My Flying Control Jeep - The Ongoing Story

[Jessie The Jeep]

"Last Man Standing"

When we got there on Monday morning, the field kitchen was gone, but for their tents, the other dioramas ( except the Hand-me-down brigade ) had packed up for the Durham market place event and we were the only vehicles there. So rather than being at the end of the field, we moved the vehicles and barbed wire further up to where the field kitchen had been.

The sun was out again for Monday, but not all day and there were a few heavy showers. We'd enjoyed the show, despite the weather trying its hardest to spoil things, so had made the right call not to camp.

More pictures can be found on my website - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2024/tanfield.htm

Edited June 7 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Village D-Day Beacon Lighting - June 6th

A week and a half after Tanfield, we took our Jeep and Dodge to the village green for the D-Day beacon lighting ceremony. The Jeep also had its RAF markings added again, so the vehicles represented both Commonwealth and US forces at the event. More about that will be posted on my Dodge thread shortly.

More pictures on my website - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2024/dday.htm

Edited June 7 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Poppy Field Photoshoot - June 19th

I needed to pick my daughter up from school on Wednesday the 19th of June, so I took the Jeep for a run out. There are a number of poppy fields around here at present and I wanted to get some photos with the Jeep.

[Jessie The Jeep]

We made a 10 mile trip around some of the local lanes, ending up at the wood next to the village church. It's a shame that none of the roads pass right along side a poppy field, but it was still a lovely warm afternoon drive.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Bowes Railway 1940s Weekend - June 22/23rd

I was booked to take the Dodge to Northallerton at the end of June, so to save the fuel it had, I just took the Jeep to Bowes railway both days. Summer began a few days before Bowes, with clear sky and hot sunny weather - about time! I took Jessie in the Ordnance Depot markings for the first day and since it was nice weather, had the roof off. I got sun burnt and was exhausted on Saturday evening. 

Edited June 28 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

I think there were up to eleven military vehicles on show, though I think a couple only attended for one day.

[Jessie The Jeep]

There were a number of dioramas including British, American, Russian and German. For obvious reasons, Russian re-enactors have been portraying other armed forces for the last couple of years, so I was surprised to see them out this year.

[Jessie The Jeep]

There was a battle on both days, amongst the tracks of the rail yard. The Germans won the battle on Saturday.

[Jessie The Jeep]

As a result of the heat on Saturday, on Sunday, I switched to Flying Control markings, with the roof on for some shade. I also took some aerial photography accessories to display.

[Jessie The Jeep]

There were multi-period displays elsewhere in the village, but it was too hot to be bothered to go for a walk. Here's a panorama which includes most of the military vehicles on show. A couple of Jeeps, the Kubelwagon and halftrack were out of shot.

I stopped off in one of the country lanes for some pictures on the way home.

More pictures can be found on my website here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2024/bowes.htm

[Jessie The Jeep]

Hartlepool Historic Quay 1940s Weekend - July 6/7th

At the start of July, I took a Jeep to Hartlepool Historic Quay, visiting HMS Trincomalee, for the museum's 1940s weekend. I had planned to take a Jeep and Dodge on Sunday when Lynne was free to drive, but due to the forecast of thundery showers both days, I decided not to bother with the Dodge.

I didn't want to be caught, packing the roof away in a thunderstorm. Instead, the doors were fitted to the Jeep and I took it in the Flying Control markings. 

[Jessie The Jeep]

Some of the usual guys and displays were there, in addition to some less often seen in our area. One of these was the Royal Navy mine disposal display.

In addition to a great talk about defusing a German parachute mine, getting into the diving gear was also eye opening - especially since this gear was used into the 1970s.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The displays were spread around the three sides of the quayside.

While the museum displays inside the buildings were left era related to HMS Trincomalee, the contents of the shop windows were changed to reflect the 1940s show theme and there were a number of 1940s posters around the site.

[Jessie The Jeep]

For the second day, I got a different spot, further up the quayside.

In the Captain's cabin aboard the Trincomalee, there was a 1940s wedding display.

[Jessie The Jeep]

There was a firing display by the Wizzbangs group on both days of the show. A few faces from last year were missing, as the show clashed with Ingleton and while that was not a local show, some had gone there.

HMS Trincomalee is a Leda-class frigate and was designed in 1812. It was built in Bombay, India and was launched in 1817. After serving in one form or another until 1986, the ship was restored over an eleven year period. HMS Trincomalee, while 52 years younger than HMS Victory, is the oldest British warship still afloat. I was thankful for the doors on the way home both days, but at least the time at the show was mostly dry.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Ushaw Historic House 1940s Weekend - August 3/4th

We took a Jeep and the Dodge to the Ushaw Historic House 1940s weekend. A report can be found on my Dodge thread here ( https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/15260-my-former-wc51-flying-control-dodge-a-new-chapter/?do=findComment&comment=510564 ) or a full report and additional pictures can be found on my Jeep website - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2024/ushaw.htm

[Jessie The Jeep]

18,000 Miles

Following the trip to Ushaw last week, Jessie was also a little over a mile short of reaching 18,000 miles driven in my ownership, which started in April 2005. On the morning of the 11th, I decided to go out for a short trip around the village to watch Jessie reach the 18,000 mile mark. We followed that with a joint Jeep & Dodge trip, covered in my Dodge thread.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Garage Improvements - August 8th ~ 20th

In early August, I took a break from garden projects to focus on some garage upgrades. It started with one of the steel beams that had been brought from the old garage.

