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

[Jessie The Jeep]

I dropped the canvas down again for overnight, but as there was no rain forecast, I didn't bother to cover it up. I grabbed a few quick photos and headed indoors.

As the sun started to set, I noticed a slight pink glow to the sky. There were lots of clouds around, but I wondered if I'd get a nice sun set.

[Jessie The Jeep]

As the sun set further, the colours became more intense. The backdrop wasn't the greatest, but there were still some nice colours in the sky.

I went back out again after dark and shot a few more long exposure shots.

[Jessie The Jeep]

November 11th - Remembrance Service and Memorial Tour

"At The Eleventh Hour, on the Eleventh Day, of the Eleventh Month - We Will Remember Them."

This morning, I took the Dodge to the Seaham memorial, setting off around 09:30hrs. I'd be meeting a few other military vehicles at the coast, then we would drive in convoy to the memorial for the Remembrance service. Being fairly new to the Durham area, I decided to see what other memorials I could visit on my trip and searched the web and Google Earth before hand to plan a route. Including Seaham, I found eight memorials in villages around the area that wouldn't be too far out of my way to visit.

The first two were visited on the way to Seaham. The first of these was Easington Lane. This was a combined memorial and clock tower and was the largest on the tour. While most of the memorials had nearby parking, there was a chance that residents would be parked there, so until I got there, I didn't know whether I'd be able to park.

Next along the route was Murton. Another impressive memorial with an area to one side to commemorate William McNally VC.

He earned his VC during WW1,  survived the war and became one of the honour guard for the unknown soldier at Westminster in 1920. He joined the LDV in WW2, returning to the mines after the war. He retired from work as a timber yard foreman in 1958 and passed away in 1976.

[Jessie The Jeep]

From Murton, I carried on Eastwards, towards the coast, stopping at an industrial estate a couple of miles from the Seaham memorial. I waited there a few minutes for the Jeep convoy that was coming North from Teesside. I tagged onto the end of the convoy and we then drove the last couple of miles to the memorial on the sea front.

There's two parts to this memorial. I was parked up next to a more recent addition, a sculpture of a WW1 "Tommy" soldier.

The four Jeeps flanked the original stone cross memorial, with two either side.

There was probably a couple of hundred people in attendance, but we were told to expect 1000+ on Sunday.

[Jessie The Jeep]

After the service, the group split up, with the four Jeeps heading back the way we'd come. I set off in the other direction which was the most direct route to continue my tour. I passed back through Murton and Easington Lane before turning South to Haswell.

The Haswell memorial was in a church yard. From my Goggle Earth street view research, there was just empty grass next to the church, but when I got there, a new house was being built on that plot. The closest I could park was on the main road. There had been a service there as they were still packing up when I arrived.

[Jessie The Jeep]

From Haswell, it was only a short drive to the well kept Ludworth memorial. There was a guy walking passed who saw me and the Dodge, stopped and chatted for some time.

[Jessie The Jeep]

A little further on, through Shadforth, my next stop was Sherburn Hill. There had been a place to park right next to the memorial until someone put a fence there, so I had to park on waste land a little further up the hill.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Down at the bottom of the hill was Sherburn Village. There was an old bus stop next to the memorial which is no longer a bus stop. It allowed me to stop right next to the memorial.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The last stop on my tour was Pittington memorial, located at St Lawrence's Church, in the church yard. There was no parking next to the memorial, so I parked just outside the church yard, amongst the trees and walked in.

[Jessie The Jeep]

I grabbed a few pictures of the Dodge amongst the trees before heading for home. It was a little over a 26 mile round trip and with the sun out, not particularly cold, even on the coast. 

Though tinged with sadness, it was a rewarding and educational trip. I saw a few Carrs inscribed on some of the memorials and couldn't help but wonder if they were related. My own grandfather, Joseph O. Carr, served in the Army Service Corps at Ypres during WW1 and thankfully survived.

Since the Dodge is such a tight fit in the garage, I'm leaving it outside until after Sunday's service. There's no point in making more work for myself, having to strip the back off just to put it away. With overnight rain expected, the Dodge is wrapped up in a plastic sheet for the next couple of days.

[Rootes75]

Very poignant photos, I do like the first photo of the Dodge in the trees too.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Remembrance Service - November 14th

The 14th was the second outing to Seaham for the Dodge and was a much cooler day. Mist hung over the memorial site but much larger crowds had gathered by the time we got there. Due to the larger crowds and parades, the vehicles were parked in the parking bays beside the memorial, rather than around it. The service was also much longer than on Thursday, with participation from veterans and several uniformed organisations. There was no grand tour afterwards, just a drive straight home.

[Rootes75]

Thats lovely to see so many people out observing the day.

Also nice to see the vehicles on display. We only went to our village service so only a small affair. 

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 4th - Dodge Mounted Crane

Converting the Dodge from a Flying Control truck, back to olive drab was just the first stage of its transformation. Having had something a bit different for so long, I didn't want the Dodge to be completely conventional. I still wanted something that would stand out from other Dodges, a field-mod conversion that might have been seen on an airfield and something that would be useful too.

I've already posted a picture on the previous page about potentially using one of the steel beams from the old garage to make a crane in the back of the Dodge, something like a No.7 set crane seen in GMC trucks. It was going to be a large amount of steel to store if I needed it out of the truck for any reason and I wouldn't be able to start any work until the garage doors were raised. Something lighter, quicker to set up and more easily stored would be a better option.

An idea struck me ( it was a glancing blow and I was quick to recover!! ).

