LIGHT AVIATION VOLUME 13 ISSUE 6 JUNE 2020
THE MAGAZINE OF THE LIGHT AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
LIGHT
Aviation June 2020 £3.95
THE ALLOY LADY Francis Donaldson enjoys the Thatcher CX-4
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PROJECT NEWS MIKE’S ROTAX POWERED JODEL
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MEET THE MEMBERS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER OF HARRY HOPKINS 21/05/2020 20/05/2020 10:26 17:28
Editor’s desk
Come on. You didn’t expect me to use anything other than Mike Dolphin’s new 912 powered Jodel DR1050-M!
The Team Chairman TIM HARDY CEO STEPHEN SLATER Chief Engineer FRANCIS DONALDSON B.Tech C.Eng FRAeS Chief Inspector KEN CRAIGIE President ROGER HOPKINSON MBE Vice Presidents BRIAN DAVIES & JOHN BRADY Engineering email engineering@laa.uk.com COMMERCIAL Email office@laa.uk.com Office Manager Penny Sharpe Head Office Turweston Aerodrome, Nr Brackley, Northants NN13 5YD Telephone for engineering and commercial 01280 846786
LIGHT AVIATION MAGAZINE Editor BRIAN HOPE 60 Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent ME12 3BZ Telephone 01795 662508 Email bfjjodel@talktalk.net
Upwards and onwards ell it’s great news that we are able to fly again, in England and Northern Ireland at least, albeit solo unless with members of the same household. I was certainly pleased to be able to visit Clipgate Farm for the first time in nearly eight weeks and do some work on the Jodel. However, I hope that some form of dual will be possible by the time we get it back into the air, both my aircraft partner and I need to be revalidated, and more importantly, the flying schools need to be able to get up and running. Right now though, it’s difficult to see just how that can happen. I do hope everybody is heeding the advice about thoroughly inspecting their aircraft and operating in benign conditions, it would be a shame to have an unnecessary mishap after such an unfortunate delay to the start of the season. This month’s cover feature (P38) is the Thatcher CX-4, an attractive all metal, single-seater that can be built from plans. The first UK built example is now flying but having tried for months to carry out an air to air photographic shoot, including Neil and the camera ship team flying from Henstridge to Fenland only to be thwarted by a misbehaving engine, I decided to try to acquire some aerial shots from America. I am indebted to Sheldon Heatherington for allowing us to use his excellent pictures, and to Ben Carlson, who supports the type in the US by producing components, for making the arrangements. Plans for a two-seat tandem (CX-5) and side by side (CX-7) variants are now available, though naturally they will need UK approval before they can be built in the UK. If Francis’ report of
W
this delightful single seater is anything to go by, they certainly look to be worth considering by the lower budget builder. We’ve all done it no doubt, taken the odd photo from the cockpit, stick in one hand and camera in the other only to be disappointed with the results when we take a look once back on terra firma. Ray Wilkinson’s article, on aerial photography (P22) explains the folly of such behaviour, quite rightly you can give neither taking pictures nor flying the aircraft the attention they deserve. He goes on to describe how you can take pictures worthy of hanging on your wall, safely and legally. Finally, I hope you will join me in wishing the team at Seager Publishing the very best for their new venture of producing FLYER magazine in a digital only format. They have been very capably looking after the publication of Light Aviation for about 10 years now and we have always enjoyed a very friendly and professional relationship. Thankfully neither they nor I see any reason why that should not continue well into the future. Enjoy or refound freedom but be careful and be safe, Brian.
By Brian Hope Jiune 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 3
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Chairman’s Chat
06 NEWS
LAA members design COVID-19 masks, prototype Beagle Pup flies again
Chocks away – with caution… By Tim Hardy irstly, I must congratulate the team at the LAA, in our virtual HQ these days, for all of the lobbying invested in people now being able to enjoy recreational aviation, after a seemingly endless succession of perfect flying days spent at home. I realise of course that this privilege may not yet be able to be enjoyed by all of our members although the very day I write this, the Northern Ireland Executive has announced that private solo flights are now permitted. I hope that by the time you read this, further progress has been made to open up all of the UK for GA. For now you can fly solo or with members of your household (it’s slightly different in Northern Ireland so please read the specific conditions there and in either of the other devolved powers if they are on board by the time you read this). As long as you don’t trouble ATS providers then there are few restrictions to enjoying your aircraft, no doubt thoroughly inspected before that first post-coronavirus flight. Either way, you can count on Steve Slater and his team to be out front making headway on behalf of us all. Having said that, all of the members of our community will no doubt have been impacted by the crisis in one way or another, so please accept my sincerest best wishes for navigating your way through it,
F
08 ROTAX THEFTS
Ideas from members on how to combat Rotax engine and other aviation theft
12 AERONCAS
Arthur W J G Ord-Hume tells his remarkable 70-year-old story of Aeroncas
16 PROJECT NEWS
Jodel DR1050-M, Dudley Pattison’s Safari update and a Piper Cub pedal plane
22 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Ray Wilkinson explains just how to improve your aerial photographic skills whatever particular headwinds have come your way. I was very fortunate to fly last weekend, the first when we were able, enjoying the weather we have been craving for so long, and it was quite a strange experience with the airspace being generally quite quiet, which is most unlike a summer weekend. Not a lot of chatter on the frequencies and few if any contrails, which just goes to show the size of the impact that the restrictions have had on commercial air transport. A lot of our members are either active commercial pilots or are reliant on the industry for their livelihoods, so while airspace may not be very busy at the moment, a recovery in that sector will be good for us all. Finding a rationale to go flying shouldn’t be a problem to any of us who have been stuck at home all these weeks but just think, there is no $100 hamburger to go for as airfields can’t offer catering for now without social distancing, but the freedom of the air should never taste better than when you go flying after a long lay off. As we go to press the LAA Rally on 4 to 6 September is still on, and as it’s a little way off, much could change over the coming weeks to make it 2020’s recovery event of the year – let’s hope so. Best wishes and enjoy the air. Safe flying! Tim
26 FLYING ADVENTURE
Martin Ferid takes a fond look back at last year’s RSA Rally at Brienne-le-Château. With one eye on 2021…
31 STRUTS4U
Anne Hughes profiles the activities of the Struts, making good use of social media
34 COACHING CORNER
David Cockburn, PCS Head of Training, discusses the planning and preparation to get back into the air safely
38 FLIGHT TEST
Francis Donaldson enjoys the Thatcher CX-4 – The Alloy Lady!
46 PROPS
Ruth Kelly’s RV-8’s constant speed propeller goes to Proptech for its six-year inspection. Will it be LPIP or complete overhaul?
50 I LEARNED ABOUT FLYING
A moment’s inattention could have seen Peter Yarrow becoming a statistic
52 SAFETY SPOT
Malcolm looks at ‘trembler’ trouble, and the Jabiru flywheel bolt snapping saga
58 MEET THE MEMBERS
Meet Harry Hopkins, Cold War Vulcan pilot, founder of the Gloster Strut and former LAA Board member…
62 GREEN FLYING: PART II
Steve Slater discusses the environmental benefits of airfields, large and small
63 CEO THOUGHTS
Steve looks ahead to dual flying but cautions continued COVID-19 safety
4 | LIGHT AVIATION | June 2020
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Contents
Contents June 2020
38 Flight Test: Thatcher CX-4
12
22
58 June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 5
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LA News
News
Plenty more news is available on the LAA website at www.laa.uk.com check it out every day!
The Pup on final approach at Turweston after its successful first post-restoration flight. Photo: Nigel Hitchman
Pup Prototype flies again The prototype Beagle Pup, G-AVDF, returned to the air for the first time in half a century on 19 May, with two successful test flights from Turweston in the hands of LAA Chief Engineer Francis Donaldson. The date was particularly auspicious as it was 51 years to the day that the
Beagle Bulldog made its maiden flight at Shoreham on 19 May 1969. A few days later AVDF, which had been used as part of the Bulldog programme, was grounded and partially dismantled. Among those fortunate enough to see the flight was Mark Larroucau whose late father, John, had designed the Pup.
While other Pups remain on EASA Certificates of Airworthiness, the hand-built prototype is sufficiently different from production models that it was deemed appropriate that it be rebuilt under LAA oversight as a Permit aircraft. Watch out for more on this unique aircraft soon!
systems and technologies to support the use of new types of air vehicles in the future. The Vehicles could include for instance, flying taxis, delivery drones, small electric aircraft, VTOL and autonomous aircraft,
enabling people and goods to be moved quickly and efficiently with reduced carbon footprints and congestion. And systems could cover integrating these vehicles into existing airports, airspace, rural and urban environments, building public confidence and developing new business models. Bids are invited by the UK Research and Innovation Initiative in two categories: ■ £150,000-£500,000 per project https:// tinyurl.com/apply-funding ■ £500,000-£10 million per project https:// tinyurl.com/innovation-funding Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi said, “The Future Flight Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for businesses across the UK, whether large or small, to bid for funding to make their most advanced ideas a reality… this exciting competition will pave the way for the future of flight.”
A revolutionary future Government funding of £30m is up for grabs for both aviation and non-aviation companies and organisations in the second phase of their Future Flight Challenge, a competition seeking projects that develop
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LA News
COVID-Canopies and Air Superiority With the medical profession raising concerns about the shortage of PPE as the COVID-19 crisis worsened, a group of LAA members including an aircraft designer, aircraft owners and pilots, and aerodynamicists, decided they could perhaps make a contribution. Jon Laszlo explains… “With the virus being transferred in the air we realised that if the patient could be enclosed in a negative pressure canopy, and their carer protected in a positive pressure hood, then the chances of viruses getting across two barriers and up a pressure gradient would be significantly reduced. A preliminary series of drawings were assembled and passed around the group. Giotto Castelli discarded corners, David Stevenson designed air-filters, Roger John digitised everything, and Lynn Williams drew the detailed diagrams. In April, with a sense of urgency, we learned of frontliners in the UK losing their lives from COVID-19. So we contacted hospitals and medical schools to hand over our designs. However, it was only a concept and there were already plans for the RAF to bring PPE into the UK. We were told not to worry as everything was under control… and stay at home. We tried manufacturers to see if they were interested in making the units but were told that as we didn’t have a patent or a trademark, we’d have to sort that out before it could even be considered for production. As time passed the PPE situation was not getting any better, so Lynn Williams drew up a trademark and applications to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) were made to register the trademark, the designs and the claims. Soon after, Neil Sutherland from DUPONT UK provided samples of their flash
spun Polyamide Tyvek 4412 and Paul Handley of White Ellerton Products (WEP) in Borehamwood then rang to say his firm was shut and the workforce were furloughed but… Paul and his staff were super-keen to volunteer, the WEP factory doors were opened and six prototypes were assembled in a week. We are now applying for the CE Certification so all frontliners can use these designs. White Ellerton Products supply the automotive and aviation industries, holding patterns and examples for aircraft canopies including several marks of Spitfire, and even Lancaster turrets and nose-bowls! The same standards that go into the WEP Malcolm Hood for the Spitfire went into creating the prototypes. Eighty years after Reginald Mitchell’s masterpiece flew in battle, similar profiles, principles and Perspex can potentially be used to protect frontliners against a merciless enemy that has taken so many so quickly. With COVID-19, there is another aviation connection worthy of mention. Charity Tedder, a dental student, has written a children’s book: A Message from Corona with her father Professor Richard Tedder, one of this country’s leading virologists. Her grandfather was Arthur Tedder, Marshall of the Royal Air Force, whose maxim was Air superiority is a condition for all operations, at sea, on land and in the air. We have applied this same philosophy as we move towards superiority over an unseen enemy in the air we breathe. We hope to build on this start to our project and see it into production – and to see all of you safe and well at the LAA Rally later this year.”
Above White Ellerton Products’ volunteers demonstrate two of the COVID-19 PPE prototypes. Photo via John Laszlo
912 Soft Start back in production The popular Rotax 912 Soft Start Modules, previously supplied by Conair, are now available from Gyroplane Services. The module automatically retards the spark on one of the ignition circuits when starting, to prevent kick back and subsequent sprag clutch damage, and generally gives a much smoother engine start. The modules are approved on LAA aircraft under Standard Mod number SM12305 and BMAA aircraft under Standard Mod TIL 111. Available in four and six pin versions, price is £197.38 including VAT and shipping. Contact Graham Shackleton Email: gchqservices@gmail.com or Tel: 07507 405845 June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 23
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Courses
Stop, thief… Some ideas from members on how to combat Rotax engine and other aviation theft
he response to Tim Houlihan’s appeal for ideas on how the recreational flying community might better tackle the scourge of Rotax engine thefts, met with a very healthy response. Too many in fact to simply put a few examples in the Letters column. I have therefore taken the salient points from many of the letters and hope that some of the ideas will strike a chord and filter through as actions that will lead to owners being able to better protect their valuable assets. It would be nice to be able to provide more definitive solutions, a ‘one size fits all’ if you will, and I do have an ABC of setting up a mobile phone/camera system that I am considering for publication in the future, but I think the reality is that no two applications are the same. Please keep us informed of what you find works for you, as you will see below, where specific systems have been installed, we are protecting their anonymity. I hope what follows stimulates some ideas and results in better protection for your aircraft. Ed.
T
ReolinkGo surveillance (Details withheld)
Like many, my hangar is in a desolate spot, so two years ago I looked into some form of protection. Also like many it doesn’t have a WiFi connection, so any surveillance has to be on 3G or 4G. I purchased a ReolinkGo surveillance camera (others are available), which can operate with a solar panel, although hard wired is better. I went for the cheapest data SIM (£6/month) with the best coverage in my area to run the system on. The camera can sound an alarm and/or send text alerts to a number of mobile phones as soon as motion is detected, allowing the
Above Every theft is a personal nightmare for the unfortunate owner. Let’s make it more difficult for the thieves.
operator to view, listen to and record what is happening in the hangar. It also has the ability to permit two-way communication. The cost is about £250, but in the grand scheme of things I believe it is money well spent.
GSM Active (via Brian Mellor)
This is from Nick, an LAA member and Jabiru owner. In my business we use GSM diallers to alert us that a boiler has gone into fault. We have fitted many of these units, and they have proved very reliable. The unit sends a text message to, or will dial, up to three phone numbers when it sees a contact closure from any switch, or PIR, etc. The company that make the units is GSM Active, based at Shoreham Aerodrome (https://tinyurl.com/gsm-auto). Brian contacted Bob, the factory manager of GSM Active (who is a pilot) and explained the background of the engine thefts. Bob’s comments were as follows: GSM’s products are in the marketplace now and can be bought off the shelf. Switches such as microswitch, magnetic, tilt, etc. can be used to trigger the dialler. They can produce bespoke designs, but the cost would be £2k to redesign the circuit board. This would only be economical if there were sales of 100 or so. Since the engines would necessarily have an electronic control unit, consider the possibility of having a sensor integrated into this, by the manufacturer. I suspect this is not practical as an after-sales mod, but it raises the question: Is Rotax missing a trick here? The device involved could have a phone sim card and make contact with the control centre by a ping. If no ping back is received, the unit would be automatically disabled.
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Thefts
They can use tracker devices which are very small – 23 x 23 x 4mm. However, they would still need other circuitry, power and an antenna. He was thinking that the stolen engines could be tracked on their journey. My point is that we are looking to prevent engine theft in the first place, rather than track their subsequent journey.
Painful noise (Dick Flute)
Many years ago, we installed an alarm system in our cottage. It was quite a comprehensive system with all sorts of gizmos, but I also had included the loudest available siren, which was located in the centre of the cottage. Needless to say, the system malfunctioned the first weekend we went away. With three loud alarms on the outside the neighbours rang the police for help to quell the racket. But here is the main point. Forcing a kitchen window open they asked a small and athletic neighbour to go inside to try and find how to switch off the system, which he did. He commented that even with the police outside he was still scared stiff – the noise was unbearable – and that was just one siren. It would not cost a lot to install a number of sirens in a hangar roof, with multiple feeds – perhaps fed from batteries – plus high intensity strobe lights, the idea being that no matter how remote the hangar is, the utter sensory mayhem created would deter even the most determined of thieves.
Ultra Secure Direct (Details withheld)
Recent security experts whom I have consulted are shocked that such valuable items are not better protected. Due to the difficulties in hiding tracking devices, and an alert being somewhat after the event anyway, I think pilots should focus on detecting unauthorised hangar entry first. Aircraft hangars are difficult to protect – often they are remote and have no mains power or internet, however, mobile phone coverage in the UK is now good so if you are able to get a decent signal you have solved the latter problem. There are also now a number of good batterypowered alarm systems as well, which will last several weeks and even longer if you are able to connect up a solar panel on the roof for additional power longevity. There are some very good systems at Ultra Secure Direct (ultrasecuredirect.com), I have no connection with this company. Look at some of the systems with reference beginning 007 where they offer a range of solutions. Alternatively look at the system which also incorporates a camera: 014-0550. When installed in the hangar with PIRs and wireless contacts, this system will detect hangar doors being opened or if there is movement in the hangar. You can also put hoods on the PIRs to focus their detection line. The unit will then text and dial you and alert and define what the triggering device is. You can then activate the camera on an app on your mobile phone to view what is happening in the hangar. The device will support up to nine key fobs to disarm and arm remotely, allowing all owners access to the hangar. None of these systems
requires mains power, just a mobile signal. Both the control panel and camera will require a SIM card, so there will be a monthly cost, either fixed or pay as you go. The system will text you a weekly status report, so you know it is still active. Depending on how close you are to the hangar, you may elect to set the alarm to ‘covert’ and alert the authorities to attempt to catch thieves red-handed.