I wanted the ability to lift an engine out of a Jeep, as I'd had in the old garage. The 'A' Frame crane on the back of the Dodge had been a temporary measure. Now I wanted an 'I' beam back in the ceiling to allow the dolly to be fitted. The chain hoist from the Dodge would fasten onto the dolly, allowing me to lift an engine and then roll it to the side out of the way.

The original beam was too short, but the second beam that had been supporting the sagging bedroom floor was useable. The up and over garage door posed a bit of a problem, as I couldn't use the hoist in front of the door with the door open. The longer beam, fitted at an angle across the garage would clear the door for the most part.

It was a thick gauge steel, so I didn't want to have to cut it, so it was laid on the garage floor, supported by four stacked bricks at each end. This allowed me to shuffle the bricks around to get the beam in the ideal position. I then painted around the bricks on the floor, so I'd know where the pillars needed to be built.

On August the 11th and 12th, I started cleaning up a stack of bricks. The bricks came from the garden front wall, which was demolished by a female BMW driver last December, who lost control coming out of the junction opposite. So all of these bricks needed the mortar chiselling and grinding off to make them useable again.

On the 13th, I dropped my daughter off with friends  at 10am and started work. The M201 Jeep were moved out of the garage, while the GPW was rolled back to give more room.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Before I started laying bricks, I'd fitted some stainless steel, screw in wall ties, to connect the new pillars to the existing walls. I started with the front pillar, the mixer was plugged in and I started bricklaying. I built the pillar up to the top of lintel height, which would give just enough room for the 'I' beam before the roof joists. By the time I'd finished the side wall pillar, cleaned the mixer and tools, then put the Jeep away, I'd had a ten hour day.

Between the 14th to the 17th, I moved some sockets and switches to more convenient locations. Nothing technical there, just lifting the cable clips and re-routing the wiring to better locations. I also had two LED security lights on long cables. For the last three years, I've just clamped them to the roof joists when I needed extra light. I finally screwed them to the roof joists above each Jeep engine.

On the 18th, I tackled another garage job I've been wanting to do for some time. I had a load of junk piled up in the corner of the garage beside the Dodge. I needed some shelves to organise things better. I had some strip wood and chipboard flooring left from other projects, so built three sets of shelves in the space.

The shelves needed to taper from the front of the garage to the window, getting narrower to allow for the angle of the Dodge, as it is such a tight squeeze through the garage door. The Jerrycans and 'K' Ration boxes are most frequently used, so these are on the top shelf, where they can be accessed with the Dodge in place.

[Jessie The Jeep]

A little job for the 19th was to make two wall brackets for two of the vehicle chargers. One Jeep has a different style of charger, less suited to wall hanging.

The chargers normally sit on the fenders of the M201 and Dodge when charging. When I take the vehicles out, they tend to get dumped on what ever is closest. I wanted to tidy things up and not have cables dangling off shelves, or have the charger dumped in another vehicle or left on the floor.

So I made two wooden brackets which were screwed to the wall, next to each vehicle. When the vehicle is out and the charger not needed, they slot into the brackets and the crocodile clips also attach to keep it all tidy and out of the way.

With the pillars now fully set and the wiring relocated, I pondered the steel beam fitting. I'd recently seen a Youtube video, showing a guy lifting 20 ton concrete blocks by hand, by turning the block into a seesaw, with two pivot points..... ( https://youtu.be/E5pZ7uR6v8c?si=FgvgJdWdlVTHKFY- ). I figured his method could work for my beam, so went out to the garage on the 20th to see if I had the wood I'd need.

I decided to give it a try and see how practical it was for my 200 pound beam. A quick test showed it was practical and before I knew it, I was going for it. I lifted each end by hand onto two stools beside the trailer. Then put blocks on each stool until it was level with the Jeep trailer. I then started building the seesaw with blocks of wood, rocking the beam and packing it with ever thicker pieces of wood.

 

[Jessie The Jeep]

As it got higher, I loosely tied a rope around each end, looped over the roof joists, as a safety measure. As the small strips of wood got up to about 4 inches, I tied off the beam and replaced them with a piece of railway sleeper. I then started rocking the beam again and packing it with the smaller pieces of wood again. It crept higher and higher until after about two and a half hours, each end could be nudged onto the top of the brick pillars.

From that point, I just needed a crowbar to lever the beam to sit equally on top of each pillar. I plan to weld some small brackets onto the beam, so it can be secured to the pillars, but I'd had enough of hard work for one day!

The dolly was fitted to the beam, ready to accept the chain hoist if needed and then I cleared up all the blocks of wood, stools etc and put the trailer back in the back of the garage. 

I needed to take down one of the garage door runners while I lifted the beam, so with the beam in place, the runner was re-fitted. The Jeeps were then parked up in the garage again, 'though with the GPW on the left, as I want to take that out for some more test drives following its cylinder head gasket replacement.

[Jessie The Jeep]

The left end of the beam runs close to the strip light in the ceiling and the dolly just catches it, so I plan to move it a couple of inches rearward to give the clearance needed.

I'd had a successful couple of weeks of garage improvements, but I'll pause in there for a little while as garden jobs are calling again!