Light Aviation December 2022

The Hawker F.20 that Paul and Simon Childs plan to recreate… see page 49 to find out more.

Recreating history…

Reading through features such as Project News and Meet the Members this issue, and you’ll see that the LAA is enabling a few historic replicas and recreations the opportunity to grace our skies once more.

In Project News there’s the wonderful restoration of Matthew Boddington’s S.E.5a replica that’s got quite the list of film star roles to its credit, while Bill Hosie’s new Supermarine S5 replica couldn’t be more different, evoking the Schnieder Trophy era.

Meanwhile, in Meet the Members, you can learn why and how Paul and Simon Childs are planning to recreate the formerly extinct Hawker F.20. All wonderful projects, which makes the LAA world wonderfully diverse.

In the world of regular LAA machines, I thought I’d share a recent oil change tale.

On my RV-3, with its basic gauze oil filter, they are every six months, and as Toby Willcox, my Inspector reminds me, oil is cheap and engines are expensive…

The challenge is that the sump plug sits right over the right-hand exhaust system, with very little space inbetween. That means I’ve always relied on a combination of plastic sheet and funnels and containers to make sure the oil stays under control once the plug comes out.

Well, this time, the oil had different ideas, and just when I thought it was all going well, my bit of plastic gave way and, well you know… a little oil goes a long way.

So, if you’ve got clever solutions as to how you stop oil going everywhere, I think that’s worth sharing. So, please, let me know. I’ll definitely be better prepared next time!

Going back to the subject of aircraft from famous flying movies of old, Francis Donaldson pointed out to me during a recent exchange of emails that a particular homebuilt Bucker Jungmeister, which is for sale in Poland currently, was the aircraft ‘flown’ by Waldo’s nemesis, German air ace Ernst Kessler in The Great Waldo Pepper

With a mix of vintage types like a Standard J1, alongside Curtiss Jennys and Tiger Moths (the latter disposable stand-ins for the former!), there’s one or two oddballs, including an open-cockpit Chipmunk pretending to be an early monoplane. It’s a great movie that I haven’t watched for decades… so as Christmas is on the horizon, I can see that will definitely be something to go searching for to re-watch.

Merry Christmas, for when the festive season rolls around in a few weeks… far too early, yet!

FEATURES

12 FRAUD UPDATE

An update for all LAA members concerning the scam sustained by the Association

14 AGM

Steve Slater records the results of an unusual 2022 LAA AGM, that spanned two dates and two continents

16 PROJECT NEWS

Replica S.E.5a, Supermarine S5 replica, New Projects and Cleared to Fly

22 FLIGHT TEST

Chris Taylor gets to grips with the Sling 4 TSi, a popular four seater choice with LAA homebuilders

30 ELECTRONIC CONSPICUITY

Ian Fraser looks back on what was new in the world of EC in 2022, and thinks about the future too…

37 COACHING CORNER

Part 2: Reading the developing weather as you fly is an important skill, says PCS Head of Training David Cockburn…

43 ENGINEERING MATTERS

Looking at aircraft registration markings rules, EuroFox exhaust systems, and aircraft refurbishment and worksheets

49 MEET THE MEMBERS

We talk to Simon Childs about his love for aviation since a boy, working with his dad, and the huge influence on him by his hero – his grandfather…

Steve Slater to retire in 2023

After more than seven years in the post, Steve Slater has announced that he will stand down from the role of Chief Executive Officer in the spring of 2023. During Steve’s time as CEO, he has overseen a period of significant change in both the Association and the recreational flying community.

Most recently he has helped oversee significant changes in LAA Engineering to drive better member service and has also been a strong advocate on our sector’s behalf on the need to properly integrate light aircraft and uncrewed aircraft into future airspace strategies. He’s also worked on the protection of airfields as the LAA representative on the GA Awareness Council and represented the association with the GA Alliance, Royal Aero Club and the European Federation of Light Experimental and Vintage Aircraft, EFLEVA.

Steve has also helped drive better

UTC Heathrow build project

University Technical College Heathrow in Northwood, west London, acquired a kit for a TLAC Sherwood Ranger through the build-a-plane scheme some time ago. The build has progressed steadily with senior pupils working under the genial and expert guidance of LAA Inspector Alan James, ably assisted by Andrew Marshall, and (less ably) LAA Board Member, David Mole. The build has got to the stage where we are looking for an engine to install and are about to begin building the wings. However, Alan has agreed to take over the LAA Aircraft Woodworking Course at the start of 2023, which Dudley Patterson is giving up after many years. Sadly, Alan and Andrew will not be able to combine that

Armstrong-Isaacs bursaries for 2023

communication between fellow flyers, with Meet the LAA events and fly-in attendance aimed at getting more GA pilots interested in the benefits of LAA membership. Steve also piloted the LAA through the challenges of the Covid lockdowns, maintaining both membership levels and an on-budget balance sheet, as well as lobbying the regulator to ensure the minimising of disruption to flying.

“Why do you walk away from the best job in aviation?” said Steve. “Frankly old age! I just passed my 65th birthday and have been discussing this with our chairman for some months now. I’m particularly keen to give a long period of notice, to ensure the Association has a smooth transition to my successor and that the LAA continues to remain the UK’s most successful powered flying members association.”

A formal recruitment advert will appear in next month’s magazine, but if you are interested in that ‘best job in aviation’ you can drop a confidential letter to the chairman, via LAA HQ.

Five bursaries for 2023 of £1,500 are being offered to support young pilots already in PPL training, offering additional funding to help them complete their courses, at a time when all too often, money starts to run out.

The funds will be lodged with the flying school of their choice and must be used exclusively for flying training or flight examinations. To qualify for a bursary a pilot should be under 30 years of age, have completed a minimum of two hours solo training and have gained the necessary medical and ground qualifications to continue their training.

The Armstrong-Isaac’s fund is supported by legacies from former Association luminaries David Armstrong and John Isaacs. The bursaries offer support to young pilots who have reached the financially challenging latter stages of PPL training, with longer cross-country flights requiring greater outlay in aircraft rental costs. These bursaries have a demonstrated record of allowing students to complete their training, when perhaps they may otherwise have had to suspend or even forego the completion of their course.

Applicants should complete a form which can be downloaded from the LAA website at www.lightaircraftassociation. co.uk/Bursary/AI.html. The final date for applications is Friday 30 December 2022.

work with looking after UTC Heathrow after the end of 2022.

We need to find an LAA member or members who are willing to help and guide the build towards its completion and a LAA Inspector who will oversee the work. (They may be, but need not be, the same person.) The build takes place every Friday afternoon during term time from 1330 until 1700. The build involves working with young people, some of whom are planning to be pilots or aeronautical engineers. We have always found the pupils to be friendly,

interested and willing. (Obviously, these days, volunteer members will need to have DBS checks, but these are straightforward.) UTC Heathrow is in Potter St, Northwood in west London, HA6 1QG. The LAA has always recognised how important it is to bring a younger generation into recreational building and flying. This is an instance where our support can do something practical to achieve that noble purpose. Please help us if you can.

Contact steve.slater@laa.uk.com and/or david.mole@laa.uk.com

Plenty more news is available on the LAA website at www.laa.uk.com check it out every day!

Above Some of the UTC aeroplane build students and their Sherwood Ranger.

LAA event dates for 2023

Here’s some dates for your 2023 fly-in diary, including a number of Meet the LAA days around the UK, plus a fly-in and open day at our Turweston HQ in May.

22 April Henstridge 80th birthday, Wessex Strut and Meet the LAA.

29/30 April Popham. Microlight Trade Fair.

14 May LAA at home day – HQ fly-in, Turweston

19/20 May Private Flyer, Booker

8-10 June Aero Expo. Sywell

5-6 August We All Fly. Rufforth East. Meet the LAA.

19-20 Aug SAC Perth, Meet the LAA. Perth

1-3 Sept LAA Rally. Venue-tbc

16-17 Sept Suffolk Coast Strut, Meet the LAA. Rougham.

DGAC LAPL pilot agreement

Following recent discussions with the DGAC, Dominique Simon, Président Fédération RSA, has informed us that any British pilot flying an amateur-built or a vintage aircraft who is legal to fly in the UK (CoA, licence, medical, qualification, etc) can legally fly his/her aircraft in France without prior authorisation.

Note that some limitations are listed in the Arrêtés, of particular interest will be the 90 days (cumulative) per 12 month period or the 5,700kg MTOW for vintage types.

We’ll be updating LAA TL 2.09, Travelling abroad in a Permit to Fly aircraft, shortly.

Chocks for Christmas…?

Looking for a stocking filler? Metal Seagulls are currently offering personalised chocks with your aircraft registration (or other engraving) on them. At around 95 grams per chock (+/-190g/pair), these are 200mm long, and 35mm tall to the apex, produced from a naturally corrosion resistant aircraft grade aluminium and highly polished.

Each pair is supplied with 1m of nylon attach rope (or you can add your own ‘lightweight bungee’ if you desire), simply cut and tie to suit your wheels. The low profile allows use with spats/fairings.

Each chock has the registration on one side of the chock, and when choosing 1, 2 or 3 pairs of chocks the SAME registration will be on the set.

One pair £ 59.99, two pairs £ 99.00, three pairs £139.99 (incl. VAT), however Metal Seagulls are offering a 10% discount for LAA Members until the middle of Jan 2023. Use code: LAAXMAS.

Airworthiness Engineer

EVERYTHING FROM BIPLANES TO THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY COULD YOU HELP KEEP OUR MEMBERS FLYING?

We are looking for an engineer to join the team at our Turweston HQ. The role centres around helping keep members and their aircraft flying safely; assisting with the annual Permit to Fly revalidation process, responding to technical queries and investigating when things have gone wrong.

You’d be working with an experienced team across a large fleet of almost 3,000 active aircraft. Types range from original Edwardians to the latest composite hot-ships, electric powerplants and electronics.

Candidates should have an engineering or technical background, ideally with experience in the light aircraft industry and share our enthusiasm for general aviation.

You’ll need some IT competence, particularly with Microsoft Office, have a friendly personality and the ability to work within a small team and also independently. Excellent communication skills and attention to detail is essential. This is a full-time post, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. It is principally based at LAA HQ, but some travel will also be required. Salary in line with experience.

Please send your CV to office@laa.uk.com

More LAA Educational courses

Seasons greetings to all who have supported the LAA courses, either as tutors or attendees, I hope you have gained pleasure and knowledge from the experience. We are endeavouring to expand the range of courses on offer so please keep an eye on the ‘Courses’ section of the LAA website for the latest information – www.laa.uk.com Brian Hope (bfjjodel@talktalk.net).

· Tuesday 24 Jan. Alan James presents the skills of building in wood, this course now being held at Turweston. £130. Alan is also preparing a course on building propellers for later in 2023.

· Saturday 28 Jan. John Barrott hosts a course on the installation and operation of the fuel injected Rotax 912iS and 915iS engines. £140.

RAeC 2022 Awards nominations sought

Each year, the RAeC invites nominations to be considered for its Awards, for sport flying endeavour, innovation and service. The LAA, along with other associations, takes the lead in offering these nominees.

Among the awards are trophies such as the Britannia Trophy, for the British aviator or aviators accomplishing the most meritorious performance in aviation during the preceding year. The Prince Of Wales Cup, for a performance, feat or event by either a team or a group during the preceding year. The Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals of the Club and

Certificates of Merit are awarded for achievements in aviation principally, but not necessarily, as a pilot, but also to those who have spent many years serving sporting aviation, or aviation in general by their endeavours.

There are special awards, too. The Norton-Griffiths Challenge Trophy recognises adventurous endeavours by aviators, outstanding feats of courage, tenacity and imagination.

The Salomons Trophy is awarded for a special performance by a British aviator

in a flying apparatus or device, which is designed and built in the UK, while the Breitling Trophy is awarded annually to a young person, or group of young people, between the ages of 14 and 21.

At the opposite end of the scale, the Old and Bold Trophy is for a person aged 65 or over who flies, or only ceased flying, during the previous calendar year, who has been conspicuously involved in aviation in general and sporting aviation in particular, for their work, initiative, devotion or in other ways.

Who would you nominate? Any thoughts, and a brief citation, should be sent to the CEO via office@laa.uk.com, before 12 Dec.

We are always pleased to receive your letters, photos of your flying, and your feedback. Please email the editor at ed.hicks@laa.uk.com

Microlight hours count on your GA journey

Dear Ed,

I read with interest the article by Neil Wilson on his talk to Amy Whitewick (LA September 2022). However, I am worried that readers will get the incorrect impression from the article, that you cannot use hours from an NPPL A (m) microlight licence to gain a licence to fly GA.

I would like to make readers aware that you can in fact use your hours and written exams from your microlight licence to count towards your NPPL A (SSEA) rating. The NPPL A (SSEA) enables you to fly non-Part 21 and Part 21 single-engine piston aircraft with a MTOW of not more than 2,000kg in VFR conditions. As a minimum, anyone with 32 hours or more on their microlight licence could get their NPPL A (SSEA) by doing one hour dual instrument appreciation, two hours stall/ spin awareness, pass the Aircraft General and Principles of Flight written exams, and pass the practical NST and GST. For pilots with less than 32 hours, enough hours would need to be done in either the microlight or GA aircraft to get the total hours up to 32 before the GST.

Likewise, differences training, as deemed necessary by the instructor, would be required for those microlight pilots who have only ever flown flexwing aircraft. As with all NPPL licences, a self-declaration medical is all that is needed.

I do not know the reasons behind why Amy chose to do a PPL(A) rather than convert her NPPL(m) to an NPPL(SSEA). I just wanted readers to know there are other options – and you don’t have to go down the very expensive route of starting again from scratch!

Kind regards, SJ Huxtable.

Light Aviation font

Hi Ed,

You may remember me as the former treasurer for the Bristol Strut. You may also then be aware that I am not quite as young as I once was. This means that my eyes are not quite as they were and I am finding the text printed in Light Aviation now difficult to read. Interestingly, if I compare the text on page seven of the Nov 2022 edition with that on page nine, the readability is very different.

I accept that changing font size risks an increase in page count, but the two fonts seem of very similar size. Can anything be done to improve readability?

Best wishes, Steve Pemberton.

Ed says: Thanks for raising this Steve. While we have worked to improve the readability of LA over the last 12 months, I’m always open to further tweaks if it enhances the reader experience. The slightly bolder text throughout News wasn’t intentional, but I see what you mean. I have used the same weight font in the AGM pages on pages 14-15, so if readers would like to let me know if that’s a big improvement over the standard font used everywhere else, drop me a line

When old becomes vintage…

Dear Ed,

It was interesting to read in November’s LA editorial that there is a proposal to feature aircraft over 30 years old in the magazine, built, owned and flown by LAA members. When the Vintage Aircraft Club was formed in 1964 as the Vintage Aircraft Group there was a discussion as to the definition, and therefore inclusion, of vintage aircraft in the club. It was mooted at the time that aircraft over 25 years old would qualify, but some were concerned that this might include those ‘modern’ Tiger Moths.

Now, as a club, we try to steer away from the discussion, as even some 50-year-old aircraft may include types that might not be included on a ‘vintage’ line up at some gatherings. The club did have the foresight to include replica aircraft built using early plans and drawings, so we are very pleased to be able to include the wonderful 1911 Waterbird replica.

I look forward to reading about the proposed LAA Long Termers!

Anne Hughes.

(Chair – Vintage Aircraft Club.)

Recovery fund?

Hi Ed,

Concerning the recent loss incurred by the

LAA due to a financial scam may I suggest that you set up a recovery fund and ask for members to contribute – probably best done on the LAA online shopping system.

Considering how much we spend on running our aircraft – hangarage, insurance, fuel, etc. it would only take the price of a couple of pints of beer from each member to almost fill the financial hole.

Come on everyone, if we stand together on this we can get back to our solid financial base and show our support for the hard working (and in some cases obviously upset) LAA staff who provide us with such a good basis for our sport.

Best regards, Howard Apps

Ed says: Thanks Howard, as Steve and Eryl have said, our reserves are strong, but I’m sure if members feel strongly about showing their support, then that would be possible.

Digitised archive

Hi Ed,

I see from the November letters page that there’s uncertainty over how to make our digital archive usable by members. Given how many members we have, I’ll lay money on there being enough in the membership with the skills, time and willingness to take part in a project to achieve this.

Cloud platforms make the hosting and security bit straightforward; the challenge is navigating the information. That’s down to both indexing (to support searching) and classification (to support browsing). Indexing, per se, is easy, but the challenge is doing so in context (i.e. when to index what in order to support which types of search). Both this last challenge and the classification one are areas where artificial intelligence models should be able to help – we’re bound to have someone in our ranks with AI skills.

For what it’s worth, I suggest putting out a call for those with the relevant skills to get involved in a working group. Regards, Michael Brooks.