Multiple self-contained systems (Details withheld)
Our hangar has double doors at either end in order that the two aircraft that are inside can leave without having to manoeuvre around each other. The first thing we did was to make the hangar doors secure from the inside, padlocked, and the whole hangar only accessible from the outside via one outward opening padlocked door. We made the door outward opening as an extra level of security, it is much easier to kick in an inward opening door than to prise open a door towards you, I also made the door from steel sheeting. We installed a large solar panel on the hangar roof (the size used on house roofs) and through a commercial regulator, charge three high capacity leisure batteries, which are locked away from prying eyes. This reliable source of 12v electricity runs a GSM alarm system which dials up to three different mobile phones with text messages if the system has been triggered, or if the 12v power has been disrupted. I found that Tesco have a non-expiring sim card (most sim cards have a fixed length of time that they are active) and for £20 it has been on standby for the past couple of years. We fixed the first line of defence at the only door accessible from outside using a wireless contact unit, and we have an infra-red unit inside looking directly at the nose of our aeroplane (don’t have an IR device looking at the floor, you would be surprised at the wildlife that frequents our hangars, I once found half a rat bought in by, I presume, a hawk). Further to the alarm, we have installed a ‘Zain’ mobile hotspot WiFi device (about the size of a packet of cigarettes) and linked this to two YI WiFi cameras (available from Amazon at a great price), one fixed outside the hangar and one inside, which I can pan and tilt remotely. The hotspot device needs 12v taken from our batteries and yet another sim card, and for £10 a month I found a sim on the 3 network that gives us 1GB for 30 days, more than enough to run the cameras which, via an app on my phone, alerts me if anything triggers movement. We can never make our hangars totally secure, but we can make it as difficult as possible for the thieves, I hope this gives some ideas to fellow pilots.
Variety of systems (Details withheld)
As you will see, I mention a few things that have helped stop most theft around our farm, and hopefully prevented some larger thefts overall. June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 9
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Thefts ■ Putting up security lights in as many places as possible – many thieves do not like being lit up when in the act. Older light fittings can be converted by installing PIR sensors if there are already external lights fitted. ■ Installing CCTV. There are a myriad of systems out there, so specifying one is not the best way forward. It’s ultimately about having cameras and CCTV warning signs visible. See 8-Channel DVR CCTV Kit with 4x 1080p Dome Cameras, 1TB HDD - KIT-1080-8-4 from https:// cpc.farnell.com. With a bit of YouTube research, they are easy enough to install. ■ Fitting an alarm to important buildings, specifically with a very large internal klaxon such as 18-980043, 127dB Master Blaster, from https://uk.farnell.com. We had an attempted break in at 6pm one Friday, with 15 people in a 60m radius. Once they had gained entry and the alarm sounded, we later saw them on CCTV getting back in their van and leaving. If the alarm system can alert people via phone, even better. These are readily available, but from experience, are only really any good (doesn’t require lots of attention) if wired into a landline. ■ From experience with quad bikes, trackers are only good for reducing insurance premiums. ■ Big padlocks only delay the break-in, helpful, but not a hugely useful measure. All the above are able to be installed by someone with
experience and confidence in home wiring relatively cheaply. Unfortunately, once you call in professionals, the costs skyrocket. I can easily imagine quotes ranging from £3,000 to 10k for the above in an average three machine hangar. What we have seen at our farm is that if you appear a hard target, thieves will avoid you in favour of others, a bit like not being the slowest in a group running from a bear attack!
High tech solution perhaps (Barry Vickers)
I’m no expert on this but what BMW has done is to make it impossible to swap out a gearbox without going to the trouble of stripping it down to get to the mechatronic module, which has to be put into the replacement gearbox. In other words, it is not an easy task of just plug and play. I think you need to look where the value is. If you can take a Rotax to Eastern Europe and have it flying in two weeks – the thing is of value to steal. If you have loads of codes to match up and such codes are controlled by some authority/whatever – it all gets too much to bother. Perhaps the BMW example is rather complex, but it helps to explain the idea of inbuilt protections. ■
10 | LIGHT AVIATION | June 2020
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Aeroncas
Quiet skies and old aeroplanes… Arthur W J G Ord-Hume tells his remarkable 70-year-old story of Aeroncas
f you had popped into Somerton on the Isle of Wight in those heady days immediately after the end WWII, you would have found a typical aerodrome facing an uncertain future, as its wartime usefulness was no more. Visiting aircraft were few and far between, occasionally parked on the grass was the odd RAF Tiger Moth, which had braved the Solent crossing from Eastleigh. American Piper Cubs, all with Yankee ‘NC’ registrations followed by a host of numerals, sometimes made social visits, no doubt to cement wartime relations with locals before being repatriated to the ‘land of the hamburger’. Seagulls soared uninterrupted through skies unsullied by the unexpected arrival of occasional RAF machines which had once used the field in an emergency in time of conflict. Owners Saunders-Roe had flown countless Walrus amphibians from the turf once used by Spartan Airlines with their triple-engined Cruisers. Wartime visitors had included a Dakota and a disorientated German pilot in a Messerschmitt Bf.109! Yes, Somerton was a peaceful oasis on the rising ground to the west of bustling Cowes where, in pre-war days, yachts had assembled and raced for
I
Main Paul Simpson poses with G-AEVT, a British-built Aeronca 100, in his back garden at Pinner Hill in 1948. The original wings were beyond repair, so they were replaced by those from G-AEVE, the so-called Aeronca Ely. This was the aircraft he crashed as a result of wind shear.
kudos and trophies. War took its toll though, and yachts were now almost the nautical version of hen’s teeth, especially at Cowes, which was only just getting used to having restarted a regular ferry crossing to the mainland. Anyway, if you had been at Somerton in 1947 you would have found a few interesting relics abandoned in the hangars. Besides some identifiable bits of Walrus, there were several obscure airframes, stripped of everything useful, which were heaped in one of them. One was never quite certain whether they were recent, survivors of better times, or simply things nobody wanted any more. Over at Gatwick Racecourse, for instance, loads of abandoned pre-war aircraft, many stored six and more years in the open, were being piled up and burned as plans were made to expand the small grass airfield which served the racegoers. But sharp-eyed observers in those far-off days at Somerton would have had no difficulty recognising a large and semi-circular rudder as being that of an American-built Aeronca C.3. The rest of the aircraft, lying about the earthen floor of the hangar, was not so
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Aeroncas
“There were no
instruments, no bracing wires and the engine looked as though it had spent some years reclining at the bottom of a rather unkempt cesspit”
Left I pose with our handiwork as Paul clicks the shutter on the box camera. The aircraft was finished in light blue and silver. With its British-made Aeronca J.99 JAP engine, J A Prestwick’s copy of the American E.113C flat twin. The Peterborough-built Aeronca 100, G-AEVT, was slightly different from the US original with its wooden ailerons and mass-balanced control surfaces.
easily identifiable. Since aircraft preservation and conservation was an unheard of and clearly eccentric occupation, nobody thought to attempt rebuilding these old relics. As an example of this, a tatty old Hornet Moth was turfed out to be burned at Gatwick. It was spotted in time by a lunatic enthusiast who asked the workmen with shovels and boxes of matches if he could have it. “Yes. take it away,” they said, assuming that he must be some sort of utter fool. Which he did. It still flies today!
Certificate of Registration
Well, a young ex-RAF chap called Robin BrodieJames happened to be at Somerton and saw the Aeronca and asked if he could have it. There was an exceptional bonus with this heap – an engine and, of all things, the pre-war logbook and Certificate of Registration! He was not to know at the time, but the last two items were vital if he was ever to succeed in getting this heap of bits back into the air. The chap he spoke to saw the opportunity to make an unexpected load of money. “Thirty-five quid,” he said hopefully. The young man duly handed over a fist-full of big, white, folding fivers and then tied the
Top When all was complete, G-AEVT was loaded onto Paul’s family car for a pre-rush hour drive to Elstree Aerodrome. This poor snapshot was taken in the dimness of dawn in January 1950. Note the open sunroof where the co-driver (me) will sit for the journey.
aircraft onto his very elderly – but fortunately angular – car. The lot crossed the Solent to Lymington aboard the small car ferry. Brodie-James, born in 1929, was fresh out of the RAF. He had decided to take up farming so had bought some land at Worplesdon between Guildford and Woking and, from a small holding there, launched himself on his new career. In his spare time, he thought, he could rebuild the Aeronca and fly it about from his fields. Ah... the dreams of youth! Now, flying, compared to farming, is easy. Farming is hard work. It calls for unending hours and the rewards are uncertain. A slave to weather, the life of a farmer is unenviable. Those who have never experienced it reckon it’s a golden opportunity to cavort with nature – and fly your own aeroplane in the copious spare time you expect to have at your disposal. (At this prospect, the ‘real farmer’ explodes in a rage and shouts ‘spherical objects!’ at the top of his voice.) It took the pure-minded Robin Brodie-James two summers to realise the futility of his hopes. In the interim, his dreamed-of aeroplane stood in an open-fronted barn which doubled as a cowshed. For June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 13
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Aeroncas
some reason, cows love aircraft and enjoy rubbing against them and chewing their fabric. In desperation, Brodie-James re-covered the fuselage in red-doped fabric – and fenced off the corner of the barn. This kept the animals at bay, but not all of the weather. A desperate advertisement in the Exchange & Mart newspaper revealed he had reached the end of his tether. It read: ‘For Sale: Aeroplane, complete but in pieces. £35.’ My friend Paul Simpson and I were mad enough to consider this a reasonable project. Paul had recently had the misfortune to write off his Aeronca 100, G-AEVT, which we had rebuilt at his home on Pinner Hill. He had taken off from Loughborough Aerodrome in Leicestershire to fly down to my landing strip behind my parents’ house in Hatch End, but when at a height of no more than 200ft, he was smitten by a squall line. The little Aeronca’s 37hp motor was a poor advocate for combating wind shear on climb-out and G-AEVT was driven vertically into a narrow ditch. Miraculously this ditch had saved Paul’s life as it allowed the full force of the impact to be taken on the wing-roots rather than the nose. It still put him in hospital for a long, long time though.
Parental rules…
The whole experience had somewhat altered our positions in life. Paul’s father was decidedly firm in his mandate to forbid Paul from ever attempting to go near an aeroplane again, let alone ever think of owning one. My own parents, already deeply disappointed in me for not having followed what they viewed as a potentially promising career in music, were less forceful in their proclamation, but my father espoused that a ‘happy Ord-Hume household would be one that was free of contamination by things that flew’. And he didn’t just mean bluebottles in the kitchen. Put bluntly,
Below The Aeronca we bought from Robin Brodie-James was an Americanbuilt model imported by the Aircraft Exchange & Mart Company at Hanworth. It also had the original E.113C engine but, to comply with our airworthiness requirements, it had been modified to dual ignition. After we had loaded up the aircraft in an all-too familiar manner, the owner and his dog posed for this starboard view of our caravan. By coincidence, this aircraft was G-AEFT – one letter different from our first model.
he trusted that our house, garden, family and entire blasted environment would never see another aircraft close up. It was expected of me, as a good young lad, not to disobey a parental three-line whip. And now there was the chance to acquire BrodieJames’ Aeronca for the price he had paid for it. The problem was that neither Paul nor I had anything like that amount of cash to spare. Apart from looking after my newly flying Luton Minor, plus being the breadwinner for two, now rather infirm parents, I had long considered Dickens’ Mr Micawber to have been my unofficial accountant. But Ord-Hume’s ‘laws of acquisition’ kicked in. The first of these proclaims that lack of funds will not prevent the acquisition of something that you fancy. And the second asserts that space will always expand to accommodate an extra object, regardless of size, shape or weight. I managed to scrape together £17.10/- and Paul managed to gather up the same amount. We drove down to Smarts Heath Road in Worplesdon, met the owner of the Aeronca and dutifully handed over our hard-gotten gains. The aircraft really was a mess. There were no instruments, no bracing wires (and the Aeronca has hundreds of the damn things...) and the engine looked as though it had spent some years reclining at the bottom of a rather unkempt cesspit. But the whole thing had its vital logbook and a certificate of registration. Experienced as we were at tying aeroplanes onto Paul’s gallant pre-war car, we made short shrift of loading up. One might add here that modern cars are quite useless at transporting light aircraft. Old cars had durable bumpers at front and rear. Onto these one could tie stout cross beams of ‘four-by-two’ front and back, which enabled a wing to stand along each side of the car. And there were plenty of places to which one could anchor a tow-hook for the fuselage.
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Access to the car was then over the bonnet and down through the sunroof (for the main driver), while the essential co-driver sat on top of the car, legs dangling through the open sunroof, to shout instructions to the bloke working the wheel and pedals below, while providing clear hand signals to bemused fellow motorists. We set off from Surrey in this fashion for the drive back to my home at Hatch End. Pre-planning had ruled out all possibility of taking the machine to Paul’s home since it was reckoned likely to induce a family conflict that could only end painfully. For me, I had the benefit of an empty shed and was relying on the fact that every afternoon my father went for a walk that I had a clear line of sight across the fields, which would give me 10 minutes warning of his return. We turned into the end of my road and waited, eagerly watching my front gate. At last my dear old dad appeared and set off down the road. We swiftly completed that final 200 yards and untied the aircraft from the car, standing all the pieces in the front garden. We carried the wings round into the back garden and put them securely in my storage building. It was then that I realised there had been a small miscalculation and the remaining space in the shed was fractionally too narrow for the fuselage. With a Dickensian assumption that ‘something would turn up’, we struggled to get the undercarriage off the Aeronca’s fuselage. It wouldn’t budge!
Fuselage storage
A good 30 minutes later we succeeded in detaching both legs and turned our attention to the matter of fuselage storage. The engine was removed easily enough but we now found we could not take the fuselage round the side of the house for, unlike the slim wings, there wasn’t sufficient room through the back gate. Drawing upon those hidden reserves of energy that desperation engenders, we lifted up the fuselage and man-handled it out into the street and through a field gate into my little airstrip. From here some supreme effort lifted it up and heaved it over the garden fence into the vegetable patch. At this point eager eyes spotted my father advancing along a distant footpath. He was less than 10 minutes away… In a blind surge of effort, the
Top Paul enlarged the cabin of G-AEVT by adding windows behind the pilot but with G-AEFT, as well as this, we added a second door. ’VT’s sole cabin entry was on the starboard side: ’FT now had a door each side. We also gave ’FT a British-style pitot head on top of the cabane strut instead of underneath one of the wings. Above G-AEFT, the aircraft that came from the home of a disillusioned farmer and lived in my garden shed for the duration of its rebuild, is still flying. This is a recent shot of it climbing away. Interestingly one notices that the E.113C has been replaced by a JAP engine. The giveaway is the rocker box covers.
fuselage was shoved into the shed. No, it didn’t quite fit but desperate times call for desperate actions and, to the accompaniment of a painful scraping sound and brute force, it more or less fitted and the door was heaved shut. Moments later, my father arrived in the front drive and commented on how hot and flustered we both looked. Later that evening, when an air of painfully artificial normality pervaded the Ord-Hume household, I happened to look outside the front door. There on the grass for all to see was the unmistakable presence of a pair of Aeronca undercarriage legs complete with Dunlop Aerowheels! And my father had not noticed them… My plan was that very gradually I would introduce the new acquisition to the family in about a month or three. In reality I was thwarted by the postman. You see, my father had the same two first initials as me and so, when an official letter addressed to ‘Arthur W Ord-Hume’ arrived, it was dad who opened it. I must say that he was jolly good about it in the end, especially as it dawned on him quite quickly that the ‘change of registered owner of an aeroplane’ document probably did not apply to him as he didn’t own an aircraft. But, he thought, he might know somebody who did – in which case it might just explain the often furtive behaviour of his aviative son... Which is the story of how G-AEFT became accepted into the Ord-Hume family. Later on, I may just relate to you what happened next. ■ June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 15
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Project News
Projects which inspire others to build their own aircraft Compiled by Mike Slaughter
Project News I do hope you are all managing to benefit from the easing of restrictions, wherever you are located, and that the opportunity to now fly your aircraft is open to you. Last month I asked if you were able to use a little of the extra time many of us find we have available, to get in touch with Project News and update the membership about your build. I have to thank those who answered the call and say that everything in this month's column is otherwise unsolicited and has arrived out of the blue. Please keep it up. A report, no matter how large or small, perhaps a picture of a project finished, halfway through, or not long started, it’s all interesting. Unsurprisingly, no aircraft have been Cleared to Fly this month and there are just two New Projects, a Sling 4 TSi and an ever-popular Van’s, have been registered. The Jodel profile is immediately recognisable, and fan or otherwise, quite pleasing on the eye. Also, you can’t but help admire their efficiency – their go places speed and range make them an enduring favourite. When I started to read Michael Dolphin’s report of his scratch built DR1050-M, it immediately became apparent that this is a classic 2+2
machine with a modern twist, and as near as dammit 400kg payload. Mike hopes for an economic cruise around the 100kt mark on under 20 ltr/hr fuel burn. Back in January’s Light Aviation, Francis Donaldson wrote an interesting item entitled The Dean Wilson concept continues to thrive, an article on how the high wing Avid Flyer of 40 years ago has spawned an enduring genre of types still being added to today. Triggered by the arrival of the Kitplanes for Africa (KFA) Safari and Explorer models into the UK, it accompanied an excellent ‘How To’ article on the building of the first Safari wing by Dudley Pattison. This month, Dudley updates us on his progress with the fuselage, having received his second and final kit delivery from South Africa at the end of February. And next month we will have an update from Pete Marsden’s KFA Explorer. We also have a nice story for our younger readers – a Piper Cub pedal-plane. To get in touch with Project News and to tell your story, report a milestone or just to send a picture email: projectnews@laa-archive. org.uk. Please share your story!