The diagonal braces of the original design were just there to help support the removable beam, but did I really need the beam at all? That and its supporting structure was going to add most of the weight and complexity. It would also take up quite a bit of space in the back of the truck.

If I made the diagonals an A-Frame crane, it would dramatically cut down on the amount of weight, steelwork and welding needed. Instead of the beam carrying the weight, the A-Frame would carry it, braced by a hand operated wire winch. The winch could raise and lower the A-Frame, giving a longer reach or bringing a load to the point where it could be lifted onto the tailgate/bed of the truck. The chain hoist would still be used, mounted on the end of the A-Frame, to give precise and easy control of any lifting, such as removing a Jeep engine.

My Daughter's child seat is currently mounted on a framework on top of the false floor that contained the spare wheel. The false floor would be removed and this framework would be lowered to the truck bed. The frame would then be extended rearwards to form mounting points for the lower pivot of the A-Frame, while a bracket would be added at the front to mount the hand winch on. The two bars of the A-Frame could be quickly removed and stowed for transport.

I already have the chain hoist and the winch should arrive by courier tomorrow. I just need to finalise the steelwork required to make the A-Frame and extend the framing on the floor. For that I need to get some measurements of the existing seat frame structure and to work out how to mount the winch, once I have its size, so I know the required handle clearance from the floor.

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 8th - Crane Winch and Materials

Work in the house loft paused when I ran out of materials, so I turned my attention to the truck crane. I bought a winch on Ebay to support the A-Frame bars and this was primed and sprayed olive drab this morning. It was left in my curing cabinet to bake hard.

This afternoon, I took some measurements in the back of the Dodge and finalised the sizes of the steel work required. This has just been ordered from a local branch of Metal Supermarkets. Hopefully it will all be cut in time to collect before Christmas. The next step will be to remove the seat frame and false floor from the back of the Dodge and refit it at bed level. The other parts will then be built up from there.

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 10th - Crane Materials Arrive

I got an email confirmation this morning, to say that all the metalwork was cut and ready to collect. I had a number of odd jobs to do, so combined them all into one trip. When I got there, all the box section was cut from the wrong material, so I had to wait a while for it to be recut. Once home, I laid out the main A-Frame parts and winch to get a sense of scale.

[ploughman]

Will it need to be tested and certified?

Or will it never see a load.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Tested?? I'll just pick something heavy up and see if it breaks! It's for my own use, not commercial and at a show, I wouldn't leave the dummy prop hanging. It would be connected to the crane, but supported.

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 11th - Seat Frame Removal and Refitting

A busy day in a chilly garage on Saturday. With all the Dodge crane materials here, there wasn't really an excuse not to get started. The first step was to remove the metal framework that supported the child seat and had also supported the observers chair when the seat was positioned under the dome. Some of this structure would be reused. It didn't take too long to get it out.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

With the frame out, the false floor was next. That was quite easy as it was just held in with machine screws. Being inside the truck rear body, they were protected from the weather and came out without any fuss, shortly followed by the 4 x 3ft sheet of ply.

The steel angle support frame for the floor was a bit more stubborn, having long bolts from inside the body to the wheel arch. They were very rusted and due to the difficult to reach location of both ends of the bolt, Lynne helped and unscrewed the bolts from inside while I crawled under the wheel arches. That brought that frame out.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The original seat frame had a few bits cut off and some of the mounting brackets removed, to be refitted once I'd sorted the new mounting position. So the frame was placed on the truck bed, more or less in the same fore/aft position it had been in, but now about 12 inches lower. My Daughter was called out to check her leg length in the new position and once I was happy that she'd fit, I began to remount the frame. 

[Jessie The Jeep]

The frame itself is a little narrower than the truck bed, the gap made up with a wood shim. This allows a bit of clearance for getting the frame in and out after the shims are knocked out. I was thankful I made it this way to start with, as it did make the frame removel easier, especially as the wooden bench seat overhangs the side of the bed. I need some new shims for the new mounting positions.

I also discovered the Norwegian metal bed in the truck is mounted slightly on the wonk, being 1/4 inch lower on one side. Later in the day, I used some clamps to support the winch frame in place, to check the clearance for the handle. It all seemed like it would work.

[Jessie The Jeep]

At the rear of the frame where the seat mounts, I'll add two new vertical mounts to brace the frame from tipping forwards under braking/crash loads.

The rear of the frame was extended back another 30 inches for the A-Frame mounts and was bolted through the bed at the rear. The last picture is a general view of the bed with the progress so far. Not a bad day's work.

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 12th - Seat Frame Bracing and Winch Fitting

Sunday was another busy day in the garage, but not so cold. The vertical braces for the side of the seat frame were marked up, drilled and bolted in place. The lower end was then welded to the seat frame, followed by cutting a triangle reinforcing piece and welding that in. After that, I moved on to the winch mount.

Much of the day was spent cutting, grinding and trial fitting, followed by a few minutes of welding thrown into the mix. The first part of the mount was the two vertical supports.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The diagonals were cut next, which needed lots of fettling to get them to fit the uprights and around the old seat mount at the bottom. The plate for the winch was used to clamp them together to get them parallel for the test fits.

Once welded in place, I clamped a piece of metal across them to hold the winch base plate around half way up. The winch was attached and it was checked for clearance for the handle to rotate without hitting the floor or front face of the truck bed. I also needed to make sure there was hand/knuckle clearance!! Once I was happy the the position, it was tacked in place and the winch checked again!