Ed says: Thanks Michael. I have been looking into this, and there is a large amount of material that’s been digitised. How it could be made available to members though does remain a challenge. As you say, if there are other members who are interested in helping to make a fully accessible digital archive a reality, do drop me a line and we’ll see what can be done.

Do you find the bolder font in the AGM feature easier to read? Let us know.

Straight and Level Updates from LAA HQ

Moving forward Eryl Smith Chairman

Once again I find myself writing Straight and Level from the other side of the world, and reflecting on a year that is rapidly coming to a close. I can’t deny it has not been without its challenges providing both ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ and everything in between. We operate within an increasingly complex environment and as a membership organisation we are reliant upon a CEO and small staff team. I have previously written of the importance of volunteers to support the aims of the Association and that includes the Board. We all give of our time freely and try to the best of our abilities to fulfil the needs of the membership.

While the ‘highs’ and the routine of the association largely go without acknowledgement, the ‘lows’ clearly and rightly attract constructive criticism. At the beginning of the year I wrote that every member has a voice, a view and expectations and, while it may not be possible or realistic to meet them all, we as a Board do need to hear them. I also acknowledged that as a Board we should be more transparent in what we do. This has been tested in our handling of the fraud.

Following the independent investigation and the report issued to members via email the post-AGM discussion provided a forum to report progress on the implementation of the recommendations.

Standing down

Steve Slater CEO

This is probably the hardest Straight and Level column I have had to write. As you’ll see in News, I have elected to stand down as CEO in the New Year, heading for a retirement which I hope gives me the time I need for fettling and flying my aeroplanes!

This decision comes at the end of some long deliberations. Earlier this year, I had discussed my retirement plans with the Chairman and we had agreed that sometime shortly after my 65th birthday, we’d start planning my moving on. Well, that milestone came and went in October and, just before the AGM, I formally gave notice of my retirement but I proposed, and the Chairman agreed, that we need a smooth basis for the recruitment and handover to my successor.

Therefore, I don’t anticipate moving on immediately. I plan to stay in the role until late spring next year. However this announcement gives us the time to start the recruitment process. If you are interested in the job of course, do make yourself known to the Chairman via LAA HQ. I can certainly recommend the role. For someone with the same enthusiasm as me, it’s the best job in the world!

On one hand, there is the challenge of running a £1.4 million turnover business, a key organisation in the GA community, with

It also gave the opportunity for those members present to question myself and the panel chair. Rightly, there were critical and challenging questions raised, and robust discussion took place, which the Board will reflect and act upon at its November meeting.

My immediate commitment is to ensure that all the recommendations within the report are fully implemented and ensure that effective governance and oversight is being applied. We will engage further with members through an appropriate forum to report back on these actions and the conclusion of efforts to recover the funds.

For the second year we ran the AGM as a hybrid meeting to maximise member participation, but this proved not to be without its vulnerabilities. We experienced technical difficulties with the online voting arrangements which necessitated reconvening it to conclude the business of the AGM. As a result we have already taken steps to professionalise the technical support for future occasions. For those not present at the AGM, or who have not received a copy of the report to members electronically, a summary of both is provided on page 15.

Finally, as Steve talks about it below, he has announced his intention to retire. He has successfully steered the LAA for the last seven years and will be a hard act to follow. The Board will now be focused on the process of recruiting Steve’s successor to ensure that the Association can continue to move forward.

In the meantime may I take this opportunity to send you and your families all good wishes for Christmas and the New Year. ■

both a voice and responsibilities in dealing with the CAA and the Department for Transport, as well as other national bodies, to protect airfields, airspace and our freedom to fly.

On the other hand and every bit as important, my successor will be heading a membership organisation on behalf of 7,700 members. It is certainly a wide-ranging challenge. While engineering, airworthiness and safety are cornerstones of our operation, people are the vital spark which makes the LAA work. My team and I, and my fellow Board members, must have that as our principal driver.

Looking ahead into 2023, there will be challenges with rising costs, significant inflation for the first time in a decade and also the challenges posed by the arrival of ever-more uncrewed aircraft and inevitable changes in the airspace landscape. Equally, I think there are significant opportunities for the LAA. We offer some of the lowest cost routes to flyers, either via syndicate or outright aircraft ownership. Our fleet typically has maintenance and airworthiness admin costs around one third of certificated aircraft and, often, are better performing and more fun to fly. Since when has economising been so much fun?

We must continue to get that message out there to fellow flyers and involve them in our community, whether via membership, Struts, invitations to our events or just a chat on the airfield. Experience shows that flyers, whatever and wherever we fly, enjoy the friendship and comradeship we all share.

Certainly, even when I close my office door at Turweston for the final time, I’ll still be as enthusiastic an LAA member as ever before! ■

Account fraud: Update

Steve Slater updates LAA members concerning the scam sustained by the Association

We are still working with the bank, and the bank ombudsman, to attempt to recover the £64,523.10, which was lost when an employee was tricked into transferring funds from the LAA’s account.

Following the letter to members and release of the Independent Panel’s Report to Members, our Chairman, Eryl Smith, addressed those present after the AGM, outlining the background to the fraud, the actions we have taken to investigate it, and the progress on the actions which have subsequently been carried out to reduce any risk of the situation happening again.

While this highlighted some areas where our organisation was found wanting, please also bear in mind that we all need to learn from this experience, whether personally or as part of an organisation. This could happen to you, too.

Following the scam, which took place on 6 July, the Board, at its meeting on 21 July, commissioned the Company Secretary to head a panel with two independent members to look into the matter.

The chair of the panel was the LAA Company Secretary, HH David Mole, KC, a former Crown Court and Deputy High Court judge, authorised to try serious fraud cases. The independent members of the panel were John Holden, a former Head of Companies House and LAA member, and David Wheeler, a retired finance officer of several companies, and not an LAA member.

The panel heard evidence from three witnesses and considered relevant Association documents. This is an abstract to the panel’s report to members which, upon advice, excludes the individual witness evidence. A copy of the full report to members can be found via our website at tinyurl.com/Fraudindependentreport

The panel findings

On Wednesday 6 July 2022, the LAA office received a call from a man stating that he was from the NatWest Fraud Department, and that attempts were being made to transfer substantial amounts of money to named LAA personnel. The caller appeared to know the account number and asked the employee for confirmation, which was given. The caller purported to identify himself and after some further questions, long procedures, explanations and trite security advice, announced that a block had to be put on the account to stop further illegitimate transfers. He said that to stop losing the money it had to be transferred to secure accounts, which he specified.

Further lengthy conversations took place during which a second person purporting to be the caller’s ‘manager’ was introduced who proceeded to undertake ‘security checks’ and offered yet more ‘advice.’ In the course of this lengthy exchange, which lasted some three hours, the staff member was directed to make a series of transfers. The caller continued with false advice and explanations but by now, the staff member was becoming suspicious. Some of the things the caller said did not ring true. The staff member then put the phone down and called the NatWest Fraud Department directly. It immediately confirmed that the LAA was the victim of a fraud, put a hold on the relevant LAA account and a red alert on the recipient HSBC and Barclays accounts. The

staff member subsequently contacted the CEO that evening to tell him of the thefts.

The panel concluded that, while the staff member was too naïve and trusting and might have been expected to realise what was happening, the employee had not had the simple training nor advice that would have made things a little bit different. The panel believed the staff member was open and honest in giving evidence to the panel and had acted in an attempt to protect the LAA. Although a prime cause of the loss, the staff member should not bear all the blame.

The loss would not have occurred with better management by both the CEO and the Board itself. It is the responsibility of the Board Directors to support and guide a busy CEO. He should have had that support and guidance, and the panel did not think he got it.

The obvious and serious vulnerability was leaving the ability to transfer substantial sums, apparently up to the total amount in the account, in the hands of one person without check and without training about the perils of that position.

An additional vulnerability was created by accumulating a comparatively large sum in one account, rather than putting a proportion of it into a special account with extra controls.

There was a general vulnerability in the lack of training for staff, handling money or not, in fraud or theft awareness.

Fraud and theft can take place in many ways and for many reasons. It is not limited to stealing money.

Preventative measures and further action

In its report the panel noted the preventative measures that had been taken in response to the fraud and set out further actions that ought to be taken. In particular the report noted that three key Board Committees had not met on a regular basis, either in person or via Zoom or equivalent, in the last two or three years. These three committees, the Governance Strategy and Process Committee, the Finance Committee and the Risk and Audit Committee, either serve a useful – and nonoverlapping – purpose, or they should be discontinued.

Committees that exist in name only can have nothing but a negative impact on overall governance. The panel also concluded that all Directors should receive training in their legal and governance responsibilities and should see that this is cascaded to staff training and responsibilities.

In total, some 10 recommendations were made and accepted by the Board. These are summarised in the table below and the progress on their implementation was reported to those present in the briefing that followed the AGM on 23 October. The Board is committed to their full implementation and in response to the concerns raised by members will provide further opportunity to report and engage with members on the outcome and learning from this incident. ■

“There was a general vulnerability in the lack of training for staff, handling money or not, in fraud or theft awareness”

One meeting, two continents

Steve Slater records the results of an unusual 2022 LAA AGM, that spanned two dates and two continents…

The 2022 AGM of the Light Aircraft Association Limited will be remembered as one which had its fl aws, but equally will go down in history as the fi rst such meeting to start and close with its chairman in two different continents!

As many members who attended the meeting at Turweston on Sunday 23 October will know, we experienced diffi culties for those who joined by Zoom, in conducting the electronic voting on the motions and election of Directors. As a result, it was not possible to complete the voting. Once again, our sincere apologies for this and thank you again for your patienc e.

A suggestion we regroup and restart with an EGM was rejected, as this would have been unfair to those who had turned out to Turweston. Company Secretary, David Mole, was able to advise

Presentation of LAA Awards

A number of well-deserved LAA Service Awards were presented by LAA Chairman Eryl Smith just prior to the AGM business.

that the votes taken in the room, together with the votes recor ded by proxy voting, remained valid.

The meeting was therefore adjourned, to enable further electronic voting to be offered to those who attended via Zoom, but who were unable to cast votes. It also allowed anyone else who was not present in person, or submitted a proxy, to vote as well.

The voting was carried out using Survey Monkey between 2 and 7 November and over 100 members took part. After verifi cation to ensure no duplicate or ineligible voting, these votes were coun ted alongside the votes cast in the room and by proxy. A second AGM closing meeting was held online on Sunday 13 November to announce the fi nal count and formally close the AGM. By this time, our chairman, Eryl Smith, was in New Zealand on holiday, but was able to join and chair the meeting from Lake Hawea, while David

The Pete Clarke Award – for an individual major contribution to flight safety – was made to Mike O’Donoghue for his work with GASCo, in his role as Chief Executive.

The Chris Paul (President’s Joystick) Award – for services to the Rally was awarded to Mike and Jan Gaffney, who travel annually to the Rally or Fly In, to raise funds for the Northants Air Ambulance. They joined the ceremony from Portugal, with Paul Lawrence receiving the trophy on their behalf.

The Frank Hounslow Trophy – for service to LAA in engineering was awarded to Francis Donaldson for his 31 years as Chief Engineers for the Association, which he still continues to serve in his role as a consultant. Award received by Engineering Director, John Ratcliffe on Francis’ behalf.

Mole and Stephen Slater ran the meeting from Turweston. Therefore, we closed the meeting in two different hemispheres!

Two motions had been proposed. The fi rst was to amend Article 25(d) of the LAA Articles to read: “25(d) The Board at its meeting, after the AGM of the Company, shall elect from amongst its number the Chairman and Vice Chairman. The Board may appoint the Secretary of the Company and other such offi cers of the Company as it deems appropriate. The Board may revise these elections and appointments at any time.”

The reason for this was that when these articles were originall y drafted, a Private Company such as the LAA was obliged by law to have a Company Secretary. However, that is no longer the law. Furthermore, there is no reason why the Company Secretary must always be a member of the Board. There may be good reasons for the LAA contracting for an outsider to provide the sort of services that a Company Secretary would provide. It would be very useful for the Board to have that flexibility, if it became necessary. The Board supported this amendment which, as you will see from the table, was clearly approved by those in the room, by proxy and online.

A second Motion, from member Tony Unwin, requesting a review of engineering approval arrangements for gyroplanes, was withdrawn by the proposer after it was explained that it is not in our gift to implement. Unlike fi xed-wing aircraft, the LAA does not have engineering or design oversight for factory-built gyroplanes, w hose permits are based on certifi cation by the manufacturers. However, we fully support the intent of the motion and will work with th e British Rotorcraft Association, which is of course already an LAA Member Association, to increase the number of gyro Inspectors where required and to give added exposure in the Strut pages of the magazine, when applicable.

The votes cast were:

All the motions were carried. Tim Hardy and David Mole are elected to the Board for a further three years. After closure of the AGM business the Chairman concluded the meeting with a briefi ng, and answered questions on the recent account fraud, the fi ndings of the Independent Review and the actions now put in place based on their recommendations.

The Bill Woodhams Trophy – for a feat of navigation, was made to Amy Whitewick and her fellow LAA Wessex Strut members for her portrait of the Queen drawing using GPS traces from courses flown by their aircraft. Award received by David Millin on Amy’s behalf.

The Faulkner-Bryant Shield – the most active strut or person within the strut system was awarded to Pete White of the LAA Cornwall Strut and for his tireless work in promoting Bodmin Airfield. Award received by David Millin on Pete’s behalf.

The Lois Parker Award – for distinguished service in an administrative function was presented to David Mole for his activities as LAA Secretary.

In addition, the LAA Fly In Award of the Nowicki Trophy for the best Van’s RV aircraft was presented to Ian Coates for his RV-7, G-ICRV.

Compiled by Mike Slaughter

Project News

So by way of a little background, at the end of each month I am provided a list from Engineering of all that month’s test Permit issues, from this I endeavour to make contact with each project owner in an effort to generate content for this column. I have to say that I’m always heartened by the response rate as it averages about two thirds. By the way, to those whom I haven’t got back to as yet, sorry I’ll get there in the end! My point? Well, every project has a unique story, some are just a little more unusual than others and I can never predict which ones will turn up trumps.

A replica WWI biplane is a little unusual but not unique, but what a story Matthew Boddington tells below of his replica S.E.5a, fantastic and not what you expect. Once you’ve had a read of his report below,

G-AVOU (s/n 1591) Replica S.E.5a

By Matthew Boddington

ABiplane For Lili… Following the release of the film

The Blue Max in 1966 many studios wanted to cash in on the success of the WWI flying epic.

In 1967 director Blake Edwards signed a deal with Paramount Pictures to direct four movies for them, one of these films was Darling Lili a WWI epic starring Julie Andrews, his soon to be wife, as a Marta Hari-type double agent. For the flying scenes it was planned to use the replicas that had been built for The Blue Max. After the film had been completed these had been purchased by Canadian Lynn Garrison and were stored in Ireland awaiting their next assignment. For Blue Max, apart from two full size S.E.5 replicas built by Miles, all the replicas were of German Aircraft. For Darling Lili more British aircraft were needed. Although more modern Tiger Moths and Stampes could be used, they didn’t really look quite right, and anyway the ones used for The Blue Max had either been sold off or returned to their owners who were reluctant to rent them out again. Also with their swept back wings and streamlined engine cowlings they were hard to disguise as WWI fighters!

Miles was approached to see if it could build more SE5s, it was happy to, but the cost of doing so had increased considerably and it was deemed that a cheaper answer was required. Chief pilot for the film was

Google ‘SE5 Movie Star’ and you will find an excellent online progress update of the project.

While Reach for the Sky is a lifelong favourite, I suspect that before I would have seen that for the first time on TV, I would have already been to the cinema aged 12 or so to see The Blue Max. The film obviously made more of an impression than I realised as I was always drawing biplanes, and early Airfix models would have included Fokker Dr1, Albatros and Camel. So what’s special about The Blue Max, again, go and read Matthew’s piece below.

To get in touch with Project News, and tell your story, report a milestone or just to send a picture, don’t wait to be asked, please email your report to projectnews@laa.uk.com. Please share your story!

Above The Slingsby Factory in Kirbymoorside in 1967 during the building of the six SE5 replicas.

the well-known film pilot, Derek Piggott. He started to look for other alternatives, and he came across a little homebuilt biplane called a Currie Wot, it was a single bay biplane of all wood construction with no stagger and straight wings. Derek started to look to see if by changing the shape of wing tips, rudders and engine cowlings the outline of the aeroplane could be changed to resemble an S.E.5. – the S.E.5 being chosen as they would then match the two existing Miles built Blue Max replicas.

Derek had a long-term association with well-known glider manufacturers Slingsby Aircraft at Kirbymoorside. Slingsbys were approached to see if it would be interested in manufacturing new replica S.E.5s – and if it would be able to complete them within the time scale

Inspiring members to take on their own aircraft build or restoration project

required. The building of the six Slingsby T56 SE5 replicas is covered in Derek’s excellent book Delta Papa, so I won’t go into all the fine details, but one regret that Derek had was that, on paper, a slight increase in fuselage width would hide the 110hp flat four Lycoming O-235 engine. What looked like a small amount on paper was in reality quite a lot and once built, they ended up being wider than a full size S.E.5!! By the time Derek realised the error it was too late and there was no time to rectify the mistake as the fuselages were already built and the schedule prevented anything being done about it.

