THE
RECOVERY OF MOHAWK 298 VH-HIX
By
Basil Bryant, Operations Manager.
Day
#1 Monday 19.2.96
The operation had been set down for commencement on Monday
19th February 1996 and completion and delivery of the dismantled
aircraft to QAM Caloundra was scheduled to be effected on
the following Friday 23rd February, "if everything goes
according to plan". We all know that quite often the best
laid plans go awry. (Robby Burns would recognise this sentiment,
Editor's note). The ETA at Bundaberg was set for 9.00 am
Friday 23rd February, so that a full day's work could be
achieved. The three of us went up individually, Col Stephens
drove his vehicle, I drove mine and Bill Wiggett brought
up the rear in "Austral", which was loaded to the hilt with
ladders, trestles, planks, tarpaulins and carpet, etc, to
protect the wings against scuffing during transport. We
all arrived close to the designated time and the first panels
were removed from the aircraft by 9.30 am!! Progress at
end of day #1 Access panels removed on centre wing section
to gain access to control cables, fuel and hydraulic lines,
electrical connections, etc. Removed access panels on port
outer wing to gain access to all control items. Removed
port flaps and ailerons. Removed fairing to expose wing
attachment points (port wing). Removed access panels on
horizontal and vertical stabilisers. Removed tail cone and
associated fairings. Removed loosened nuts on all tail appendages.
By this time, the sun had well and truly disappeared and
after parking "Austral" in the hangar with three (3) "Jabiru's"
we headed for the showers. I reflected as I passed through
the gate that it was fortunate that the hangar was locked
and no one could see inside because the sight of three sprightly
Jabirus with poor old "Austral", warts and all in their
midst was just not cricket!
Day
#2 Tuesday 20.2.96
Commenced work at 6.00 am, disconnected control cables to
rudder and trim. Removed rudder (by hand). There is a tale
here - no pun intended, will elaborate later! Disconnected
control cable to elevators & trims. Disconnected electrical
cables and de-icing pipe connections to horizontal stabiliser.
Disconnected cables, pipes, electrical cables, etc in centre
wing section. Removed split pins from all attachment bolts,
centre wing to fuselage joint and centre wing to outer wing
attachments. The large tapered pins in the lower wing to
centre wing joint caused some concern. The hydraulic puller
wouldn't fit between the two wing sections and had to be
discarded. "Back up" extractor # 2 was installed, this was
a specially turned and threaded rod and was screwed into
the tapered pin and with the aid of a sleeve over the head
of the pin and washers over the bolt and by tightening a
nut on the bolt it was thought the pin had no chance (of
resisting). However, the long and the short of it all was
that so much torque was applied to the bolt that the thread
was pulled literally from the bolt. Exit puller #2. We still
had a "back up" entitled extractor #3, which could be described
as being made up of wood and steel and had been so designed
that it was capable of applying a great amount of kinetic
energy to the offending pin and sure enough, after operating
it for several minutes, a shout went up "it's moved" and
victory was ours. At this point of time, Ken the transport
guy arrived on the scene and during general discussion announced
he wanted to load the plane on Wednesday afternoon and deliver
on Thursday as he had to be in Toowoomba with his truck
Thursday night. I cannot quote verbatim what was said at
that time as it was all (R) rated and certainly not the
Queen's English. However, sanity prevailed and a serious
evaluation of work versus time was taken and as Dennis Brown
had arrived with Adrian Visini, this meant another pair
of hands. Unfortunately, Dennis had to depart that afternoon
for Woodgate but promised to return Wednesday to help stack
seats etc into the fuselage, a very welcome gesture. As
the sun had now passed the meridian, it was decided to call
in the crane and remove the port outer wing and vertical
stabiliser. The starboard wing was prepared for removal
and some remaining wing appendages were removed. As it was
now 6.00 pm it was decided to call it a day so we downed
tools and departed.
Day
#3 Wednesday 21.2.96
Once again 6.00 am start. As the crane was not available
until after lunch, owing to previous bookings, it was decided
to remove the horizontal stabiliser with "Austral" to save
some time. With the aid of Denis's ute, we carted seats,
panels, window surrounds from the hangar and loaded them
into the fuselage. Time was at a premium and every minute
counted. Because of the very tight schedule, it was decided
to forego lunch and keep working. Col had to head for home
but the arrival of Hank kept our manpower on an even keel!
The crane arrived in due course and the starboard wing was
removed. However, when we attempted to lift the centre wing,
it would not budge! At first we thought the silicone rubber
compound between the wing and fuselage was the problem but
after removing as much as possible there was still no sign
of the wing yielding. There was a row of small hexagon studs
under the wing/ fuselage joint - very inaccessible and of
course very hard to remove. There was no mention of these
in the "Good book" under the section pertaining to the removal
of the centre section wing so we incorrectly assumed they
were not involved. Visual examination the previous day had
not confirmed one way or the other the function of these
studs. A decision had been taken to "wait and see". This
delay put us behind the eight ball and it was now certain
that no loading would be done today (Wednesday). The centre
wing section was no problem once the studs had been removed.
A couple of wedges between the hard points and a tug or
two on the guide ropes and the wing parted company with
the fuselage. Dismantling was now complete and loading would
definitely take place early on Thursday morning. However,
there were still a couple of chores to complete before loading
could begin. Firstly, the fuselage had to be turned 90 degrees
so that the Low Loader could be backed under it when the
crane lifted it. This was achieved with the crane being
used as a tug. Secondly, it was necessary to carry out a
trial lift to ascertain the centre of gravity as it was
considered the plane would be nose heavy. This proved to
be the case and it was evident a second crane would be required.
The crane driver said he had a truck with a big Hiab at
his disposal and this would be used to lift the nose. Everything
was now ready for loading. A meeting of all parties involved
was called and every detail of the loading operation was
discussed and agreed upon. An estimated time for loading
was set at two (2) hours and just in case of any "hiccups"
it was decided that loading would commence at daybreak Thursday
morning with the estimated time of departure set at 8.00
am. Dusk had set in by this time so we turned on the lights
and departed the scene.
Day
#4 Thursday 22.2.96
5.30am, All parties arrived as per schedule. The Truckie
brought along extra men to assist. The fuselage was loaded
first and went on beautifully. The horizontal stabiliser
was loaded under the fuselage. The centre wing section,
outer wings and vertical stabiliser were loaded on the second
Low Loader. Engine nacelles and small panels were loaded
on "Austral", together with all the ladders, planks, etc.
Denis's ute had been loaded with panels the previous day
before his departure. All loading and tying down was completed
by 8.00 am and the convoy moved out at 8.15 am. ETA Caloundra
was calculated to be between 12.00 noon and 1.00 pm, depending
on traffic. President Tom Moodie was advised of these times
so that he could arrange for a crane to be "on hand". I
(Basil) stayed behind to clean up the area, say "good bye"
and thanks to David Eyre and pay the accommodation account.
I finally departed Bundaberg at 9.00 am. I thought I would
catch up with the convoy near Tiro but I didnt even sight
"Austral" until Gympie. A brief word with Bill and I was
off again to catch the Mohawk which was somewhere south
of Gympie. I eventually caught them at Yandina, both cruising
along at 90 kph. I passed them and set course for QAM where
I arrived at 12.30 pm. All the boys were "on hand" to assist
with the unloading. Both Low Loaders arrived at 12.40 pm
. Bill brought up the rear in "Austral" at approximately
1.00pm. The mission was almost over. However, the unloading
was delayed because of a hiccup with the "Spreader Bar"
and another had to be called for. Nevertheless, the Low
Loader was able to depart in time to make Toowoomba that
night.
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