G-CJNL (LAA 304-15103) Jodel DR1050-M By Mike Dolphin built a monowheel Europa in the mid-1990s and thoroughly enjoyed flying and owning this wonderful little aircraft. Life and circumstance found me selling her in 2004 and, having been without an aircraft to call my own for a while, I was looking at what my next project would be. I wanted to try my hand at wooden aircraft construction and needed something that would stretch my (limited) skills and abilities. I had always enjoyed the quirky design and pleasant looks of the Jodel/Robin family and wanted an aircraft with a larger payload and extra seating. I spoke to several people and, mostly on a whim rather than science, I decided on a DR1050. The plans duly arrived from Airworld UK in late 2011 and, on close inspection, it was apparent that the ‘M’ version (Monobloc, what the French call ‘an all flying tailplane’) had wider C of G limits and a higher maximum all up mass. It occurred to
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me early on that, as this would be an entirely new build, I could take advantage of modern power plants, avionics and covering materials to increase the load lifting capabilities further still. The Rotax 912 is an engine I have total confidence in, and I have enjoyed the easy-to-operate and reliable nature of this little power plant. Early on in the inception phase I met Dr Bill Brooks, who was then in the process of installing a Rotax in his own DR1050 rebuild project. This man is as clever as a chap with two heads, he had already done all the calculations and stress analysis, and his engine frame design had already been approved by the LAA. This certainly saved me a years’ worth of work and a great deal of expense, so thank you Bill. As an ex-RAF aircraft engineer, I wasn’t used to working in wood as most of the types I had worked on were generally stressed aluminium construction. I had,
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however, owned two wooden gliders and was sort of au fait with the general principles. Early on, I attended one of Duds Pattison’s excellent woodworking courses, which gave me a good starting point and the confidence to take the first tentative steps. I generally consider myself to be a very lucky bloke, but finding my inspector (and now firm friend) Simon Ring was a real stroke of good fortune. He had worked on the Robin and Jodel family of aircraft in the past and his wealth of knowledge and wise counsel were invaluable in guiding this build. I particularly like his fastidious attention to detail, there was very little that passed his eagle eye, and this gave me that warm comfortable feeling that I was on the right track.
Wooden aircraft design
I think it would be fair to say that I have really enjoyed this build. The new skills that I’ve acquired, and knowledge of wooden aircraft design have given me an appreciation of the wonderful versatility of ‘god’s own composite’. In the workshop my new best friends are now the Electra Beckum planer/thicknesser, Metabo bandsaw and a good quality, exhaustively honed, hand plane which I found was the best tool to achieve almost perfect scarf joints every time. Talking of which, on his aforementioned course, Duds rightly placed a good emphasis on getting as perfect a scarf joint as possible. Once done, these joints are a joy to behold and I (sad I know) have an archive of photos of some of my favourites!
Top Back at the end of January a break in the poor winter weather allowed an early ground run, before we were all sent to the naughty step. Photo: Mike Dolphin Above right Early load tests on the spar were carried out by Michael’s granddaughter, Ava, age 4 ½. Photo: Mike Dolphin Above left A necessary early step, would the spar fit the fuselage? Photo: Mike Dolphin
Challenges throughout have included getting hold of various metal parts (seats, undercarriage parts, wheels brakes etc); making a plethora of ‘one off’ jigs and special tools, as well as fitting a 28ft one-piece wing and fuselage into an extended double garage. Eventually I had to build a Wendy house-style extension to the garage door to accommodate the wing. I thought this was most ingenious, but I have been subsequently told that this is a standard building mod for these one-piece wing types. At the LAA Rally in 2013, I saw a demonstration of the new kid on the block, Oratex fabric. As a radio control model aircraft builder in my youth, I had been used to dealing with its early cousins, Solarfilm and Solartex, easy to use and lightweight coverings for my models. So, I was mightily impressed with the simplicity and weight saving potential of the grown-up version. I subsequently attended an Oratex covering course at Little Snoring with Paul Hendry Smith, of TLAC (Sherwood Ranger and Scout fame) and this emphasised the simplicity and safety of the system and gave me the skills and confidence to apply this innovative material. With the lighter engine (lighter than an O-200) I was aware that centre of gravity considerations would be an issue. With this in mind I was always looking for ways to make the rear 2/3 of the aircraft as light as possible. The covering material no doubt would help, and I was lucky enough to have the loan of a mould for the tail fairing. June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 17
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Project News This I had professionally made with carbon fibre and all up with paint it came in at only 1.25kg. I also decided that the trim system with its Teleflex cable could do with a modern twist, so I replaced it with a MAC electric servo, and I am very pleased with the outcome as well as the weight saving. Overall (without spats) she weighs in at 382kg zero-fuel weight, with the C of G in a usable position but I may, in the future, consider putting a little weight well forward to increase the load potential on the rear seat further still. Again, Bill Brooks has broken ground here and has a mod that he has applied to his own aircraft that I may be tempted to copy. Keeping with the modern twist on a classic airframe theme, I wanted to stay up to date with the latest in avionics as well as having a simple instrument layout. It was another LAA Rally (2014 I think), where I found out about a cost effective EFIS system with the MGL Explorer set up. This, coupled with the excellent Trig radio and transponder, gives, I think, a neat, functional yet uncluttered instrument panel. The planning, construction and wiring/plumbing of the panel is one of the jobs that I particularly enjoyed, and I’m very pleased with the result. Ground runs went surprisingly well and, once I had the EFIS correctly configured (yes… it took a while), Ts and Ps behaved themselves. A bit of tweaking with the tailwheel geometry and steering springs and she was tracking well during taxying, apart from in strong winds with a light load where it was difficult to track crosswind, but I guess this is standard for any tailwheel type. Would I do it again? Yes, and it has undoubtedly been a challenge in so many ways, which for me is one of the most worthwhile pursuits is building an aircraft. When you consider the thousands of generations of our forebears who looked at the sky and wondered… Here we are in only the last 100 years or so being able to not only fly but build one’s own. Truly fortunate.
Above A classic looking dash but with a very modern take, the MGL Explorer provides modernity and saves a great amount of weight. Photo: Mike Dolphin Left Eighteen months ago the wing looked like this poking out into its Wendy house-style extension to the garage. Photo: Mike Dolphin
KFA Safari update By Dudley Pattison was lucky to be able to collect my fuselage kit from Firs Farm, the acting distribution centre for KFA kits being imported by Sprite Aviation, before the dreaded COVID-19 paralysed the world. I have just been speaking to Richard, another builder of a Safari whose project is not at his home, so he has been stopped from building for the duration. I think that I would have climbed the walls many times by now had I not been able to progress my build. The kit was collected on 27 February and good progress has been made. Firstly, the wings could now be brought to near completion by adding the fuel tanks, which in my case came with the fuselage kit. The tailplane and elevators have been fitted, as have the control box and elevator pushrod. Rudder/brake pedals, rudder cables and the flaperon controls are also in situ but the flaperons cannot be completed until the wings are rigged to the fuselage. As things are increasing in weight, I will need a visit by friends to help with that, and that is one thing that is disallowed at the moment. I have just fitted the undercarriage legs using rope
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Right Good access is afforded to the rudder pedals before the firewall is fitted, so now is a good time to do the brake lines. As an option I chose to have brakes available to the P2. The cockpit plywood floor comes ready to fit with all its lightening holes in place, which makes it a devil to varnish. Just like a WWI biplane, you can check if you have a tube missing in this fuselage. If you liberate a canary mid fuselage and it escapes, there’s a tube missing. Photo: Dudley Pattison
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Left On a rather unpleasant day in late February, just three weeks before the lockdown, Dudley collects his fuselage. Photo: Mike Slaughter Below middle left There are 10mm diameter aluminium tube stringers, one each side, and one on the bottom to put on the rear fuselage. There are short projecting tube ‘posts’ along the stringer line where it passes a structural member and short tubes with a ‘fish mouth’ profile to locate the stringer are slipped onto these posts. The position of each tube is then adjusted to give the desired line to the stringer, and the tubes are then drilled and pop riveted to the posts. Small holes are drilled in the fish mouth end of each tube, epoxy added to the end and the stringer and tube are wire locked together. Photo: Dudley Pattison
instead of the supplied bungees and I am now about to fit the tubeless tyres to the Matco wheel rims. Although several sizes of tyres are available up to ridiculously large, I have opted for the standard 600-6 tyres with go faster spats, as I don’t intend landing in dry rocky riverbeds. The tyres are a first for me as they are tubeless, something I have not come across before in an aircraft. It is looking like the height of the fuselage is going to exceed the height of the bi-fold doors to the workshop by a few centimetres, so the plan at the moment is to slacken the rope ‘bungees’ to allow the undercarriage to spread, which in turn will allow the fuselage to sit a little lower. That is plan A anyway. This is an enjoyable build overall, but is throwing up queries here and there. It seems like I am always asking questions of Graham of Sprite Aviation or Stefan the boss of KFA, the manufacturer, and only recently have I realised why. As the questions are at present buried throughout the build, I am uncovering them at a high rate due to the speed of my progress. There are two things on the plus side. One is that Graham or Stefan reply to the
query quickly, and the other is that South Africa is locked down just as we are at the time of writing (31 March), and Stefan has a Safari kit at home to build and will follow his own instructions, hopefully filling in any gaps he finds in them. From my model company days, I remember the need to view a kit by trying to ‘take out’ your designer eyes and ‘put in’ a pair of hobby builder eyes – which is initially not an easy thing to do. There is also a small, but active, WhatsApp UK builders’ group where experiences and problems can be shared. Because Richard has fitted his tubeless tyres, he could tell me how to do it and he thought he may have a wing problem and asked me for a couple of measurements which, when given, allayed his fears. Graham cheated and bought a ‘quick build’ kit so that a demonstrator aircraft was available sooner rather than later. The problem with that is he hasn’t done any of the early stages of construction. He will come into his own when people have questions about stages closer to completion. In the meantime, I will always help anyone who needs it and is at an earlier stage than I am.
Left There is a nylon bearing about halfway along the elevator pushrod, but it was a tight fit in the short bush locating tube, even after removing the paint from the inside of the tube. I eventually forced it in, only to find that it had closed up and reduced the diameter of the bore to the extent that the push rod wouldn’t even enter, let alone slide back and forth! A 10-minute struggle returned the bearing to the outside world, and I set about reducing its outside diameter to a slip fit in the locating tube – it is retained by a large circlip. What I found amazing was the accuracy of the positioning of the bearing. When the ends of the push rod tube were attached to the relevant horns, it ended up with a nice sliding fit. Photo: Dudley Pattison
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Piper Cub Pedal Plane Ian Ross from Aberdeenshire on his latest project know this is an unusual build for Project News, but I thought it might be of interest. I have in the past built a Minimax, and also a Zenair 601 along with my friend Alan Watt. My last project was rebuilding a crashed Rans S7 which I now fly. While at Airventure Oshkosh last year, I spotted plans for pedal planes and thought that would be a nice project, as my great grandson was on the way. It turned out to be the perfect occupation to keep me busy during lockdown, when eBay’s aviation counter has been a godsend for sourcing parts. My Rans S7 was the inspiration for the registration and colour scheme, but now it’s finished and awaiting a test pedal I will have to find another project. I may simply build a second one!
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Right Pilot’s eye view, I do not doubt Ian’s great grandson will be absolutely delighted. Photo: Ian Ross Below The project completed, Ian now needs something else to keep him occupied! Photo: Ian Ross
New Projects If your aircraft has been featured in the New Projects list, please let Project News know of your progress at: projectnews@laa-archive.org.uk n Sling 4 TSi (LAA 400A-15698) 23/4/2020 Name & address held by LAA Engineering
Cleared To Fly If your aircraft has featured recently in the magazine and has subsequently completed its maiden flight, Project News would love to hear from you at: projectnews@laa-archive.org.uk With lockdown preventing final inspections etc., unfortunately no aircraft have been cleared to fly this past month.
n Van’s RV-7 (LAA 323-15697) 23/4/2020 Name & address held by LAA Engineering
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Headset review
Sharing the view… Ray Wilkinson explains how to improve your aerial photographic skills. From a picture you’re happy to put on Facebook, to one you are happy to put on your wall…
here are many reasons why we fly, but a major one must be the unique perspective we get of the world from being high above it. As we enjoy it so much, many of us want to share it, so not only do we take friends, we also take photographs. However, if we are to be a safe and conscientious pilot, and a half-decent photographer, we need give both activities the attention they deserve, I realise that I’m preaching (mostly) to the converted, but it’s important to keep yourself safe when taking photographs from an aircraft. It simply isn’t going to be possible to fly an aircraft, keep an adequate lookout and take photographs on your own. You cannot maintain sufficient focus on everything at once, and that’s the behaviour that mid-airs and infringements are made of. Use a suitably qualified P2 (or P1) so that, between you, you can remain clear of controlled airspace unless you have a clearance to enter it, keep an effective lookout for traffic, monitor the aircraft systems and maintain VFR. Always agree between you who is flying the aircraft, and make sure that he or she doesn’t get drawn into the photography beyond putting the aircraft where it needs to
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Above The weir at Marlow, on the Thames. Above right Mounting a GoPro on the outside of the aircraft allows you to include part of the aircraft in the shot. Right The rolling shutter effect makes the propeller appear to have more blades than it actually has, and for them to appear to be detached from the propeller hub. Photo: Rich Milliron
be. Remember the ‘500ft and alight clear’ rules as well, don’t be tempted to get that little bit closer in the interests of better images. Many major events, such as the F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone, will have temporary airspace restrictions in place, so check your Notam carefully. The CAA is taking an increasingly hard line on infringements these days. Always remember that safety is paramount, and it is especially important to always prioritise flying over photography.
Practice makes perfect
Good aerial photography is like most other activities in life, it requires practice and the right equipment to produce decent results. This article is intended to cover the key points that will enable you to take pictures you are proud of, some of the pointers are subtle, others are blindingly obvious. However, even the blindingly obvious may not be so until they are pointed out. I also aim to explain some of the pitfalls and the tricks, to get better photos. Just as on the ground, there’s a wide range of suitable
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Aerial photography
“ Good aerial
photography requires practice and the right equipment to produce decent results” cameras to choose from, and the opportunity to spend money on equipment is almost infinite. Generally, up to a certain level, the more you pay the better the results, but using a top-quality camera isn’t going to turn you into David Bailey on its own, you need the practice and the expertise to use its capabilities. Of course, mobile phones are capable of taking some pretty good photographs, but you need to understand their limitations for aerial photography. The most suitable lenses are generally in the wide-angle and mid-range category, and a high-quality SLR camera will tend to perform well at high ISO (sensitivity) settings, allowing a fast shutter speeds. It will also give a wider range of focal lengths than a mobile phone, for instance, and more control over the image generally.
Range of equipment
Although high-quality cameras are capable of better images than simple cameras or mobile phones, a poorly taken or unexciting image of high quality will be less appealing than an interesting or unusual shot of indifferent quality. One of the most important criteria is to know your equipment and June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 23
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Aerial photography be able to set it up, both beforehand and in the air, quickly and effectively so you don’t miss the moment. Always bear in mind the aircraft environment and its limitations – a lens the size of a bazooka may be impressive and capable of superb images but won’t be usable in the confines of an aircraft cockpit, not only do you have the physical size issues, there are also problems like camera shake in what is ostensibly an unstable environment. The best lens to use, where you have the option, will be a mid-range zoom, such as a 28-80mm for a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. Changing lenses in flight is something to avoid, due to the likelihood of dropping something and being unable to retrieve it – and the implications of it jamming a control do not bear thinking about. Many compact cameras have a wide range of focal lengths built in but sticking to the wider end of the range will generally give better results. The ubiquitous GoPro camera, and its many imitators, can be used inside and outside the aircraft to give superb still and moving images, and a very wide field of view allows photographs to include part of the aircraft if you want them to. The newer versions can even be controlled using a mobile phone. A wide range of mount options is available, but always assume the camera is going to fall off and provide an adequate secondary restraint – ‘two grunts past a white knuckle’ is not an adequate locking method. The LAA takes a very realistic view of mounting these cameras externally and your inspector will be able to offer advice and approve a fitment in most instances, rather than you having to go through a mods approval process. You must also consider the effects on aerodynamics; a fin-mounted camera recently caused the rudder to flutter, a potentially very dangerous situation.
Improving the image
Most of the general rules for photography apply, but there are a few ‘gotchas’ that are specific to taking photographs from aircraft. Generally, a bright, sunny day will usually give better conditions for photography, as it
will increase contrast and detail, and allow a faster shutter speed, hence less camera shake. If you are taking photos inside the cockpit, watch out for reflections from the windows. In some cases, it may be difficult to avoid them, although the position of the sun relative to the aircraft may be the problem. If possible, try photographing the subject from a different side or at a different time of day. One key tip is to look at the whole frame, not just at the subject. It sounds obvious, but before you fly, check the screens for flies or other dirt, and clean them carefully before departing. Remember, there’s not a lot you can do once you are airborne and you’ll be very frustrated if a superb shot is impaired by spots that you could so easily have cleaned off the screen! Although we all treasure those flights where visibility is tens of kilometres, often that is not the case. When vis is less than ideal, you have the choice of working with the sun and the landscape around you to make the mist a key part of the image or restricting yourself to close-up photographs of specific points. Generally, images that don’t show distant ground or the sky will make misty conditions less obvious. Also, boosting the contrast in Photoshop will often pull a great image from a mediocre one.
Cloudscapes
Below Clouds can be an attractive feature, and bringing the shot in closer enhances the ground features despite the misty conditions.
It’s tempting only to consider landscapes and specific features or buildings when thinking of aerial photographs, but clouds can make beautiful images as well, especially when combined. But don’t be tempted to break the rules if you are restricted to VFR, at the risk of repeating myself, safety is paramount and if you are a VFR pilot, as most of us are, do not put yourself in a dangerous situation just to take a photograph!
