Gate Guards Raaf Wagga

[jeep1943]

They have finally started on the Gate guards at Wagga. New concrete pads have been placed in front of the aircraft as they will all be pulled forward about 10 feet. An extra set has been placed between the Winjeel and Mirage for a 'Fanta Can' Macchi (unsure of number at this time).
The Winjeel will be the first tackled and has a new fibreglass rear canopy to be fitted plus work to seal the canopy and other remedial maintenance.
The plan is to get rid of the grass under the aircraft and have either gravel or bark surrounded by a border, similar to what they had 20 years ago.

Still no word on when they will open the Musuem though.

[darren.crick]

At least they have made a start... please keep us informed of the progress...

[jeep1943]

Work has commenced on the aircraft.

We have removed the Winjeel canopy for repaint and repairs as well as the cowls. The lower cowl was originally painted white underneath the dayglo/ camo paint scheme. The engine will get a good clean and a Dulux resto only. The plan is to repaint to the trainer scheme.

The Sabre has had the poorly painted gun panels removed for work as well as wingtips, which were badly dented due to multiple collisions with Ride-on-mowers.
As this was a 76 Sqn bird it is planned to repaint those markings. A lot of corrosion to deal with.

The poor Meteor has severe corrosion issues and will take a lot of work.

The Mirage needs cosmetic work and some minor corrosion preventative measures at this stage.

All aircraft will have the canopies and windscreens painted due to the poor condition of these components. We will attempt to minimise the water ingress areas and better protect the areas where we cannot. Also at this stage the amount of work is not known as we continually find more problems as we go.


Darren, I'll email you the pictures to post on here as they come.

[davesoda]

Jeep, its great to hear that these birds are getting the attention they deserve. What of the Canberra mate, last time I saw her (last year) she was staring to look average. Are there palns to put these birds under cover? I hope so! also what of the Sabre cockpit that was inside the building? is it still there?

[jeep1943]

The Sabre cockpit is still in the rather empty Museum building.
The Canberra out the front may be moving elsewhere.
At one stage there was talk off putting shade sails over the top but not sure what the current plans are.
We still need to get the aircarft moved onto their hardstands, the grass removed from underneath and the sprinklers removed that are great at watering the underside of the A/C.

[mark]

Great news they are improving the display and fixing up the aircraft. I visited
the gate guards mid 2006 when attending my son's graduation from Kapooka. The
aircraft were looking a bit sad at this time. Keep up the great work jeep 1943.

Regards Mark

[jeep1943]

Some shots taken recently using my phone.
Work in progress

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[jeep1943]

The Sabre

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[jeep1943]

The aircraft will be lifted onto their new concrete pads late next week at this stage. Will be interesting to see how they survive the lift.
As you can see the Winjeel will require a lot of painting and remediation. We will be removing the flight controls for repairs to the wings and associated structure. I will post some more pics tomorrow.
The Sabre needs the struts to be lifted to get its backside of the ground and back into a level configuration. Once its tail is out of the trees we will be repainting the markings on it. Overall the paint is not too bad, however the wings have major corrosion issues.
All we have done on the Canberra, Mirage and Meteor at the moment is repaint the canopies black and cleaned the tyres.

[jeep1943]

Canopy refitted.
Eventually the rest of the aircraft will be painted back into the trainer scheme.
At the bottom of the photo is the RAAF Wagga 'Water Feature'.
Star picket through a water pipe.

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[gordon]

Love the water feature. :P

Are they going to put some cover over these aircraft so that can help preserve them? Or are they going to have continual maintenance issues?

Gordon

[jeep1943]

Thats still up in the air.
I know shade sails were considered but I think they will stay as is for the time being. Maintenance will certainly be an issue though.
As I keep saying the amount of corrossion is a real eye opener. It's a billboard for why you should not have aircraft outside for a prolonged period.

[jeep1943]

The Meteors last flight.

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[jeep1943]

The Winjeel.

The Mirage and Sabre were moved yesterday.
Glenn Alderton paid us a visit so I'm sure there will be some good pics available very soon.

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[Brendan Cowan]

Thanks Wayne,

We appreciate you keeping us up to date.

I agree, Glenn has a breathtaking photographic talent, so let's look out for his pics too.

Now I wonder if we can persuade him to post a few here? :P

BC