Warbird Information Exchange

Hi WIXers

Thought it was time for an update (no photos yet - they are coming!)

The Sternframe has been removed from the fuse and has been sent to the factory this week. The rear u/c leg will be removed first, which will allow careful mapping and notetaking of work that is required inside the frame. While it may look ok, there is a certainty that corrosion lurks beneath the surface. Once this stage is complete, we will start the cleaning process and also start the major work of replacing parts that need to be replaced while preserving the rest of the section.

One thing we had toyed with was maybe trying our hand at a newer form of fundraising that moves away from the traditional model - and so the result is a small campaign below.

Please Note :
Some of you had already made donations from our original announcement - and so as a thankyou we will also issue you with the relevant reward that is listed in the campaign - we know you are and thank you again for your generosity

More updates to follow - and photos of course, we have been flat out getting all this ready !

The Beaufort A9-13Restoration/Preservation Project now has a Kickstarter campaign !

You can pledge as little as $5 to help the Museum achieve it's goal of restoring and preserving the oldest WW2 Beaufort Bomber in the world. There are a number of packages available, some are very limited and some pretty cool items up for grabs too.

The maths are pretty simple - if every one who likes us on our Facebook page chipped in $5 we would be well over 85% of our target Not much input for a world class output !

**PLEASE SHARE WITH OTHER AVIATION FANS** - Let's all get onto this and make it happen and preserve a rare aircraft for the future.


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moorabbinairmuseum/raaf-beaufort-a9-13-restoration?ref=email


Cheers
Ewan McArthur
Secretary
Australian National Aviation Museum
www.aarg.com.au

After one week we are already at 43% of the target to raise $5K - thank you to everyone who has chipped in so far

Please don;t let the momentum drop away now! Remember to share the link (in the first post above) with anyone who may be able to help our Museum (which is totally volunteer based) achieve it's goal of restoring the oldest Beaufort Bomber in the world - and to eventually have it sitting next to the Beaufighter which is already on display

Now some pictures !

Brad looks very happy to be inside the sternframe section. Derivetting away - this is the frame from A9-13


One of the other sternframes used for various parts and / or patterns A9-574


Done a test soda blast on a bulkhead from the frame - came up very well, just required some acid washing prior to dipping in alodine to get the last bits of corrosion out.


Finally - here is one of many challenges - you can see it's pretty corroded here. And the same issue is present in all three sternframes the Museum owns. So a decision is made to manufacture a replacement for this section rather than preserve what is there - it will ensure the aircraft's longevity.


Thats all for now - remember to pledge to our project and make this a reality !
Link - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moorabbinairmuseum/raaf-beaufort-a9-13-restoration?ref=email

Cheers
Ewan McArthur
Secretary
Australian National Aviation Museum
http://www.aarg.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/moorabbinairmuseum

_________________
Ewan McArthur
Moorabbin Air Museum
http://www.aarg.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/moorabbinairmuseum

We are genuinely awed at the level of support that everyone in the warbirding community (and beyond) have shown us. With 13 days to go we have reached the required target

It's thanks to those of you on here that can make this sort of project come alive.

Even though the target has been reached, we encourage you to keep pledging to the cause - even $5AUD which is the base pledge is just $4.68USA, not much at all. The team will commit any extra funds pledged to working on the turret and even some preliminary work on the centre fuse.


As I said, 13 days left, let's see what we can achieve ! Link below

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moorabbinairmuseum/raaf-beaufort-a9-13-restoration?ref=email

Cheers

Ewan McArthur
Project Leader
Australian National Aviation Museum WW2 RAAF Beaufort Restoration
www.aarg.com.au
www.facebook.com/moorabbinairmuseum

_________________
Ewan McArthur
Moorabbin Air Museum
http://www.aarg.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/moorabbinairmuseum

Presenting ............ RAAF Beaufort A9-13 Sternframe back from the blasters

With just 10 days left the Kickstarter Campaign has hit 112% of target !! But it keeps going up - you can still pledge to the project anyway - the excess over the target will be used to start on the rare turret and also prep work for the centre section.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moorabbinairmuseum/raaf-beaufort-a9-13-restoration

Keep sharing this to everyone - for those overseas the base pledge of $5 is about 2.50GBP and about $4.60USD - not much and it's going to make a huge difference. So please keep up the amazing work you have all done - and from all of us here at the Museum - THANK YOU !

_________________
Ewan McArthur
Moorabbin Air Museum
http://www.aarg.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/moorabbinairmuseum