Camera settings and technique
Due to vibration and the awkwardness of handling a camera in the confines of the cockpit, a higher than usual shutter speed will be needed to avoid camera shake. If you have control over the ISO setting on your camera, set it as high as
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Contents you can without getting washed-out images – experimenting on the ground beforehand will show the trade-offs. A professional or high-end digital SLR will typically be capable of using 800 ISO or higher without much degradation of image quality, whereas a cheaper half-frame SLR or compact camera may start showing adverse effects beyond 400 ISO. Alternatively, to avoid camera shake, use as wide an angle of view as possible. For a full-frame (FX) SLR camera, it is usually recommended that you set a shutter speed at least equal to the focal length (e.g. for a focal length of 125mm, use a speed of at least 1/125 second). For aerial photography, it’s a good idea to double this due to the adverse conditions. For DX-format SLRs, the focal length is effectively 1.4 times the one shown on the lens, due to the smaller sensor, so bear this in mind when deciding the minimum shutter speed to use. If your camera has an eye-level viewfinder, you should use it as it’s easier to hold a camera steady when pressed against your face than held out far enough to see the viewing screen. There’s a ‘proper’ way to hold a camera, and an internet search of images using the keywords ‘holding a camera’ will show you how. Make sure you press the shutter gently – don’t snatch it – and take multiple photographs of the same subject, so that if one is shaky you have other chances of getting a good one. Unlike the old days of film, the cost of taking a picture is inconsequential, so there’s no bar to taking plenty. Many good photographs are spoiled by the horizon not being level, and the extra difficulty of taking photographs in the cockpit makes this harder to address, but some cameras can be set to show an artificial horizon-type reticule as a reminder.
Propeller aspects
An interesting, often annoying, effect relates to the movement of the propeller during the exposure. At low shutter speeds on an SLR, the shutter is fully open for a time and the propeller will be blurred. At higher speeds, not all of
Above Proprietary mounts are available for the GoPro and similar cameras but your inspector will need to give you the OK that the camera is satisfactorily mounted. It is imperative that consideration is also given to possible effects on the aircraft’s aerodynamics. Below Woburn Abbey, taken in low evening sun, which adds contrast and depth to the photo.
the shutter is open at one time and this can lead to some strange effects, as the moving propeller is seen by different parts of the sensor at different times. In extreme cases, parts of the propeller can appear to be detached from the hub, blades can appear bent or there can be more blades appearing on the image than on the actual propeller. This is known as the rolling shutter effect, and a search online will show plenty of examples. A similar effect appears on the shutterless cameras in mobile phones. A phone camera works continuously, and a picture is taken by scanning each line of pixels in turn (known as a raster scan) into memory. Again, different parts of the image are captured at different times. This also applies to video cameras, and another video effect is that rotating propellers can appear to be moving much more slowly than real life, or even backwards, due to the video frame rate of 25 frames per second.
Finally…
Whatever your skill or experience as a photographer, combining it with your passion for flight is a great way of bringing some of the magic of flying to those unable to enjoy it for real. It does require some practice and patience, but the results are well worthwhile. Using the right equipment and taking the time to learn to use it to its best, can indeed transform a picture that you are happy to put on Facebook into one that you can be proud to put on the wall. ■
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Flying Adventure
RALLYING CALL
Pandemic, asymptomatic, prodrome, pathogen and coronavirus were words most of us were unfamiliar with until the beginning of this year. So, leaving them behind for now, Martin Ferid takes a fond look back at last year’s RSA Rally at Brienne-le-Château. With one eye on 2021… here have been about 20 serious epidemics and pandemics throughout history, with the first known occurring in Hamin Mangha, a village in north-eastern China around 3000 BC, long before modern religions and their designation of such events as atonement for our sins. When we look at what the ancients would have called prophecies or witchcraft, and what we refer to as science fiction, I for one believe all the far-fetched crazy ideas. From Star Trek and teleporters to life on Mars and contact with aliens, who are hopefully far more intelligent than us and manage survival without the need to destroy each other or their planet. The question is, will humanity be prepared enough and able to cope when the time comes, or will our ‘cherished’ world leaders be so bogged down with their own agendas that they can’t see the wood for the trees? Time travel, now that’s a biggy to get your head around, especially the mechanics of how it would work. The measurement of time itself began around 1500 BC
T
Main The Napoleon Museum is housed in the former École de Brienne-le-Château, one of 12 elite training establishments that fed the École Militaire in Paris, and is where Napoleon learned his military craft.
with the ancient Egyptians, initially using sundials, the Merkhet, candle clocks, water clocks, hourglasses and eventually mechanical clocks. It wasn’t until 1868 that Swiss luxury watchmaker, Patek Philippe, made the first wristwatch, for the Countess Koscowicz of Hungary. Yoko Ono gave one to John Lennon for his 40th birthday, but for the majority of us the nearest we are going to get to sporting one is a cheapo fake from Thailand. However, if it wasn’t for you and I, or at least our aviatory forefathers, and open-cockpits, the humble wristwatch may well have remained second choice to the pocket watch. The Santos-Dumont watch was created for practical reasons in 1904 by Louis Cartier, to honour the eponymous Brazilian inventor and pioneering aircraft builder. In 1901 Alberto Santos-Dumont had won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize for flying around the Eiffel Tower in his S-D No 6 airship. Spending most of his adult life living in Paris designing and building hot air balloons and early dirigibles, he was eventually drawn to powered flight. In 1906, it was his 14-bis design, the
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Oiseau de Proie (bird of prey), that was the first aeroplane to be recognised by the Aéro-Club de France as having actually flown in France. As far as our own flying goes, just as the weather was beginning to improve, I was composing an email to those on our fly-out list with the intention of a nice early start to the season and a visit to the AERO exhibition at Friedrichshafen, with a Liverpool-based pathologist, Dick Shepherd. The world then changed, seemingly overnight, and we went from being told the virus was ‘nothing much more than flu that would evaporate in April’, to becoming the worst pandemic in living memory and crippling the world.
European flying
Since their inception, our fly-outs have given many touring neophytes the impetus and opportunity to sample the wonders and thrills of unfettered European flying and, although without a vaccine it’s looking more and more like things aren’t going to quickly return to any kind of normality, this season’s event calendar could well
Top The Chateau in Brienne-le-Chateau. Built between 1770-1778 it replaced a longruined edifice that dated back to 951. Above left Hotel de Ville (town hall) which was built with a million franc legacy from Napoleon, and features a statue of him outside. Above right A display of Evra props. Richard Evra has been a regular at the Rally for many years and Martin had hoped to chat to him about a new prop for the Jodel.
be written into the annals of sport aviation history as ‘not having happened’. However, we can dream. After all, isn’t that the very beginnings from which all of our flying activities evolve, a dream and a desire to explore a seemingly unattainable goal? My dream is that normality will return in the shape of the events that we have sadly seen cancelled so far this year, some of which are backed by decades of success. This month’s destination was to one such event, the RSA Rally at Brienne-le-Chateau, and was to act as an encouragement to entice newcomers and old campaigners alike to venture across the Channel to enjoy some Gallic charm, hospitality and interesting aeroplanes. Sadly, like so many others, that event has now been cancelled and, like me living that dream, the organisers are already promising next year’s event will be something special. So, in looking forward to next year let’s look back at last year’s successful French Homebuilder’s rally and plant the seeds of that dream, the ambition to spread our wings. Look at it this way, you have over 12 months to think about it! June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 27
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“As usual, a large contingent of G registered aircraft attend
the RSA Rally, from venerable vintage types that meander along at a leisurely pace, to the latest go-faster hot-ships” The RSA Rally is similar to that of the LAA in so far as it’s had a bit of a nomadic past and, having followed both events to each new location, their current respective homes appear to suit them well. Funnily enough they are also something of a home-coming as both organisations have been based at their current locations in the distant past. The quandary behind hosting such events, of course, is finding somewhere that can not only off-set the risk if no one turns up but is also able to accommodate everybody and his uncle if the sun gods shine. Also, there are the exhibitors and vendors to consider, who given good attendances have a captive audience but can be left pretty desolate and distinctly out of pocket if no one makes it. In my case, I wanted to have a chat this year with Richard Evra, of Evra propellers, as I need to discuss buying a new prop for the Jodel as the old one had seen better days. (www.helices-evra.com). In total there were 330 arrivals at Brienne over the weekend last year, and although it’s not quite up to its glory days, with more than 800 arrivals when it was based at Moulins in the 1990s, after a while in the
Below This French design, the Orion, sadly only sold a handful of kits, but it was a bold attempt at something different. It reminds me of the Cirrus VK-30, also a low production kit but whose instigators, Alan and Dale Klapmeier, went on to greater things in the certified world of course.
doldrums it is back on the right track and I was pleased that our little contingent of 10 aircraft added somewhat to the overall total. My preference for this kind of busy event is to overnight somewhere nearby and fly in daily, although many stay for the whole weekend, taking full advantage of nights under canvas and a drink or two until the wee small hours. Among other places, I’ve stayed in Verdun when it was at Chambley, Amboise when it was at Vichy and currently prefer the charms of Troyes, which is only a 15-minute flight away. Troyes really ticks all the boxes as, for those within range, you can fly there direct from the UK, as it has customs on site. Fuel can be purchased with a normal credit card, the landing fee is around €12 and there are both grass and tarmac runways. The bus stop into town is a 20-minute walk away, adjacent to the industrial estate where there is also a supermarket and several chain-type eateries. Conveniently for those attending the Rally, the Golden Tulip hotel is just a 10-minute walk from the airport – RD 619, Route de L’Aéroport, 10600 Barberey-Saint-Sulpice +33 3 25 71 74 74 (https://troyes.goldentulip.com).
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If you plan to fly in to the Rally you will need to register on their website and book a slot, although in true French fashion nobody seems to mind when you arrive or leave once you are registered. https:// euroflyin.rsafrance.com. You can of course drive in, and onsite camping facilities are available for both arrivals by air and road. The RSA owes its embryonic roots in part to Henri Mignet, who started building aircraft at the age of 18, producing the HM1 sailplane in 1911, followed by his first powered aircraft, the HM2 in 1920. Over the years came a whole series of aircraft, with the delightful HM8 Avionnette parasol forming the subject of his first book on aircraft construction Comment j’ai Construit mon Avionnette (How I built my Avionnette), including the plans of course, in 1931. The better known HM14, his famous Pou du Ciel (the Flying Flea) followed 1933, and its book, Le Sport de l’Air, in 1934. By 1946 the mood in post-war France was similar to that in the UK, with renewed hope and aspirations and in a bid to avoid unnecessary and burdensome regulation, the Amicale de l’Aviation Légère de Lyon and the Pou du Ciel Club de Valenciennes merged to launch La Fédération RSA (Réseau du Sport de l’Air) on September 18, 1947. As usual, a large contingent of G registered aircraft attended the 2019 RSA Rally, from venerable vintage types that meander along at a leisurely pace, to the latest go-faster hot-ships that leave home in the morning and are there by lunchtime. They are guaranteed any number of previously unseen aircraft, one-offs that are often weird, always wonderful and sometimes incredibly innovative. The French have long
Above This delightful composite EXIA single-seater turned up in 2018. Powered by an Aixro wankel rotary of 35hp it weighs in at just 134k and cruises at around 95kt.
been strong on individuality in aviation, and it has to be said that their relatively unfettered system has encouraged the amateur designer.
Out and about…
Much as it is great to see the aeroplanes and socialise, what of the town and its environs? Well, the original Château, which forms part of Brienne’s name, was an old feudal castle mentioned in manuscripts dating as far back as 951AD. After years of neglect, it was eventually torn down and replaced with the grand Château we see today, designed and built by JL Fontaine between 1770-1778 and known as ‘the little Versailles of the Aube’. Getting into town is going to have to be by taxi, unless you can wangle a lift, as there is no bus service to the airfield and the walk would take over 1½ hours.
The Napoléon museum
You can’t really talk about Brienne-le-Château without mention of a certain little Corsican who was descended from minor Italian nobility and born as Napoleone di Bonaparte. The current museum building originally housed the École de Brienne-le-Château, one of 12 elite training establishments that fed the École Militaire in Paris. They were the special reserve of the aristocracy and the nine-year-old Napoléon Bonaparte only gained entry on a bursary set aside for the poor nobility. More than just the ‘poor relation’, throughout his time there he was taunted and bullied with the added cruelty that wealthy young (and older) boys with a ‘God-given’ right to rule could dispatch. In this severe June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 29
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and austere environment, he was an outsider and couldn’t actually speak French on arrival, adding greatly to the philippic. As he gradually learned the language his heavy accent earned him the nickname Nez de Paille (Mr Straw Nose), due to the way he pronounced his own name. Added to this, he was short, naturally awkward and reclusive, although much of his reticence was likely further exacerbated by the treatment he received. In his time at Brienne, he would have encountered around 600 rich and privileged society hot shots destined for command, and even more in his final year in Paris. I do wonder how some of those who had tormented him fared through their military careers as, given his nature the antipathy towards the alumni could well have seen them experiencing the forlorn hope of progression time and again. He left the Parisian Academy a second-class artillery lieutenant, but his ambition and the opportunities created by the French Revolution saw him with the rank of general by the age of 24. The rest, as they say, is history, but there was a final reference to Brienne when, from St Helena, as a parting gift before his death he bequeathed one million Francs to the town. The town hall was built in his honour in 1859 by Napoleon III, and features a statue of Napoléon created by Rochet. It bears the inscription ‘As regards my thinking, it is not Corsica but Brienne that is my native land, because it was there that I formulated my first opinions of mankind’. Napoleon Museum is on 34 rue de l Ecole Militaire. +33 3 25 27 65 80. www.musee-napoleon-brienne.fr
And so to rest…
Brienne is not exactly a bustling tourist town and accommodation is in short supply. However, not too far from the airfield, on the access road in fact, is the Hôtel Air Lane. Don’t be fooled though, it’s probably a half-hour walk from your aircraft along an unshaded road. If you don’t mind booking in French, it is cheaper booking on the website directly, charging around £60 as opposed to the comparison sites at around £70. ZI Saint Christophe, 10500 Saint-Léger-sous-Brienne. +33 3 25 92 55 55.www. hotel-air-lane.fr
Where to eat
La Table du 13 bis is quite a pleasant restaurant, which serves a €28 set priced menu for lunch and dinner except for Saturday evenings or Sunday lunchtimes. It is by far the nicest restaurant in the town and they are proud of their locally sourced produce. 13 B Boulevard Napoleon. +33 3 25 27 24 41. www.latabledu13bis.fr L’Estaminet is nicer inside than it looks on the outside, with a set menu for €22 for three courses. It serves French food, but nearly everything comes with chips, 5 Avenue Pasteur. +33 3 25 27 12 98. Le Grand T’Est is a lot cheaper at around €16.50 for a three-course menu, plus more basic food. 1 avenue de Verdun. +33 3 10 11 09 67. All three have outside seating for the summer evenings and each one is a
little dearer than the other. Unless you book well in advance for the time of the Rally, it will be down to which one has a table available. If you don’t mind what you eat, there are fast food and pizza outlets too. As I said earlier, the 2020 event has sadly been cancelled, but if you’d like to get a taste of what the event is like take a look at www.rsafrance.com/index. php – and start planning that gallic adventure for 2021! Next month we go to Germany and the gateway to the Black Forest, Freiburg im Breisgau. ■
Get touring with the author! Martin Ferid is a Class Rating Instructor and Revalidation Examiner and specialises in helping qualified pilots expand their horizons by flying with them in their aircraft both for day trips or a few days at a time. If you need a bit of confidence building, want to cross the Channel, or would like some help with touring in general, just ask as we are only too pleased to help. Contact details are below. A browse through the ‘favourite destinations’ section of his website should provide inspiration for places to visit. The ‘touring’ pages contain a useful amount of information with regards to formalities, radio procedures, flight plans etc. if you want to go it alone. And for a little amusement on days stuck at home, try the ‘bit of fun’ section on the contact page. Email: lightaircrafttraining@yahoo.com Tel: 07598 880 178 www.lightaircrafttraining.co.uk
When things return to normal…
Throughout the season, in conjunction with this monthly column, we have been arranging fly-outs to destinations in both the UK and abroad. The idea is to get you guys to take part in the adventures that they read about and are literally at your fingertips. The message is getting through, with more and more pilots succumbing to temptation and taking that first bite of the apple. Now, more than ever, picture a weekend away; a nice town, good food, a glass or two and a bunch of like-minded people. If you would like to join us, you will be most welcome. It makes no difference whether you are a seasoned tourer or have never crossed the Channel before, there’s enough support and experience around to help allay those fears.
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LAA Strut News
Struts 4U by Anne Hughes
e’re heading towards mid-summer at the usual seemingly breakneck speed, as time does when we get older. In any other year our Strut calendar would be listing fly-ins and barbecues, as well as fly-outs up and down the UK and mainland Europe with our friends in the Belgian Strut. The events may sadly have all been cancelled or postponed, but thanks to modern technology and innovation, many Strut meetings have been held virtually via the likes of Zoom, with the added pleasure of being able to see countless close-ups of ‘do-it-yourself’ haircuts and rather unkempt beards, plus an insight into members’ tastes in décor. Mind you, The positivity of all has to be admired, and now that light aircraft can return to the air (in England and NI so far) some can enjoy seeing our world again from a loftier perspective. Our social events, sadly, will take a little longer to reinstate, though new ideas and thoughts have been zooming around for the last couple of months and new friendships have been made. In many ways a shared trauma of such magnitude puts focus on different areas of life and has brought about closer bonds in our LAA Strut and club family. Many of the Struts have been in touch to share their thoughts and experiences with us and I am delighted to be able to include a selection of that correspondence this month. From the Vale of York Strut, Chris Holliday writes, “While in lockdown, we have established our first Strut
W
Above Ian Fraser awarding the trophy for Best Flight of the Year to Alex and Chris Allen of Aircraft Coverings, the UK agents for PolyFiber on behalf of Jon Goldenbaum who is looking on from our twined Strut in Flabob, California. Jon and his friends flew over from Flabob to Duxford and onto Europe with two Dakotas.
website to go along with our Facebook page. It includes contributions from Strut members as well as updates about events, trip reports, member profiles, safety related items, plus hints and tips (although we have yet to populate the latter). One of our Coaches, Alan Kilbride, has successfully delivered a licence validity extension webinar, which included both those needing a validity extension and also other pilots, and was a very interesting session with good safety messages. We have also repeated the Going Foreign: Part I seminar that we held at our February Strut meeting as a webinar. Alan is preparing webinars for Parts II / III to be delivered in the near future. Even though the prospect of resuming overseas flying is probably still a way off on the horizon just now, the webinar content is also helpful for planning those longer flights in the UK. It is possible that we may put the webinar recordings up on the new LAA YouTube channel, so they are accessible to a wider audience, but that’s a work in progress. Our website can be found at www.valeofyorkstrutlaa.wordpress.com Tony Razzell writes from the East Midlands Strut, “We have used Zoom very successfully for our April and May meetings and had the privilege of having Dodge Bailey speak to us on flying the DH88 Comet Racer at the Shuttleworth Collection for the May meeting. Our next meeting on Monday 8 June at 8pm, will be our AGM plus (I hope) some suitable additional entertainment. Email me for details at tonyrazzell2@gmail.com. You will be June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 31
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welcome to join us. The East Midlands Strut also has a Facebook group which is useful for passing on information. Neil Wilson from the Wessex Strut told us about some problem-solving following on from an airfield clubhouse refurbishment, “A problem arose with our monthly presentations due to the bad acoustics generated by the metal building. Luckily GASCo held a safety meeting in December and had a BOSE L1 audio system that negated the acoustic problems remarkably well, so the Strut decided to purchase this same system for our own future meetings. The results really are quite remarkable, with the unit being easy to set up, and the treble and base being of such good quality even our hardest of hearing now enjoy the evenings more than ever before. We use either a lapel, head mic or a handheld microphone and the sound covers the whole area of the room evenly. The Strut held another successful annual awards night in January using the new system. Over 70
Above Bodmin’s very successful second annual fly-in September 2019. Let’s hope they are able to hold their third fly-in on 12 September this year.
