EVENTS 2012

We have received confirmation that we will be attending the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power which is the described as Northern version of Goodwood. Having been as spectator twice before I can only say that this eventis

AWESOME!!!!!!!

In all seriousness this has to be one of the best car events I have been too (including Le Mans Classic) and it thrills me to think that this year we get to take the TACR2 to display. 

We will be arriving in convoy with members of the Ex Military Land Rover Association so there is no chance of us spending the weekend waiting for a recovery truck (220 mile round trip) and will be camping up close to the race track so wont miss out on anything!

BUT IT GETS BETTER

We will also be attending the Land Rover Heritage Run on Sunday 30th September

From their website:

“ …an exclusive Heritage Run from Lode Lane in Solihull to the HMC at Gaydon on Sunday 30 September 2012. Starting from the home of the legend at the Land Rover factory in Solihull at 09.45am, the procession is scheduled to arrive at the HMC at 11:00am. This special Run will be limited to just 100 Land Rover vehicles including classic and present day models.”

At this event we will be meeting up with another HCB Angus fire engine – one much earlier than ours and in red but it is in fantastic condition and will certainly add a little sparkle to the day.

Cameras will be at the ready for that is planning out to be a very exciting rally season for us!

(P.S. If anyone wants to come with us on the heritage run it’s £17.50 per person for tickets and I’m afraid I’ve only the back seats available. But you are more than welcome to join us!)

Angus is now on Facebook

After a polite request from ever such a nice gentleman 51 AG 46 now has a Facebook page where you can not only keep up to date with the latest adventures of what is going on with our little green machine but see a large amount of photographs that I have not published on this blog.

Please hit the like button!

https://www.facebook.com/51AG46

Green!

Pushing our luck to the limit we attempted to get two coats of paint on in less than 24 hours despite the less than optimal weather and unfortunately the paint reacted in places so we will have a bit of work to do when we come to put the final coat on BUT she’s green – the primer is water proofed.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY

She’s safe.

Slowly taking shape

The warm weather means we can make that final push for getting as much done before we take her outside and cover her up until our secret plans can be put into action.

Wednesday saw the replacement (off a later Range Rover – hence the green tint) windscreen fitted

Thursday saw the installation of the blue light and the masking off of the doors / shuts so that on

Friday Christopher can get out the paint and do as much as he is able too in order to get paint on to try and seal the primer in.

Of course if the primer gets damp while we are storing the fire engine outside (under sheeting) we will have to strip it back to bare metal and start all over again. Something, you can easily imagine, we want to avoid.

 

 

41Days

It’s only 41 days to what should have been our first public outing of the year. Quick hand me a paint brush!

And cider to drown my sorrows.

We missed the rally season for 2011. Looks like we’ll be missing the start of 2012′s too.

Well that just sucks.

Another Set Back

The recent warm weather had given us high hopes of getting the fire engine painted very soon –  while today was glorious outside inside the shed was still “uncomfortably cold”, so we would  probably need another week of warm weather before we could paint in the workshop (boosted with the heater as we’re still experiencing frosts). Taking advantage of the warm weather we gave the hose compartments a second coat of paint and they’re good to go. Everything that could be bolted has been bolted and we were all in high spirits for the forth coming painting session…

You’ve guessed it we jinxed it by thinking about painting her next weekend.

Unfortunately we’re being kicked out of the shed this coming weekend so unless we find suitable undercover storage during the week, manage to arrange transport, and get permission to be able to paint in there…. we’re in rather a pickle and the chances of being finished for our first outing in April are… minimal.

Is anyone else wondering if this restoration is cursed?

The Third

When listening to the chaps who used to work the TACR2s there are two comments that always seem popular.

The first is how they lean over heavily

The second is how there was never much space in the back for the third (and sometimes fourth) crew member.

There are also many comments about heavy drinking and silly antics but for chaps as brave as they I think that’s more than allowed!

A few quotes that have amused me have been taken from the RAF Fire Service Facebook account.

Maurice Broadbent “they were dangerous on bends at high speeds, and about as much use as tits on fish off road!”

Chris Ewing “might be dangerous and as much use as tits on a fish but by f..k they are fun to drive on a shout flat out”

Mal Watson “The back crew area, was not given serious thought. As most hairy ar*ed Firemen could not get in, even without full PPE.”

The back seat has always looked small to us, so I asked Mark (being a gent of average height and girth) if he wouldn’t mind posing on the other side of the camera for a change so that I could show you just how confined it is in there.

How you’re meant to get in and out wearing the full fire fighters kit I have no idea.