The resulting wide nose is a distinctive feature of the aircraft, but Derek was a little disappointed with the lack of performance that the extra drag caused.

The six aircraft were approved under a permit for film flying by the then Air Registration Board and registered G-AVOT, AVOU AVOV AVOW AVOX and AVOY respectively.

The aircraft were built in record time, arriving in Ireland in two batches in1967. On arrival, ownership of the aircraft was transferred to the production company, which moved to the Irish register as EI-ARH, ARI, ARJ, ARK, ARL and ARM respectively.

Filming for Darling Lili lasted for many, many months and perhaps thousands of hours of aerial footage was shot, the new S.E.5 Minis – as they were referred to –performed very well and soon became a firm favourite with their pilots. With filming of Darling Lili completed the six Slingsbys were put into store at Weston Aerodrome near Dublin with the rest of the Blue Max fleet. In the following years the aircraft were brought out of storage on several occasions for starring roles in several other feature films.

Two of the aircraft, ARI and ARJ, were taken to Turkey for use in the film You Can’t Win Em All starring Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson. Flying was carried out by Derek Pigott, Lewis ‘Benjy’ Benjamin and my father Charles Boddington. Benjy wrote a great article for Aeroplane a few years ago about his experiences flying for the film.

Back in Ireland the whole fleet was brought out of retirement for a film with Cliff Robertson called I Shot Down The Red Baron I Think – sadly this film never made it to the silver screen due to many factors. The footage that was filmed still exists and if anyone knows how to process 35mm film let me know!

In 1970 the fleet of Blue Max aircraft, including the six Minis, were again in use for the filming of the motion picture von Richthofen and Brown

At the same time, in Ireland, the film Zeppelin was

Left and below As the aircraft arrived from the US.

Above Sywell, 2016, work gets underway stripping the airframe for its restoration.

Above Starting to look more like an aeroplane, November 2016.

Above Progress as at the start of 2017.

Above Work starts on the cowling.

being filmed and the six Minis and two full-size S.E.5s were loaned out to that production. Sadly during filming, one of the full-size Miles built S.E.5s collided with the camera helicopter killing all on board, including Burch Williams, producer of I Shot Down The Red Baron. During filming of von Richthofen and Brown, the second Miles-built S.E.5 was lost in a fatal accident, claiming the life of my father, Charles Boddington. With filming closed down the aircraft were put into store, von Richthofen and Brown was to be its final big screen appearance, well sort of. The Minis did feature once more in the film Aces High by virtue of the fact that footage shot for Darling Lili and von Richthofen and Brown was edited into the film’s final big dogfight sequence.

In the mid-1970s two of the Minis, ARH and ARM, were loaned to Frank Tallman for the film The Great Waldo Pepper, although they are not seen flying in the final film they are seen in the background and in the hangar of the WWI film shoot scene. These two aircraft disappeared following the loss of Frank Tallman and the closure of Talmanz, where are they now? The other four had a brief small screen appearance for a Solvite TV advert, where they were covered in wallpaper. In the late-1970s the four Minis and the rest of the Blue Max fleet were disassembled and placed into long-term storage in a hangar on the Powerscourt Estate in Ireland.

In the early 1980s the whole fleet of Aircraft was sold by owner Lynn Garrison to the Fighting Air Command in Texas, USA. The four remaining aircraft being registered in the US, ARI to N908AC, ARJ to N909AC, ARK to N910AC and ARL to N912AC, only N908AC was to fly briefly with the FAC before being sold on. Their history from this point is a bit sketchy and if anyone does have any information I would love to hear from you. What we do know is that they were at one time with the Frank Ryder Collection. We are led to believe that two of the airframes are held in store by Planet Hollywood, are these the two Talmanz Aircraft?

As for the rest, well nothing was known until I wrote an article for Aeroplane about my experiences as a boy on the set of Darling Lili. At the end of the article I did a summing up of where the aircraft were now and asked if

anyone knew where the Slingsby S.E.5s were? I was contacted by a chap by the name of Greg Dart in the USA who said that he has two of them. Initially I couldn’t believe it but he sent me some pictures and it was very obvious that he did indeed have two Slingsby S.E.5s, they were N908AC and N910AC.

I had been in contact with Lynn Garrison and his son Patrick over their missing Bitz Fokker DR1, that’s another story, so I mentioned to Patrick that Greg had two of the Slingsbys, with that Patrick went to see Greg and arranged to buy them. Once he had them back in Oregon he offered me one to bring back to the UK leaving the choice of which one to me, but which one to have?

My father had flown them all so that wasn’t part of the decision, research revealed that 908AC was EI-ARI and that was one of the two aircraft that went to Turkey for the filming of You Can’t Win Em All, with a little more research and talking to Benjy, I found out that this was also the aircraft my father had flown for that film. I have a picture of my father standing with this aircraft in Turkey, also this was the only one to fly in the USA, and compared to the other it had not had any rebuild work and was more original. The decision was made, N908AC, EI-ARI, G-AVOU S/N 1591 it was.

Shipping was arranged and Patrick kindly packed her into a 20ft container and she was on her way back to the UK arriving at Sywell in May 2015. When it was unloaded and put into the hangar the first impression was that it was bigger than I expected. Now the hard work would begin to get her back into the air where she belonged.

She was re-registered with the CAA and took up her original mark of G-AVOU. The project was registered with the LAA, and Francis Donaldson came to look her over.

Francis had been very encouraging when I had mentioned bringing one of the Slingsbys back to the UK. In 1968 the Slingsbys had been approved by the then Air Registration Board and been given a Permit for film flying, as many film replicas at that time were. Although Derek had designed the T56 to be robust enough to withstand the rigours of film flying and the six replicas had flown around 200 hr each, it was still a new type onto a Permit. As the aeroplane turned out to be heavier than initially specified, the LAA required that the whole airframe undergo stress analysis.

The analysis was carried out by John Tempest and Ben Syson of the LAA with the assistance of Francis Donaldson. The process took over two years to complete and when finished there were some changes that were required before the aircraft could be accepted. These were duly designed, accepted and carried out. A thorough restoration was required and the airframe was completely stripped for inspection. The fuselage skins aft of the cockpit and the underside were removed and

replaced, all metal fittings were removed, inspected and either cleaned and repainted or replaced with new made items. Plus, all controls were removed, cleaned, inspected and refitted. The entire airframe was then recovered and resprayed.

The engine for the aircraft had long gone, originally a 110hp Lycoming O-235 had been fitted, but all indications were that they had been a little underpowered. Discussions lead to the search for an O-320 but to no avail, then a chance discussion with an old family friend led to the acquisition of a zero timed 140hp Lycoming O-290 D2. Being heavier and of more horsepower this led to yet more stress calculation on the engine mount and the fuselage firewall.

Originally Slingsby had designed the T56 with ailerons on the bottom wings only for speed of construction, but had made the ailerons for the top wings and bolted them in place. During the rebuild it was decided to have ailerons on all four wings as per the original S.E.5, this of course meant more stress calculations!

The Currie Wot has wire bracing for the flying wires, The T56 has streamlined flying wires, the sizes of these had been confirmed during the stress analysis. Russ Ward, in New Zealand, was contacted and provided not only fantastic stainless steel streamlined flying wires at a good price but also a fantastic service.

After the initial purchase from Partick Garrison the aircraft sat in Oregon waiting for a time when I could afford to ship her back to the UK. During a chat over a coffee at Sywell two long time family friends, Tim and Nick Ravine, expressed an interest in having a share in the aeroplane, and then another mutual friend Mark Johnson also asked if he could be involved, so four shares were set up in the aeroplane with all helping in the rebuild.

One question was, what scheme to finish the aircraft in. Mick Mannock had lived in nearby Wellingborough so this was an obvious choice, however, this decision changed when in 2020 we were dealt a huge blow, our dear friend and partner in the aircraft Mark Johnson passed away after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, to honour Mark the scheme was changed to a No1 Squadron aircraft in France in 1918 carrying the code ‘M’.

After the major aircraft structure had been completed attention then moved to making new engine cowls. As mentioned earlier, the fuselage had ended up too wide for scale and the result was a wide flat nose. To hopefully make this look better a new nose bowl was designed based on the earlier Hispano engine S.E.5 that would hopefully blend the nose into the fuselage a little. New dummy engine cylinders and exhaust pipes were built and added to complete the look. New Vickers and Lewis machine guns were constructed as the original film items were again long gone.

With the aeroplane now complete apart from some minor tinkering she was weighed and a W&B report raised. We had no previous information regarding this so we had to start from scratch and come up with what we think is a safe place to start, from there the CofG limits can be explored a little.

Hopefully by the time you read this she will have flown again in the UK for the first time in more than 50 years.

Above This really does show how very different the Slingsby is to the Replica Plans 7/8th scale that people are used to. Oscar Uniform is in the foreground.

Above Taking the evening sun, the quality of the restoration can be clearly seen.

Above New Year’s Day 2022, there is a lot of fresh air behind that engine!

Above Spring sunshine 2022, and this is really looking like the home straight now.

Supermarine S5 replica G-SNDR LAA 418-15696

By Francis Donaldson

Bodmin Airfield, which lies just off the A30 in beautiful Cornwall, is perhaps best known to enthusiasts as the original birthplace of the Trago-Mills SAH-1, an all-metal trainer of British design that was sponsored by the Cornish supermarket chain of the same name, which built the prototype at Bodmin and ran the operation from there in the late 1970s.

Today, the very same hangar is being used to build a replica of the Supermarine S5, the seaplane designed by RJ Mitchell to participate in the 1927 Schneider Trophy race – famously returning the coveted silver trophy to Britain after the American and Italian victories in the previous three events.

The original S5’s race-winning speed was 282mph in 1927, an incredible advance considering that just five years earlier, the previous British victory in the 1922 Schneider Trophy race had been won by an earlier Mitchell design, the pusher biplane Supermarine Sea Lion II. A birdcage of struts and wires, the Sealion II lapped the course at a mere 146mph using an earlier, lower-rated version of the same Napier Lion engine that the S5 used.

The replica S5 being built at Bodmin is being constructed as an LAA project, and to a great extent follows the design of the previous replica G-BDFF, which was built for Leisure Sport in the 1970s, first flying in 1975. Of all wood construction, the original replica, which was engineered by Ray Hilborne, was designed to be built as a one-off through the CAA Permit system.

Built at Thruxton, ‘FF joined the other Leisure Sport aircraft operating out of Thorpe Park, which included non-flying, water-taxiable replicas of other Schneider Trophy aircraft. Sadly, the aircraft suffered a take-off accident in 1980 and sank, badly damaged. The wreck was bought by flying enthusiast and Newquay hotelier Bill Hosie, who put a team together to rebuild it, including new wings, floats and engine, flying again in 1986.

The repaired aircraft flew well, but tragically, Bill Hosie was killed when the replica crashed a year later, having accumulated some 40 flying hours. The accident was attributed to rudder flutter, possibly compounded by unseen damage to the fuselage remaining from the first crash.

The new replica is being built by a team headed up by Will Hosie – Bill Hosie’s son, himself a professional pilot who, as a very young man, was involved with the

original replica and flew it on a number of occasions. One can only admire Will for his tremendous courage and determination in setting out to achieve what his father had done, and recreate another S5 to pay tribute both to his father and once again to the 1927 original and the amazing achievements of those of who designed, built and flew it.

Will has been able to gain sponsorship for the project from several sources and the build will take place in stages, starting with the wings and then moving on to the floats and lastly, the fuselage and tail surfaces, with progress moving ahead more rapidly now with the recent addition of Andy Foan as a trustee and new corporate sponsor Skyblue Aero Services Ltd.

The skeletons of the two wings are now at the skinning stage, and the first metal fittings are being fitted, while the build team figures out how the complex floats are to be made. Fortunately, in addition to the drawings there’s a good photographic record of both the original replica build and the 1980s rebuild.

The S5 replica uses wire braced wings of two-spar construction, built up truss type ribs and skinned with 1/16 birch plywood. Heavy metal fittings are included to provide the lift and landing wire attachments, which also brace the twin plywood covered floats. Hearing that the aircraft is to be fitted with a six-cylinder Continental IO-360 engine of 210hp, many are surprised that the replica is full-size – surely it will be underpowered?

But the original S5 was tiny – just 26ft wingspan, a fuselage so slender that its cockpit was only just large enough to accommodate its pilot. Which just goes to

Above left The 1970's replica S5 in flight.

Above right Some of the replica building team outside their hangar at Bodmin Airfield. From left to right, Paul Myers, Will Hosie, Colin van Geffin and Chris Gotke.

Below Luckily many of the original drawings for the aircraft survive.

show what a hot ship the original was, fitted with an 875hp geared Napier Lion that weighed over 900lb! Its landing speed was more than 100mph, and famously, the original Schneider racers were almost unmanageable on take-off due to their huge engine torque, which meant you had to start your take off run almost perpendicular to the line that you intended to unstick at – and pilots had to be prepared to be drenched in water at the start of the run due to the amount of spray scooped up by the big prop, behind which the little racers almost disappeared momentarily. The replica, flying at only half the weight of the original, will be much more manageable but sprightly nevertheless – its power to weight ratio will still be respectable – in modern terms, similar to that of an Extra 200 or two-seat Pitts.

Replica designer Ray Hilborne did take some liberties with the design, beyond its use of wood rather than metal construction – the floats are smaller than the originals and fitted to shorter struts, made possible by the smaller diameter propeller. Had the original size floats been used, the lighter replica would have floated much too high in the water – Archimedes’ principle and all that.

The cockpit has also been slightly widened – the originals were a very tight squeeze indeed. But photos of the first replica show that these changes don’t distract, and the overall effect is very convincing – luckily there’s grainy archive film footage available of both the 1928 S5 and the 1970s replica where the handling crews’ garb and hairstyles are the easiest way to identify which is which.

The new replica is being built using Ray Hilborne’s original drawings, Will Hosie having succeeded in tracking down most of the original sheets, which very fortunately survived in storage, as did the original stress calculations. Unfortunately, not all the drawings have been tracked down, consequently a great deal of vital information is missing, and is having to be reverse engineered with help from a number of design specialists

New Projects

If your aircraft has been featured in the New Projects list, please let Project News know of your progress at: projectnews@laa.uk.com

Cleared To Fly

If your aircraft has featured recently in the magazine and has subsequently completed its maiden flight, Project News would like to hear from you at: projectnews@laa.uk.com

■ G-AIJM Auster 5J4 (s/n 2069) 11/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

■ G-AVOU Replica SE5a (s/n 1591) 21/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

■ G-CHZS Zenair CH-601 HDS (LAA 16215011) 6/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

familiar in the LAA scene. I suspect the designer was working hand in hand with the original replica build team and much was probably communicated verbally, or using sketches as the prototype was taking shape. Fortunately, Will also has access to some of the people involved in the rebuild of the first replica, including Bill Penaluna and Rod Bellamy – in fact Rod has been recently building the new wings for Will along with fellow Bodmin engineers Bruce Keeping and John Blick.

The new replica, which is being built to celebrate 100 years with the original S5’s Schneider victory, will also be changed to make it more resistant to rudder flutter and to avoid reliance on certain items of vintage hardware that were a lot more available in the 1970s than the 2020s, such as Miles Messenger rudder pedal assemblies!

Apparently, a mystery visitor to the Popham LAA event this year, seeing some of the promotional material for the S5 project was heard to mention to a fellow enthusiast that he had been deeply involved in the original replica build at Thruxton, and remembered all about it – if you are that man (or know who is is) then Will Hosie would be very keen indeed to hear from you! ■

■ Van’s RV-12iS (LAA 363A-15852) 18/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

■ Sling 4 TSi (LAA 400A-15853) 17/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

■ KFA Safari (LAA 402-15854) 17/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

■ Colomban MC-30 Luciole (LAA 371-15855) 28/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

■ G-GMAX Stampe SV4C (s/n 141) 21/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

■ G-PTPW Zenair CH-601 XL (PFA 162B14396) 21/10/2022

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

Beautiful Auster 5J4 restoration.

Above Bill Hosie with the original replica, G-BDFF, in the 1980s.

Below Will Hosie with a model of the S5.

Fast for four…

Chris Taylor gets to grips with the Sling Aircraft TSi, which has become a popular four-seat choice for LAA homebuilders

Photos Neil Wilson

Flight Test

Designed in South Africa, the good looking Sling 4 TSi is a four-seat, single-engine, fixed tricycle undercarriage, aluminium aircraft of semi-monocoque construction with a conventional low-wing design.

I was fortunate enough to be offered the chance to evaluate the aircraft for Light Aviation, and flew two flights out of Thruxton. Thankfully, the day in question dawned with the early morning mist burning off, leaving clear blue skies before the forecast lower cloud appeared later in the day.