Below Former PFA Chairman and Strut system founder, Dave Faulkner-Bryant with Eddie, one of his prized Highland cattle on his farm on the Isle of Skye.
people watched the presentation of the award winners, including one to our twinned strut at Flabob in California. We gave The Most Meritorious Flight Award to them for flying over to Duxford and mainland Europe with two DC-3’s that took part in the 75th D-Day events. We also used the FaceTime app and link to talk with our friend Jon Goldenbaum (of PolyFiber) live at the airfield, so that fellow Strutters who work at Henstridge with PolyFiber (Flabob is where the factory is also based) could receive the award on Jon’s behalf. We linked the picture to a widescreen television so Jon could be seen and heard. Guest speaker Andy Strachan talked about the filming of the James Bond film Skyfall and how, as Chief test pilot at the time at Westlands, he also helped set up the sequence of Her Majesty The Queen ‘parachuting’ into the 2012 London Olympics.”
Flying Shack
Gloster Strut would like to encourage more members to become involved with the Strut in Cheltenham. “Lockdown excepted, we hold monthly meetings devoted to interesting aviation topics. In summer our meetings are held at the Flying Shack on Gloucestershire Airport, where we arrange for an interesting light aircraft to fly in so that its owner can give us a guided tour, followed by a talk about its construction, flying characteristics etc. Past subjects have included a pair of Thunder Mustangs, a Smith Miniplane and a 50-year-old Turbulent still in superb condition. Visitors are welcome so why not give us a try!” Pete White writes from Cornwall. The ‘new’ Cornwall Strut is looking forward to its third Annual Fly-in at Bodmin Airfield on September 12, 2020. The link (https:// tinyurl.com/Bodmin-photos) shows photos of the very successful 2019 event which, I’m sure, will tempt you all to come and join us! In Scotland, members are having to wait a little longer to return to flying. Keith Boardman from the Strathtay Strut says, “We have 100 aircraft safely locked up for the duration, and members are communicating amongst themselves with the usual social media tools.” It is always good to hear from David Faulkner- Bryant, former PFA Chairman and founding member of the first
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LAA Strut News
Strut and Club Contacts
D
uring the COVID-19 troubles unfortunately normal monthly meetings and social events are not possible but as you can read, some of the Struts and Clubs are holding virtual meetings and keeping in touch via social media. When the
programme of talks and meetings, fly-ins and fly-outs etc resumes, we will publish details as before. We will, however, continue to share Struts4U stories through this column and I am always happy to hear your news and views. Please email me at struts@laa.uk.com.
Andover Strut: Spitfire Club, Popham Airfield, SO21 3BD. Contact keith.picton@ntlworld.com
25 June – 1945 for 2000, Zoom meeting, please contact for details
Bristol Strut: BAWA Club, Filton, Room 4. Contact: chairman@bristolstrut.uk www. bristolstrut.uk
LiNSY Trent Valley Strut: Trent Valley Gliding Club, Kirton Lindsey. pilotbarry1951@gmail. com http://linsystrut.wixsite.com/website
Cornwall Strut: The Clubhouse, Bodmin Airfield. Contact: Pete White pete@aeronca.co.uk 01752 406660
North East Strut: Fishburn Airfield. Fishburn Aviator Cafe. Contact: alannixon297@btinternet.com
Devon Strut: The Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter. Contact: david.millin@sea-sea.com
North Western Strut: Veterans Lounge, Barton, Manchester. Contact: cliffmort@btinternet.com / 07813 497427
East of Scotland Strut: Harrow Hotel, Dalkeith. Contact: inrgibson001@btinternet.com 0131 339 2351
North Wales Strut: Caernarfon Airport, Dinas Dinlle. HEMS Bistro Café. Contact: Gareth Roberts gtrwales@gmail.com / 07876 483414
East Midlands Strut: The Plough, Normanton on Soar, LE12 5HB 8 June: AGM 1930 for 2000 via Zoom. Contact: tonyrazzell2@gmail.com Gloster Strut: The Victory Club, Cheltenham, GL50 5SY. Contact: 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. Contact: Brian Hope bfjjodel@talktalk.net
Oxford Group: The Duke of Marlborough, Woodleys, Woodstock, Oxford. Contact: LAAOxford@gmail.com www.oxfordlaa.co.uk Redhill Strut:.The Dog and Duck, Outwood, Surrey, RH1 5QU. Contact: david@milstead.me.uk Shobdon Strut: Shobdon Airfield. Contact Keith Taylor: bushebiggles@sky.com Southern Strut: The Swiss Cottage, Shorehamby-Sea. Contact palmersfarm@sky.com Strathtay Strut: Scottish Aero Club, Perth Airport, Scone. Scone Clubhouse. Contact: keith.boardman@peopleserve.co.uk 07785 244146
Strut (Southern), who shares some thoughts from the Isle of Skye: “I was recently reminded of one of the stepping stones towards the present position the LAA enjoys today within the aviation community. The formation of the Strut system was only one of the many steps we took, some of the offshoots also had a profound effect on our future progress and growth. The organisation of local Strut and group rallies and our national rally at Sywell, all helped to showcase the results of our labour and illustrate our kind of flying. These activities required a great deal of reliable, enthusiastic and unpaid labour. Who made up this small army of workers? Step forward the ubiquitous group of plane spotters who were always around with notebooks and binoculars. A number of the more serious minded saw the PFA as a stepping stone to a greater involvement and many
Suffolk Coastal Strut: Crowfield Airfield Clubhouse. Contact: Martyn Steggalls events@suffolkcoastalstrut.org.uk 07790 925142 Sywell Strut: Aviator Hotel, Sywell Aerodrome. Third Wednesday of every month. Vale of York Strut: Chocks Away Café, Rufforth East Airfield. Contact: Chris Holliday 07860 787801 / cwaholliday@gmail.com Wessex Strut: Henstridge. Contact neil.wilson@laa.uk.com West Midlands Strut: Navigator Café, Halfpenny Green Aerodrome. Contact: Graham Wiley westmidlandslaastrut@ googlegroups.com StuartDarby stuartdarby134@hotmail.com or visit our website wmstrut.co.uk West of Scotland Strut: Bowfield Country Club, Howwood, PA9 1DZ. Contact: Neil Geddes barnbethkng@gmail.com 01505 612493 Youth & Education Support (YES) Contact: Stewart Luck captainluck@hotmail.com
Thank you to all Strut co-ordinators and newsletter editors for the continuous flow of information. You can contact me at struts@laa.uk.com.
joined. Some went on to become pilots and homebuilders. They were always welcomed into our world and are part of the original backbone of the PFA in its grassroots days. So while many are still in lockdown, sitting around in contemplation of what comes next, let’s raise a glass to appreciate the spotters who have in the past and undoubtedly still do, so much for sport flying in the UK.” We are continuing to publish contact details for all our Struts – lockdown has not meant ‘locked out’ when it comes to socialising and sharing ideas, encouraging projects and promoting safety with tips and advice through ‘distancing’ channels. It could be the best of times to make contact with your local Strut and to share in the preparation of whatever comes next in the wonderful world of aviation. Stay safe! ■ June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 33
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Coaching corner
Coaching Corner… ell I certainly got ahead of myself when I started writing in the April issue! There I was suggesting we would all be pushing ourselves to get airborne after a ‘winter of discontent’ when along came COVID-19. For any who have been struck down by the virus, my sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery. I am delighted that thanks in part to hard work carried out by the LAA, the case has been made to allow solo continuity flying to resume. However, that won’t allow a Coach to come along and provide the refresher training which we really need after a long winter lay-off, which I was recommending in April. We shall need to be especially careful when we eventually do manage to fly normally again, and if you decide to regain your currency by flying solo, PLEASE remember you are not as good as you were before the lay-off. Carry out more careful pre-flight checks than usual, including engine run-ups, and refuse to accept suspicious indications. Work up your flying slowly from
David Cockburn, PCS Head of Training, discusses the planning and preparation to get back into the air safely… benign conditions, avoid challenging navigation routes (especially those close to notified airspace), and don’t take passengers until you’re absolutely sure you’re back in practice – and currently only those from your own household. Avoid tricky crosswinds, low cloud bases, poor visibility and marginal runway lengths and widths – and be ready for it all to go wrong. A go-around, or even a diversion to a more suitable airfield, is vastly preferable to a broken aircraft.
W
Bluebirds over the White Cliffs? Below GPS Nav systems, like Garmin’s new aera 760, are ever more capable, pilots need to be as well if they are going to get the best out of them.
However, while we’re spending more time at home, we can use it to plan for trips in the future. If we’ve always hankered after a flight to foreign parts, or the more distant parts of our own islands, this could be an ideal time to prepare ourselves. We should of course start with a current chart of the route either paper or electronic, but remember, although the CAA regards a current electronic chart as meeting
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“We can all use our time on the ground to learn more about our aircraft and navigation systems”
the legal requirement, other countries may not, so check. To make navigation easier, select tracks to minimise any problems and try to use obvious turning points, but be prepared to change them to ensure you have obvious check features along your track. And keep safely well away from possible problem areas such as notified airspace or terrain that will not allow a safe off-airfield landing. The extra fuel needed for a slightly longer route is a worthwhile investment towards a safer and less stressful flight. There’s a lot of information online, including the UK and foreign AIPs, which contain a lot of detail that we need in order to safely fly in areas we are not familiar with, including weather availability, customs and immigration requirements and possible destination and diversion aerodromes. We can often find guidance to help us avoid, or perhaps safely fly through, airspace restrictions. Aerodrome websites can also be very useful, although it’s always worth checking how recently they were last updated – an email or telephone call may provide confidence that the details remain current. Reports from others who have flown to the same or similar destination can also provide good background, although articles in major magazines are written (or edited) to be entertaining, so they may not contain all the relevant accurate information.
interfere with what we were used to. Does your device indicate the current time to your next turning point, or can it if you make the correct selection? Does it continuously calculate the nearest possible diversion, and if it does, how can you access that, and can you set it to discard those sites which are unsuitable for your particular aircraft? How much warning, if any, does it provide about notified airspace ahead, and how? Is that appropriate for the way you fly, and can you change it without losing the facility? More basically, there are probably several ways of pre-loading your planned route into the device, so which method is simplest for you because, if you are flying solo, you certainly don’t want to be fiddling with switches and settings in the air. Although how our aircraft systems function is just as important as those of navigation devices, I’ve concentrated on satnavs because when we get back to (relatively) normal flying, the old hazards will still exist, although some of the mitigations may be limited. For example, some air traffic service desks may be vacant to enable social distancing, and other personnel may have been re-deployed to cover for colleagues who are still isolated, so access to controlled airspace maybe difficult. Radar services are likely to be limited too, so, more than ever, we need to take care of ourselves, be alert to possible hazards, and take action to avoid them.
Better days ahead
The overhead join and circuit
If we’re not planning for a great adventure, we can all use our time on the ground to learn more about our aircraft and navigation systems. Some manufacturers provide presentations and webinars about their equipment, which are usually a lot easier on the brain than the written instruction manuals, although it’s worth having the instructions to hand. To minimise airspace infringements, the CAA are encouraging us to use moving maps, so whether we use fitted or hand-held devices, this could be an appropriate time to learn a lot more about them. I’m pretty sure from my own experience that many of us have limited knowledge about our devices, due to the fact that they usually have so many features that it would take a long time to study them all. We tend to restrict what we ask them to display to whatever we have managed to make work in the past, so now is as good a time as any to make sure we’ve been setting them up correctly! It is also probably appropriate to update any databases which may be out-of-date – take a guess what I’ve been doing recently? Then, when we’ve checked these ‘known’ functions, we can progress to learning about the other features these devices possess, they’re probably a lot more capable than we previously understood. Even fairly simple display features such as terrain avoidance may have put us off in the past because it seemed to
I have already recommended that we stay close to our base aerodromes while we regain currency, and there may well be government guidelines asking us to do just that for other reasons. We are, therefore, likely to meet a lot of traffic around our airfields, even at strips which normally see only a few movements per week, and possibly without previously provided ground radio services. It is thus incumbent on us all to ensure we not only can be aware of, and fit in with, other traffic, but we provide accurate information for others to do the same. If everyone can maintain circuit height accurately, then we can see others and they can see us. If we manage to call ‘downwind’ as we pass the upwind end of the runway, then others know where to look and may be able to adjust their own circuit to avoid conflict, especially if we include our intentions if we are not actually landing. History tells us how dangerous it is to make a turn in the circuit when we do not know where the other aircraft are – we can ask someone for their position and height but, if in doubt, get out! We can always rejoin the circuit after either climbing or maintaining direction at a turning point, announcing what we are doing if we can. However, the act of joining seems to be the most hazardous phase of the circuit. The ‘overhead’ join has been published for years by the CAA in posters, SafetySense leaflets, the Skyway Code and CAP 413. It June l 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 35
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allows pilots to sit above the traffic pattern until they are sure where everyone else is. Even if the cloudbase prevents us starting the pattern at 2,000ft, informing others that we are following the pattern at a lower altitude (provided we are safely above circuit height on the ‘live’ side) helps with their situational awareness. However, weather and specific aerodrome procedures sometimes make that overhead join impractical, and there will be circumstances when it is sensible to join the recommended pattern at an intermediate point, either ‘crosswind’, ‘downwind’, ‘base leg’, or ‘long final’. Traffic already in the pattern has right of way, so no matter how we join the circuit we must keep out of their way. An initial call to ask for aerodrome information should also advise others from which direction and at what height we are coming. However, that doesn’t often really give others much help in their situational awareness. During an overhead join, a ‘descending dead side’ call gives others information about our position and intended movements. It also fulfils the requirement of
Below The Standard Overhead Join explained.
Rule 11 of the Rules of the Air, which many of us may have forgotten – to make a specific call when entering an ATZ. If we are joining the pattern in another position, then we ought to provide similar information, even if there is no ATZ. We need to warn circuit traffic, for example ‘G-ABCD joining crosswind’ when we are a couple of miles from the position at which we intend joining the circuit, and make normal circuit calls from that point (I would, however, also make a position call ‘base leg’ if I were joining at that stage). Finally, on the subject of ATZs, the CAA has recently been concerned that pilots are not aware of the regulations, and the Airspace Safety Initiative website has recently published a presentation to remind us all of the facts relating to these, available through https:// airspacesafety.com/updates. The ‘ATZ’ presentation is mentioned at the end of the updates. Although it seems to be directed mainly at pilots who have flown through ATZs without making the necessary calls, hazarding those of us actually in the circuit, I commend it if you have not already seen it. Stay safe!
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Let’s Steer Clear of Infringements: by Steve Slater.
Adding to David’s excellent words above, a final thought on airspace infringements, which traditionally ‘peak’ in the month following the resumption of flying after the winter lay off for many pilots. This year, the layoff has been longer, so there’s potentially a greater risk of us accidentally infringing controlled airspace while preoccupied with regaining basic flying and navigational skills. Working with the CAA’s Airspace Infringement Working Group we’ve identified three issues which cropped up again and again in infringements. Let’s try to eliminate them. 1. Carry a moving map and use it. While a lot of us will be proud of our map and stopwatch skills, the failure to use electronic maps was one of the primary factors in pilots failing to keep out of controlled airspace. Effective
use of a moving map enhances situational awareness and increases capacity. 2. Take Two. If you are close to controlled airspace, it only takes a small distraction or your planned heading to be affected by changing wind conditions for you to infringe, so the ‘Take Two’ initiative was created by a group of pilots based at Barton and dramatically decreased the number of infringements in a very complex area of airspace. The principle is simple; keep a margin of two nautical miles horizontally and 200 feet vertically from the edge of controlled airspace. 3. Think in Three Dimensions. A significant proportion of infringements are ‘altitude busts’. Some are the result of distraction or incorrect altimeter settings, but many are caused by pilots commencing a climb too early or a descent too late. Just as some of us would accelerate early at the end of a speed limit on the motorway if it wasn’t for that last speed camera, just remember that your altitude reading is being monitored too! ■
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The Alloy lady…
Francis Donaldson flies what is becoming quite a rarity, a new plans-built aeroplane – and discovers that though conservative, the Thatcher provides delightful and secure handling Pictures by Neil Wilson and Sheldon Heatherington
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t’s interesting how some designs of aircraft are one-offs, and others get built in numbers and become a popular type. There’s also a third class of even more successful machines that spawn a whole series of types following the same theme, or perhaps borrowing a few key features, and mutate to trigger another very different line of development. Jean Delemontez, with help from Eduard Joly, created the single seat Jodel D9 in 1948 which, over the years, led to a whole range of different Jodel models with up to five seats, all sharing the same structural concept and aerodynamics. This format was taken up by Pierre Robin for his line-up of more sophisticated wooden tourers, which are still being manufactured to this day. Marcel Jurca, taking another route, borrowed the Jodel’s structural arrangement in the 1960s and created the chunky Jurca Tempete and two-seat Sirocco, from which he derived a whole line of replica WWII fighters including a full-size Spitfire and FW 190. Dean Wilson’s Avid Flyer and Claude Piel’s Emeraude are other examples of aircraft that inspired other types, which have had a lasting impact on the sport aviation scene, and just keep on giving…
I
Bucking the trend
This month we feature the Thatcher CX-4, a single-seater designed in the USA and made available in the form of plans and optionally, partial kits for amateur construction. Designed to use one of the several aero-conversions of the aircooled flat four VW engine, with its sliding bubble canopy, tailwheel undercarriage and cheek cowls, the CX-4 is of classical sports aircraft appearance. Most VW-powered single-seaters seem to have been designed with the ability to build them in a small space as a high priority. The average length of the typical European one-car garage meant inevitably that designs such as the Taylor Monoplane, Turbulent and Tipsy Nipper have short fuselages and narrow wing spans, giving them a shortcoupled appearance and an often undeserved reputation for ‘twitchiness’. The somewhat unique feature of the CX-4 is that it bucks this trend by using noticeably longer wings and fuselage than other single-seaters, yielding more generous moment arms and a layout that’s perhaps less intimidating to the low-time pilot.
