My Flying Control Jeep - The Ongoing Story

[Jessie The Jeep]

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. 

[Jessie The Jeep]

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

[Jessie 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.

[Jessie The Jeep]

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.

[Jessie The Jeep]

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

[Jessie The Jeep]

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.

[Jessie The Jeep]

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.

[Jessie The Jeep]

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

[Jessie The Jeep]

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

[Jessie The Jeep]

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.

[Jessie The Jeep]

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.

[Jessie The Jeep]

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

[Jessie The Jeep]

Beamish "Dig for Victory" - September 1st~4th

We took the Dodge and a Jeep to Beamish. The full write up and pictures are in my Dodge thread, linked below.

 

[Jessie The Jeep]

Fishburn Airfield "Wings & Wheels" - September 17th

We took the Jeep to Fishburn yesterday, but didn't think we were going to get there. I got the Jeep started up and then warmed up outside the garage. When I tried to pull away, the engine sounded a bit lumpy and as we drove out of the village, it was intermittently mis-firing, particularly when accelerating. We only got a mile from home and I decided to turn around and go home.

By the time I got half way home, it was sounding better, so I pulled into the manor turning and alternated between idle and revving the engine. It seemed to be picking up ok again, so I turned around and set off for Fishburn again. For the rest of the trip there, it ran fine! Odd!! I'm wondering if the plugs oiled up with all the slow, low gear driving at Beamish.

A friend from the next village had arrived not long before me with his WC52.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The event was a mixture of classic cars, some military vehicles and dioramas, plus some displays from other periods of history too. There were several stalls of various things, plus live music and some kids entertainment.

There's a small aircraft museum on site too with this Meteor being the most recent arrival, moved from Tangmere.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Being on the top of a hill ( and an airfield ), it was of course cold and blowy. I'd seen the forecast before going and put the full door kit on the Jeep to stay warmer. In addition to the doors and checkered roof, I also fitted the light box, "Follow Me" sign and flag.

I hadn't had the light box and sign on for a while, as the Jeep won't fit through the garage door with it fitted. Looking back at older pictures, I surprised myself to find that it is actually three years since I've had the full flying control set up fitted to the Jeep; at Sandtoft airfield in 2019.

'The Spy Who Loved Me' - The Bond Lotus affectionally known as "Wet Nellie".

[Jessie The Jeep]

There were around a couple of dozen vintage and modified cars on show and this one caught my eye.

There were also a number of living history groups, not just from World War 2.

The engine behaved on the way home too, but I need to look over a few things before Tanfield next weekend. My friend with the Dodge had been having a problem with his plugs oiling up since the covid lockdown break, so we drove back in convoy for mutual support.

More pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/fishburn.htm

Edited September 18, 2022 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

September 19th - Rough Running Investigation

At the start of the trip to Fishburn Airfield on the 17th, the Jeep was mis-firing and wasn't picking up properly. It seemed to sort itself out after a couple of miles and the rest of the trip went without problems. Starting for the return trip took a few goes, but the drive home was fine too. It still warranted some investigation.

I wanted to check all the valves were moving as they should and also that their gaps were ok. So the first job to access them was to remove the fender to get better access to the valve cover. Due to the wiring harness being fastened to the fender, it couldn't be completely removed, so after all the bolts were removed, it was left hanging low, balanced on top of the wheel. This was enough to give better access under the carburettor and manifold.

I didn't want to remove the manifold in case I damaged the gasket, so left it in place and worked under it. It was difficult working around the exhaust, but with virtually no time to order replacement parts, I wanted to disturb as little as possible.

All the valves were moving ok, the springs were fine and I checked the gaps. Only the number four cylinder valves had gaps slighly less than I wanted, but they were still within tolerences. With those adjusted, the cover plate edge had Wellseal applied and after a short while to dry, it was refitted to the engine.

Before I re-fitted the fender, I was going to give the engine a short run in case I had an oil leak around the re-fitted valve cover. I went to prime the carburettor with the fuel pump manual lever and as I did so, noticed fuel leaking from the inlet pipe into the carb.

