What a cracking day! As a very pleasant change of pace from the seemingly endless rivetting and paint-stripping, we decided to fit one of the inner engine nacelles. These would be almost impossible to fit once CF was up on her legs so this was a good opportunity.

We did a test-fit a week ago which almost worked, but it showed up a few snags which we ironed out this weekend. With willing helpers Brian Egan, Ken Foster, Jon Howard, Ian Cottrell and myself - it took all afternoon to get the huge nacelle into place and securely bolted and rivetted.

With the engine fitted to the front, this nacelle is well over twenty feet in length and very very impressive! Maybe next week we'll fit the starboard one ;-)

At the rear of the aircraft, David Lindsey, Peter Rotherham, Ken Foster and Ray Jennings continued stripping the old Invicta paint off the fuselage. Thanks to their tireless work, the whole port side is now almost ready to receive fresh new Eagle livery. See photo below.

HALL OF FAME

Tyreworld, Croft St, Widnes. One aspect of the Britannia restoration we simply couldn't manage ourselves was the removal of the aircraft tyres so that the wheels could be inspected. We were faced with the daunting (and no doubt expensive) task of finding an airfield with the suitable facilities - until JSC member Brian Egan put a call into his friend Barry Davies who owns Tyreworld in Widnes, Cheshire. Barry's company has the equipment and expertise to handle the specialist job of removing the type of tyres used on the Britannia, and Barry very kindly offered to help us out - at no cost! Barry Davies and the Tyreworld crew. Over a period of a few weeks, Brian and his trusty trailer ferried the wheels down to Barry's where they were stripped and checked for corrosion and cracks. Brian Egan's trusty trailer loaded to go... If we had a hall of fame, Barry and the guys at Tyreworld in Widnes would most certainly be very deserving members. Barry has saved us a sizeable amount of money, given us peace of mind that our wheels are ok, and has shown great enthusiasm for our project. We are truly very very grateful. I mustn't forget to thank Brian Egan here too. Brian is a very valued member of our team and always able and willing to turn his hand to whatever is needed (he makes a mean bacon sarnie too!). Brian very kindly ferried all of the wheels from Speke to Barry's shop and back again. Thanks Guys, projects like ours simply aren't possible without people like you !