My Former WC51 "Flying Control Dodge" - A New Chapter

[Jessie The Jeep]

July 28th

The morning was spent out shopping for the additional steel work required. To speed up the order, I got the metal in several long lengths to cut myself, rather than waiting overnight to have all the parts cut for me. The four empty bolt holes in the first picture show where the old child seat fittings were attached. The bolts had been in for five years, and with the nuts and threads exposed to the weather in the wheel arch, were quite tight to remove. Four steel box sections were bolted through the sides of the truck. The hidden faces were painted before hand, which held things up while they dried.

1/8 inch ply packing pieces were fitted behind each box section to make removal easier should it be needed. The bolts can be removed, the ply packers knocked out, which will then give 1/4 inch of free play between the frame and the sides of the body. The two cross members are cut to length and painted on their undersides, but were not yet welded in for this picture. The following day was child care all day, so no further progress until the 30th. The cross pieces would later have an additional bolt in the centre through the floor.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

July 30th

The cross pieces are welded and the seat supports are part built. They are made from box section with a flat plate welded to the side, forming an 'L' section. They also need the underside painted before fitting.

First, the seat fixing bolts needed drilling. The seat was clamped to the supports in the correct position for ample leg room. The supports lift the seat clear of the hinged door for the under floor spare wheel and tool storage.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

With both sides clamped to the support rails, the chair and its rails were lifted out of the truck onto the lawn for drilling the fixing holes. The bolts aren't fully threaded so the load bearing areas aren't weakened by the threads. However, the nuts were bottoming out before clamping up the seat, so a 3mm washer was welded to the flat plate to give the required thickness ( not seen from this side ).

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The seat was now bolted to its rails, but they were free to slide side to side so I could work out the best position to give clearance for the removal of the bolts that hold the frame into the truck.

The supports are now painted and welded down, and the flat plate uprights have had their ends rounded off. The centre bolt in the front and rear cross members can be seen in this shot.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

In between the seat mounting frame, I was working on the pedestal for the seat in the observers position. The tube in the base of the seat and the one that will be on the floor are 3 inches diameter. However, unlike model making brass metalwork sections, steel doesn't come in nice concentric sizes. I tried reducing a 3 inch tube to fit by taking slices out and welding it back together, but than ended up far away from being circular!

The only smaller size I could find was 2.5 inches, a full 1/2 inch smaller. Making one slice down the welded tube allowed it to spring open 1/4 inch. I figured if I could stretch it and weld a piece of the failed tube in, it should work ( I hoped! ). Wooden supports inside the tube, forced the diameter larger until it was a pretty good fit in the 3 inch tube which would be fixed to the floor.

I cut a piece of the old tube to fill the gap and tack welded it down one seam. The other was overlapping the tube, and needed grinding and slitting with a saw to gradually reduce the diameter. It was while I was doing this that my finger slipped along a razor sharp edge, and I excavated a nice groove of skin from my knuckle and started pouring the red stuff everywhere. I packed up for the day soon after that!

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

July 31st

With little legs off to the lakes with the grandparents, I had another day free of childminding to work on the seat. This is the start of the support for the observers seat position, being offered up to the main frame to check alignment. Most of this part was built in the workshop, and it wasn't until it was at this stage that it was moved to the truck and welded in.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

At first, I couldn't get the seat on! There wasn't enough height clearance to lift the seat over the post due to the backrest catching the roof. I trimmed an inch of the post and half an inch off the socket on the seat base, and that gave just enough room.

To compensate for the loss of height in the seat post, I'll have to make sure Lynne makes the Army Air Corps seat cushion a little more padded.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The last metal work to go in. These diagonal braces help to steady the seat post, but also reinforce the bottom frame against the seat trying to lever forwards in an impact.

To finish the day, all the metal work was giving two coats of the dull dark green. This will now have to fully harden before the seat can be re-assembled for pictures of it all complete.

So bar putting it all back together and Lynne sewing the seat cushion, it's all done ready for Croft Nostalgia. That gives me a couple of days to check over the Dodge and Jeep before the trip South.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Aug 1st

All done except for the seat cushion! Since the height of the seat was dropped a little to allow enough clearance to lift it over the pedestal, I've found it has a much greater range of rotation, spinning from its position in the first picture, all the way clockwise for about 300 degrees.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Even without the cushion, the height isn't too bad, so once that is made, it should be spot on. I've got my eye on some PVC coated fabric that might do, but I'm waiting for a sample to be sure.

The easiest way to rig the seat for transport seems to be to fit the transit frames to the floor first, without bolting them up tight, then spin the chair 180 degrees and lift it off the pedestal straight onto the frames. The seat is quite heavy and cumbersome to lift with the frames attached too.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

All bolted down and ready for Croft Nostalgia show. The pedestal fits in one of the front lockers when not in use.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Croft Nostalgia Festival - Aug 8/9th

For the show this year, I decided against taking all three vehicles. Last year, it took two days before the show and one after to get the vehicles there and home. While it was nice to have them all together, it was a great deal of work and expense.

So this year, it was just 'Jessie' and 'Faith', although I was taking my canvas tent and photographic display too. We left home late on Friday morning, and due to roadworks and lots of red lights, it took 90 minutes rather than the usual hour. It took a further three hours to get both tents up, the truck and trailer unloaded, and then sort out the display and tables ready for the following day.

