I would allow a day for the show obviously and an extra day for the static exhibits, and from what you have posted maybe an extra day talking to people who are working on aircraft..
www.iwm.org.uk

Duxford Summer Air Show: D-Day 80

See historic Duxford's D-Day story take flight in this year's extra special 80th anniversary commemorative Duxford Summer Air Show.
www.iwm.org.uk www.iwm.org.uk
I should probably post this on the aviation thread too..
Click to expand...
I've been to the RAF Midlands Museum, and the National Railway Museum at York.
I left lots of museums to see. :)
 
Ian coombs

Ian coombs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
190
Location
Western Australia

Midland Air Museum

www.midlandairmuseum.co.uk www.midlandairmuseum.co.uk
Is this the one you went to skyking?. if not then another one for your list..this museum had another one down in Cornwall near Newquay, unfortunately it closed, I suppose for lack of patronage, I went to it unusually, you could walk up and touch all the aircraft, I’m sure some were still flying.. I think I have already said but one of my Uncles was an apprentice with Sir Frank Whittle, sounds like BS.. I would love to find a group intake photo, there was one at Newquay but wasn’t very clear and I think it may have been later.. my uncle was ‘bought out’ because he didn’t like it..
I’m less in to railways, but like most guys I like a nice steam engine.
And I worked for British Rail for nearly a year before emigrating. I was in York Carriage works, as a stripper..
Of blue asbestos..we had all the safety gear of course. We used to remove it from the drivers and guards compartments of the diesel units.. didn’t matter that every passenger compartment had it in the roof and walls.. heaven knows how many daily commuters were affected in the UK over the years. I suppose a lot of classic aircraft would have had blue asbestos as insulation..
 
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