Project News
Projects which inspire others to build their own aircraft Compiled by Mike Slaughter
Project News S o here we are in that strange part of the year, sunrise continues to happen later, although we are now past the winter solstice, giving the impression that the mornings continue to get darker as we return to work after the festive break. While the evenings have been slowly pulling out for a couple of weeks now and, certainly down south, we will have gained nearly an hour in sunset time from its earliest point by the end of the month. Solar anomalies aside, I hope you all had a pleasant festive break and that the turkey sandwiches and mince pies are becoming a pleasant but fading memory… Looking down the New Projects list there is a very broad selection of new aircraft being started this month, including the first customer KFA Safari and another new type, the Shock Cub. The predecessors of the Shock Cub from Zlin Aviation have been around for nearly 20 years in progressive ‘Cub-alike’ formats and this latest version has been popular in the US and South Africa for a while. Synergy Aircraft, in Coventry, have been appointed the UK agent by Zlin and are currently building their demonstrator. Cub in name and general layout, the similarities end there with a different wing profile, huge fowler flaps and leading edge slats, monster back country tyres
and, giving the aircraft its name, huge shock absorbers up the outside of the airframe. Conceptually it’s like the Just Superstol, an out and out STOL off airport fun machine, powered by the 100hp-140hp Rotax 9 series. I hope we will hear of its maiden flight in Project News in the very near future. Due to their popularity, Project News sees a fair number of Van’s aircraft through any year, but every build has a unique story behind it and so it is with Nick Williams-Jones’ RV-9. A chance call put Nick in touch with that vital component on any project, an enthusiastically engaged inspector. Not only is Nick’s inspector, Ernie Horsfall, a little unusual at 101 years old, but he kept in frequent proactive contact throughout, preventing the Van’s from falling by the wayside. You would expect an architect to have an eye for detail and that is definitely so if you take a close look at Nick Kenney’s Europa XS. Having started with a part-built project he collected from the near continent, he has completed a beautifully trimmed, painted and equipped example of type with the latest tech and engine. It’s a real modern ‘go places’ cruiser. 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!
G-RVWJ (LAA 320-15128) Van’s RV-9A By Nick Williams-Jones
H
aving chosen to build an RV-9A, for all the reasons that have made it so popular, and convinced my wife Julie that it was a sound investment, not quite as popular, all that was left was to find an inspector to supervise, guide and advise me during the build. I looked through the LAA list and saw that Ernie Horsfall lived just a couple of miles away, which was ideal. He had all the inspector categories to see the build through, from first rivet to final inspection before first flight, and a quick check on Google revealed he had received the Bronze Medal from the Royal Aero Club for outstanding achievement in aviation. I made the call and the following day we met and shook hands. I spent my early career in the Fleet Air Arm, leaving as a Chief ‘Tiff’ in 1990, having spent the previous 13
years maintaining Wessex V helicopters and latterly Sea Harriers. Even though my career then took me away from aircraft, I was quite confident that my sheet metal and riveting skills would quickly get back up to speed, and I was raring to go. As it turned out, it was my workshop practices that were rusty and it was only after numerous 3/16th holes had been drilled in my fingers, some close shaves with a pneumatic rivet squeezer and other painful mishaps, that I admitted that I should start paying a bit (lot) more attention in the workshop! I had been able to retire early in 2012 and estimated that if I worked full time on the project, I should be able to complete it in two years! As I entered the second year, progress was not as I had predicted. I realised I was missing the daily contact with people, other than
16 | LIGHT AVIATION | January 2020
LAA01.projectnews.V6.LB..indd 64
19/12/2019 13:24