Jeannie’s Teenie
A budget build maybe, but as this American example shows, the CX-4 is a very attractive sports plane. Photo: Sheldon Heatherington
Harking back to the introductory paragraph, given the good looks and generous proportions of the CX-4, it’s all the more surprising that it has as its distant ancestor an aeroplane that was slated in its day for its very small size and, frankly, extraordinarily ungainly appearance – the Jeannie’s Teenie. Designed to be ultra-simple to build, this tiny, controversial VW-powered low-wing, tricycle gear design was publicised in the 1960s through the Popular Mechanics magazine, the designer having been somewhat ostracised by the EAA top brass who, ‘reading between the lines’ had a low opinion of the Jeannie’s Teenie, and gave it very little coverage in their own Sport Aviation magazine. June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 39
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Whether designer Cal Parker realised his first design was lacking in the aesthetics department, or whether a friend had a quiet word in his ear we’ll never know, but Parker went on to create the much more aesthetically pleasing Teenie Two version, and quite a few sets of drawings were sold. While neither model has ever been built in the UK, I remember seeing a Swiss Teenie Two that made it to the PFA Rally in the late 1970s, having flown all the way on single ignition. What both designs majored on was simplicity of construction and using sheet aluminium, extruded aluminium angle and pulled (pop) rivets in an era when wood and ply were the material of choice for most single-seaters. Parker avoided much of the usual difficulty in building an aircraft in sheet aluminium by notching all the flanges on curved components (mainly the wing and tail ribs, and the fuselage bulkheads) so that the flanges could be bent over as individual ‘tabs’ around a simple plywood former, thus avoiding the need for hardwood tooling or to shrink the flanges to absorb the surplus material. This meant that unlike previous EAA-favoured designs such as the Midget Mustang, no special metalworking skills were required to build Parker’s midget VW-powered designs. While this flanging technique was something of an anathema to the traditionalists because it destroyed the integrity of the flanges on the individual components, it seemed to work OK once riveted up into a structure. Other features that troubled the establishment probably included the unsprung nose leg and the flying control system that relied on small diameter aluminium tube pushrods running through sheaves, rather than a traditional arrangement of cables, pulleys and self-supporting large diameter pushrods of good ole’ 4130 steel.
Very unusually, the first aircraft that followed on from Cal Parker’s designs was not a more powerful version, or a two seater, but an even smaller low-winger powered by half a VW engine – the crankcase and crankshaft being cut behind the front pair of cylinders to create an opposed twin of 900cc. The Windwagon was similarly tricycle undercarriage equipped, but unlike Parker’s designs, the fuselage was a slender round-sectioned affair made from two shallow sheet metal cones riveted back to back. This gave the Windwagon a purposeful, pleasing appearance. Open cockpitted, like its predecessors, the Windwagon’s shallow fuselage put the pilot’s upper body into rather an exposed position in the airflow and, particularly with its small wheels and without the benefit of any springing in the noseleg, couldn’t help but create doubts about the pilot’s vulnerability in any sort of turn-over accident. Nevertheless, weighing just 270lb empty, the Windwagon showed that half a VW could fly a full grown man at speeds apparently up to 100mph which, coming at the time of the Gulf oil crisis of the late 1970s, made quite an impression. A later derivative of the Windwagon, Morry Hummel’s Hummelbird, expanded the options by introducing an enclosed cockpit, shoulder harness and tailwheel undercarriage. All used Cal Parker’s construction techniques, control system and simplified structure with pop-riveted aluminium sheet parts, many of which could be fashioned with tin snips, avoiding reliance on access to a guillotine or nibbler. In each design, the flat-wrap skins were shaped around tab-flanged ribs and bulkheads, and C section spars were made up by bolting and riveting off-the-shelf extruded angle sections onto the flat sheet webs, avoiding the need for a long folder. One example of the Windwagon has been built and Left The Parker Teenie Two was the ‘refined’ version of the Jeannie’s Teenie which used a ½ VW and spawned the simple flange and small diameter control rod construction techniques used in the Thatcher. Photo: Wikipedia
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flown in the UK, constructed by propeller maker and ace aircraft welder Allen Haseldine. Allen’s example includes many modifications and improvements, many of which were made as a result of load testing sample structures at his home in South Wales. Re-engined with a more powerful 40hp version of the ½ VW after its first flights, Allen’s machine is part-way through its flight test programme which is being undertaken from Shobdon.
Designed for the 21st century pilot…
And so to the Thatcher CX-4, which takes the Teenie Two concept the other way with a larger airframe propelled by one of the bigger VW flat-four engines of typically two litres capacity or more, and a cockpit sized for a 21st century American. Like the Hummelbird, the CX-4 has an enclosed cockpit and tailwheel undercarriage, but the greater size of Florida-based Dave Thatcher’s design allows more classical proportions and curves that will appeal to fans of aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s era. The unusually high aspect ratio wings, set with substantial dihedral, long slender fuselage and large tail surfaces, make this a very stable-looking platform that will remind veteran r/c modellers of the old Astro Hog of the late 1950s. The CX-4 prototype first flew in 2004 and has been made available as a set of plans plus, for those wanting a head-start over genuine scratch builders, partial kits. More than 60 have now flown worldwide and six have been started in the UK to date, the only one to have been finished and flown so far being Peter Watson’s G-CISH. The CX-4 has two-piece mostly parallel-chord wings, each some 13ft long, which bolt to carry-through spars that pass through the lower cockpit area. The main spar of each wing is constructed of 1/8in thick extruded 6061-T6 angle, riveted and bolted to an 0.040in 6061-T6 web. The inboard parts of the spar have additional angles doubling up the spar caps in the high stress area. The wings are fully aluminium skinned throughout, there’s no fabric covering. There being no flaps, the narrow-chord ailerons, which are also of very simple folded aluminium sheet format, extend all the way from the root to the start of the outboard, tapered wing tips. The fuselage is a sheet aluminium box with extruded aluminium alloy longerons and a minimum number of frames and sports a curved upper turtledeck and natty headrest, both cleverly fashioned from flat-wrap sheep alloy. The main undercarriage is a one-piece aluminium alloy spring cantilever unit, taken from a Sonerai, which simply bolts to the bottom of the fuselage. Fuel is contained in a tank located inside the forward turtledeck,
Above The optional tricycle undercarriage suits the aircraft admirably, giving it a ‘modern’ look and eradicating the taildragger jitters for trike trained pilots. Photo: Sheldon Heatherington
above the pilot’s knees. The tail surfaces are of similar construction to the wings but of very simplified form with a minimum of ribs. Peter Watson’s example was started in Yorkshire in 2008 by a Mr D Hall, the airframe being largely built under the supervision of late lamented LAA inspector, Richard Yates. It passed to Peter as a part-built project in 2015, who then completed it with support from inspector David Beale. Peter found the final stages took longer than expected, as he explained when I went to take a look at the aeroplane in June of 2017 when it had been assembled at Fenland.
Reluctant Revmaster
The Revmaster R2100D engine had been reluctant to reach full power during ground runs, and the engine had needed a few tweaks to get it to run properly. Later this was resolved by changing the Stromburg carburettor to a Rev-flow unit. The Revmaster lacking a mechanical fuel pump, and with the gravity head from the fuselage mounted tank being not very great, fuel feed is via two electric pumps. The twin ignition uses the single drive twin Bendix magneto, driven off the back of the engine via Revmaster’s own accessory case, which also houses an alternator and the ring gear for the electric starter. My checks on the aircraft as the ‘first of type’ in the UK revealed few problems – a doubler had to be added to reinforce an access hole introduced in the tail end of the fuselage. And improvements to the robustness of the joystick arrangement had already been introduced by the designer, which I was pleased to see had resulted in a much more convincing set-up than the Parker-inspired original version. The completed empty weight of Peter’s example is 610lb, so the 850lb max gross weight allows a useful payload of 240lb. Peter’s aeroplane went on to have its first and subsequent few flights by Fenland CFI Steve Brown, which proved the aeroplane to have fundamentally benign handling characteristics. This was very much in line with expectations, based on the various magazine and online reviews of the type from overseas, and the general proportions and look of the machine. Peter then joined in with the flying to help build up time on the aircraft and continue with minor tweaks and adjustments. I was invited back to Fenland in February of 2019 to carry out the LAA’s ‘first of type’ evaluation flights that hopefully would lead to the issue of the initial full Permit to Fly. June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 41
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Looks right, flies right
Above Owner Peter Watson with his Thatcher CX-4, it is the first completion in the UK. A couple of potential builders are looking at seeking approval for its two-seat sibling Left middle The Revmaster 2100D has twin ignition, an alternator and electric starter which adds to the ease of living with a VW power plant. Neat cowling too. Left bottom A nicely turned out cockpit which offers more room that the typical European VW powered singleseater. Below The narrow chord ailerons extend from the root to the tapered wing tip and exhibit a lack of self-centring ability.
When I saw the aircraft for the first time out on Fenland’s grass, all panelled up and ready to go, I was immediately struck by what a good-looking machine it has turned out to be. The cheek cowls and sliding bubble canopy, combined with round-tipped flying surfaces, echo the looks of classic Goodyear racers like the Shoestring and Denight Special, while the generous moment arms and wingspan don’t detract from the assurance that this is a sport aeroplane through and through. The saying goes, ‘if it looks right, it’ll fly right’ – and I was curious to find out if this was so with the Thatcher. With its conservative proportions and low span-loading (i.e. the loaded weight divided by the wing span) I had no worries about its handling, and having flown behind many different VW engines, I felt quite confident in the powerplant installation which had already clocked up approaching 20 hours in the air. After explaining the function of the electrical system and the switches operating the two pumps, and the alternator, Peter’s briefing included stressing that there was quite a tendency for it to swing to the right on take-off, that it was difficult to get the speed back for the landing approach, and if you didn’t nail the approach speed and came over the hedge five knots fast, it would float for ages.
Plenty of room
Entry to the cockpit is by stepping onto the wing walkway on the right-hand wing root, sliding back the canopy on its twin runners and then stepping initially onto the seat. Once seated, the cockpit is generous in size when compared to the more familiar (in the UK) Turbulent or Taylor Mono, with no shortage of knee room, headroom or width. The cockpit on Peter’s example includes some lightweight side panels, which hide some of the underlying structure, but nevertheless, as with RVs, Sonexes and most other aluminium alloy constructed sport aeroplanes, the interior is best described as functional. Nothing wrong with that, after all, many of us fly partly to escape being cosseted in the vinyl-clad, stylised and cushioned environment we’ve got used to in our cars, and enjoy a return to something more primitive and immediate.
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While the control stick arrangement is conventional, the control system is unusual in that – shades of the Teenie Two heritage – the pitch control is connected to the elevator by a small diameter (about 5/8in) aluminium alloy push-pull tube which runs past the pilot’s right thigh, led through sheaves attached to the fuselage sides, and hidden behind a removable panel. The normal arrangement in a single-seater would be to run the elevator control rod or cables under the pilot’s seat, on the aircraft centreline, but this was perhaps impossible on the Teenie Two because of the seat having to be located as low as possible in the diminutive fuselage. There’s also a pilot-controllable elevator trim tab, mechanically operated by a push-pull cable connected to a simple lever on the cockpit’s right sidewall. Remembering that the Rev-flow carburettor has no float chamber, so you have to turn the fuel on just moments before starting the engine otherwise the carb would be dripping fuel, the Revmaster fired up easily enough at the first press of the button, and idled happily with that unique VW chunter. During the preliminary run-up, a mag check revealed a three-cylinder unevenness, revealing that a plug was definitely not firing – long faces all round. However, after stopping to check that all the HT leads were in place, it took only a few minutes’ ground running at high power to clear what was presumably an oiled-up or lead-fouled plug.
Above The elevator is aerodynamically balanced and features a mechanically operated trim tab. A downspring has been added to improve longitudinal static stability.
the sensation of speed is perhaps exaggerated. That’s maybe a feeble excuse for the fact that having accelerated to what felt like an appropriate airspeed to float off the ground, and with eyes very much focused outside of the cockpit after the short battle to keep straight, tentative back stick pressure showed that she wasn’t quite ready. I had to let her roll for another few seconds before she unstuck, but then, those small wheels free of the ragged grass, she seemed to pick up her heels and was immediately climbing away in a thoroughly lively fashion. With the Revmaster humming away at full throttle and indicating 3,100rpm at 75kt, the rate of climb was just over 850ft/minute. Levelling off a few minutes later, she showed a cruise speed of 100kt at 2,800rpm, increasing to 110kt at full throttle. These figures are a little lower than the designer’s specifications suggest but perfectly adequate for this aeroplane’s mission – if you wanted to cross continents you’d probably have chosen something else to do it in anyway, and within the tightly packed variety and delights of the UK’s relatively modest area you can have a lot of fun with an aeroplane that can do 100mph while burning only a little over two gallons per hour. The Thatcher felt very comfortable in the air with responsive but not oversensitive controls, modest noise and vibration levels, and there were pleasingly few rattles or draughts from the rather basic sliding canopy.
Below The long wings and fuselage are evident from this perspective. Peter has used a simple single curvature canopy rather than the blown canopy, which like a number of other components, is available from the US.
Gentle stall
Off for a flight
The CX-4 was very easy to taxi, thanks to the steerable tailwheel, differential toe brakes and a good view from the cockpit in which, unusually for a taildragger, there was even a direct forward view over the nose. The curved windscreen arch provides a classically framed view of the world outside to please any red-blooded vintage buff. Chipmunk pilots would feel right at home here. Nothing on the approach, so turning into wind, I pointed the shapely nose down Fenland’s main grass runway and opened up. The take-off roll showed that Peter had not been exaggerating when he warned that the right swinging tendency, the Thatcher needed a surprisingly heavy foot on the left rudder pedal to keep straight as the tail came up. Sitting quite low to the ground, as one does in the Thatcher,
The Thatcher’s wing is of constant chord over most of its span, with short tapered tips. With this layout, and an innocuous-looking aerofoil section with a blunt leading edge, I wasn’t expecting any difficulties in the stall tests. And so it turned out to be, the CX-4 showing marked reluctance to drop a wing, generally settling into a mushing nose drop even when moving the stick all the way to the backstop, the ailerons remaining effective throughout. Minimum observed airspeeds in a power-off stall from
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wings level were around 35kt and was preceded by a just discernible stick buffet, starting approximately three knots above the minimum observed speed. Looking at stability and control, the lateral stability provided by the marked dihedral angle was clearly positive in that one could both initiate and recover from turns induced by rudder alone. Checking the same parameter in the classical ‘recovery from a sideslip on release of the stick’ was to a degree hampered by a reluctance to self-centre on the part of the narrow-chord strip ailerons – ailerons like these require little operating force to deflect them but conversely, don’t provide strong self-centring forces to counteract the friction in the aileron control system. In reality, this is no hindrance at all to normal flying and the pilot won’t be aware of the characteristic, as most pilots would agree that the recovery from a sideslip is something to be carried out using positive stick movements rather than merely relaxing the pro-sideslip control inputs. The aeroplane’s directional stability is positive, thanks to that long tail moment arm, and the behaviour of the rudder predictable throughout the rather narrow range of yaw angles that the aeroplane is capable of with up to full rudder deflection (at a suitable airspeed less than Va, of course). Because of the strong directional stability, and the slender fuselage not presenting much side area to generate a side-force, it’s not possible to hold the aeroplane ‘on its ear’ in a steep sideslip – as a means of losing height, for example. This was to become noticeable later…
How does an elevator downspring work? An elevator downspring is an arrangement with a spring connected to the elevator control system so as to tend to push the stick forward. This is counteracted in flight by an elevator trim tab which is slightly more angled in the ‘up trim’ direction (i.e. tab down) to compensate for the spring’s force. With this arrangement, when the aeroplane is flying at the speed it’s trimmed for, the two effects (tab and spring) exactly balance one another and the aircraft flies hands-off. If the air speed decreases, for whatever reason, then the airflow over the tab reduces, so the aerodynamic force on the elevator generated by the tab reduces. The spring force now overcomes the diminished tab force and the stick tends to move forward, in so doing lowering the aircraft’s nose and raising the airspeed once more. Conversely, if the airspeed were to rise above the trim speed, the aerodynamic force on the elevator tab force would increase, the tab would then overcome the spring force and the stick would tend to move back, raising the aircraft’s nose. In this way, this simple addition to an aircraft’s control system can make a marked improvement in the apparent static longitudinal stability and reduce the pilot workload, the aeroplane feeling more ‘speed stable’. Interestingly though, although this ‘quick fix’ for a marginally stable aeroplane may allow it to pass the classical longitudinal static stability tests, because it responds to speed changes rather than angle of attack changes, it doesn’t provide the same instantaneous stabilising response as you’d get with a more generous tail volume.
