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 Preservation
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Blackburn Skua L2896
Curator Birger Larsen
2008
Since the recovery of Skua L2896, a lot of
work has already been done in regards of preservation of parts.
Our collection of parts for a possible
project has already been going on for 15 years. Klas Gjølmesli
has made a great effort in collecting parts as well as the Bodø
Aviation Historical Society. Already a lot of details are in
storage in a restored state and we have parts like nearly all
the details of the forward cockpit, complete set of fuel tanks,
engine, propeller, cowlings, landing gears, actuators, wheels,
oil tank, elevators, flaps, ailerons, guns, gun mountings and so
on.. Most of these parts are collected from various wreck sites
on land. Thus the quality of the parts is very good and for some
parts we even have enough for several Skuas.
What has to be concentrated on from now on
will be the structure of the Skua. 1995 we recovered Skua L2910
from the Narvik area. This recovery gave us the first parts of
some size for the structure. However, because the wreckage was
dragged along the bottom before being recovered, most of the
parts were from the centre section, inner parts of the outer
wings and the cockpit area.
In order to create some interest for the Skua
project we built a display cockpit from the collected parts.
This cockpit has already been on display at the FAA museum at
Yeovilton, Narvik and several places in the Trondheim area. It
is now displayed at the museum in Bodø together with the
restored engine from Skua L2903 from Roan, Trøndelag.
The wreckage of the L2896 will add a great
number of new parts to the want list. Already found are lots of
structure for the aft cockpit as well as the tail section of the
airplane. Together with the parts already collected this brings
us a lot closer to the goal of having a Skua on display
sometimes in the future.
The loss of important details for the aft
cockpit area does not mean that the recovery was a failure as
some thinks. Because of the sophisticated navigation equipment
on board the Gunnerus, we will be able to retrace the positions
of the lost parts and recover them.
Already the week after, Gunnerus found
several missing parts including the radio rack. Comes this
autumn, Gunnerus will be out there again to try to find more of
the missing parts.
The wreckage of L2896 was taken by rail to
Bodø two days after the recovery and for a month now we have
been busy with the preservation of parts and structure. The
priority is to first sort out what we do not have already and
preserve them as soon as we can.
The process of preservation is a rather slow
process. The parts are in a varying state of deterioration.
Parts that are made of steel are normally in a good condition
because the aluminium around the steel parts has been acting as
an anode and thus prevented corrosion. The thin plated aluminium
structure is another story. Most of this structure is corroded
in some places and the parts can only be used as patterns for
new ones. However, they are important to preserve because there
are no drawings for the Skua anywhere and only very few
photographs to guide the rebuild. Because the Skua have been
immersed in salt water for nearly seventy years the main goal
will be to stop or slow down the process of corrosion on the
recovered parts.
Most of the aluminium rivets are gone but
stainless steel bolts as well as aluminium bolts were used where
extra strength was needed. These bolts have to be disconnected
without damaging the parts. A lot of care has to go into this
process.
The process of preservation is first to
immerse the part in fresh water with some detergent (soap)
added. This will over some time soften up the calcium on the
parts and also to some degree neutralise the salt residue. We
then wash with fresh water before drying. Where extra cleaning
is necessary, we sandblast the parts using low pressure and fine
sand. We do not have to take into the consideration the surface
of the blasted parts because they are not to go into the
restored airplane.
After cleaning we cover the parts wit a
coating of a special Tectyl that dries to a rather dry outer
surface enabling us to handle the parts without having our hands
too dirty!
The colour of this Tectyl is transparent
green which gives a good control of the coating.
This is not a process that will be a
permanent preservation but will give us enough time for copying
the parts. The structural parts from 1995 were preserved in this
way and they are still like the day they were preserved.
Other parts like steel tubing and structure
will be handled differently.
We are now (middle of May) into the process
of preserving the structural details as well as components for
the fuselage/tail section. This process will last at least to
the end of this month. Next will be the preservation of the
centre section which will go on for maybe two months.
The last main parts will be the wings. They
have to be done from the month of September/October because of
other projects and summer holidays. (The wings as well as parts
of the centre section can still be viewed this summer.)
When all the structure is preserved as well
as the components, we will start a process of copying the most
corroded of the parts. This is because they will deteriorate
faster.
The internal structure of the fin was very
much deteriorated and because of this we already have started to
copy this structure.
The rebuild of the airplane will be a
different story. The project will be costly and require a lot of
money. A close cooperation with other museums/institutions will
cut the cost (for some instances) greatly and bring the
possibility of having one or several Skuas displayed closer to a
reality. However, what is important at this stage is to salvage
as much as possible without thinking so much on a future
rebuild.
The Norwegian Aviation Museum is at present
well into several projects like the Norseman, Junkers Ju88,
Fokker F-28 and others. Those projects we have to finish before
we have economy, staff and working space for more projects. Of
course a rebuild can be done elsewhere but this have to be
sorted out in due time!
Article from "Classic Wings" june 2008
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Article from "Classic Wings" june 2008
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