Jessie The Jeep

It was only around a ten mile drive there and we hadn't been there long when a sea mist blew in, dropping the temperature. It cleared again by noon, leaving blue sky and a surprising amount of heat in the sun. So my morning walkaround pictures were a bit washed out, but the sun brought out the colours in the afternoon ( olive drab always looks good in the sun! ).

The last pictures are of the trophies, judges and competitors, the hangar party and sun set behind two of the Jungmeisters. More pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/breighton_aero.htm

On Saturday, my Jeep was joined by a friend's Jeep, both parked next to the airfield gate guardian. At the end of Saturday, the two Jeeps moved to the apron for the hangar party and prize giving ceremony. As usual, the setting sun gave a great backdrop for some pictures. A number of Jeep rides were given to Breighton and visiting pilots.

The last two competitors. Mike Rottland flying a Bolkov Monsun B209 Richard Stirk flying a dHC Chipmunk Towards the end of Friday, Stuart took the Miles Gemini twin for a spin around the airfield, beating up the airfield with a series of passes and wingovers, which looked great in the early evening light.

Peter Kunast flying a Zlin 526F Stephen Stead flying a Bucker Jungmeister "Taff" Smith flying Bucker Jungmeister Rainer Berndt & Bernhard Drummer flying a Bucker Jungmeister

Each competitor flew two flights per day and a break around lunch time. Amongst this were the visitors and Breighton based aircraft, coming and going, so there was always plenty to see going on. Dietmar Poll flying a LF109 Lunak glider Thomas Sachse & Jan Schiedek-Jacht flying a Bucker Jungmeister Maxim Schelfhout flying a J3 Clipped Wing Cub Benoit Dierickx flying a Modified Bucker Jungmeister

There were several different schedules to fly, depending on experience and ability of the aircraft. While the schedules contained more manoeuvres than the title suggests, they were "Looping the Loop", "Dancing the Cloverleaf", "Rolling the Circle" and a freestyle "The Performance Solo". The three preset schedules are shown below in pictogram form.

Breighton Aerodrome - Vintage World Aerobatics Championship - August 19/20th With the vintage aerobatic competition being held on the Friday and Saturday, we set off for Breighton around lunch time on Thursday, so we could get set up before it all began. The competitors had already arrived, as Thursday was a practice day. On Friday, I parked the Jeep up beside the gate guardian, and spent the day walking miles up and down the flightline taking photos. A couple of other Jeeps turned up on Friday, I'm guessing from the Yorkshire MVT. Neither appeared to be Jeeps that had attended the "G - George" day the previous month.

Ryhope Pumping Station NEMVC Rally - August 28th With a nice weather forecast, Lynne and I went topless to the N.E. Military Vehicle Club annual rally at Ryhope Pumping Station. The show has missed two years due to covid, our last trip there being 2019. The museum was almost lost to a spontaneous ignition coal bunker fire at Easter, thankfully extinguished before any serious damage was done.

By mid afternoon, the painting was done, the lifting rings fitted and it was left in the sun to bake the paint. The last picture shows the base loaded up with the generator, fuel, spare oil and accessories box. Four bolts hold the lid onto the base via 'T' nuts in the base. I'll probably add some hooks and bungees, or footman loops and straps, to hold everything still inside. There's also enough room in the lid for the fridge power supply, an extension cable and RCD socket.

Both sides were painted next, resting the crate on two strips of wood at either end when I came to do the second side, so as not to smudge the still tacky paint on side one. The ends were next, with the Curtiss Wright logo added too.

While the paint was drying, I turned to my computer to look for an appropriate looking font. I'd found a couple of pictures of an engine crate and found a font that was similar. It just needed a little editing of some letters. The markings I chose were for a replacement cylinder for a Wright Cyclone aero engine. As I said before, I was going to go for a "Go-Devil" engine crate, but needed an object more suited to the size of box I now had. The lettering was printed onto thin card and then covered in Sellotape. This gives a smooth finish that will wipe clean and the tape helps to reinforce some of the small stencil bars that hold the letters together. I then spent a day with a scalpel, cutting it all out. On the 17th, I was ready to start painting, beginning with the top. I began using a small piece of sponge, which was fine for the larger letters, but had to switch to an old and tired modelling brush for the smaller letters.

August 14th~17th - Another Crate I needed another crate! No, it's not my OCD kicking in, but another requirement for 1940s camping. We recently bought a 240v generator for events like Beamish, where we are away for a longer than a weekend. During the day at events, I wanted to hide it away, but also be able to keep fuel and accessories with it in a self-contained package. The original plan was to make a dummy Jeep engine crate, until I realised just how big that would be. It was also going to be made from recycled shipping pallets, as we had four spare. These proved very hard to dismantle on a hot day; much harder than the one used for my 50 cal crate a few months ago. They would have also added a lot more weight to the box. In the end, I bought some plywood and strip wood from B&Q as an easier, but more expensive option. The basic ply box is 28 x 18 x 18 inches, with a 3/4 inch thick timber base. The base is only a couple of inches high, with the whole box lifting off the top. This gives easy access to the generator and accessories. The box was both nailed and glued together, though the nails were really for cosmetic value. I cut grooves into the plywood panels to simulate 6 inch planks. The box was primed with a couple of coats of dilute waterproof PVA glue and then given two coats of olive drab; the remains of the first batch of paint bought for the Dodge.