Longitudinal static stability Below Peter runs up the CX-4 at Fenland. The low deck height is evident here and both take off and landing performance would be enhanced with a taller main gear.
The main surprise with Peter’s CX-4 was the finding that it was lacking in positive longitudinal static stability despite its long tail moment arm and generous-looking tail area. While it could be trimmed to fly straight and level happily enough, and be trimmed in the climb and the descent, it didn’t tend to return to the trim speed of its own accord after being disturbed by a manual intervention or by a gust. While this is again something that a pilot can usually compensate for without much thought, or may even be unaware of, it’s a characteristic that can lead to
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Flight Test
increased risk of an inadvertent stall or over speeding because of the absence of tactile ‘cues’ from changing airspeed – the aeroplane doesn’t ‘talk to you’ by having to be forced to maintain speeds away from the speed that it’s been trimmed for. When we first studied the aeroplane after finding this characteristic, we found that the elevator trim cable ‘outer’, which emerges from the fuselage to pass over the top of the tailplane and fix to the upper surface of the elevator, had been clamped to the elevator with a slight stretch in it so it was tending to support the weight of the elevator and prevent it moving to ‘full down’ under its own weight when the stick was free. Aircraft designers frequently include what’s called a ‘downspring’ in the elevator control system to increase the aircraft’s apparent longitudinal stability, and it looked as though Peter’s Thatcher might be suffering from the opposite effect of a virtual upspring created by the stretched trim tab cable. It turned out however, that this was something of a red herring, and re-rigging the tab cable to remove the ‘stretch’ effect made only a small improvement to the longitudinal characteristics. Over a couple of further trips to Fenland we therefore worked with Peter and David to introduce a positive down-spring system into the aircraft which provides enough apparent longitudinal static stability – in other words, speed-holding tendency – to be cleared as acceptable, without adversely affecting the trim range or upsetting any of the aeroplane’s other characteristics. When it came time to land, and recalling Peter’s comments about the need to work to get the speed back for the approach, I planned a wide circuit to give myself a chance to look at this from the perspective of a low time pilot. With no flaps, a fairly clean high aspect ratio wing (at least, when compared to the ‘Hershey bar’ wing of an RV, say!) and the Revmaster having been set up with a fairly fast idle after one or two problems with it cutting out during the landing roll-out, the Thatcher was going to need a fairly flat approach. It did indeed need a fairly concerted effort to get the speed back to 60kt for the approach, which I was pleased to see, despite the absence of flaps to lower the nose, nevertheless allowed an excellent view of the runway. Fifty-five over the hedge, and conscious of the Thatcher’s rather flat ground attitude, I carried a little power right into the flare, so as to avoid touching down, tailwheel first. Putting the aeroplane into the three-point attitude remembered from the taxi-out resulted in a safe touchdown on all three together, albeit at what felt like a rather high ground speed. Without using the brakes, the Thatcher seemed to roll on a fair distance before slowing to taxying speed – its slender wings producing little retarding drag at the Thatcher’s rather flat ground angle. So, how to sum up the Thatcher? It’s a great-looking, all metal sport aircraft that can be built from plans, to keep the initial cost low, or a basic kit, without needing complex metal-working equipment or, with its two-piece wings, a great deal of space. It performs as well or better than traditional European single-seaters, and it’s more
generous dimensions, larger cockpit and better payload are more suited to the size of 21st century pilots – nowadays we tend to be a fair bit bigger in stature than the enthusiasts of the 1950s and 1960s, who came up with the competing Turbulent, Mono and Colibri. To compensate, it needs a big-bore VW to do its stuff, like Peter’s 2100cc unit – the designer quotes using a 1700cc unit – but I doubt it would be happy with a basic 1500 or 1600 like its European equivalents. Its conservative proportions make it suitable for a low-hours pilot with a bit of taildragger experience, as a first transition to the world of single-seaters, and particularly with the LAA’s down spring mod the handling is viceless by single-seater standards. The high aspect ratio wings mean there’s much less tendency to wash off the speed in a gliding turn than short span single seat designs, which is positive to safety particularly in an engine failure scenario. Conversely, the Thatcher does need careful energy management on the rather flat approach, but you soon get the knack of this. If it were mine, I’d be inclined (!) to fit a slightly taller main undercarriage to raise the deck angle, which would allow shorter take-offs and landings, at the slight expense of forward view when taxying – Peter has already fitted larger tyres for the same reason. But these are detail points. Dave Thatcher’s CX-4 is a little cracker of an aeroplane that can be built without breaking the bank, and we wish it every success. And finally, yes, there are not one but two equally attractive budget two-seat versions on the way – the tandem CX5 which has been around for a while, and a recently completed CX-7 side-by side prototype. Two LAA members have so far expressed themselves keen to take one through the LAA’s type acceptance process. Watch this space! Ed’s note. My thanks to Ben Carlson (www.thatcheraircraft.com) for arranging the pictures, and Sheldon Heatherington for permission to use them. ■
Bulldog Model 120 Thatcher CX-4 General characteristics
Performance
Crew: One Length: 18ft 3in (5.56m) Wingspan: 24ft (7.3m) Height: 4ft 8in (1.42m) Wing area: 84sq ft (7.8m2) Empty weight: 520lb (236kg) Gross weight: 850lb (386kg) Fuel capacity: 10.5 US gal (39.7L) Powerplant: 1 × Volkswagen 65hp (48 kW) Plans: https:// thatchercx4.com
Cruise speed: 109kt (125mph, 201km/h) Stall speed: 35kt (40mph, 64km/h) Never exceed speed: 135kt (15 mph, 249km/h) Service ceiling: 10,000ft (3,000m) Rate of climb: 825ft/min (4.19m/s)
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Overhaul or LPIP?
Ruth Kelly’s RV-8’s constant speed propeller goes to Proptech for its six-year inspection. Will it be LPIP or complete overhaul? s Ian Fraser and I grappled with lock-wiring the six bolts that retain the propeller hub to the engine flange, Ian asked, “Do you really need a constant speed prop?” He might well ask. Lock wiring is a hard job. But I had been ruminating about the entire, rather expensive, proposition of owning a CS prop myself, as well as the slightly awkward installation task. So why? Well… my Van’s RV-8 has an ex-RAF Bulldog Lycoming IO-360, which churns out 200hp. A CS prop is arguably essential to make the most of all that power – and to be sure my aeroplane has sparkling take-off and climb performance, yet also be economical (and still fast) in the cruise. At 2,300rpm and 23in of manifold pressure you can aerobat all day without touching the throttle. And the propeller helps slow the aeroplane very effectively when the throttle is pulled back during landing. But yes, it comes at a cost. The propeller is heavier than a fixed-pitch equivalent, reducing the payload and taking the C of G further forward, which can be an issue
A
Top Ruth’s prop does the business prior to going off to Proptech for its LPIP inspection
on an RV-8 if you want to fly solo. Mine is well within limits (the battery is mounted aft which helps balance it out), but you really do notice heavier stick loads in the flare when you’re on your own. And then there’s the cost of overhaul. This wasn’t any kind of surprise for me, I accepted it as part of the deal when I bought the aeroplane. My prop is a Hartzell two-blade type which (the manual says) must be overhauled every 2,400 hours or six years, whichever comes first. Let’s face it, you don’t want your prop to fail in flight any more than you want an engine failure – and those heavy metal blades whirling round at up to 2,750rpm are absolutely lethal. A safe and smoothly working propeller is an absolute must. I had two years’ grace when I bought the aeroplane – but 2,400 hours was nowhere in sight! Now, a full overhaul is a fairly massive undertaking. The prop is completely dismantled. All the paint is stripped off to allow a thorough visual inspection and non-destructive testing designed to reveal the presence of cracks and any other latent defects that might result in failure. Nicks and scratches are dressed out and the
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“ Specifically geared to blades repainted. Many parts are replaced, others are re-plated or painted before the whole lot is reassembled with new seals and fasteners. The final task is static balancing, and on completion you have, in essence, a new propeller and indeed it is zero-timed in the logbook. But there’s a limit to the number of times a propeller can be overhauled before it must be scrapped, as there is only so much metal that can be parred off the blades before they are at their minimum size limitation. But how many privately owned light aircraft fly 2,400 hours in six years? That’s 400 hours a year. Maybe 10 times what most pilots aspire to complete (and rarely achieve). Happily, our chums at the LAA have a solution – the Low Hours Propeller Inspection Protocol, or LPIP, which Malcolm McBride touched on in Safety Spot recently. Specifically geared to the realities of private GA, the LPIP still involves dismantling, inspection and renewal of oil seals but the more intrusive aspects of a full overhaul are not deployed. The paint is not stripped off and there is no non-destructive testing apart from visual inspection. Not all CS propellers have been approved for LPIP but happily my Hartzell – one of the simplest CS props – definitely qualifies. Alistair Mant has been in the propeller industry for more than 30 years and is the GA and Light Regional Technical Manager at Proptech Aero, based at Lee-on-Solent Airfield in Hampshire. He will freely offer information and advice to LAA members for Hartzell, MT, McCauley and Sensenich propellers. The company was instrumental in working with the LAA in developing LPIP as a more realistic inspection process for what
Below left The hub (left) is fastened to the engine flange by six studs which also retain the starter gear and alternator pulley; each stud has a nut locked in place by a roll-pin. The lock wires are threaded through the roll-pins. Photo: Ruth Kelly Below The propeller after removal, complete with spinner bulkheads. The bowl contains the oil which drained from the hub during removal. Photo: Ruth Kelly Below right Ali Mant is the man to talk to at Proptech. He’s also a regular on their stand at AeroExpo and the LAA Rally. Photo: Neil Wilson
the realities of private GA, the LPIP still involves dismantling, inspection and renewal of oil seals but the more intrusive aspects of a full overhaul are not deployed”
amount to lightly used propellers. The protocol is based on the process used by Hartzell to inspect a new or overhauled propeller following a period of long-term storage (over two years), provided it has not been fitted and operated. My six-yearly deadline was due in April, so in March I contacted Ali – he’s easy to contact by email and replied very promptly. In answer to my questions, he confirmed that Proptech was still operating despite the coronavirus lockdown (which was only just being implemented), that my propeller qualified for an LPIP and that they would discuss additional work / conversion to a full overhaul if required once they had completed an initial inspection. On completion it would be issued with a Certificate of Conformity to cover the work, and not an EASA form one. He also gave me indicative quotes for both an LPIP and a full overhaul. So, I got clearance from the airfield manager to go into the hangar, and then lined up a suitably experienced helper to get the prop off. It’s not difficult, just a bit fiddly, not to say quite heavy as well! First the
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cowlings and spinner have to come off, then the lock wiring connecting the six retaining nuts is cut away. With an engine crane supporting the weight of the propeller the nuts and their associated studs are gradually wound out of the engine flange, half a turn each at a time. They’re torqued down quite hard so a long spanner with fairly narrow, open jaws is required to get them started. Fingers were sufficient once they had been freed off. A drip tray under the prop catches the half litre or so of engine oil that drains out of the hub when the O-ring seal is broken. Eventually it was done – the prop was dangling free and we lowered it gently onto a sheet of plywood spanning the legs of the engine crane. For transport we wrapped the hub in a bin liner to contain any dribbles of oil and then lashed it with a couple of webbing straps onto an old aircraft tyre, which provided a strong but yielding support for the hub and the now-protruding studs. With the rear seats folded forward the prop fitted quite neatly into the back of my car, with the blades supported on piles of cushions and more webbing straps deployed to stop it moving about. An hour or so later I was met by Wayne Potter,
Below left There are some jobs on propeller overhaul that a skilled tradesman can still do better than a machine, and dressing the blades is one of them. Photo: Neil Wilson Below right Every prop is checked on the 3-D laser scanner to ensure it is within defined tolerances. Photo: Neil Wilson
maintenance team leader at Proptech. After obligatory hand-washing and greetings exchanged at more than two metres separation, we lifted the prop out of the car (one person on each end of its 74in span is very nearly two metres!) and loaded it onto a workshop trolley. I handed over the logbook and left them to it. Five days later I received an email confirming that, following an initial inspection, the propeller was suitable for LPIP rather than requiring full overhaul, albeit with a few parts that would need replacement, which added a bit to the original estimate. I happily gave the go-ahead. Three weeks after that the prop was ready for collection, my thanks going to Sarah Walters, Charlotte Edmonds, and Desiree Hodge, for keeping me informed by email throughout the process. When I arrived to pick the propeller up, Wayne gave me a brief (and socially distanced) show around the workshop.
Proptech Aero
Proptech moved into its new purpose-built facility in late 2017 and, as you would expect of a company whose primary work is in the Commercial Air Transport sector, it is equipped with an array of high tech equipment.
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It has a fully equipped machine shop, which can be used for other than for propeller work if called upon, and a comprehensive NDT department which includes fluorescent dye penetrant, magnetic particle and eddy current options. Proptech’s expertise is in the metal and composite blades used on turboprops and as well as repair and overhaul, they also carry out manufacturing processes on certain new blades for Dowty. As you can imagine, inspection is key to any precision engineering function, and every blade that goes through the workshop is checked on a 3-D laser scanner that logs half a million points of data a second, comparing the results to the manufacturer’s data to ensure the blade is within accepted tolerances. My visit culminated in getting reacquainted with my prop, mounted on a bench stand with blades neatly wrapped. We transferred it to the car and using exactly the same packing method, off I went, logbook in hand, complete with stapled-in worksheet. Back in the hanger I took the opportunity to put on a new alternator belt. The existing one appeared to be in reasonable condition, but it was a little too long, and the tension adjustment bracket was at full extension. The new belt was a much better fit – better tension would mean less chance of slippage under load and reduced risk of the alternator pulley fouling on the cowling – a known problem with some RVs. Refitting the prop was straightforward, a new O-ring (provided by Proptech) to provide an oil seal being installed to the flange, the engine crane taking the weight, careful lining-up and patient winding in of the studs,
Below Ian Fraser lends a hand to re-fit the freshly inspected propeller. Photo: Ruth Kelly
again half a turn each at a time. The final torque-down (with my flange 60-70 ft-lb) was fiddly as you can’t use a socket on the end of a torque wrench, as there isn’t room. Instead, we used a common dodge which employs a little stump of an open-ended spanner, one end on the nut and the other mating with the half-inch drive on the torque wrench. It’s very easy to drop various bits while you’re working, and I have subsequently acquired a tool specially made for the job. It’s called the ‘ultimate prop wrench’ by Antisplat Aero, I got mine through LAS. The lock wiring called for further reserves of patience. It’s a bit of an art anyway, and most of us don’t do enough to develop the fluency I have seen exhibited by professional aircraft engineers. The access is awkward too and the wire necessarily thick. It has to be threaded through the roll-pins securing the nuts to the studs, twisted, wrapped around (make sure you’re going in the right direction!) and then taken to its neighbour for another wrap, thread-through and twist. The ends are then trimmed off and the sharp protruding twist curled over with long-nosed pliers. The final act was a ground run, including cycling of the propeller to pump oil into the hub and prove the pitchcontrol mechanism. On completion a careful visual inspection confirmed the absence of oil leaks. The final act was to align the front spinner bulkhead before tightening and lock wiring its bolts, and then re-fitting the spinner. All I needed then was a sign-off from my inspector, the end of the lockdown restrictions on flying and some nice weather, now thankfully with us. Time to go flying! ■
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I learned about that…
The day I learned about flying… A moment’s inattention could easily have led to Peter Yarrow becoming a statistic, as he reports…
used to be the proud owner of a beautiful RV-8, G-GRVY, originally built by my friend Peter Lawton, before he sold it to me. She was his second -8 build and had a 200hp engine and constant speed prop, linked controls and throttles front and back. She was flawless… it was the pilot who wasn’t. This article is to help others learn from my potentially very dangerous situation, brought about entirely as a result of my poor airmanship. If pilots and crew learn from this and take a little extra care, then I will be pleased to have passed this on. I blush with embarrassment at my lack of judgement. At the time of the incident, I was a relatively experienced PPL with about 1,500 flying hours, including a US IR, and a single-engined trans-Atlantic crossing under my belt. I also had around 800 hours in a Grob 109B motor glider. You will see that many intentional engine-off landings in the Grob was to prove useful experience once you read the explanation of the following incident. My trip was to include a visit to the Orkneys, and then a return trip via Stornoway, Sollas Beach and Barra before returning to a farm strip in Hertfordshire. Having flown up to Kirkwall, and then to some of the lovely islands in the Orkneys, including Papa Westray, Sanday, Eday and Stronsay, I set course in beautiful weather to Barra, via Sollas Beach in the Outer Hebrides. Having dropped into these beautiful islands with ease,
I
Above The RV-8 parked on Sollas Beach, up to which point a tour of the Orkneys and Outer Hebrides had been wonderfully uneventful.
perhaps I became a little overconfident and over relaxed, and I had also landed at Barra and Sollas previously. At Barra I met up with friends, who were there on holiday, and we had one of the special ‘cockles off the beach’ lunches, which can be had at the airport restaurant. I then offered to take one of the youngsters for a tour around the island before heading south to Hertfordshire. This involved me removing the life raft and other safety equipment from the rear of the aircraft and setting them to one side by the airport fence. Having toured the island, I replaced the equipment in the rear seat, and prepared to head south. The beach at Barra is quite rough and corrugated, and I had a bumpy departure to the south-east. As I climbed out, I tried reducing the power to a climb setting, and found that the power could not be reduced. In the climb, this was not a worry, but when I reached the cruise height at about 6,000ft I was flying fast, but again no issue other than a higher than normal fuel consumption. But with plenty of avgas on board, this was not an issue either. I simply could not work out what was causing the throttle to be stuck at full power, so through the helpful services of Scottish ATC, I contacted Peter, the builder of the aircraft, by phone. He made some recommendations about how to land engine-off, which ATC helpfully relayed to me, but that was it.