Given my flight test credentials, I confess I was keen to assess the aircraft flown to its limits, and thankfully my host, aircraft owner and Sling Aircraft UK Distributor, Tim Hardy, was amenable to my request.

My initial flight was at a full aft centre of gravity, which traditionally is where the aircraft can be the most difficult to fly. Not only did we need to put some of my heavy ballast in the baggage bay, but Tim found himself enjoying the view from one of the rear seats – very trusting if you ask me.

Before our flying we had a comprehensive chat about the aircraft and some of the already identified quirks of the type that might be of interest. The aircraft had already been test flown by the LAA and a minor design change was made to ensure it could fly on an LAA Permit. Tim was keen to explain the ground handling, the fuel system and the aircraft’s slow speed and stalling characteristics, all of which I was to investigate further during my two busy assessment flights.

Once we had covered the usual requirements, including actions in the event of an emergency, we walked to the aircraft – its splendid silver, white and red colour scheme glinting in the autumn sun. Having added the ballast, which was almost too heavy for me to lift, I investigated the cockpit – and how to get in. The old joke about test pilots needing to walk around twice in order to find the door is not just an urban myth.

Two gull-wing doors provided relatively easy access. The aircraft was fitted with an ideally located step below and behind the wing trailing edge, which meant stepping onto the wing root was easily accomplished, despite my creaking knees.

It was satisfying to see that the doors swung up

Above Smart looks and modern, efficient powerplant have no doubt helped make the Sling 4 TSi a popular choice in the four-seat category with LAA homebuilders.

through around 180° creating a large doorway without the risk of banging heads. This was a genuine four-seater.

This particular aircraft weighed less than 520kg, and with a max all up weight of 950kg it meant it would have no problem getting airborne with four people. Both front seat backs could be folded forward, which allowed rear passengers to step directly into the rear of the aircraft. I didn’t assess the access into the rear seats, but Tim seemed to have no problem getting in.

In the cockpit

With further flights I am sure I could optimise my own entry technique somewhat better, however, I found that standing on the front seat before sliding down into a sitting position worked well enough.

Once seated the gull-wing door could be pulled down and then a catch operated to firmly latch the door closed using two lugs. I had to stretch a little to reach the door handle once seated and I noticed the right-hand door was fitted with an additional strop, which allowed the door to be pulled closed more easily. The seat could be adjusted fore and aft by a car seat-type handle on the

front of the seat between the pilot’s legs. The seat itself was very comfortable with good padding, plus good lateral support. The harness was a car-type inertia reel device with a single quick release mechanism. I wore my Bose A20 ANR headset which seemed ideally suited to the task. The plug sockets were found inside the armrest and the cables were fed into this cavity through a relatively small hole in the rear. The end result was a neat installation with the cables tucked nicely out of the way.

Once comfortably seated it was time to explore my domain. Although I felt obliged to crane my neck forward slightly, the field of view over the instrument panel seemed good enough, and so it proved to be in flight.

The flying controls were conventional. The stick grip featured a press to transmit button on the forward face and an electric elevator trimmer was operated by two small push buttons on the top of the stick. The autopilot disconnect was operated by a further button on the right-hand side of the grip. The rudder pedals could be rotated, in a conventional fashion, however doing so did not operate the aircraft’s wheel brakes.

I confess I have not seen rotating rudder pedals fitted to such an aircraft before when they have not been connected to individual wheel brakes. Tim tells me that this is an ‘optional extra’ and these rotating pedals are not normally fitted. The brakes were operated by a single lever situated to the right of the throttle on the centre console. The lever was easy to access and the brakes could be held on by operating a parking brake valve –again situated on the centre console. The parking brake worked well and held the aircraft even during the 4,000rpm engine and propeller testing.

“With an empty weight of 520kg and a max all up weight of 950kg, it means you can get airborne with four people.”

The rest of the cockpit was neatly engineered with a Garmin G3X Touch EFIS display and G5 backup, and a number of switches, most of which were located in a neat row under the Primary Flight Display.

I am saying very little about the avionics, which are typical of such modern aircraft instrument panels and become easier to operate the more they are used. Below and around the primary Garmin screen were the operating switches for the engine, the Airmaster propeller – and a further row of switches added control of the EFIS, avionics, fuel pumps and lights. The avionics, propeller and engine all contributed to the requirement for a number of control switches.

In this particular aircraft many of the switches were colour coded. The colours in themselves didn’t help me

particularly, but flying on an LAA Permit the owner could colour the switches to suit.

Well equipped

With the controls, lever and switches all identified and the parking brake set it was time to get the 915is Rotax flashed up. I’m very used to starting up Rotax engines, but the 915is takes slightly more thought. I ensured the fuel was on and exercised the fuel cock, which was left or right or off. I then had to turn a good number of switches on. The EFIS backup and EFIS main switches were selected ‘on’ in order to power up the Garmin. Once that was showing a PFD page I was able to ‘touch’ the engine instrumentation page to be able to monitor the vital information for engine start. The ECU backup switch was

Above Boarding steps help with getting up onto the wing, while large doors make for easy cabin entry.

Below Garmin G3X Touch equipped instrument panel with G5 backup and Garmin GMC507 autopilot.

then selected ‘On’ to pressurise the fuel system. This was designed to be used in-flight if both normal ignition circuits failed, but prior to start was the method used to power the fuel pumps.

I then put the Master on and both A and B ignition lanes followed by the various fuel pumps to check functionality – boost (spare), aux (used for take-off/ landing) and then eventually the main fuel pump. The engine had no mechanical fuel pump, therefore the reason for a main and two spares. (Once I had pressurised the fuel lines I should have been able to turn off the ECU backup switch and crank the engine but there was a minor snag which required me to keep the ECU backup switch on until the engine was running. This ‘snag’ apparently cured itself after my flights).

The starter was operated by the ignition key in a conventional fashion and 2,300rpm set for the warm up. I could now turn on EFIS 2 and avionics, allowing the intercom to be used. The prop switch and strobes were selected ‘on’ and it was time to call for taxi.

The Garmin radio was set too loud, so I looked for the knob to turn it down… turned out to be me. I had to press the single fitted knob to get into a volume page and then

use the touch screen to adjust the volume. Easy enough on the ground, but more challenging when airborne. Having obtained approval to taxi I released the parking brake and allowed the aircraft to move forward reminding myself that the rudder pedals did not operate the main wheel brakes. The nosewheel steering worked very well indeed with a very tight turn radius being achievable. Taxying on the tarmac was very easy and directional control was second nature. At the holding point the aircraft was pointed into wind to check the engine and the Airmaster three-bladed constant speed prop. The engine checks were conventional enough. First the fuel tank was changed to prove the other side of the system, then the throttle advanced to set 4,000rpm. Then lane B was turned off, and then on, after two seconds. Once the red light went out this was repeated by lane A.

With the engine checked it was time to check the prop. The Airmaster prop was without doubt a clever device. In flight it was normally selected to ‘auto’ in either take-off, climb or cruise positions. But it could be selected to manual and then an additional switch used to motor the propeller blade pitch from fine to course. This was all duly checked and set to the take-off, flaps were set to stage 1, all the engine instruments were normal and with the obligatory doors and harness call accomplished, it was time to slip the surly bonds of Earth and let this hand-built delight take me to Heaven and back – or at least try.

Airborne

Safely airborne and clear of the circuit I gave Boscombe Down a courtesy call as we would be operating in its

Above The turbocharged engine allows you to take advantage of higher altitude cruising.

“The Airmaster prop was without doubt a clever device. In flight it was normally selected to ‘auto’ in either take-off, climb or cruise positions”

patch at up to 7,000ft. I then began my normal Part 23 flight test programme. The longitudinal static stability was tested by trimming the aircraft carefully to a particular speed and then nudging the stick to change the airspeed in the hope that the speed would then return to the trimmed datum. This is a helpful characteristic as it makes it a lot easier for the pilot to fly at any given speed, best rate of climb speed for example. My testing indicated that the aircraft had weak stability in both the climb and the cruise, which was not entirely unusual for a non-certified aircraft. That said, in the benign conditions flown, I was able to fly at my chosen airspeeds without working too hard.

The aircraft’s phugoid was assessed in the cruise and had a period of approximately 32 seconds. Typically the phugoid would be well damped in this class of aircraft, however in the Sling it was neutral, perhaps even mildly divergent, which was easily and instinctively damped flying day VMC with a good visible horizon. The lateral and directional stability was tested using turns on one control and good stability was evident in each axis even with full flap deployed. The aircraft had large fuel tanks in each wing and I ensured that I had the wing tank selected where the fuel was being sloshed inboard rather than outboard, as I had no desire to check out the aircraft’s genuine forced landing abilities.

The Dutch roll was well damped, and 60° angle of bank steep turns were easy to fly with the aft stick force required increasing in a pleasing linear fashion as more g was pulled. Although not a certification issue as it’s a

Above External door allows access to 35kg limit baggage area behind rear seats.

Left Rear seats.

Below Airmaster constant speed propeller is a good match to the Rotax 915iS.

Below left Composite cabin top blends into aluminium rear fuselage.

Bottom left Dramatically upswept wingtips feature tip mounted strobes.

Below Rotax 915iS engine helps the Sling 4 TSi deliver an economical performance.

homebuilt, I noted that the roll control response around trim was a little sluggish. Investigation revealed no discernible freeplay between stick and ailerons and it was later demonstrated that the ailerons were more than capable of coping with a limiting cross wind without drama. So far so good, and so it was now time to test the aircraft’s stall characteristics. I should point out that I used a certification test philosophy – idle power and the aircraft slowed at 1 KIAS per second until a fully developed stall. In all configurations the first noted symptom was the Garmin originated audio warning (beep … beep … beep) with a subtle visual angle of attack indication in the PFD display. As I slowed past the artificial warner there was no discernible buffet. I was then expecting an ‘uncontrollable downward pitch motion’ which would normally define the onset of the stall if full back stick hadn’t been reached first. In this aircraft the

controls became very slightly sloppy before a wing rock, which within one or two oscillations resulted in a relatively gentle wing drop. The wing drop could be arrested by immediately unloading the stick.

The stalling was similar in each configuration including the full flap landing condition. The stall speeds, especially at close to 950kg were a couple of KIAS higher than those indicated in the POH. I discussed this with Tim and we agreed the stall warner needs to be adjusted to give a better margin above the stall.

In terms of performance, a five minute climb was conducted at close to 950kg (MAUW) with the prop selected to ‘climb’. The POH suggested a rate of climb of slightly less than 800 fpm, but nearly 900 fpm was achieved. The cruise was assessed both with aft CG and at near MAUW. At approx FL50 the prop was set to ‘cruise’ which reduced the prop speed to 5,000rpm. The throttle was used to set 85% power which was a digital indication alongside the manifold pressure gauge.

The indications gave a fuel flow of approx 30 litres an hour at 135 KIAS, which was an impressive miles per gallon figure. On my return transit to Thruxton I noted the aircraft coped well with the light turbulence encountered with good gust response and appropriate stability.

I understand that the aircraft was equipped with Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP-X) technology and Garmin Smart Glide. The ESP-X function was

“At approx FL50 the prop was set to a ‘cruise’ of 5,000rpm, giving a cruise speed of 135 KIAS at fuel flow of 30 lph - that's impressive MPG”

designed to help avoid unusual attitudes and provide airspeed protection. The Smart Glide feature was designed to use the autopilot fly at best glide speed, while assisting the pilot to position for a landing. These features and the autopilot were not evaluated.

Having completed the up and away academic testing it was time to do some more practical testing in the circuit. Both the full aft CG and the max all up weight loadings were flown. Operations were generally flown to Runway 25 (tarmac) at Thruxton, however the final landing was flown to 30 (bumpy grass) which, with a wind of 210-230 at 15kt, gave a limiting crosswind and no headwind component to speak of. The take-off was flown clean and with Stage 1 flap. Landings were conducted with full flap or clean with landings accomplished from glide approaches.

Take-offs were absolutely conventional. After ensuring the aircraft was lined up with the centreline with the nosewheel running straight the main wheel brakes were released and full power (prop = take-off) applied. Right rudder pedal was required to keep straight and aft stick force was applied by 50 KIAS. The aircraft tended to fly off at 55-60 KIAS without any drama. Once 75 KIAS was approached the aircraft had to be pitched 13-14° nose up to hold 75 KIAS (Vy) and prevent the flap limiting speed of 85 KIAS being exceeded. This nose up attitude felt excessive and there was a risk that the flap limiting speed of 85 KIAS could be exceeded if care wasn’t exercised.

Flapless take-offs were equally easy to fly, and Tim and I agreed it was acceptable to take-off clean from suitably long tarmac runways, which would negate the above concern about exceeding the flap limiting speed.

Landings without flap were a little floaty when in ground effect but could be achieved safely enough with no unconventional control strategies. With full flap the aircraft was very easy to land, touching down initially on the main wheels. Landing in a 15kt crosswind was also quite easy with no inkling that a rudder or aileron limit was close to being reached. The undercarriage coped well with the rather rough grass and the brakes brought the aircraft to a halt within 300m without too much difficulty. Although dedicated take-off and landing performance testing wasn’t conducted, the achieved take-off ground run and landing distance I achieved appeared to slightly exceed the POH data. I would always recommend the CAA safety leaflet factors be applied if pilots have any doubt about short field operations.

The engine shutdown was also fairly straightforward with a couple of the avionics units needing power buttons to be pressed and held. Getting out of the aircraft was a reversal of the entry process, and was easily accomplished… even by this ageing test pilot.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my two flights in the Sling 4 TSi which appeared to be well optimised as a comfortable, high-speed family cruiser. If it could be improved, I would like to see a crisper aileron control response around trim and the stall warning system set up to give a safer/wider margin above the stall speed. ■

SLING 4 TSI SPECIFICATIONS

General characteristics

Length 23.5ft

Wingspan 31.3ft

Height 8ft

Seats Four

Cabin width 45.3 in

Empty Weight 520kg

MTOW 950kg

Useful load 520kg

Fuel Capacity 194 ltr usable (244ltr optional)

Performance

Cruise Speed 148ktas

@9,500ft

Stall Speed 51kt.

Range 880nm

Engine Rotax 915iS

141hp max continuous.

Propeller Airmaster

AP430CTF-WWR72B

three blade

constant speed propeller

tim@slingaircraft.uk

www.slingaircraft.uk

Above While it’s primary role is as a stable cruising machine, the TSi can still offer some spirited handling

Left Sling Aircraft UK distributor, Tim Hardy.

Electronic conspicuity: What the future holds…

Another year on and the CAA are still pursuing its airspace modernisation strategy slogans, ‘see and be seen’, ‘share the air’ or more recently ‘detect and avoid’. These slogans relate to Electronic Conspicuity (EC), its use to enhance flight safety and to potentially free up airspace otherwise at risk of being sequestered for the sole benefit of commercial airports, drones and other vested interests. But is anything happening? We are becoming familiar with EC technology but not its application to airspace modernisation. In their occasional magazine Clued up (CAP2000) on EC, the CAA say, “It’s all about looking into the future.”

Interpret that as you will, but in this article I look at what is going on now in an attempt to discover what the evolving ‘future’ might hold for us.

Electronic Conspicuity is a technology that uses an electronic beacon on your aircraft to transmit your (GPS derived) position for all to see. It’s this function that has a potentially important role in the CAA’s airspace modernisation planning. As well as enabling you to be seen, if you are equipped with an appropriate ‘EC in’

receiver and traffic display (picture 1), it can alert you to traffic in your vicinity.

But be aware, three prominent technologies exist to exploit this in the UK: ADS-B, the international aviation standard; FLARM, a system initially developed by the Swiss for the gliding community; and Pilot Aware, an independent UK development. The former (ADSB) uses a dedicated aviation radio frequency allowing up to 250 watts of transmitter power. The latter two use a publicly available radio band, are severely power restricted and unprotected (from interference by other users).

Unfortunately, the three systems are not completely compatible (interoperable) with one another. ‘ADS-B in’ can’t see FLARM beacons, FLARM and ADS-B receivers can’t see Pilot Aware and so on. To get a complete EC traffic picture you would have to fill your cockpit or operations room with all manner of clutter, expensive multi standard devices or rely on private traffic rebroadcasting services such as Pilot Aware Atom – Grid. A complex picture, but I’ve covered its trials and tribulations before, so I move on.

Where is ‘share the air’ going and how will EC be used to support the CAA’s airspace modification plans? We’ve heard the slogans, got the gadgets, but few serious plans have emerged. Airspace modernisation planning by regional airports is going on apace, but there is little evidence that it is harnessing EC. Product (gadget) development has stabilised with few new radical ideas appearing. Presumably the avionics industry is waiting for more clarity on how the authorities propose to utilise EC, or indeed which equipment we will eventually have to use. Meanwhile, how do we future proof our aircraft to cope with this chaotic world?