We were out for around an hour, stopping at four locations on the familiar local drive, before coming home. Further photos can be found on my Jeep website here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/landarmy.htm

We drove around the usual local lanes, making use of gates, fences and public footpaths, which allowed us to get to a number of good locations, with and without the Jeep.

Land Army Photoshoot and Drive - July 20th July 20th was the last half day of the school year for my daughter. Since it had been so hot the last few days, I said we'd go out in the Jeep after school and we could put the screen down to cool down more. The Land Girl photoshoot was a last minute after-thought since it was a nice day and the crops in the surrounding fields were tall.

At the end of Saturday, there was a party at the main hangar with food and a band playing for most of the evening. Patrick and I both took our Jeeps. As the party wound down, in what little remained of the daylight, I challenged Patrick to a drag race! Now this wasn't going to be the fastest drag race in history, but from the hangar to the end of the airfield was a quarter mile! Some friends of Patrick caught us on camera on the return run. My Jeep is on the far side of the perimeter track, with my screen down and cap on backwards to reduce drag!! More pictures can be found on my Jeep website here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/breighton.htm

Around 12:45hrs, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster thundered over the airfield, making a number of passes. The Lanc was meant to be at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, but the crew rearranged their day so they could fly North to Yorkshire to display at Breighton before heading South to RIAT.

There's around one hundred classic aircraft based at Breighton, many of which were brought outside or flew during the day. Most of the Real Aeroplane Company aircraft flew at least once during the day, including the recently restored Bucker Jungmeister seen in the first picture below. This was the first time I'd seen this aircraft fly. As the day went on, parking spaces started to run out and judging by the number of normal cars there, turnout must have been around two thousand members of the public. Historic Aero Engines were there with three of their aircraft engines.

The following day was hot before 08:00hrs. The event took place over the UK's hottest heatwave, though the peak temperatures occured after the event. Military and classic vehicles started arriving early, as did fly-in visitors.

I gave one of the guys at the airfield a go driving the Jeep and in return, I got to drive his Lotus. To finish the Friday evening, I waited until the sun was low in the sky and took my Jeep onto the airfield for a photoshoot with the dH89a Dragon Rapide.

The next picture is on the East end of the main runway, looking West South West, back along the main runway. All three runways survive, though heavily built on by the industries that are there. The picture below is on the country lane on the West side of the airfield. The gap in the hedge is almost in line with the end of the runway, but allows a view back towards the surviving T2 hangar.

Breighton Aerodrome "Lancaster G - George" Day - July 16th Due to the rising fuel prices, I towed the Jeep down to Breighton on Friday afternoon, rather than a three hour drive there. It was an hour faster and much cheaper to tow! It took a while to set up camp in the strong wind as the tent wasn't playing nice. The ground was so dry, the poles wouldn't grip the grass and were blown out several times by the tent acting like a large sail. I got there in the end and then went to explore the remains of the old airfield where I could. Most of the wartime airfield has been turned into an industrial estate. This picture is at the East end of the main runway, looking North West across the end of the main runway.

There isn't really a need, as the trailer normally lives across the back of the garage as shown below. It's rare that it needs to be at the front and when parked at the back, it's out of the way with the lights and registration plate up against the wall. Just got back from a fly/drive-in with the Jeep. It was so hot, with all the airfield concrete and tarmac reflecting the heat back. Loads of pictures to sort, so a report on my Jeep thread will follow in the next few days.

I packed up my tent straight after breakfast, as Sunday was forecast to be even hotter and I didn't want to be packing it up at the hottest part of the day. There was a huge rush of public and exhibitors through the gate at the end of the day, so a few of us hung around for a while until the traffic eased. Eventually it was time to leave, so I go to start the Dodge and it fires, coughs, splutters, revs and dies - then wouldn't restart. Just what I needed at the end of a hot and tiring weekend. Despite only fitting a new condenser earlier in the year along with the new plugs, I suspected the condenser was the issue. There was virtually no spark at the lead or points, so the dizzy was stripped and a new condenser fitted. This time the Dodge roared to life and the idle was smooth and steady. The drive out of the site was a different route to the entrance and was a nice drive through the private estate of Lord Lambton. The trip home was uneventful. Once home, the Jeep had to come out of the garage so that the trailer could go in at the back of the garage. Over recent weeks, with the Dodge pulling the trailer quite a bit, the trailer was left at the front of the garage. Next week, I need the Jeep for the Breighton Aerodrome 1940s weekend, so the trailer was put away at the back again so the Jeep was easily accessible. Further pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/cls.htm