ZD-B gets a polish

[danjama]

I went down to Duxford yesterday and got myself an annual friends of Duxford membership as I love the place and haven't been enough in the last couple of years. Had a little walk around for a few hours and though I missed the Spitfire sortie, I did catch this nice moment afterwards. I love the 'working' aspect of the museum. C&C welcome. Otherwise, enjoy. Can't go wrong with a Spitty.

Keep calm and carry on by Dan J, on Flickr

edit: Obviously i had a brain fart, that's supposed to be ZD-B but I can't edit now. Maybe a mod could edit? Thanks.

 

[Nod]

Nice glimpse behind the scenes, Dan.

BTW, if you go to the Thread Tools (just above the first post, on the right hand side), you can edit the thread title yourself (or at least you can in a browser, not sure about via the app if you use that.)

 

[danjama]

Thanks Nod, sorry I missed your reply

 

[Munky]

odd question but what do they use to polish a spitfire?

 

[jbw]

Excellent work

 

[danjama]

Thanks jbw! I shall ask next time i'm in there Munky, it didn't look like anything special, just an ordinary looking bottle! Maybe they fill it with special polish

 

[Dangermouse]

Something rather special about this shot, maybe its seeing our history being well cared for and preserved as long as possible, I really do like this.

 

[Norkie]

Excellent

Below the heart shaped bulges on the wings, there are some ripples. Is that where the air flow pulls the skin up somewhat and distorts it?

 

[danjama]

Something rather special about this shot, maybe its seeing our history being well cared for and preserved as long as possible, I really do like this.

Wow, thank you!

Excellent

Below the heart shaped bulges on the wings, there are some ripples. Is that where the air flow pulls the skin up somewhat and distorts it?

Good question, and although I'm not 100% sure I'm inclined to agree, some sort of sign of routine stress

 

[Steve B]

Very well seen shot, as mentioned above, it's nice to see the care and attention being shown towards these historic machines.

On the question of polish, I spent a week with the Battle of Britain flight many years ago and back then it was a liquid turtle wax out of gallon cans. May be different now of course, that was a long way back

 

[shreds]

Elbow Grease Oil is the only one to use, of course.

 

[Nod]

Excellent

Below the heart shaped bulges on the wings, there are some ripples. Is that where the air flow pulls the skin up somewhat and distorts it?

Old age is bound to cause a few wrinkles!

 

[cw318is]

Love this shot, the composition, the colours, the subject - you should email the old flying machine company and ask them if they want a copy of it. The background is just right as well being oof but not quite too much so you can see period buildings. To me, it's screaming out for a B&W version

odd question but what do they use to polish a spitfire?

Probably something called Airglide, or a similar polymar teflon cleaner/coater.

Excellent

Below the heart shaped bulges on the wings, there are some ripples. Is that where the air flow pulls the skin up somewhat and distorts it?

Kindof. The metal skin is part of the structure, it's fastened to a lightweight aluminium skeleton. Neither of them are that strong on their own but when the skin is stressed (think of stretching and fastening) it becomes very strong. By it's very nature under flight loads it will wrinkle a little - next time you're boarding an airliner on your holibobs have a quick glance down the side of the fuselage from the door and be amazed at all the ripples! The airframe cannot be completely rigid else it will shatter like glass, and has to have a bit of flex in it - makes for much better flight performance.