The only other job that night was a bit of marshalling when the Pitts Special flew in, and then we went to the marquee for the evening entertainment.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's a few pictures around my 2015 display. The photographic display included the new K20 camera and stereoscope along with the various target photos. We also got to try out the observers seat properly for the first time.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

One of the visiting aircraft was a Bucker Bestmann, best known for its role with Donald Pleasance and James Garner in the film "The Great Escape". I was fortunate to get the opportunity of trying out the hot seat, and apart from head room being a bit limited, it was more spacious than other wartime side by side seating aircraft I've been in.

On Sunday morning, we had the military parade lap, or laps actually, as there was time for three trips around the circuit. Lynne did the driving while I was shooting images for the Croft website.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's some of the aviation exhibits on display in the air and on the ground. On Saturday morning, we had the Taylorcraft Auster and Bucker Bu181 Bestmann fly in for static display over the weekend. The Extra EA230 also flew in on Saturday for the lunchtime aerobatics display. The Pitts S-1S Special flew in on Friday for static display over the weekend.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

After the parade laps, there was a break in duties until it was time to escort the Sherman and FV432 out onto the show field. To protect the track, rubber matting was laid out for the Sherman and FV432 to drive across, after which they were free to put their foot down and belt around the field in front of the grandstand!

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

This set of pictures shows largest visiting attraction, the mighty Avro Vulcan B2. 2015 is the last season for the Vulcan before being grounded, so this was the one and only chance to see this RAF giant of the 'Cold War' at Croft. While advertised as a flypast, we had a mini display lasting about 6 minutes.

One last shot of the Vulcan, a poignant picture of XH558 flying away from the circuit, fading into the distance and into history.

Some shots from the Extra 230 display.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Other than during the parade laps, rolling armour and Vulcan, there was constant vintage racing action on the track.

There were several hundred classic cars on display, just a small selection of which is shown here.

2015 saw the biggest display of military vehicles so far at Croft, with the whole of the display area along side the old main runway full of vehicles, including an impressive REME recovery display. There were plenty of Jeeps, GMC's including a workshop truck, Land Rovers, Champs and a selection of other ancient and more modern MV's.

For once the weather had been kind the whole weekend, and towards the end of our packing up around 9pm, we were given a lovely sunset to finish off a fantastic weekend. We got home in darkness, and finished unloading by about 11:30pm, very tired.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

NELSAM Victory 70 - August 15/16th

A quiet day at the museum today, with not many public about, but a chance to relax and have a chat with friends. They's had a big event the week before while I was at Croft, and had a large turnout of public, so it's perhaps not surprising that it was quiet today. I'd not been since May, so this was my first chance to see the Vulcan with the fin painted and the new Saunders-Roe Skeeter helicopter in the military vehicle shed.

Firstly, the Dodge and visiting GPW and Harley.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

After a quick chat, I went for a wander with the camera to see what was new. The Avro Vulcan B2 ( XL319 ) has had a little more painting and the new Saunders-Roe Skeeter helicopter in the military vehicle shed.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

FMA Pucara, captured during the Falklands War.

English Electric Lightning, taken with the compact camera on the top of the tripod, held in the air while standing on the hood of the Dodge!

The Military Vehicle shed.

Gloster Meteor, with the T-33, Vampire, F-84F and F-86D in the background.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

After the Croft show, the truck was caught out in heavy rain a few times without the tarpaulin covering it. I noticed that water was pooling on the cab canvas just behind the screen, and that it was leaking through. Wednesday the 19th was a nice warm sunny day, so I spent the first part of the day painting some waterproofing solution over the canvas to seal it.

While working on that, I checked the roof underneath, and found the fabric lifting a little along the edges of the batterns which stop water running forwards into the cab. The areas were given a light sand before being painted with waterproof PVA glue. While wet, a strip of fabric was laid over the battern and the lifting edge of the old fabric, and PVA worked through with a stiff brush before being left to bake in the sun.

There wasn't time to paint these again, but as they are hidden under the canvas, it wasn't too much of an issue for now. However, at some point I'd like to get a coat of exterior white over the area for additional sealing. After they were dry, the cab canvas was re-attached, just in time for some heavy rain that evening! Thankfully, the canvas had dried properly and the water sat in beads on the surface.

The following day, the Dodge went back into storage. The next event is the August bank holiday weekend at the Durham Light Infantry Museum, but that will be both Jeeps out on show. The next Dodge event will probably be the Fishburn Airfield Fly-In, early October.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Fishburn Airfield Fly/Drive-In - October 3rd

The Fishburn Fly/Drive-In promised to be a great day out, but sadly after a week of pretty good weather, thick fog for most of the day kept away all but three visiting aircraft on the day. There was a great turnout of wheels, from military vehicles, to classic cars, bikes and a bus.

Replica Spitfire and North American Harvard

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Most of the public seemed to enjoy what was on display, and later in the day, the fog lifted enough for the Harvard to do some joy riding. It was a cold and very damp day, but with great support from the vehicles and public, so hopefully the event will be repeated and will be more lucky with the weather in future.

Quick!!! Someone find me a pile of leaves, a load of empty cardboard boxes and an empty back lane!!

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Tom was unfortunate to hole the engine sump on his K2 on the way there, but a small team that drove out to meet him in a Bedford managed to fill the hole with a screw and get him some more oil, so he eventually made it late in the afternoon.

We also had both an American and German halftrack on display.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep