Twin Rebuild Project Update

Twin Rebuild Project

Update Contributed by VFC President and Accountable Executive Colin Williamson

On May 19th, our twin engine plane (currently C-GWCB) that we are going to completely rebuild arrived from Alberta. That was a bit later than hoped for but we needed good weather through the mountains to safely transport it and had to wait a bit for that. Once here at VFC its former owner Dave, and two of our staff, Cody and Murray, got to work unloading it. This was quite an involved process as great care needs to be exercised in moving large components to ensure they don’t get damaged, and to ensure those large components (wings, fuselage) don’t get bumped into the other planes in the hangar. Some good teamwork with Murray driving the forklift and Cody and I acting as spotters kept everything safe. Along with the acquisition of WCB, Murray negotiated

receiving several boxes of spare parts and even an entire second airframe that we can use as a parts plane. This will save us large amounts of money down the road and enable us to quickly perform our own in-house repairs when needed.

There was a lot of prep work that went into getting the project ready to start. Murray acquired two sea cans (large metal shipping containers) that we will use as additional storage. This has enabled us to clear out some of the hangar to make room for the project work. We have also acquired a new air compressor. The old one was getting unreliable, was very noisy, and could only support one tool at a time. The new one is much quieter (better workplace safety) and can power three tools at a time improving productivity not just for the project plane but for all of our maintenance work.

Our Maintenance staff are now busy working on the project. The aircraft will be completely disassembled and all parts carefully inspected. Depending on their condition they will either be re-used, repaired or replaced. So far it's good news. The aluminum airframe components that have been inspected are in excellent condition. WCB spent most of its life in the far North. We all know it is cold up there but it is also extremely dry, limiting issues with corrosion.

Clearly there is a lot of work involved in restoring an aircraft. We expect to have it ready for students to use for instruction in the fall. It is not possible to pin down the schedule entirely accurately since it will be affected by the condition of the parts and the amount of work they need to bring them up to excellent condition. The schedule is also affected by the amount of work put on our staff keeping our existing fleet in the air. We will keep you posted with the progress of this exciting project both here in the Patrician and on Facebook and Twitter.

May 19th, our planes arrive from Alberta. You are not seeing double, there are two fuselages on the trailer. The one in the foreground is for spare parts. Note the freshly overhauled C-172 engine off to the right of this photo in the back of our pickup truck based test bed. Murray operates the forklift truck with assistance from Cody to get a fuselage off the trailer. Many thanks to Victoria Air Maintenance for the loan of the forklift truck.

Anyone who has watched Ice Pilots knows Buffalo Airways, the former owner of the plane. Griffin hard at work disassembling the instrument panel of WCB. The entire panel will be replaced by a new one with the sheet metal being fabricated by Victoria Air Maintenace so that it can accommodate the new glass cockpit components and modern avionics.

Meanwhile, our Cessna 172s still need maintenance. Al is busy here installing an engine into JZB that he has just finished overhauling. After a complete overhaul the engine fired up instantly and then ran beautifully. Al’s workmanship is absolutely first class. Murray busy stripping paint off the wing. This is an essential but time consuming job. Not only does it get rid of the old paint but it allows for a proper inspection of the metal.