Project News
Projects which inspire others to build their own aircraft Compiled by Mike Slaughter
Project News T here is a healthy number of New Project registrations again this month, made up primarily of the usual suspects, but less common these days is a new Europa start, along with another KFA Safari, interestingly the latter is reviewed a few pages further on in this issue. There are a good number of aircraft ready for that all important first flight in this month’s Cleared to Fly list. Not only are they new builds but, in some cases, it’s an ‘orphan’ aircraft’s first flight courtesy of an LAA Permit to Fly. The LAA fleet not only grows from new builds but also older aircraft that make the transition from a CAA CofA, or is imported and does not meet the criteria for a CofA, to a Permit to Fly. Sometimes these are well known types migrating on mass, or they can be one-offs, one such individual is the Pilatus P3 G-BTLL, seen below.
G-BTLL (s/n 323-5) Pilatus P3-03 By Russell Dagles
B
uilt in 1956 and operated by the Swiss Air Force until its disposal, Lima Lima, as she became in the UK, sat in a couple of hangars for nearly 30 years due to a paperwork problem. The CAA were not keen to give her a ‘ticket’ and the PFA at the time were unable to deal with such a heavy aircraft. Moving forward, the LAA is now able to adopt more vintage aircraft and the possibility arose for the Pilatus to gain a Permit to Fly. She was re-assembled, overhauled and flown at Guist, in Norfolk, on 15 October in the hands of John Baker and is now firmly in the LAA world. Right The P3 on her test flight with John Baker at the controls. Photo: Mike Page.
10 | LIGHT AVIATION | December 2021
Stephen Foreman and his wife have built what they believe to be the last Zenith CH-601-HDS kit produced by the American kit manufacturer Zenair. I’ve flown in a couple of 601s and seen a fair few more, but I never realised the difference between the HD and the HDS variant. The HDS is the speedwing, which I’m told adds 15-20mph over the thicker wing HD model, 110mph at 4,800rpm has been suggested as the economical cruise. It's only the outer wing panels that differ between the HD and HDS and they can be interchanged. The 601 kit is not highly finished and does require ‘building’, even so, the pandemic restrictions gave the couple the opportunity to largely finish this aircraft in a little over one year. To get in touch with Project News, and tell your story, report a milestone or just to send a picture, email: projectnews@laa-archive.org.uk. Please share your story!