Had the engine been leaking fuel and sucking air in through this joint, messing up the mixture and hence causing the rough running?

The joint was dismantled, cleaned and then the copper washer was smoothed off with some fine wet and dry to clean up both of the mating faces. It was then reassembled and the bolt nipped up. Another prime test showed no signs of leaking so I went for an engine start. The engine started ok and was idling smoothly. A few blips of the throttle showed the engine picking up ok from idle and higher RPM checks also showed the engine running smoothly. It was time to take the test to the next step - under load.

[Jessie The Jeep]

I grabbed a coat and my daughter and we went out for a test drive, to put some load on the engine and check it operating under normal driving conditions. We left the village and took one of the back lanes until I came across the first parking place; then pulled in.

There were no sign of any fuel leaks, but I also wanted to make sure there was no oil leaking from the valve cover. Everything seemed well and the engine was running well. We carried on a couple of miles further and pulled in again for another check. Once again, all was well, so after a couple of pictures, headed back home after a 5 mile round trip.

[Jessie The Jeep]

October 2nd

Following my three vehicle garden photoshoot yesterday ( posted in my GPW thread ), I was back to maintenance today. For a while now, the Hotchkiss Jeep has had an intermittent starter motor problem. When the starter button is pressed, the starter spins, but the Bendix gear isn't thrown forwards to mesh with the flywheel. It's something that happens every couple of years as a result of use and wear. The starter is at the bottom of the engine bay, so the rear battery, dizzy cap, and coil had to ome out to get access to the mounting bolts. Once out, it was taken to the workshop to strip down.

The end cap and main body were removed first to access the commutator. As I've found before, it was filthy.

Edited October 2, 2022 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The surface was cleaned up with some fine wet and dry paper, wrapped around a small wooden block. The surface has some pitting, but I'm not sure the shaft will fit in my small hobby lathe to true up the surface. So for the time being, I just clean up the surface.

After the wet and dry, the gaps between the contacts cleaned out with meths and a cotton bud. The Bendix gear was removed next and washed down to remove grease and dirt building up in various locations.

[Jessie The Jeep]

When the Jeep was upgraded in 1966 to the NATO 24 volt standard, the Hotchkiss starter motor also had a starter solenoid fitted. This takes the starter current rather than the switch and also mechanically throws the Bendix gear out and pulls it back via a spring. That was all cleaned too. I had hoped to replace one of the copper threaded contacts on the solenoid, as the end of the threads were slightly stripped. Despite my best efforts, it wouldn't move, so I left it alone for fear of shearing it and making the solenoid useless.

Putting the starter back together in the past was a challenge.

[Jessie The Jeep]

You need to hold the brushes out of the way of the commutator to put the end cap on. However, the wires aren't long enough to leave a gap big enough to get fingers or any tools in to hold the brushes.

I solved this many years ago by drilling two tiny holes in the end cap and inserting two small metal pins to hold the brush springs back. Once the end cap is in place, the pins can be withdrawn, allowing the brushes to spring towards the commutator.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The starter motor was bolted back in place and all the other engine components refitted. One last small job was to repair the cylinder head temperature wire. At some point before I got the Jeep, the insulation had fractured and it had been taped up. The insulation was quite hard and the wire was starting to break at the point where the insulation failed and also at the spade terminal joint. I cut the wire and soldered some new silicone wire in place, using some heat shrink tube to form a strain relief across the soldered joints.

I gave the Jeep several test starts and the starter motor behaved for each one ( see the video below ). On the last start of the session, I left the engine running for a while to heat up to check the cylinder head temperature gauge was receiving a signal from the sensor.

[Jessie The Jeep]

October 22nd - Colours of Autumn Jeep Drive

After repairing the sinking fuel tank float on "Hope" this morning, I took "Jessie" out this afternoon for a 'Colours of Autumn' photoshoot drive. The last time I tried this was October 2020 and the colour was dark grey and very wet. I wanted to take both Jeeps out, but Lynne was away for a few days, so I was on my own.

I think the colours may be better in a week or so, but the weather forecast doesn't look great, so the trees could be either bare or it will be raining!

Edited October 22, 2022 by Jessie The Jeep