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| Also in August
2005, a winch, (above left), taken from a Royal Navy Whirlwind, was
being reconditioned. When completed it will be painted red and mounted on
XD163's right side, above the cabin door. The helicopter's original
winch is missing. The small hydraulic pump (above right),
used to power the winch, was re-bolted onto the deck, below the hydraulic
fluid reservoir. The pump is driven from the gearbox, via a belt drive
running below the deck. |
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| Work continued
on refurbishing, painting and re-assembling XD163's rotorhead components
throughout October and November 2005, |
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| Progress with the refurbishment of XD163's cabin interior
was visible (left) on 3rd December 2005, when a new area of
re-painting was started. Meanwhile the completed
rotorhead was slowly lowered onto the drive shaft
above the gearbox and swashplate assembly (right). |
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| The rotorhead and
gearbox assembly was ready for reinstallation, on the deck of XD163, by
the end of 2005. On 14th January 2006 the assembly was hoisted from its
trolley and carefully lowered into place (above left). The
gearbox was then bolted to the deck, from inside the cabin (above
right), and work began on re-connecting lubrication, hydraulic
lines and control rods. |
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| By the end of
February 2006 most of the reinstallation of XD163's rotorhead and gearbox
had been completed (above left). Meanwhile, because of patches of
corrosion on the skin of the lower fuselage and on the floor beams, it was decided that the
cabin floor panels would have to be lifted to allow closer inspection. This gave access to the
flexible rubber fuel tanks (above right), three of which were removed to
allow corrosion to be treated. Corrosion in the floor panel
fixing bolts slowed the work. |
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to Third 8 Months |
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to Fifth 8 Months |