New Gadgets: Space based ADS-B

One new feature that has appeared in a GA EC gadget is space-based ADS-B. Space-based ADSB works by picking up regular aircraft ADSB (1090MHz) transmissions with a satellite (485 miles up). The data is then relayed via other satellites to a central ground station. Traffic data can then be passed on to whoever wants to use (and pay for) it less than two seconds later (picture 2). Why might this be a good way of doing it?

Current ‘EC’ equipped traffic can see one another air to air within reasonable ranges using their regular on-board devices and antenna (5-10 miles is more than enough) but, to be reliably seen by traffic management

Ian Fraser looks back on what was new in the world of EC in 2022, and thinks about the future too…

Below (pic 1) A Garmin traffic display on an Aera 660 navigator, one of several traffic display gadgets and formats available to us.

agencies, such as NATs or RAF ATC, aircraft must be within electronic ‘line of sight’ of a ground-based receiver connected to the appropriate traffic service provider.

Total coverage of the UK alone for high flying commercial aircraft requires at least 30 ground receivers, which is expensive enough. More realistically, to detect aircraft at for example 1,000ft, more than 60 would be required. Full such coverage over the oceans is impossible – and over remote areas such as northern Canada or Australia prohibitively expensive. The second generation constellation of ‘Iridium’ satellites (sat-phone, broadband etc.) are equipped with a sensitive ADS-B receiver (picture 3) and due to their coverage (66 active satellites) are able to provide a comprehensive worldwide

Above

ADS-B surveillance service through their existing satellite communication system. No more blind spots, no more low altitude or mountain-related ‘line of sight’ problems. Plus, if you’ve already got satellites covering the oceans and outback, they also cover the land. Ultimately, why bother with land-based systems at all? Today space-based ADS-B is an opportunist solution looking for customers, but could be the future way ahead for us all. However, don’t hold your breath, there is a lot of work to be done before it could take over as the main aircraft detection system. One catch: the key difference between space compatible ADS-B and normal ADS-B is that it requires the aircraft to have an antenna and transmitter that radiates an adequate signal upwards. Unfortunately, while most commercial aircraft have diverse or multiple antennas one of which points up, most of our GA ADS-B installations only have the one underside antenna that radiates downwards.

Recently uAvionix, a small but innovative American company, has developed an

(pic 2) The aircraft transmits ADSB position to the satellite 500 miles above, which passes it on via two other satellites to the ground station. From there it is processed and transmitted on via two satellites and a ground network to the end user, perhaps an ATC unit. A journey of some 7,000 miles in < 2 seconds.

Left (pic 3) An Iridium satellite. The super-sensitive ADSB antenna array is the white bit on the upper right of the satellite body. It’s good for detecting a class 1 ADSB transmission up to 1,500 miles away.

interesting new GA ADS-B transponder product that addresses this. tailBeaconX (picture 4), with one of its features being compatibility with space-based ADS-B. It achieves this through its mounting on the rear of an aircraft and a cleverly designed single antenna which radiates upwards as well as downwards. It’s part of an EC beacon, EC in / display and ATC transponder product set. It also includes a controller (AV30), which fits a standard instrument hole and doubles as a traffic display (picture 5), DI or AI. tailBeaconX weighs only 100 grams and mounts easily on the rudder or fin. An indispensable product if you are planning a transatlantic or wilderness flight and regardless of its space capability, a very interesting future proof product, which I would certainly like the opportunity to test and review in my own aircraft.

New EC services: Electronic obstacle beacons

Moving on, are the CAA using EC for anything yet? Yes, at long last there are signs of activity, the first being obstacle marking. Our uncontrolled airspace is becoming increasingly cluttered with small or temporary hazards, which in reality are often impossible to spot from the air.

Our maps have small icons marking gliding and parachuting sites. Notams are published for model flying, drones, tethered balloons, pop festivals, horse shows, to mention but a few. On a paper map dealing with this is a nightmare. On electronic maps (provided you have connected them to the internet recently) we sometimes get circles or a shaded area denoting active Notams or other hazards. Such hazards are often depicted for months when we know they are only really needed for short periods. This unnecessarily increases clutter and the omnipresent long-term warnings eventually get disregarded.

The CAA is now running a trial of equipment to electronically mark some of these hazards on our traffic displays, but only when the hazard is active. When enabled, the beacons will appear on our traffic displays.

When not in use, they will be switched off and the hazard will vanish. A useful tool, which if successful and adopted, will reduce the clutter on our maps, displays and brains significantly. It’s a bit premature to understand how they will be displayed, but perhaps it will be an icon with height data and an audio warning… The CAA’s trial involves temporary beacons operated at 12 sites in the UK covering gliding, paragliding and model flying. By the time this is published the trial will be complete and we should expect to hear the results soon. If successful we can expect such beacons to be adopted pretty soon. However, as always with EC it is not quite that simple.

Left top (pic 4) tailBeaconX mounts in place of a tail strobe, weighs no more (100 grams) yet is a full class one (250w) mode S extended squitter (ADSB) transponder.

Left bottom (pic 5) UAvionix AV30 multipurpose flight instrument also controls Tail beacon X modes and squawk (turn, push and set each number). Shown displaying its EC traffic page which has a handy DI arc along the top. One of the best small traffic displays I have seen.

While the hazard markers use ‘ADS-B’ in the tests, it is on a different frequency known as UAT (Universal Access Transmission). More on UAT later.

Drones

Another sign of CAA EC activity is associated with the drone world and avoiding conflict with GA (the CAA’s ‘detect and avoid’ slogan). Drones operating beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) are a fact of future life, and harmony between them and GA is extremely important to our freedom and safety. I have had several conversations with the CAA and its agents about EC in my time and one of my regular questions has been ‘will ADS-B or EC become mandatory?’. So far, the answer has always been, ‘we have no plans to make it mandatory’.

Imagine my surprise when I recently became aware of an EC trial being proposed (for 2023) of a Mandatory Electronic Conspicuity Zone (MECZ) requiring 1090MHz

Below (pic 6) The proposed Mandatory Electronic conspicuity zone in the S western Isles. Probably for 6 months next year.

ADS-B out. The trial zone (covering most of the Scottish south-western isles, (picture 6) is just temporary for about six months this time, but is it a sign of the future?

The trial is about testing and developing drone operating procedures and standards. The plan seems to be that drones operating there will detect and avoid any aircraft transmitting ADSB (1090MHz) position data. Drones will only avoid aircraft they can see electronically, hence the MECZ. If the trial doesn’t work, the TRZs (Temporary Restricted Zones) applied in Scotland and IOW last year separating drones (making Covid vaccine drone flights) from GA, could become an example of how it will be managed. By the time the airspace planners have added their ‘contingency area’ to the drone ‘flight

“Drones operating BVLOS are a fact of future life, and harmony between them and GA is important to our freedom and safety”

geography’ (its words not mine), we could be locked out of large tracts of airspace up to 1,500-2,000ft. Add the aspirations of other BVLOS drone operations – such as Amazon for parcel delivery, utilities for power line surveys etc. – large tracts of our airspace could become permanent RZs or routinely Notamed closed.

However, mixing it with drones introduces another challenge. The drone world also needs to electronically transmit its position data to work harmoniously in the EC environment, not the least reason for which is for us to be able to see them.

UK authorities recognise that adding drones to the main 1090MHz EC frequency could clutter it even more, threatening safety of the commercial airline traffic transponder and commercial airliners ACAS (collision avoidance) systems. One solution being seriously considered in the UK is to use the UAT frequency

(978MHz) for drone EC traffic position transmissions.

In the USA the gadget manufacturers seem to be betting on low power (<1watt) 1090 MHz (picture 7) and FLARM also has a new product, FLARM Atom UAV. So, to see drone traffic, (and marked hazards) we may need a UAT and FLARM capability in our ‘EC in’ device. Many of us do not have this.

However, this trial looks like a breath of fresh air, in that, I believe it is experimenting with how to make coexistence work rather than simply proving through a trial that it won’t work tinyurl.com/ECzonetrial. In the various blogs I have seen discussing this trial, there have been several almost venomous comments objecting to it on principle. I think that is a mistake and we should support it and contribute to its success rather than let it demonstrate that airspace sharing won’t work. The alternative to harmony and MECZs is more and more restricted access zones in lower airspace. Avoiding this is what I hope ‘share the air’ is about.

Another issue that coexistence raises is a drone’s own avoidance manoeuvres. Right now, aircraft all follow a standard procedure avoiding conflicting traffic by manoeuvring to the right.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, this works well for visible traffic which, by definition, is almost always forward. I have raised the issue of catchup scenarios before where a standard avoidance manoeuvre executed

Above (pic 7) Drone EC device smaller than a matchbox and covers ADSB and FLARM in and out at <1w.

“The drone world also needs to electronically transmit its position data to work harmoniously in the EC environment”

by a caught party (e.g. the drone) can conflict with the catchers avoidance manoeuvre (e.g. you) causing, rather than avoiding, a collision. Now that we could be catching pre-programmed devices, what will they do, turn right, too?

How will a drone deal with a manoeuvring aircraft? If we are to coexist with them, we need to know what to expect them to do and they need to know what we might do. We must ensure avoidance manoeuvres don’t conflict before we can mix with them safely.

UAT

Back to gadgets. UAT (Universal Access Transmission) seems to be becoming the preferred solution to obstacle, and possibly drone position electronic, reporting in the UK. UAT transmissions on 978MHz are already a part of the USA nationwide EC system used to augment ADS-B for GA without cluttering the main transponder frequency (1090MHz). Things like weather data, Notams and traffic information (derived from airport radar) are relayed via UAT to a US aircrafts’ ‘dual band’ ‘ADS-B in’ box.

The UAT frequency and functions, while standard in the USA, were never adopted in Europe because of a supposed clash with a DME frequency (which seems to have gone away). Many American ‘ADSB in’ devices, e.g. Garmin GDLxx, Levil and others, are dual band and include the 978Mhz UAT channel, but most European devices do not. FLARM and PilotAware, whether ADS-B capable or not, do not currently have a UAT capability. If the CAA really wants interoperability, then it has got to get a grip of EC technologies, be open, and set a standard to help both suppliers and its customers out of this impasse.

ATC EC

Returning to the operational side of EC, it has always seemed to me obvious that EC will sooner, rather than later, be a serious option for airport ATC.

ATC radars are full of moving parts, are expensive to maintain, complex to operate and by modern GPS position standards, not very accurate. I would have expected EC to be seriously considered by the CAA or regional airfields as part of the airspace modernisation programme. At a recent public meeting about airspace modernisation at my local airport, I asked a question about EC and was disappointed to discover that not only did it not know anything about it, but were completely unaware of its prominent role in the CAAs airspace modernisation programme. Disappointing and worrying, as elsewhere the CAA has been supporting trials of its use at small GA airfields. For example, Airspace4All (a GA special interest group) has conducted a trial of an EC (ADS-B) based traffic system for uncontrolled airfields. At Barton, Goodwood and North Weald airfields, ground radio operators have been using EC to help their awareness of local traffic. For these trials, frequent airfield users were lent low power ADSB beacons, the radio operators a low-cost ADS-B receiver, both by uAvionix, and the air-radio task monitored.

The likely outcome of the trials is that, if deemed successful, the CAA will develop and publish a procedure to allow traffic information from such equipment to be recognised and even reported by

Barton, Goodwood and

ground radio operators. But, you might say, that is a long way from the ATC function… I am not so sure it is. As the CAA itself says (in its Clued-up document) ‘it’s all about looking into the future’. It would be a simple step to make Class D airspace EC mandatory and mandate SIL = one (a transponder setting defining how good your position reporting GPS is) for operation in the zone. I suggest that the same safety standard achieved by ATC radar would be demonstrable for 10% of the equipment cost or even cheaper if ADS-B traffic data was acquired from the satellite operators. The concept has been demonstrated (at Barton), the precedent set (in the Western isles), all commercial airliners already meet the EC standard and the satellites are all up there working.

While talking about ATC, the RAF under ‘Project Marshal’, is updating all its ATC systems with completion scheduled by 2024. As far as GA is concerned, it provides a country-wide integrated radar system using 60 installations, so the normal Radar service ranges should improve. It now includes Mode S capability (meaning we can now get mode S transponder checks from our local radar service) and has ADS-B capability although I understand, not initially available to the controllers.

Conclusion

EC’s role in airspace management has only just started to scratch the surface. As the avionics industry has demonstrated, a few simple products can provide sophisticated solutions at a fraction of the cost of traditional air traffic management systems. Once the accountants realise this, it will happen in the commercial world sooner rather than later.

Keep a good eye out for ongoing consultations on airspace change. I think the CAA is on our side, but some of the vested interests are not. We need to make sure our interests (as stakeholders) are known and represented in all airspace change activities to ensure we are not sidelined. I believe it is in all our interest to support EC and the activities necessary to make it work effectively to share the air. I suggest that you reply to or comment on consultations constructively but watch out for (and report) attempts to circumnavigate the process. Without such support to the CAA, I can only see our freedom reduced to such a level that the lack of it becomes a safety hazard in its own right.

Meanwhile, to future proof your aircraft read between the lines of all the propaganda, bumph and the placating statements. The way I see EC evolving in the UK is that we will have to be able to transmit SIL 1 standard ADS-B on 1090 MHz and maybe even transmit it upwards. To see traffic and hazards, we must be able to receive both 1090 ADS-B and 978 MHz UAT. Nothing else will work in the CAA’s evolving ‘see and be seen’ or ‘share the air’ world. On the positive side, the CAA’s £250 subsidy is still available until the end of March 2023, if you need to buy anything related to EC.

It’s all about looking into the future now. ■

“A trial at

North Weald airfields, saw ground radio operators using EC to help their awareness of local traffics”

Coaching Corner…

Weather watching…

Reading the developing weather as you fly is an important skill, as PCS Head of Training David Cockburn continues to explain in Part 2 of his article…

Cloud patterns from the ground

Even from the ground, clouds can provide information about the weather beyond them.

The old saying ‘red sky at night – shepherds’ delight’ suggests the upper cloud at the downwind side of a cold front reflecting the setting sun’s rays. The converse ‘red sky in the morning – sailors’ warning’ suggests the cirrus cloud of an approaching warm front reflecting the rising sun’s rays.

There are, of course, more indicators of an approaching warm front, with its associated lowering cloud, increasing wind and precipitation (sometimes freezing rain) than just a red sky. Increasing amounts of thickening upper cloud are the classic sign of an approaching warm front. However, few fronts exhibit classic signs, and clouds seldom build up progressively from above. More frequently small amounts of stratiform cloud will appear in bands, often lenticular in form, well in advance of the surface front. Even the rain, which often arrives some 50 miles before a surface warm front, tends to come in surges (sometimes quite rapidly), rather than in a progressively increasing amount. The picture (right) shows a sky with a warm front approaching from the direction of a range of hills which has broken up the theoretical cloud pattern.

An approaching cold front is seldom visible, hidden by low cloud in the warm sector. However, when it has arrived, perhaps giving heavy rain, often a shaft of sunlight will be visible in the distance to indicate the clearance behind it. The actual passage of the cold front will be indicated by a characteristic veering of the surface wind as the air temperature and dew point drop, even if the sky does not immediately clear.

Especially in frontal zones, cumulonimbus clouds are sometimes ‘embedded’ (hidden by other clouds).

However, individual distant Cu Nim will often be indicated either by the cirrus cloud of an anvil, or by towering cumulus with considerable vertical extent, which will themselves turn into storm clouds. Cumulus type cloud at high altitudes, the ‘altocumulus castellanus’ clouds, are another type which may turn into cumulonimbus in the near future

Cloudbase estimation from the ground

It is often difficult from the ground to detect the height of the cloudbase above. If there is no cloudbase measuring device on the aerodrome or strip, and reports from nearby aerodromes are unobtainable, it is often tempting

Below A warm front approaching the Trent Valley.

Bottom Cb inbound.

to take-off and see what the cloudbase actually is. Pilots can frequently be drawn into believing that the area forecast is too pessimistic.

The first way that we can judge cloud height is by looking at an obstruction in the area and seeing if, and where, the cloud is touching it. However, experienced pilots can also estimate cloudbase by looking at patches of cloud drifting in the wind. The relative movement of the

patches across an observer’s view is a function of wind speed and cloud height. If a pilot regularly observes the cloud movement across the sky, when he knows both the wind speed and cloud height, he will develop a skill in cloud height estimation, which he should practice and check on good weather days. Forecasts of gradient wind speed are usually more accurate than those of cloudbase, but in any case we should understand the relationship between the windsock at our own airfield and the actual wind strength (different windsocks have different indications). Fast moving cloud patches on a day of moderate winds indicate very low cloud!

If we can gain access to temperature and dew point measurements, or humidity reports, remember that high humidity (temperature and dew point close together) indicates that clouds are likely to form at very low heights.

