Doing engine runs at BOH on 15-09-17

Who is going to certify it?
It has been parked outside for about 15 years now, and I know it had corrosion when it arrived at Hurn. Some re-skinning above the cockpit took place a long time ago.
I only live 2 miles away and would love to see it fly again, but unless there are some real chancers out there, I don't think it will happen.

I know the guy that did the runs, works with me in Saudi Arabia.
Apparently, there are still plans afoot to move her out of the UK, that's one of the main purposes of the runs this week, to make sure the engines and systems are all still functioning properly.

There might be life in the old girl yet :ok:

A few answers needed
 

I understand that there are a pile of outstanding A/Ds and neither Bombardier/Canadair or Rolls Royce have any support for the airframe or engines. An inspection some time ago revealed corrosion at the fwd spar-u/c attachment area. (The skin repair was as a result of ground damage at BOH, not corrosion.) If the engineering can be done, where are the aircrew going to come from? The last training captain retired many years ago and I had the last known F/E type rating on that aircraft. I would love to see her preserved, or even fly again - but not by me.

Fly it back to the USA and preserve it in a museum!

Hey they might want to wash the mold off the silver sheen paint that was roller on over the old mold, paint and corrosion, silver was straight from the hardware store.....before the FAA arrive...The UKCAA must be Dying dying I say..

The #2 and #3 props look like straight off the C160 Transall bet they don't have a shop tag before they were installed and how about the engine do they have FAA8130 shop visit serviceable tags so they can be legally installed BET NOT....Oh what about the TCAS 7.1 upgrade oops I should stop it.

Your correct post above under FAA Flight engineer requires checkout every 6 months for currency or no flight. Private or commercial must be current but no simulator oops. Maybe going to slip it onto the deep dark African register and jump the fence in the middle of the night the CAA and FAA could not be this stupid... OR COULD THEY.N447FT is registered with FAA on FAA.GOV

I dont understand all the pessimistic post about the Conroy...

It seems that al lot of effort and money is spend to get her airworthy again. I can only support that. And for sure since she is on the FAA register and on UK soil they will/must have the paperwork in order. Otherwise it is a futile attempt.

I tend to agree with you ErwinS. There is no reason why it shouldn't fly with C160 powerplants and there is a chance that the airframe will hang together. There is a chance that the aeroplane would handle much as originally certified. There is nothing in any Theory of Flight that I learned that required specific tags or paperwork. It seems as though we are back to basics here, a one off experimental machine that will require a crew of test pilot abilities to operate it as an non insurable risk. This must somehow be possible.

Surely if it was going to taxi, let alone fly, the wheels & brakes would have been changed? Surely any test pilot would require retraction tests? I work nearby & there has been no sign of any jacking operations. Sorry to disappoint anyone but are they just running the engines prior to removing & selling them, then scrap the aircraft on site?

Yeah that make sense... Quite the effort only then al those years to only sell the engines...

According to a friend of mine, that is actually doing the engine runs, that is not the plan......

He won't say any more at the moment, apart from that work and negotiations are ongoing behind the scenes, there are no plans to scrap her.

I'll try and pump him for some more information when he gets back out here in the M.E. next week.

:ok:

Yeh Black Box, Mike McKeever said its off to Central Africa..... There is another post where the CL44 owner is begging some Flying Tiger guys for parking money. The owner wants nothing on the internet, I guess for a speedy escape to Africa. Mike must be getting nostalgic ? Suggested the big CAA grounding order is the major issue ? Maybe that's why the airport won't allow high power engine runs " near the end of the runway for takeoff".:ugh:

Conroy Cl-44
 

Just a note to everyone that someone has been posting an excessive amount of hearsay, innuendo and just plain false information on PPRuNe about N447FT. We had a recent visit by the CAA at the request of the FAA to inspect the aircraft. Pictures were taken as evidence to refute the false information. The CAA inspector was satisfied and wished us all the best fortune in getting the old lady airborne again!

This is a rumor site take it easy everyone takes a bashing....
Wayne H Jordan, are you the same guy that was an FAA DAR around Florida back in the day but had DAR certificate revoked for issuing SFPs without doing proper paperwork and not looking at airplanes the name rings a bell.... Maybe I am mistaken but looking at the CL44 = 2+2, smoke fire etc

Seems like your real old school corrosion corner guys from Miami airport back in the day/1980s if you know what I mean ... times have changed so has compliance no more DC7s/DC4s down 36th street SE Corner of MIA International anymore.

Anyway good luck to you I will say no more .... other than = seriously I hope you washed the mould from the tail and nacelles before CAA took photos and you brush up on FAA part 61 and 91 for the 6 month Flight engineer re currency requirements its 6 month mandatory..if you intend to fly FAA registered, no idea how to comply with that in a one off with no simulator . But you should be good with Dark African registration they won't require recurrence but then CAA might require more items a real catch 22 :ok:

I wish you all the best! Hopefully she will fly again.

Likewise, I would love to see her take to the air again,
It's been a long time since I worked on her (Heavylift Southend).

If someone will issue a ferry permit, I don't think any of the stuff that 4 Holer mentions would be a deal breaker based on personal experience. How about, no training, no previous experience and certainly no sim checks required.

Been very quiet for some time
Would be nice if waynejordan could give us an update
Hope things are still going well

There is a thread on the Flypast historical forum regarding the CL 44.

Here's a link to the FlyPast forum:

https://forum.keypublishing.com/show...-Guppy%2Fpage6