Bialystok University of Technology is restoring the Lim-5R fighter jet. Missing elements are simply being printed
06-06-2022
First, there was the disassembly at the headquarters of the Podlaski Border Guard Regional Unit and the spectacular transport through Białystok of the huge fuselage and wings of the Lim-5R aircraft. For the past few weeks, work has been underway in the machine hall of the BUT Faculty of Mechanical Engineering to restore this military technological relic.
– Since the plane owned by the Army Museum in Białystok landed at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology, a lot has changed – says Assoc. Prof. Jarosław Szusta, DSc, PhD, Eng, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs.
Employees of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Daniel Laskowski and Bartosz Ostrowski, thoroughly renovated the surface of the jet. They removed old layers of paint and filled in the gaps in the covering. It is worth remembering that the Lim-5R, just like many other impressive relics of military technology, had been waiting for many years for renovation in the open air on the premises of the Podlaski Border Guard Regional Unit. Now they are going to the Military Park of the Army Museum in Białystok, located at Węglowa Street, opened on the Night of Museums 2022.
In addition to preparing the jet for painting, specialists from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology fixed the fuel tanks, polished the cabin fairing and dismantled the engine. Reducing the weight of the jet will make it easier to suspend it from a specially designed pylon, which, placed in the Military Park, will attract the eyes of passers-by as a unique museum object.
– We started the works a few weeks ago by disassembling the fuselage and removing the engine, says Daniel Laskowski from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology. – – Then, we started working on the fuselage, removing the old coat of paint.
Removing the impressive jet engine was the biggest challenge for civilian mechanics.
– We have never done this before, admits Bartosz Ostrowski from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology. – We encountered a lot of problems, but we managed to dismantle this interesting technical monument within one day.
The engine is now resting in the machine hall of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology on a special stand, also designed and made at the university. Soon it will go to the Military Park of the Army Museum in Białystok.
Specialists from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the largest technical university in north-eastern Poland began to produce missing elements of the hull such as flaps or searches, which were missing in the plane.
– We took care of the fairing, which in the upper part was already terribly faded from the sun – says Laskowski. – The next step was to make the missing ailerons for the fuel tanks and attach them to the wings. We also added missing lighting elements and a periscope on the pilot’s fairing.
These elements were reconstructed by employees of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology using 3D printing methods. They are finishing patching holes in the jet’s hull, and eliminating unevenness in its original metal sheets.
– Currently they are working on putting an undercoat of paint for the target painting of the aircraft – informs prof. Jarosław Szusta.
(jd)