Precipitation is also likely to produce a lowering of a previously higher cloudbase. While rain often falls from relatively high cloud, drizzle drops are so close to cloud droplet size that drizzle may be regarded as a major indicator of a very low cloudbase. For that reason, as well as the reduced visibility and possible carburettor icing, I’d never advise a private pilot to attempt a take-off in drizzle.

Cloud patterns from the air

Once airborne, the same information is available as from the ground. However, more specific indicators exist once

the aircraft is at its planned cruising altitude. A pilot who looks ahead and around can often find strong clues to possible problems.

If the visibility is generally good, significant variations in that visibility around the horizon provide warning signs of either cloud dropping below the aircraft’s present altitude, or precipitation falling in that area. Neither of these is good news for a private pilot. The first option should be an altitude change to below the cloudbase if practicable. If that does not provide a clear horizon, a route change away from the precipitation is advisable. A similar indication of precipitation is provided by ‘curtains’ of cloud, which appear to be falling from above, and even if these do not obscure the horizon, they will certainly affect an aircraft.

Precipitation may spread quickly, especially around the base of a large cumulus, so be sure of having another safety option (preferably a diversion aerodrome in sight) before attempting to fly around precipitation from an overcast (or even broken) cloudbase.

Above Top of Scrabo Tower, by Strangford Lough in Co Down, is just visible.

Above Raincu

Above Look ahead.

The reverse is also true. In good visibility, under large amounts of cloud, the sun’s rays striking the ground, or even shining through gaps, can provide an indication of how much cloud lies in a particular direction (even though visible sun’s rays may come hand in hand with reduced visibility in that direction). This can help in planning possible route changes if the cloudbase starts to lower.

A large area of sunlit ground in one direction may indicate a gap big enough to allow an aircraft to climb away from dangerously low cloud (small gaps may allow a pilot to maintain a view of the surface below, but are unlikely to allow a safe climb). If the gaps are lined up across the wind, however, they are likely to be wave induced, and an aircraft’s rate of climb may be reduced in the gap, especially at the upwind end.

The ground from the air

Looking at the ground as far ahead and around as possible is important in weather monitoring. We have seen the significance of areas of significantly reduced visibility around the horizon. If flying above a haze layer, a general reduction in the air to ground visibility indicates that once the aircraft has descended, the flight visibility in that haze layer will also have reduced.

Low cloud or mist patches may appear in shallow valleys, giving warning of radiation fog ahead. In fact, any cloud which forms below an aircraft’s cruising altitude should be treated as a potential hazard. Often, the first low cloud will appear in hilly regions, but that may provide an indication that further cloud may form over flatter terrain. Patches of cloud close to cruising altitude indicate possible carburettor icing conditions, as does the top of a haze layer.

The forecast wind velocity is likely to be quite accurate, especially at cruising altitudes, but it is important to be aware of any changes. It may also be important to know the local surface wind, not only in the event of a forced landing, but also as an indication of possible crosswind problems at the destination.

Not everyone has a GNSS wind read out available.

Above The sun’s rays shining through gaps, can provide an indication of how much cloud lies in a particular direction.

Below Heading into sun over haze with snow on the ground.

Without that, wind strength is difficult to estimate, even from the movement of smoke, although if it becomes particularly strong dust or snow may be blown around, and the number and size of whitecaps on water can be referred to the Beaufort Scale. However, the movement of cloud shadows across the ground can indicate the rough speed of the gradient wind, as can an aircraft’s drift when flying crosswind, or ground speed when flying into or down wind.

“Patches of cloud close to cruising altitude indicate possible carburettor icing conditions, as does the top of a haze layer”

the ground will indicate local surface wind, as can wind turbines. However, it is important to remember that if convection is taking place in generally light wind conditions, the surface wind at a particular time may be considerably different from the gradient wind, and may change rapidly as the convective currents change. This may be deceptive if attempting a forced landing in such conditions. A pilot may select an approach into the surface wind indicated by a single smoke column, only to find himself approaching from the wrong direction at touchdown. It is often better to remember the surface wind which was forecast and plan an approach accordingly.

If unable to remember the forecast surface wind, or that which affected you on take-off, it is possible to determine the gradient wind by flying a steady turn through 360° and seeing which way the aircraft drifts.

Unfortunately, if the engine has already failed, one is unlikely to have enough time for such a manoeuvre! It may therefore be useful to set the surface wind experienced at take-off on a spare instrument indicator (such as a CDI) for immediate reference in an emergency. Try to remember (or calculate) the direction from which the sun will be shining when flying into wind.

However, more generally, if several sources of smoke indicate a surface wind different to that which one was expecting, a knowledgeable pilot will think of possible reasons for that difference. Is a front moving at a different speed to that forecast? Is a cumulonimbus cloud affecting the winds? Is there a valley funnel effect taking place?

MET on the radio

Many pilots prefer to talk to as few air traffic service units as possible when flying. This deprives them of a useful

source of met information. For example, the ‘information for safety of flight’ which a Flight Information Service must provide, includes any Metars, SPECIs and TAFs which the pilot asks for. In less than obviously ideal conditions, it is advisable to make use of the facility. Since Metars change every half hour, it is a good habit to check those for the intended destination and possible diversion aerodromes at least at that interval.

However, even without talking to an ATSU, pilots can detect changes in weather patterns by listening to appropriate stations. The ‘Volmet’ facility is a continuous broadcast on published VHF frequencies of Metars and SPECIs from major aerodromes, and can usually give an indication that similar weather can be found at nearby airfields. Any ‘Trend’ given at the end of each report is a landing forecast, and therefore more accurate than a TAF. A reduction in expected cloudbase or visibility reported by Volmet is often an indication of general deterioration.

A reduction in pressure (QNH or RPS) is also a good indication that weather is becoming generally worse. A surface wind which backs and increases at a time different from that forecast can provide a warning of the increasing or decreasing speed of an approaching warm front for example. Similar information may be deduced from the ATIS (automated terminal information service) at any major aerodromes being passed.

Knowledgeable pilots are always prepared for problems which might arise. They use the available reports to confirm whether potential problems, even if the forecast does not include them, have either occurred or have become more likely.

In summer, wind changes at coastal aerodromes will indicate the presence of sea breezes. In autumn and winter, the temperatures and dew points reported can provide useful indications of possible mist or fog, especially at low lying aerodromes, even before the visibility itself drops.

Light winds in the lee of a ridge of hills while the gradient wind is strong indicate lee wave or rotor turbulence there and in the area.

What’s the expression? ‘An ounce of preparation saves a pound of perspiration’… ■

Above Smoke sources on the ground are always useful wind indicators.

“It is possible to determine the gradient wind by flying a steady turn through 360° and seeing which way the aircraft drifts”

The latest LAA Engineering topics and investigations. Compiled by Jerry Parr

Engineering Matters

Including: Aircraft registration markings rules, EuroFox exhaust systems, Andair fuel pumps and ethanol and aircraft refurbishment and worksheets…

One of the benefits of our offices at Turweston, is the variety of aircraft that taxy past our windows, particularly on a sunny summer afternoon. We’re frequently impressed by the quality and craftsmanship of these aircraft, but every now and then they cause us a bit of an intake of breath!

It was one of these rare occasions that’s prompting us to remind you of the rules regarding aircraft registration markings.

The offender in question had managed to paint black registration lettering on the fuselage against a navy blue background – even with binoculars at 50 yards it was difficult to read!

So, by way of a reminder: the law on this is set out in the Air Navigation Order and a more user-friendly version can be found in CAA CAP 523. The underlying principle is that the markings allow ready identification of the aircraft, partly by those

on the ground, but more often by others operating on an airfield. The markings are required on each side of the fuselage and under the wing. The guidance in CAP 523 allows a small amount of latitude, but generally:

Letters may not have any ‘ornamentation’: i.e. no embellishments. The CAP gives guidance on the proportions of the characters.

Underwing markings must be at least 50cm tall and on the port wing, unless they extend across the underside of both wings. Tops of these letters must face towards the leading edge. The fuselage or tail markings must be at least 30cm tall. Letters on the fuselage may be slanted, but by no more than 30°.

Markings must be of the same single colour and distinct from the background, with adequate separation from any other marks. It notes that simply outlining the

letters in a contrasting colour is unlikely to provide the necessary legibility.

Letters must be of the same height. Dark letters against a light background is preferred.

Background should be a uniform colour. Orange, brown or grey should be avoided for both markings and background.

It would be worth taking a critical eye to your paint scheme and see how it measures up, particularly if you’re about to get your aircraft re-painted.

If a CAA surveyor’s ramp check identifies an aircraft (and this includes LAA-administered aircraft) as being non-compliant, then at best you may just be required to get it sorted out. It is something that could incur a fine though, if you were unlucky.

Obviously, the further away the markings are from the requirement, the more noticeable they’ll be!

Registration markings

Welcome to ‘Engineering Matters’ – the section of Light Aviation that is dedicated to discussing all manner of topics concerning both technical and operational aspects of the LAA fleet. If you have anything to say that you think would benefit

others, then please email words and pictures to LAA Engineering at engineering@laa.uk.com.

Above and left Examples of registrations with various interpretations of the ANO requirements

EuroFox exhaust muffler

LAA and BGA inspector, Simon Ducker, is also the technical lead and tug pilot at a gliding club that uses a EuroFox as a tug.

During a recent tow the EuroFox 912ULS lost power leading to the glider being waved off and the tug making a safe return back to the airfield.

The engine and propeller combination had been set up to pull 5,800rpm (maximum rpm for five minutes) at 78kt and ‘Wide Open Throttle’ (WOT). This equated to approximately 5,650rpm at 65kt WOT.

After the power loss, the maximum achievable WOT rpm was 5,200 (at 65kt), which resulted in a significant reduction in performance.

On investigation, it was discovered that part of the exhaust muffler internal baffling had broken free and was causing a restriction to the escaping exhaust gases.

In Simon’s experience, the Eurofox exhaust mufflers last approximately 800 hours, but the one in question had only flown around 240 hours.

Simon contacted EuroFox UK, which contacted Aeropro, the aircraft manufacturer, which confirmed that the design has now been updated:

Original production method: MIG welding, three stitches, dissimilar metal (to exhaust components) for MIG wire. Current production method: TIG welding, seam welded, matching TIG wire to exhaust components.

It is very difficult to carry out a thorough internal examination of an exhaust muffler. The modern borescopes that connect to a smartphone are not expensive and can be fed into the muffler (when removed) to allow as good an inspection as possible to be carried out.

This is not just a potential issue with EuroFox or Rotax mufflers, all mufflers

Andair fuel pumps and ethanol

The use of ethanol in fuel continues to cause problems. Andair fuel system components are widely regarded throughout the industry to be the finest available, but they have discovered that ethanol-based fuels may cause issues with their fuel pumps.

Andair issued the following Service Alert on 6 October 2022:

‘This service alert applies to all Andair fuel pump models, e.g. PX375-TC, PX500-TC, PX375D-PR, PX375-S, etc.

It has come to our attention that the use of ethanol-based fuel (E10, E15, etc) over

should be examined carefully. Back in the day, the inspections were normally carried out by applying positive air pressure to the inside of the exhaust system and covering the outside in soapy water and then looking for bubbles.

In modern times, a good quality LED light and a borescope will normally highlight cracks and other problems, even if the exhaust gases have not yet started to stain the outer surfaces.

Right The position of the disc mentioned above after failure – it had lodged at the first bend.

Below left and right The internal baffles now incorporated in the new design of muffler.

time can cause detriment and weakness to the epoxy adhesive/potting compound used in our pump models. Eventually this will inhibit conforming/working functionality of pump components.

We encourage all customers using ethanol-based fuels with Andair pump models to discontinue immediately and contact Andair for guidance, or to return their units for inspection, repair/ replacement.

We are currently working on a solution to resolve this matter, so all fuel types are sufficient without risk or harm to your

Andair pump model. In the meantime, we strongly urge you to suspend the use of ethanol-based fuel until further notice.

The use of UL91, avgas 100LL, UL94 & Swift 100R is safe and satisfactory in all Andair products.

We apologise for any concern or inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for your continued custom and support!’

The Service Alert does not specifically mention E5 ethanol fuels, but that does not mean to say that E5 fuels will not also affect components over time.

Above This picture explains the exhaust muffler layout and area of failure.

Above The view from the right-hand side of the exhaust muffler and down the pipe that eventually (after a couple of bends) exits the aircraft with the exhaust gasses. Note: the round hole in the centre, is where the disc should be attached.

Aircraft refurbishment and worksheets

LAA Technical Leaflet TL 2.21: Rebuilding an Aircraft under the LAA System covers many subjects that might be encountered during an aircraft’s return to service.

One of the sections in TL 2.21, covers the production of worksheets. This information applies equally to many other aspects of maintaining an LAA aircraft, from simple maintenance tasks, through scheduled servicing to carrying out repairs and embodying modifications.

It is very easy to lose sight of maintaining worksheets, especially during a protracted rebuild or maintenance input.

The worksheets and logbook entries should be sufficiently detailed to ensure that any third party can read through the information recorded and come away with a clear picture as to the extent of the maintenance input and exactly what work was carried out and by whom.

If worksheets are received by LAA Engineering that are not up to the standard as detailed in TL 2.21, it may well result in worksheets having to be rewritten submitted.

Apart from studying the information found in TL 2.21, some other basic points to consider are:

1. Produce a worksheet before actually starting the job.

2. Keep the worksheets on a clipboard with the aircraft, while it is being worked on.

3. Keep the worksheets up to date throughout the work. It is simply not possible to recollect all the maintenance inputs right at the end, once the maintenance tasks are all complete.

4. If a component is removed, make an entry stating the work carried out and make an ‘open entry’ immediately below it, stating it is to be refitted or replaced. At the end of the job, open entries are much easier to spot than no entry.

5. Take photographs. Many photographs. With the modern

LAA Engineering housekeeping

Requested documents Many modifications, repairs and other situations require certain documents to either be returned, or scans emailed, to LAA Engineering.

These may include Certificates of Clearance, Operating

LAA Engineering charges

LAA Project Registration

Kit Built Aircraft £300

Plans Built Aircraft £50

Initial Permit issue

Up to 450kg £450

451-999kg £550

1,000kg and above £650

Permit Revalidation

(can now be paid online via LAA Shop)

Up to 450kg £170

451-999kg £220

1,000kg and above £260

Factory-built gyroplanes* (all weights) £275

*Gyros note: if the last Renewal wasn’t administered by the LAA, an extra fee of £125 applies

Modification application

Prototype modification minimum £60

Repeat modification minimum £30

Transfer

(from C of A to Permit or CAA Permit to LAA Permit)

advancements in technology, even if you do not have a smartphone with a camera, buy a cheap digital camera and record everything. Especially areas and systems (such as control runs) where the task involves a requirement for a duplicate inspection and access may be difficult once, for instance, a fuselage or wing has been recovered in fabric with minimal inspection panels.

6. Another useful use of the camera is for taking photographs of components and assemblies prior to them being removed or disassembled. You might think you will remember how it goes back together but when the time comes, the memory often fades.

7. Make an entry on the Aircraft Duplicate Inspection Record of any components or systems that require a duplicate inspection, as you progress through the maintenance tasks.

8. Remember, the Duplicate Inspection Record is not a worksheet and there is no Permit Maintenance Release statement on the Duplicate Inspection Record. The worksheets should reference the entry in the Duplicate Inspection Record and the actual maintenance input for the component or system is signed for on the worksheet.

9. A Permit Maintenance Release should be signed for on every worksheet.

10. There appears to be an increasingly common practice of ‘typing’ initials into the signature columns on worksheets against maintenance tasks. It might seem like a good idea at the time (especially if producing worksheets ‘digitally’) but if questions are ever asked, confirming that a ‘named’ person was actually involved is very difficult to prove.

11. The worksheets and/or workpack should have a specific, easily identifiable reference number that is stated in the ‘white’ pages of the relevant logbook(s) when the maintenance input is recorded and signed for.

Limitations documents, copies of logbook pages and check flight schedules among others.

By carefully referring to letters and emails sent by Engineering and complying with the requests exactly, this will help to minimise delays. ■

Recent Alerts & AILs

Up to 450kg

451 to 999kg

1,000kg and above

Four-seat aircraft

Manufacturer’s/agent’s type acceptance fee £2,000

Project registration royalty £50

Category change

Group A to microlight

Microlight to Group A

Change of G-Registration fee

Issue of Permit documents following G-Reg change £55

Replacement Documents

Lost, stolen etc (fee is per document)£20

PLEASE NOTE: When you’re submitting documents using an A4-sized envelope, a first-class stamp is insufficient postage.

Please note the Engineering section of the LAA website has the most current information.

