All pumped up

After we received the replacement pump, Jon installed it and placed an order for massive quantities of hydraulic fluid so we could proceed with ground checks for the various aircraft in waiting.

This pump has two impeller sections and each section is connected to a separate filter and pressure control. This gives the mule two separate systems that can be simultaneously connected to an aircraft. Our larger aircraft (MiG-21, MiG-23 and Mi-24s) typically have two isolated hydraulic systems, primary and secondary.

In its first two days of operation, the mule was used for tests on the Mi-24s, Bord 118 and Bord 120.

The mule is shown here outside the maintenance hanger where it was just connected to Bord 120 to test hydraulic integrity after the transmission was re-installed. The service loop for the mule reaches all of the service bays inside the 14,000+ ft² hanger as well as the adjacent taxiway.

Well Grounded

Assembling the MiG-23 showed how support equipment is necessary.

In addition to creating the exhibits, one of the many jobs at the museum is to gather and archive as much information as possible (for ease of access and future use). As with all government and military projects, documentation sometimes seems like more of a job than the project itself. This book, complete with mechanics fingerprints (ours or theirs, I can't tell), catalogs the ground handling equipment for the L-29.

The picture at right shows the actual engine "truck" pictured on the manual above. Locating this manual and getting it on the list to be scanned was triggered by a recent request from a RedStar flyer who is restoring one aircraft for flight and another for museum display.

The aircraft being restored are not L-29's but almost everything else we have is currently in use so we were looking jointly at what we have available and how it could be used. Sometimes we have had to be quite creative at building our own fixtures and equipment, so we encouraged our friend to "think outside the box" (and) "That" led to story telling.

No matter how creative we get, we can be topped when we hear stories from the field. A friend, formerly a mechanic "from the other side" told of how he needed to change a tire while at a remote field in a foreign country. There was a tire, but no jacks were available. The local commander said "no problem", and brought two squads of airmen out. One squad lifted the wing of the airplane while the other stacked truck tires underneath until the airplane tire could be changed. Human ingenuity is universal when it is allowed.

Ground support equipment - maintenance fixtures, tow bars, tugs, starting equipment and the like continue to be a growing part of the necessary (and sometimes critical) assets of the museum.

Mule Update

Why do Englishmen drink warm beer? A: Because their refrigerators have Dowty pumps!

The mule has a dual pump made some time in 1979. One imagines that it gave faithful service for many years, but — alas — no more. A cracked housing left us showering in Aeroshell Fluid 4 (aka "good ol' MIL 5606G"). Soviet aircraft use AMG-10, which is so similar to 5606 that the two can be mixed with no ill effects.


When the end casting (which should have been a plate) busted into three pieces, shards of the casting went into the gears and the pump summarily ate itself.


Dowty was bought by Parker some years back and they were able to supply an exact replacement pump. Particularly important was matching the keyed drive shaft and mounting holes.


Parker is shipping us a new pump from South Yorkshire, a transaction greatly simplified by our snazzy new Skype Phone that was bought specifically for locating parts in Europe. The new pump should arrive some time next week.

MiG-23 Ground Equipment Heads Home

MiG-23 ground equipment headed back to West Texas today. A couple of guys, a 40' trailer and a forklift and it was no trouble at all. Certainly a lot easier than it was to unload and assemble it.


Bord 022 is seen in the background waving goodbye.

Big Jack Attack

The MiG-23 ground equipment is due to be returned this weekend to the place where we rented it from. Since we have the aircraft basically put together this is "mission accomplished" for us with one minor reservation... jacks.

The MiG-23 jacks are pretty beefy and have a couple of interesting features. In addition to the convenient tow handle (with wheels), adjustable foot plates and plumb-bob for leveling found on most Soviet jacks, these jacks have a ratchet mechanism (rather than the usual shaft clamp) to provide a little safety on the way up. About every inch or so it goes "click" at the next tooth — this is particularly handy in that you can say to the person on the other jack, "Ok, up two more clicks." They also have a nice "break over" feature where when the going gets tough the jack switches modes to an easier pumping but slower going... kind of like putting your 4x4 in "low"; pumping the jacks quickly seems to encourage them to switch gears. It makes it a lot easier when you've got 1/3rd of a 27,000lb aircraft sitting on them.

We have our own jacks (on the right) which are in better shape than the rented jacks (on the left).


This would be all find and dandy except for the fact that the top of the rented jacks is a bit different than our jacks. Again, rented jack top on the left, ours on the right. Ours fit nicely into the jack point under the wing root (by the swing pin) but don't fit at all in the nose or the jack points under the engine. With the tail on, the airframe has to be jacked from the engine location.


We'll have to locate or manufacture new jack tops before the MiG can be hoisted up for a gear swing.

Woe is Mule

About a year ago, the museum received a hydraulic mule as a donation. It has everything you'd want in a mule: dual systems, high pressure and flow with control over each, and filters so that contamination in one aircraft doesn't migrate to others.


The mule, aka "Smurfette", needed quite a bit of work... new electrical cable, new filters, and new hoses and fittings. Sometimes when things are donated you wonder what might be wrong with them. Well, today we found out what's wrong with Smurfette: Cracked pump housing. Really sprayed fluid like crazy when we turned it on.


Cracked isn't the half of it... the end cap on the housing is completely busted into three pieces. No worries, tho', looks like there are plenty of places to get Dowty pump replacement parts on the net.

MiG-23 Engine Stand

Q: How do you lift a 5,000 pound Tumansky R-27F2-300 turbojet engine into its stand (when you're not really sure what you're doing)?



A: Very carefully!

We lifted one end with the A-frame hoist borrowed from the CAF and the other end with the forklift. It came up out of its shipping stand just an inch at a time.



We kept the camera rolling... if we dropped it, we definitely wanted that on video!



The "conservation" oil that was placed in the engine before shipping is amazingly slippery on the hangar floor. Cleanup is a must!



Here, Jon, Bruce and Roma are shown doing the famous CWAM "Ragfoot Shuffle".


Once on the stand the engine can easily be moved around. Adjustments allow each corner of the engine to be lifted slightly differently and a winch precisely controls the movement of the engine when it's put into the back of the MiG-23.