Fire Engine Updates

TACR2: Still not green. It is simply too cold and too wet,  as one would expect in January! (At least it’s not snowing)

MK9: Supposedly runs! Haven’t seen it yet, nor any tyre marks around the yard.  But thank goodness they managed to get it repaired before the 1 year since break down anniversary came and went.

FireManSam Denis – Back with the museum.

We are following the BBC weather reports so that when a break in the weather appears we can crack on and get a second coat on the hose compartments before putting in the windscreen and masking up ready to blow over the top coat. Possibly this will with the aid of bringing in heaters to warm up the otherwise unheated workshop as it would be nice to be out, if not  completely finished than close, for events happening in April.

This all depends on whether “Uncle T”  who rents the bay he has until now let us use to restore the TACR2 in,  carries out his threat that the TACR2 needs to be kicked outside very soon so that the MK9 who also uses the bay can come in out of the rain. We will not be rushing to get paint on at this stage as Chris, Mark, and myself have all put in too much work into the preparation to ruin our work with a sub-standard paint job. If we are told to vacate the bay we will simply sheet the vehicle over outside and wait until spring when we can uncover her and assess the damage before deciding what to do next.

His current behaviour is leaving me most concerned since he started off wanting the MK9 and the TACR2 to appear at rallies as a team, and had high hopes as to the standard of restoration not to mention many silly ideas of where the vehicle was going to do once she was finished. I had initially no issues with leaving the vehicle in his care as I spend most of my time at rallies supporting a steam roller, even though he carried on as though it was his vehicle. But now I am in discussion with rally organisers to ensure that if the TACR2 attends and I am meant to be supporting the steam rollers I can display the TACR2 alongside / nearby to the steam rollers so that his involvement in the future of this TACR2 can be kept to a minimum until he decides whether he is going to play nicely.

Things never seem to go smoothly with this vehicle!

GREEN

With the aid of a radiator roller brush bent to suit and a paint brush on the stick the hose compartments received their first coating of paint on Sunday 8th. It’s not the nicest of finishes but with another coat and of course the hoses in there who will ever know.

We’ll rub down the outside edges when we are ready to paint the rest of the body so that we can get an even finish.

Now all we can do is sit and wait for the weather to warm up

*Twiddles thumbs*

 

Support Our Troops

Nothing much is going to happen with the TACR2 until we have several days  of temperatures over 10′C (minimum requirement for painting) so I’ve decided to set myself a little challenge. There are so many charities out there that support the troops of our armed forces yet many people never hear of them, I’ve been following the progress of Row2Recovery and those chaps are BLOODY AMAZING. As I type the team are well on their way to row across the Atlantic Ocean and  have 766nm to go on their challenge despite:

• - Having to over come challenges resulting of their horrific injuries including one chap who is a double amputee
• - Currently having no way of getting fresh water (both their machine and emergency hand pump failed on them) and so on strict rationing until a support boat can get to them (still several days away), last I heard they were trying to collect rain water to keep themselves going
• - Having suffered several other mechanical issues on the boat
• Tropical storms
• And if you read Rory’s blog on the site SHRAPNEL working it’s way out of his stump!

Their website: is http://www.row2recovery.com/ by the way GO DONATE!

But back to my challenge, though challenge hardly seems the right word when compared to theirs! I am going to get some clear perspex that I will secure onto the window of one of the rear doors and fill it full of car stickers from the charities I am now finding and learning more about.  If it results in even just one person donating it will be a job done (not to mention how much I am spending on donations and buying the car stickers!)  The fact that I’m putting it on removable perspex isn’t just so my passengers can have a nice view when we’re bouncing along but also so that the vehicle can be used for “posing” as a period feature for anyone who likes to dress up as soldiers and firemen from the 1980s.

The TACR2 was built for the sole purpose of trying  to save the lives of anyone in the RAF who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now it’s time for her to get back to work and be a big green reminder for people to donate even just a few pounds to help support those brave chaps and ladies who’ve stood up to look after our country.

Hopefully when she’s fully completed and has survived the running in period we can look at doing more to help.

 

LINKS TO CHARITIES I HAVE FOUND SO FAR…

Adopt A British Squaddie http://www.adoptasquaddie.co.uk/

ROW2RECOVERY www.row2recovery.com

RACE2RECOVERY http://www.race2recovery.co.uk/

Forces Children’s Trust http://www.forceschildrenstrust.org/

S.O.T.S. Soldiers Off The Streets http://www.soldiersoffthestreet.com/

The Poppy Appeal http://www.poppy.org.uk/

Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund http://www.rafbf.org

The Royal Air Force Association