LAA TSB: TSB-001-2022

Applicability: All Europa aircraft

Europa: Door latch system stop

CAA MPD: 2022-003

LAA AIL: MOD/247/012

LAA Alert: LAA/AWA/21/08

Note: CAA MPD 2022-003 has now been corrected as of 22 June 2022

MT-PROPELLER ENTWICKLUNG GmbH

Applicability: MTV-( ) Variable Pitch Propellers

Subject: Propeller Blade Lag Screw Replacement

EASA AD 2022-0134

Note: Please see the MT Propeller TADS P17 link to the ‘EASA AD Safety Publishing Tool’ for further info.

SLING

Applicability: All Sling aircraft types and serials

Subject: Eyebolt inspection and conditional replacement Sling Service Bulletin #0020

Note: It has been found that the eyebolts fitted in the control system of certain Sling aircraft may fail to meet the manufacturer’s specification in regard to fatigue life. Such eyebolts are identifiable by the narrowness of the neck of the eyebolt above the bolt thread. This service bulletin details the procedures for inspection and replacement of such eyebolts in the various control systems.

Struts 4U

Anne Hughes rounds up Strut news & views

Plans are afoot across the country for many Struts to hold Christmas celebrations and Hogmanay events for our friends north of the border! It is good to hear that Struts are meeting up at local hostelries to share in these much-anticipated gatherings.

We have also received good news from some of the Struts reporting on an increase in membership over the last year and a variety of activities including visits, talks, fly-ins, BBQs and aviation activities for young people.

The Wessex Strut, under the watchful guidance of Neil Wilson, brought an extra dimension to group activities during lockdown and are now keen to continue with a group that socialises on terra firma, whatever the weather.

Neil writes, “During the lockdown of 2020, and then the partial lifting of restrictions, I went for a walk with a few fellow Wessex Strut members. This became good exercise, and as well as seeing people it was also good for mental health. Therefore, we decided to form a walking group that would go for a walk in the Wessex Strut area every two weeks. The group is called Wessex Aviators Leisure Klub (WALK). It has proved to be very popular and has now grown to an average size of 15-20 each time we go, out of about 35 people who have come along at least twice, but can’t do each time.

“We have seen lovely villages, bluebell woods, old churches, crossed rivers and streams, seen beautiful houses and mills, which are not usually seen from a car. We often start from a pub (use the car park) before returning for a

Above During the 2020 lockdown, Wessex Strut stalwart, Neil Wilson, began walking with Strut members. The result? Wessex Aviators Leisure Klub (WALK), which is proving a huge success!

Below left and right Geoffrey New’s wonderful Avro 504L restoration project.

light lunch afterwards. The ancient town of Sherborne was interesting, as one of our walkers is an architect, so we learned about the construction of buildings, including the town’s abbey (a flying buttress is not an aeroplane whizzing over – but a large support to a building!). We have even had two fly-in/drive-in walks during the last two summers, from a fellow strutters airstrip near Glastonbury, before tucking into a picnic lunch by the hangars.

“We all take turns sorting out the next walk, so no-one gets tied down with organising too much. One walk in the winter started in bright sunshine, but by the time we got to the top of a steep hill it was snowing, but strutter Vic had parked his car at the top, so he opened the boot of his car and inside was a bottle of schnapps and glasses, perfect for a quick warmer!

“It is nice to see friends from the Strut, and outside of Henstridge Airfield where our Strut is based, and talk about different subjects and situations. I also formed our own WhatsApp group so that we can communicate about future walks and send information and pictures to each other. It also helps if someone gets lost finding the start point, so we can tell them the error of their ways! I recommend a walk group to all other struts.”

The Oxford Group has also increased its activities and, possibly as a result, membership. Apart from fly-ins at Enstone and some excellent presentations from speakers both in the evenings and during the day, it has also enjoyed hangar visits. Following a pub lunch at the Red Lion,

Finmere in November, the group was privileged to visit Geoffrey New at work in his hangar on the restoration of his 1920 Avro 504L. Not only were they all in awe of his woodworking skills, but were interested to see the three seats in the cockpit, one behind the other. Geoffrey, who bought the dismantled airframe and the 1917 Le Rhone engine in 2002, has all the original documentation about the 504L which he was happy to share with the group. The aircraft had at one time been used as a two-seater with floats, wheels or skis and was then adapted for three seats without any changes to the fuselage. It was always flown as a commercial aircraft but from the 1930s was kept in storage. The group look forward to hearing how Geoffrey progresses with his restoration as he hopes to fly in 2023.

As everyone knows, those who enjoy Strut gatherings, fly-ins and socials, there are always those among the members who can be relied upon to turn up at the beginning of the day and make all the practical preparations for the event.

The Suffolk Coastal Strut has grown over the years with more than 90 members currently on the books.

Mick Gill, Chairman of SCS, writes about the recent passing of a long time Strut supporter. “Until very recently Hilda Golby, an active member for over 40 years, was one of the Strut’s loyal supporters. Hilda and her husband Dennis, were members of the Boxted Airfield Historical Group (BAHG), which was formed to create and run a museum at the Boxted Airfield Site. In order to raise funds for this, BAHG ran a series of public air shows and the fly-ins associated with these were managed by our Strut. Following completion of the museum, BAHG ceased its airshows, but Hilda and Dennis continued to attend all our Strut fly-ins as BAHG representatives. Since her husband passed away seven years ago, Hilda continued to support our fly-ins by running the raffles for our chosen charities, and was given an honorary lifetime Strut membership for the contribution she and Dennis had made over the years.

“Hilda’s happy, kind disposition, enthusiasm and desire to help will be missed but never forgotten – we send our condolences and heartfelt thanks to her family.”

Many of the Struts need a helping hand from time to time. If you have any suggestions regarding presentations and speakers for Strut evenings do get in touch. Check out your local Strut and members will be pleased to hear of new ideas for events and offers of additional help are always more than welcome! ■

Strut Calendar

Please contact your local Strut to check the details before attending the calendar events.

Andover Strut: Spitfire Club, Popham Airfield, SO21 3BD. 12 DecemberChristmas Quiz and Festive Refreshments; 9 January – The Work of the AAIB with Pete Wivell. Contact Bob Howarth email: bobhowarth99@ btinternet.com Phone 01980 611124

Bristol Strut: BAWA Club, Filton, 1930. 6 December – Strut Christmas Gathering. Contact:chairman@ bristolstrut.uk www.bristolstrut.uk

Cornwall Strut: The Clubhouse, Bodmin Airfield. 7 December –Helicopter Operations and Rotor Wash by Arfur Bryant; 1 January – New Years Day Fly-In. Contact Pete White pete@ aeronca.co.uk 01752 406660

Devon Strut: The Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter. 2 December – Strut Christmas Dinner. Bookings only. Contact: david.millin@sea-sea.com

East of Scotland Strut: Harrow Hotel, Dalkeith. At 2000. Contact: inrgibson001@btinternet.com 0131 339 2351.

East Midlands Strut: The Plough, Normanton on Soar. Contact: tonyrazzell2@gmail.com We also have a Facebook group and upload recordings of some meetings where we have speakers.

Gloster Strut: The Victory Club, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2SY at 1930. Parking available. Contact: Harry Hopkins phone 07902 650619 harry. hopkins@talktalk.net

Highlands & Islands: Highland Aviation, Inverness Airport. Contact: b.w.spence@btinternet.com 01381 620535.

Kent Strut: Cobtree Manor Golf Club, Maidstone, Kent. At 2000. Contact: Steve Hoskins hoskinsltd@outlook.com 07768 984507.

LiNSY Trent Valley Strut: Trent Valley Gliding Club, Kirton Lindsey. pilotbarry1951@gmail. com http:// linsystrut.wixsite.com/website

North East Strut: Fishburn Airfield. Brunch, third Sunday of each month. 1130-1330 at Fishburn Aviator Cafe. Contact: alannixon297@btinternet.com

North Western Strut: Veterans Lounge, Barton, Manchester, 1930 for 2000. 13 December at 1300 – Strut Christmas Dinner. Bookings to Cliff Mort. Contact: cliffmort@btinternet.com 07813 497427. North Wales Strut: Caernarfon Airport, Dinas Dinlle. First Sunday of the month – HEMS Bistro Café. 1300. Contact: Gareth Roberts gtrwales@gmail.com 07876 483414.

Oxford Group: Sturdy’s Castle Country Inn, Banbury Road, Kidlington, OX5 3EP. Second Wed each month. All welcome. 14 December – Christmas Meal; 11 January – AGM. Contact LAAOxford@ gmail.com www.oxfordlaa.co.uk

Redhill Strut: The Castle, Millers Lane, Outwood, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 5QB. Pub contact - 01342 844491. Third Tuesday of each month, meet at 1900-1930. Contact: david@milstead. me.uk

Shobdon Strut: Hotspur Café, Shobdon Airfield, Hereford HR6 9NR. 1930. Second Thursday of the month. (Contact Keith if you are planning to attend.)

Contact: Keith Taylor bushebiggles@ sky.com

Southern Strut: ‘Longshore’ Brighton Rd, Shoreham-by-Sea BN43 5LD. First Wednesday of the month 1930 for 2000. 7 December – Christmas Dinner. Contact palmersfarm@sky.com

Strathtay Strut: Scottish Aero Club, Perth Airport, Scone. Scone Clubhouse. Contact: keith.boardman@peopleserve. co.uk 07785 244146.

Suffolk Coastal Strut: Earl Stonham Village Hall, IP14 5HJ. 19.30. 14 Dec – Chairman’s Quiz and Christmas

Nibbles & Drinks; 18Jan – Bizjet operations by Paul Catanach. Contact: Martyn Steggalls events@ suffolkcoastalstrut.org.uk / 07790

925142

The Joystick Club: Contact: Mike Clews, m.clews@sky.com. 07775 847914. www.joystickclub.co.uk

Vale of York Strut: Chocks Away Café, Rufforth East Airfield. 1900. Contact: Chris Holliday 07860 787801 valeofyorkstrutlaa@gmail.comwww. valeofyorkstrutlaa.wordpress.com

Wessex Strut: Henstridge Airfield Clubhouse. 1930. Check Wessex Strut website. 20 December – Christmas Dinner at The Grange, Oborne Country Hotel; 13January – The DH Mosquito talk by Peter Whyte. Local fortnightly Strut walks organised by Wessex Aviators Leisure Klub. Contact: neil. wilson@laa.uk.com

West Midlands Strut: There are no meetings at present, but if you would like to help to get the WMS operational again please get in touch with the Strut Coordinator, David Millin. david.millin@ sea-sea.com

West of Scotland Strut: Bowfield Country Club, Howwood, PA9 1DZ. 1900. Contact: Neil Geddes barnbethnkg@gmail.com 01505 612493.

Youth & Education Support (YES): YES stand at Shuttleworth Air Shows. (Contact 07974188395 to volunteer.)

Contact: Stewart Luck – captainluck@ hotmail.com

NB: Thank you to all Struts and clubs for getting in touch. If you have any stories, photos, items you wish to share or updates for the calendar, please contact me at struts@laa.uk.com

Right Hilda Golby at Suffolk Coastal Strut Fly-in on 10 July 2021 at Monewden.

LAA Hooded Sweatshirt £25.00

Available in: Burgundy - S, M, L, XL Sapphire - M, L, XL

£10.00

Available in: Navy: S, M, L, XL, XXL. Red:L White: M, L, XL Green: M, L, XL. Charcoal: M, L, XL.

LAA Navy Baseball Cap £12.50

LAA Leather Key Fobs £3.50

LAA Embroidered Patch £5.00

LAA Coloured Polo Shirt £18.00

LAA Fleece £30.00

Available in Navy: XS, S, L, XL & XXL

It’s a family affair…

Tell us about your early days

I was born on 11 July 1990 at Southmead hospital in Bristol. At that time, my parents, Paul and Rachel, lived in a terraced house backing onto the fields of the local football club in the small town of Portishead. I took advantage of these fields during my childhood, as I not only played in the community sports teams, but also learned to fly model aeroplanes there.

I was able to walk to both my first school, St Peter’s Primary, and later across the fields to my secondary school, Gordano Comprehensive. It was during my schooling that I started my first paid job – a paper round. This was an exciting prospect at the time, as it earned me sufficient money to be able to visit the upstairs of Careys DIY store and choose from its selection of Airfix models, balsa wood and other accessories.

After school I had various jobs, but settled for many years at Bristol Airport, working as an aircraft de-icer and plant mechanic during the winter operational season. Alongside work, I turned my hand to various restoration projects (more on these later), which gave me invaluable

skills to draw upon. With some encouragement from my now wife Laura, I decided to take the leap into selfemployment before the start of the pandemic. I then ran a successful domestic carpentry business building bespoke wardrobes, furniture and undertaking period restorations in and around Bristol. Business was going well but unfortunately multiple tool thefts took their toll and cemented the decision to change tack and pursue a lifelong ambition to work full-time with aeroplanes.

I now run The Somerset Aeroplane Company alongside my father Paul. We are a family run business that carries out all aspects of restoration work and aircraft maintenance. Together, we have a combined experience of more than 40 years in the field and are passionate about keeping aeroplanes in the sky – where they belong.

Has your family always been involved with aviation?

Yes. My passion for aviation stems from my late grandfather, Bernie Childs, who retired as chief design engineer at British Aerospace in Filton. For as long as I can remember, aeroplanes have been in my life. It seemed

Above Simon Childs and his Pietenpol Air Camper.

Simon Childs speaks to Neil Wilson about his adoration of aviation since a boy, working with his dad, and the influence on him of his hero – his grandfather…

related going on. Like many aviation-mad children I started with building plastic kits and then moved on to balsa models. Air shows were also a huge part of my life from a young age.

At around six years old, my father bought a Pietenpol Aircamper with a view to learning to fly. He gave me my first experience of sitting in a light aircraft when he taxied her at New Farm near Bristol in 1996, I was hooked.

Shortly after this, dad decided to buy a CASA Jungmann project, partnering up with my grandad on the restoration. Although I was too young to really appreciate what was going on, I spent most of my free time alongside the two of them in the airfield environment and got used to

the noises and smells of aviation. I just loved every minute!

Some of my most exciting childhood memories come from air shows. I found it overwhelming to be among the wonderful machines and people.

One stand-out occasion was when I was lucky enough to meet Mark Hanna at Cranfield after he arrived in a P-51 Mustang. I must have been around seven or eight and I asked him, “Do you fly Spitfires?” He promptly replied, “Yes I do,” while towering over me. All these years later I can remember that like it was yesterday. It’s amazing how these moments stay with you.

In later years, the Jungmann was based at Duxford before being sold to the Quax Collection in Hamm Germany. I met Ray Hanna during this time as he often flew the Jungmann on the display circuit.

As a young boy, I remember dad buying a video called Sea Fury, a documentary about The Royal Navy Historic Flight at RNAS Yeovilton featuring John Beattie, if you haven’t seen it already it’s certainly worth a watch. I could never have imagined all those years ago that I would now be sitting with him, as I do, in our Nissen Hut at Middlezoy Aerodrome having a cup of tea and sharing stories.

It is funny that the small moments, which must be day to day occurrences for these aviation greats, have had such an impact on my life. These people really inspired me as a youngster and I hope that one day I can be a role model for those wanting to get into aviation… who knows there may even be a video.

There’s been some boats and an airfield project, too?

The Childs family has always had various projects on the go whether it be cars, motorcycles, or interesting engines. One project that stands out above the rest is our motor torpedo boat (MTB), Ex-HMS Gay Archer. Together we have carried out a ground-up restoration of the vessel, including the overhaul and fitting of two 8V 92 Detroit diesel engines each producing 740hp. She is the last example left in the world of her class, and is now operated by us as an active memorial to all those to whom we owe so much.

Nicknamed the ‘Spitfires of the sea’, the torpedo boats were a phenomenal feat of engineering and could outrun most, if not all, opposition at the time. Gay Archer was originally powered by three Packard V12s producing a top speed of around 55kt, but at 18 gallons – yes, 18 gallons – of petrol a minute they weren’t the most efficient.

Just before the pandemic hit, we acquired three MAN V12s at 1,000hp each to re-engine the boat. With these

Above Simon, aged 10, watching his dad in the Jungmann. Above right G-BXBD Jungmann. Below top Moving MTB 219 down the road.

Below bottom Simon dismantling MTB 219 hull.

fitted, I hope to see 35-40kt as skipper, quite the spectacle for a boat more than 70 years old.

I have had the absolute pleasure of being the captain of Gay Archer since 2014, not many people get the opportunity to skipper an MTB, let alone be doing it from the age of 24. It is humbling to be entrusted with such a priceless artifact and I see it as a real privilege.

Alongside Gay Archer, my family also rescued MTB 219 from certain death in Chelsea in 2014. My brother Owen and I are probably the only people in the world who can say we have been towed on an MTB under Tower Bridge by a rubbish barge.

The 219 is a Vospers Series 2 motor torpedo boat and is the most highly decorated MTB to have served in WWII. She was mentioned in dispatches four times and all of her serving officers received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). She chalked up two kills, the SMS Seeadler and Iltis, and was a part of the attack on the German auxiliary cruiser the Komet. MTB 219 is the sole survivor from the Channel Dash, Operation Fuller, in 1942, and is one of the boats that picked up the downed Swordfish crews during that piece of action. She still wears the bullet holes in her frames today, a unique piece of our history which, without our family, would not be here now.

We have also owned an RAF seaplane tender which served on the Bristol Channel and RASC Humorist, a small craft built for the Royal Army Service Corps.

The building and development of Middlezoy Aerodrome began in 2017 with my dad, our family friend Dave Linney and other aviation friends. I hope that most Light Aviation readers are aware of the airfield. If you haven’t visited, we look forward to seeing you in future. Based on an old RAF station, we have restored a WWII Nissen Hut as our ‘Pilots’ Lounge’ and have a wonderful collection of aeroplanes to look at, including Dave’s S.E.5a replica which he flies with The Great War Display Team, and our Percival Piston Provost. Our main event each year is Somerset Aerofest which is a great day out for the whole family, more details can be found on our website https:/middlezoyaerodrome. wixsite.com/my-site or on our social media pages @ middlezoyaerodrome

Your very first flight – in what, where and when?

My very first flight was in 1995 on an Ilyushin II-62 to Cuba from Stansted with my parents. My first flight in a light aircraft was with Dave Linney in our Pietenpol G-BMDE from Pitney in Somerset in 2008.

Tell us about learning to fly

I learned to fly in North Devon at Eaglescott Airfield and as my interest has always been in taildraggers, I decided to learn in the Pietenpol. My instructor was Barry Pearson and my final exam was with Dave Jones. I went solo in seven hours and completed my licence in six months. Dave and I have become very good friends since my exam and we still fly regularly together, in fact he has a share in a beautiful Aeronca Champ based at Middlezoy.

What aircraft types have you flown?

In total I have flown 11 types of aeroplanes, nine of which

are tailwheels and two nosewheel types. In total I have around 200 hours of flying.

Tailwheel aeroplanes are a firm favourite in my book, particularly open cockpit types as these give a unique experience and take me back to the early days of aviation, which is where my real passion lies. I’m not a screen type pilot and instead like to see gauges and instruments. Maps are a thing of beauty and I fear that we are becoming too dependent on digital technology when flying. Keeping our heritage alive is the driving force behind our company, it is so important that we do all we can to remember those before us – and leave something for the next generations to come.

Our Pietenpol G-BMDE was built by Dave Silsbury in 1987 and won the PFA best plans built trophy in 1988. She has been in the ‘Childs Fleet’ for nearly 30 years and I’m very fortunate to be flying her today. She was based at Kemble for a while before being moved to Pitney in 2008 and later to Middlezoy Aerodrome in 2017. Past-owned aeroplanes include an ARV Super 2 and a CASA Jungmann. Currently within the family, we have the Pietenpol, an Isaacs Fury, a Percival Piston Provost, and our latest project, a Hawker F.20 fighter recreation.

We also have a large collection of flying models,

Above Simon and his father Paul (right). Below Simon’s Isaacs Fury.

including some of my late grandfathers, which are now only statics, due to their sentimental value. My grandfather Bernie was an exceptional aeronautical design engineer, most of his models are scratchbuilt and are superb scale examples of type, which really ought to be on public display. The DH Hornet and the Convair CV-240 really showcase his ability and keen eye for accuracy.

What keeps you entertained with the Pietenpol?

It’s a delightful and charming little aeroplane, once airborne she is most forgiving as long as you respect both your – and her – limitations. Like a lot of open cockpit aeroplanes, you feel exposed to the elements, but the reward you get from flying her is worth it.

The Pietenpol is very responsive in pitch but sluggish and can sometimes feel heavy in roll. A power off stall is very benign, and the recovery is quick. There is a tremendous amount of adverse yaw when rolling the wings, which is manageable, but often catches people out who aren’t familiar with the type. The aeroplane is much better flown solo due to weight and visibility, as P1 is positioned in the rear seat, so looking out on landing with a passenger can be challenging, often you find a slipping approach the best tactic. Speed is crucial in the Pietenpol, with a big wing she can be reluctant to sit on the floor, so particular attention has to be paid when landing, a few knots too fast

will see yourself floating beyond your desired touch down point and will no doubt increase your already heavy workload. Once on the ground she will, if not controlled, give you grief. Ground looping is common with any taildragger, so you must stay ahead of the game and always remember that you haven’t finished flying the aeroplane until the engine is off and the chocks are in place!

Tell us more about the Hawker F.20

The project aims to recreate and fly a Hawker F.20 fighter. In the late 1920s, the Air Ministry tendered a contract to develop a new front-line fighter, and as the Rolls-Royce Kestrel was in development, we were still believers in radial engines, hence the F.20 design was proposed. Later, the F.20 became the Hawker Fury 1 biplane, with some alterations having been made to the original design.

The F.20 was key for the development of the more successful fighters that we know today, so in building a flying example, we hope to keep the memories alive.

Dad and I are turning back the clock and are currently in the process of building the sole example of this important type. Work on the engine is nearing completion, we are using the Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X, which we have completely overhauled. We hope to have the project on display at next year’s Aerofest at Middlezoy at the end of July.

On completion, the F.20 will be flown from Middlezoy and taken to airfields around the South West so that we can share this almost forgotten story of where it all began. Passing on knowledge to the next generation brings me so much joy, I have no doubt that the F.20 will bring excitement to all who see her and hopefully inspire others to be creative and successful in their own projects. You can follow our progress at www. somersetaero.co.uk or on our social media pages @ somersetaero

Any memorable moments in aviation?

For me, every flight is so special, but I think my top aviation moment must be my first solo in the Pietenpol on a beautiful summer evening at Eaglescott Airfield in North Devon, just magic.

Another flying moment that stands out was a memory involving my dear grandfather before he died in 2017.

Sadly, after I gained my PPL, he was too unwell to fly with me, but I was able to fly overhead so he could see me, which was very emotional and special for both of us.

He was always so supportive and inspiring to me, so to be able to do that will always hold a special place in my heart.

A further particularly poignant occasion was flying as number two on our box formation flight for Remembrance Sunday in 2021.

Last, but by no means least, I must include flying with my dad. I find it very hard to put into words the enormous amount of love and respect I have for him. We have a very special and unique bond, and I can only hope that we have many more years together enjoying everything that

Above Simon and his father’s next project is to recreate the Hawker F.20. Below The F.20 will be powered by this restored Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X

Bottom Skippering Gay Archer out of the narrow passage in Watchet.

aviation has to offer. It is surreal that 26 years after he gave me my first taxi ride in the Pietenpol, I now find myself taxying out with him for a local sortie in the same aeroplane, at the airfield we built together.

Do you have any aviation heroes?

There are some stand-out figures in aviation, from Sir Barnes Wallis to Guy Gibson and Sir Douglas Bader, but my aviation hero would have to be my grandfather, Bernie Childs. His CV made for impressive reading. His career highlights included bringing the 747 into service with Boeing, the VC10 tanker conversions for the RAF and working on Concorde. His unwavering support, knowledge and guidance gave me self-belief and ambition.

Grampsy showed me that solutions could be found for even the most difficult of problems. Words cannot describe the influence he had on me and how much myself and all our family miss him.

Any ‘interesting’ aviation moments?

Overall, I have been very lucky to date, but a ‘hairy’ moment that sticks with me was from a couple of years ago when I suffered severe carb’ icing. It was an uncomfortable experience, but sensible decisions and height gave me time to assess and navigate through the situation promptly and safely. I have learned to use my time wisely and to practise emergency drills where possible so that I can be the best version of myself when the inevitable happens. It is too easy to become complacent, so I try to treat every flight like it’s my first, try to anticipate things before they happen – and always have a plan B.

Any dream aeroplanes to own?

In terms of a wish list, it would be a real honour to fly the Fairey Swordfish given my connection with MTB 219, with dad in the back, of course. We would need a longer runway and a bigger hangar, but I wouldn’t say no to a De Havilland Mosquito either!

In the future I hope to be known in the Warbird community, age is on my side at 32, so I will continue to

really enjoys flying his Pietenpol Air Camper, which was built by Dave Silsbury..

Above bottom Simon in the cockpit of a Fairey Swordfish – and aircraft he’d love to fly… with his dad.

put in the hours and build experience, so one day an opportunity may come along.

Any non-aviation interests?

keen

In my youth I enjoyed sports and was a keen rugby player. Nowadays, I enjoy walking, travelling, and seeing friends.

Although, finding time for hobbies is challenging when you are building a full-size variant of the Hawker Fury and running your own business.

Laura, my wife, is very patient and understanding, she has been of tremendous support – and I’m extremely lucky to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds. More recently I have also been known to enjoy a game of chess… in the local pub.

Any wisdom to share with fellow flyers?

My advice is this: nothing comes easily, but if you are prepared to work hard you will achieve what you set out to do. Don’t be put off by ‘no’ as an answer – success is built on failure. Do your homework, be confident in your decisions and always strive to be the best version of yourself. Remember to put safety first, enjoy your projects and your flying – and I hope to see you at Middlezoy Aerodrome in the future. ■

January - the start of a new year, and if we’re really lucky the potential for some cold, crisp winter days so that you can enjoy these three great landing offers at Dunkeswell, Fishburn and Tatenhill Airfield.

LIGHT

Aviation

Reduced Landing £8 January 2023

Dunkeswell 01404 891643

Our thanks to these airfields for supporting our LAA members landing voucher scheme. Please be sure to thank them for their participation by buying fuel for your aircraft, or if there’s a cafe, fuel for you and your passengers!

An ideal airfield to visit in the winter, as it offers two hard runways, east-west 22/05 and north-south 17/35. Offer from 5 January. The restaurant offers a good choice of food, with views over the airfield to watch the world go by. Offer open to LAA members with LAA Permit aeroplanes. The local, and very active, Devon Strut are based here. Free fall parachuting can take place, so keep a good look out and listen for movements. No overhead joins. Avgas and JET A1 available. Radio is 123.480 Closed on Mondays. www.dsft.co.uk

Aviation

Free Landing For January 2023

Fishburn 07877118280

This is a friendly airfield that is ideal for touring or a short visit. Self-service avgas available with credit card facility. Please avoid local villages and farms. Join the circuit from the north only. A great new clubhouse has been built. Please make blind calls if unmanned. While visiting, why not go to the local Hardwick Hall Country Park, which is only two miles away. Radio 118.280 www.fishburnairfield.co.uk

Free Landing For January 2022

Tatenhill Airfield 01283 575283

Located in a rural area of Staffordshire, four miles west of historic Burton-onTrent. Sudbury Hall (National Trust) is close by. Tatenhill is open between the hours of 0900-1700. Tea, coffee and sandwiches are available midweek with full catering at weekends. Avgas and JetA1 by arrangement. PPR with an overhead join. The 8.33 radio is now 124.080 Air/Ground Service only. Grass runways are now only used for taxying. Park on tarmac. www.tatenhill.com

For all display or commercial advertising enquiries please contact

Neil Wilson: 07512 773532 neil.wilson@laa.uk.com

You can email your classified advertisement direct to the LAA at the following address: office@laa.uk.com

Deadline for booking and copy: 15 December 2022

If you would like to place an aircraft for sale advert please see details below:

MEMBERS’ ADVERTISEMENTS

Up to 30 words: £6; 31-50 words: £12

Up to 50 words with a coloured photo: £45

NON-MEMBERS’ADVERTISEMENTS

Up to 30 words: £22; 31-50 words: £44

Up to 50 words with a coloured photo: £60 www.laa.uk.com

LAA Engineering advice to buyers:

AIRCRAFT APPROVED? Members and readers should note that the inclusion of all advertisements in the commercial or classified sections of this magazine does not necessarily mean that the product or service is approved by the LAA. In particular, aircraft types, or examples of types advertised, may not, for a variety of reasons, be of a type or standard that is eligible for the issue of a LAA Permit to Fly. You should not assume that an aircraft type not currently on the LAA accepted type list will eventually be accepted.

IMPORTED AIRCRAFT? Due to unfavourable experiences, the purchase and import of completed homebuilt aircraft from abroad is especially discouraged.

TIME TO BUILD? When evaluating kits/designs, it should borne in mind that technical details, performance figures and handling characteristics are often quoted for a factory-produced aircraft flying under ideal conditions. It is wise, therefore, to seek the opinion of existing builders and owners of the type. You should also take your own skill and circumstances into consideration when calculating build times. The manufacturer’s build time should be taken as a guide only.

AMATEUR BUILDING All LAA aircraft builders and potential builders are reminded that in order to qualify for a LAA Permit to Fly, homebuilt aircraft must be genuinely amateur built. For these purposes the CAA provide a definition of amateur built in their publication CAP 659, available from LAA. An extract from CAP 659 reads “The building and operation of the aircraft will be solely for the education and recreation of the amateur builder. This means that he would not be permitted to commission someone else to build his aircraft”. An aircraft built outside the CAA’s definition could result in an expensive garden ornament.

AIRCRAFT FOR SALE

SHARES FOR SALE

Pitts S1-S, 350hrs TTAE, Built in Canada to a high standard, 0-360-A1D 200hp Hoffman prop, Permit valid until 03/23, offers over £35k considered, for more info radford226nj@gmail.com

Shares in the only SAAB 91 flying on the UK register. Based at Oaksey Park (EGTW) a group is forming around the plane. Flying at 115 knots on 32 litres an hour the plane has 5 hours of endurance. Well equipped with 2 radios, Mode S transponder, DME, a GNS430W and twin G5s. Featured in Pilot Magazine (Feb 2020) and AOPA Magazine (Aug 2022). Engine is 1100 hours and propellor 150 hours from new. ARC from July 2022. Flown 10,000 nm round Europe in 2022 (see www.flyingvisit.org/blog), I am planning on selling seven 1/8 shares but five 1/6 shares may be possible. £205 pcm and £120 per hour wet (at current fuel prices). For more information contact John 07793 282745 or jontih@gmail.com

Aeronca Champ G-ARAP. Finished to top standard, needs permit. C90 motor. £17,500. Contact John @ 07761119931 or email j_mcgonagle@hotmail.com

Price: £8,500 per 1/8 share

PROJECTS FOR SALE

Pazmany PL4A with new unused Aerovee 2 litre engine. 90% complete with all materials to finish and some tools. Free to a serious responder who will take the aircraft away preferably before Christmas. Enquiries to email address: hudsongeoff@outlook.com

Slingsby T-61A G-AZHD now with a fresh LAA permit. Work done includes new Sauer engine 1835cc 65hp only 6 hours with new Hercules propeller. Cowlings have been replaced along with new instrument panel and seats. Cruise speed 70kts. Exceptional condition. Offers around £25,000.00 Phone 07973 254 615

Pietenpol project. G-CLOB.Steel fuselage.All big bits done. On undercarriage. Bereavement forces sale. Located East Yorkshire. 07973 765 552 Replica SE5a project 85% complete, Isaac’s Fury project 15% complete. Continental 85 engine. CAM 100 engine. Sale due to illness. Reasonable offers considered. 07801 736675

SERVICES

Light Aircraft Weighing Service in East Yorkshire and surrounding area. For details contact Demraview Ltd. Email: Demraview@gmail.com Mob: 07984 810 761

WANTED

Thorp T-18W or Sunderland S-18 plans preferably with folding wing option - please email Grahamdouglas100@gmail.com

Safe flying

COVERS

FROM THE ARCHIVES The

A SPLENDID TROPHY…

The John Edwards Trophy, a 1/24th scale model of Comper Swift G-ABUS, is held by the Association on behalf of LAA member club, the Vintage Aircraft Club. In fact, the trophy pre-dates the VAC; having been transferred from the original Vintage Aircraft Group.

The group was created on 26 April 1964 to secure the preservation of vintage aeroplanes in the United Kingdom. Its main concern was the mass destruction of wooden aeroplanes as a result of a notice from the Air Registration Board on the deterioration of glued joints in their structures.

It was led by Roy Mills, then Chairman of the PFA, and among others, Malcolm Goosey, Terry Jones, Rex Coates,

John Owen, Alan Chalkley and John Edwards. It was decided to form the Vintage Aircraft Group as part of the PFA, which would make it possible to keep these elderly wooden aircraft airworthy under the PFA ‘Permit to Fly’ scheme.

Sadly, John Edwards was killed in a flying accident in October 1965 and the trophy was subsequently commissioned in his memory ‘for airfield organisation or flight safety’.

This year’s worthy recipient is Popham Airfield’s manager Mike Pearson, our 2022 LAA Fly In host as well as the organiser of many other events at the popular Hampshire airfield. Steve Slater

stories behind items in the LAA’s collection

LEVIL AVIATION partners with SAFESKY to Re-imagine Traffic Awareness in the European Market

The integration of SafeSky’s premier anti-collision app with Levil Aviation devices, such as the iLevil line of products and the popular Broadcasting Outer Module (B.O.M.), means that European pilots will now have traffic data from 15 networks available concurrently on their mobile dvices through the Levil Aviation app.