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I learned about that… Momentous decision After being handed over to Carlisle ATC, I was cleared for an engine-off landing. Fortunately, the long runway was in use and about five miles out, at about 2,000ft, I made the momentous decision of turning the magnetos and master switch off. The engine slowed and the prop stopped. I approached at about 70kt for the 6,000ft of Runway 06, making S-turns on the approach to lose height for an appropriate glide approach for the runway. Flaps went down when I was sure I’d make the runway. It all went according to plan and I landed about halfway along the runway. It felt like being in an engine-off Grob motor glider again, given the total silence on approach, and the sound of wheels meeting the runway! Certainly, it was alarming seeing the propeller at a standstill on final approach. The fire engine raced up to me and stopped beside the aeroplane. A woman driver jumped out and I said, “Where have you come from?” She was very jolly and added, “When there is an emergency we always hide behind the trees!” Then she asked, “Have you checked the rear of the aeroplane?” It turned out that Peter had been contacted by Scottish ATC and they had spoken to Carlisle ATC, having determined that the issue with the throttle was likely caused by an obstruction in the rear cockpit,
affecting the dual mechanically linked throttle control. I hopped out of the aircraft, and discovered to my horror that the life raft, which I had left unsecured on the rear seat, had jiggled forward on the bumpy strip at Barra, and had jammed the rear throttle, and therefore also the front cockpit’s throttle. Thirty seconds’ lack of airmanship in not securing the life raft when on the ground at Barra, could so easily have cost me my life – it was only by good fortune that it had not jammed the rear joystick forward, or I almost certainly would not be writing the article and would be an aviation statistic having dived into the ground. The only interesting question outstanding is why the message from Peter Lawton about the rear throttle had not reached me in the air. This is not a criticism, as ATC could not have been more helpful, but given the layout of the cockpit, I doubt that I would in any case have been able to reach around and adjust the life raft and unjam the throttle. Carlisle ATC kindly gave me a welcome cup of tea, I refuelled, and a perfectly airworthy RV-8 was then flown back to Hertfordshire, life raft securely fastened, with a chastened pilot on board. My message is, one, physically secure objects in the aircraft, whatever the position. And two, continue to fly the aircraft, whether the engine is on or off! ■
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Safety Spot
The latest LAA Engineering topics and investigations. By Malcolm McBride
Safety Spot Malcolm looks at ‘trembler’ troubles, the Jabiru flywheel bolt saga, and Kavlico oil pressure senders ood day to you, fellow travellers through time and space. I hope that you, and those close to you, remain well and, despite all the negative issues that surround us, try not to lose sight of the many positives. As usual, I begin this month’s Safety Spot somewhere approaching the middle of the preceding month. Recently, the Prime Minister confirmed that the ‘R’ value is on the descent and that there will be a relaxation of this nightmarish lockdown in England. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, the ‘R’ will have dropped in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland too and they will join England with the start of the relaxation of the COVID-19 controls. Let’s hope too that he’s obeyed the engineer’s maxim: first off – understand what you are measuring and then, measure twice, cut once. I didn’t actually do that during my weekend woodworking session – another story, another time – and, well, I’m going to have to find some matching European Oak from somewhere, or the picture frame I’m making will definitely look rather odd... As I write the very strong north-easterly has abated and, from my little home-office window, looking out towards Weston-on-the-Green military DZ, I’ve just spotted a stick of parachutists pulling their chutes, first time this year. I noted the growl of a pair of Garret turbine engines earlier,
G
when the drop-plane took off with its cargo of trainees. What with the winter weather, then the lockdown, it’s been a while since we’ve seen any aerial activity in these parts, so it’s good to see that we’re turning a corner. Interestingly, as I watch the trainees turn, with varying degrees of finesse, into wind for their landing, the first of the fair-weather cumulus clouds are marching forward from the south-west; as the forecast suggested a brisk north by north-easterly. Looks like something’s gone wrong with a forecaster’s very complicated measuring stick. When you think about it, measurement, in one form or another, sits at the heart of almost everything we do. I’ve just had a slurp of tea, lots of subliminal measuring required just to get the mug off the table and up to my mouth. I wonder just how many measurements were needed to get those parachutists (and the aircraft of course) safely up to 12,000ft and back down again – hundreds, thousands? So, what’s this Safety Spot going to be about? Well, I expect that you’ve sampled the aroma by looking over the pictures, let’s try the taste.
Intermittent faults – Walter Mikron tremblers
There can be little doubt that one of the most frustrating and difficult tasks an aircraft engineer faces is fixing an intermittent fault. One minute
Above The ‘trembler’ unit that was causing Chilton Monoplane owner, Dave Reid, intermittent starting problems. Intermittent problems can be the hardest ones to solve, but solving them quickly, when they show themselves on an aircraft is really important for long-term safety. The picture shows where the trembler was shorting out electrically (to its case), effectively earthing the magneto. Photo: Dave Reid 52 | LIGHT AVIATION | June 2020
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Safety Spot it’s there – the next it’s gone. Faults often hide in the shadows and, because they’re not always doing their worst to mess up your day, they can become easy to ignore – ‘ … don’t worry, it does that sometimes’. However, you never really know whether a minor bug in the system is just that, nothing much to worry about, or the first signs of a deeper issue which could very likely lead to a very real problem sometime in the future. We received an email from Chilton Monoplane owner, Dave Reid, explaining just how frustrating fixing an intermittent fault in a trembler unit fitted to a Walter Mikron had been. I should perhaps explain that a trembler unit is a sort of satellite to the aircraft’s ignition system, it’s there to aid starting. A magneto, when it’s turning slowly, will only produce a very weak high-tension voltage to the spark plug, often the spark produced hasn’t enough energy to begin the fuel-air combustion process – especially if the engine’s cold. This starting issue is overcome in many small magneto-ignition aircraft engines by fitting one of the magnetos with a spring-loaded impulse coupling. When the propeller is turned slowly, either by hand-swinging or by a starter motor, the impulse coupling winds a spring which, when tight, releases suddenly, spinning the magneto far more quickly – this, in turn, generates a much beefier spark. The delay in the spark occurring, caused as the impulse winds up it’s spring, is a good thing because it means that the spark occurs with the piston after top dead centre rather than before it, making it easier for the piston to push the crank round, forcing the engine into life. Another method of getting a decent spark is to import some high-tension electrical energy from somewhere else. This requires some kind of spark ‘generator’ – and this device is sometimes called a trembler unit. Modern units use a solid-state oscillator to provide the necessary low frequency alternating current to the primary coil, the first step in the process. Earlier units, like that used on the Mikron, use a rather more mechanical device to chop the current up, buzzing as it does this – hence the name, trembler. Dave wrote: Hello Malcolm, I’ve attached a couple of photos of an electrical fault traced in yesterday’s ongoing maintenance on my Chilton Monoplane. Access with the phone camera isn’t easy, hence the photos aren’t great. While checking the ignition on my Walter Mikron III together with a local engineer, it became apparent that operation of the ‘Starting Buzzer’ as named by the Czechs (‘Shower of Sparks’ by others) was intermittent. This fault has appeared about a dozen times in the last five years and indeed caused me to change the unit to a new one 37 flying hours ago (TT since aircraft build 180hrs). I have checked the system – switch, battery, circuit breaker, wiring, earthing etc., many times and have never been able to trace the fault. Yesterday however, it came to light that when the lid of the box that houses the start buzzer (mounted on the front face of the firewall) was pressed, it was grounding out on an internal screw. There are tiny witness marks ringed on the attached photos showing arcing. The buzzer operates with the starboard Lunn 2225 magneto during start and the grounding effectively turns off the magneto. The buzzer unit, as I say, is virtually brand new, so is a factory issue. I have removed the upper clamping block underneath the spring washer, which has moved the head of the screw out of the way. The cover/lid has been ‘eased’ out and both the screw and the lid have had some Plasti-Dip (effectively rubber) applied just in case. Fixed. The big issue here of course is that, when this buzzer unit was failing, it effectively grounded the magneto and by accepting this snag as ‘normal’, the overall risk to safety is increased, albeit by a small amount.
to build up because they’re either difficult to fix or the fix isn’t completely obvious. Last year’s accident list contains a number of events caused because of undershoot. A number in the list were due to human factors, which you would expect, and some because of mechanical failure. In a few cases the premature arrival was caused because of a misjudged glide approach following an engine failure at altitude. In one case, the accident was caused because the Jabiru engine stopped on long-final – it’s this last incident that focuses our attention on a problem that appears to be affecting a few Jabiru engines after they’ve had some kind of top overhaul. It’s important that an aircraft’s engine is set up so that it idles reliably, obvious perhaps, but sometimes it’s not so easy to get this rpm right – too high an idle rpm means that it can make the landing difficult, too low an idle and an engine may stop when the throttle is opened suddenly, perhaps for an overshoot. Sensible light aircraft pilots learn quickly that gentle application of the throttle is good practice, even if everything is set-up perfectly. I spoke to the pilot in the undershoot incident, who fortunately wasn’t hurt in the event, though the aircraft was badly damaged, and it turned out that his Jabiru engine had been playing up for some time. The problem was that when the engine got hot, it stiffened up. This rang a bell with me and, looking back through our records, I noted that we’d heard of problems like this happening before and, with a deeper delve, I found a record of another very similar incident where the Jabiru engine had partially seized and landing damage followed. Both engines had been overhauled, and the engine tightening had started after this work. That’s pretty much what happened during our man’s approach – the engine became tight and stopped. After discussion it became clear that this partial seizure, perhaps better described as ‘stiffening up’, had become a regular problem with this aircraft’s engine, but previously the pilot was always able to restart the engine and make it to the runway. This time though, the engine was so stiff it would hardly turn when the starter was pressed, let alone start.
Jabiru barrels
The connection between a trembler unit and a Jabiru engine might, at first, seem rather tenuous but, as you’ve probably guessed by now, the link concerns making sure that, when it comes to keeping an aircraft in top mechanical condition, you must deal with problems as soon as they show themselves. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of allowing the ‘deferred defects’, as they are sometimes called, June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 53
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Above Jabiru Aircraft, the manufacturers of the J.2200 and J.3300 have recently issued a Service Letter (JSL 023-2) highlighting the need to follow engine build, and overhaul instructions carefully. This follows a number of issues where engines have been returned to service after maintenance with incorrect clearances. The JSL (pictured on page 53) can be downloaded via an Airworthiness Alert posted in the Engineering section of our website. Photos: Jabiru There are, naturally, a number of reasons why an engine might stiffen up when hot, and two of these are known problems with Jabiru engines that haven’t been assembled correctly. The first is pinching of the through-bolts, when this happens the barrel can become slightly ‘ovalised’, and the second is that the engine was assembled with an incorrect piston-to-barrel clearance. So this expensive event highlights the importance of not putting up with an known issue, in this case a tightening engine, because it is very likely to catch you out some time in the future – often when you least expect it. Jabiru has, over the last weeks, issued updated advice with regard to best practice when overhauling Jabiru engines and this can be downloaded via an Airworthiness Alert posted in the Engineering section of our website. It’s worth the read, even if you aren’t suffering engine problems at the moment.
Jabiru flywheel attachment cap bolt failures
I’ve written about this issue before, actually, quite a few times – though I think we now understand enough about the causes of these expensive cap bolt failures to be able to issue guidance to owners and operators of both the J2200 and the J3300 engines. In truth, we’ve only had one reported case of a cap bolt failing on the six cylinder engine but, even when only one of the six cap bolts fail, the damage caused can be devastating. This is especially so if the engine is an earlier version using the 10 pole alternator, as spares for this part of the engine are no longer available so, if the alternator is damaged, the whole of the assembly will need to be upgraded to the later 12 pole alternator. Though this Safety Spot features two issues featuring the Jabiru engine, please don’t think that I have safety concerns with it, actually my feelings about the engine is just the opposite – I’m a real fan. Naturally, the basic engine has evolved over the years and many of the problems, principally associated with overheating, have been ironed out now – we know that this air-cooled device is simply not tolerant of a poor installation – but how many air-cooled engines are? The engine is well-supported by its Australian manufacturer, even though, like many in the sports aviation arena, they’ve had to work really hard to stay in business in this, now very competitive, marketplace. The origin of this engine could be considered rather unique, at least in relatively modern times. In early 1988 Rodney Stiff and Phil Ainsworth formed Jabiru to develop a highly efficient, composite light aircraft, not an aircraft engine. Their original design used the KFM112M 60hp flat
four but, only one month after the aircraft’s initial Australian approval, the Italian engine manufacturer advised that it was ceasing aircraft engine production. Rod and Phil were faced with a bit of a dilemma and as they saw it they had two options, either they redesigned the aircraft to accept the much heavier (and more expensive) Rotax 912 engine, or take the almost unimaginably brave step of developing a flat-four engine, comparable to the KFM, themselves. History shows that they chose the latter course. and the 60 HP J.1600 was developed over a period of 18 months. In March 1993, this new engine was approved by the Australian CAA for installation in Jabiru aircraft, the first engines being released to the market in September 1995. The then PFA came into the Jabiru picture more fully in April 1997, when we approved the first kit-built Jabiru SK – this aircraft was fitted with a more powerful version of the prototype engine, the now wellknown Jabiru 2200A. Incidentally, this first aircraft is still flying under an LAA banner here in the UK. Jabiru introduced the Nord-Lock washer as a standard method of locking the flywheel bolts some time ago, having worked with the manufacturer with this change. This change came about after we received a modification application from the Jabiru Owners Club, notably Dino Licheri and Bob Panther, asking to approve their use. Bob argued that the original method of locking the bolts, using a high-strength Loctite (620), wasn’t doing its job properly for various reasons and, worse, was making it impossible to check the bolts’ torque correctly without removing the bolts completely at each torque check. Over the years there’s been a stepwise increase in the size of bolts from ¼in to 3/8in, and a number of different flywheel designs introduced, the latest being the ‘starfish’ type, which removes the steel-to-aluminium attachment completely. It was hoped that the steel-to-steel clamp would remove the problems associated with joint settlement and the subsequent reduction of clamping force. In addition to this, dowels were fitted to share the shear load with the bolts, in theory reducing the issue of fatigue which, by looking at the fracture faces of the recovered failed bolts, was the primary cause of cap bolts’ heads breaking off the bolt shanks. For many years, Jabiru themselves have maintained that the reason for the failure of these flywheel bolts was the introduction (worldwide) of heavier propellers. A recent vibration report, commissioned by Jabiru themselves, suggests that the real reason for the cap bolt failures is
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Above Now the reason why these flywheel cap bolts have been failing is better understood, we have been able to establish a bolt-replacement and inspection regime designed to prevent any further in-service failures. There is a two-pronged approach to this: first, ensuring that the bolt tension isn’t lost due to material ‘creep’ in the flywheel. To accomplish this, Jabiru now requires the use of Nord-Lock washers, rather than the original thread-locking method, to secure the cap bolts. Second, we have introduced an inspection/replacement regime for these cap bolts, which requires that the bolt torques are checked more regularly, and they have been given a specific operating ‘life’. The picture shows the small modification to the rear alternator mounting plate (the ‘spider’) that is recommended so that these bolts can be torque-checked more easily in situ. An Airworthiness Information Leaflet (AIL) has been issued laying out these new requirements, and it can be downloaded via an Airworthiness Alert available from the Engineering section of our website. Photos: Kevin Hyam/Nord-Lock
Above and right We talk in the text about the problems some Jabiru engine operators have had with the heads of their flywheel attachment cap bolts breaking from the shanks. This has been an issue since the engine was first introduced and, when a cap bolt fails in this way, the damage caused when the cap bolt’s head departing can be expensive to repair, or worse can lead to an in-flight engine stoppage. The engineers responsible for this impressive little engine have attempted to solve this bolt-failure issue by progressively upping the cap bolt size, altering materials used in the assembly, tweaking the attachment method and even changing flywheel design – all to no avail – cap bolt failures continue to occur. A recent analysis of the engine’s vibration characteristics, commissioned by the manufacturer, has answered the question of why these bolts continue to fail, even after massively strengthening the connection. In short, a narrow, but very distinct harmonic of 280 Hz, at normal operating rpm, has been discovered and this vibration generates a very real fatigue potential in the bolts. The graph, pictured, taken from the vibration report and kindly shared with LAA Engineers, shows the vibration peak. One of the things that will exacerbate the effects of fatigue in a bolt, is a loss of tension in the bolt itself, so this in-service loss of tension is also an issue that needs addressing. The second picture shows the impression left in an aluminium flywheel after the cap bolts have been removed following a bolt failure – as this depression is being formed, tension is being steadily lost in the cap-bolt. The other picture shows a failed cap bolt head, closer inspection shows that the failure was due to fatigue. Photos: Gary Omer/Gary Cotterell/Jabiru Aircraft PTY Ltd. June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 55
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Safety Spot more likely to be the effect of a particular harmonic in the engine. This 280 Hz vibration, the specific origin of which hasn’t been discovered, is very likely to be the driver for fatigue in the cap bolts and the reason for their premature, though difficult to predict, failure. If the tensile load in a bolt repeatedly fluctuates above a certain percentage of its ultimate tensile load carrying ability, the bolt will be subject to fatigue and will eventually fail. However, it was learned back in the 1920s that if a bolt is torqued up so that it is permanently stressed in tension to a level above that created by the alternating force, the bolt doesn’t ‘feel’ an alternating stress, so fatigue doesn’t happen. But, if the bolt loses its torque-induced tension, due to settlement in the joint, the bolt will experience the alternating stress, and quickly start to accumulate fatigue damage. We think that in the case of the Jabiru flywheel bolts, it is the loss of clamping effect and pre-tension in the bolts due to joint settlement which causes fatigue to become a factor in the life of this bolt. So, the issue really is that it is essential that the clamping forces in all the bolts maintain an equal pressure around the attachment ring – if you can keep this state the individual bolts will all be taking on a load below the level where fatigue becomes an issue. Maintaining clamping force in high tensile steel bolts though is quite difficult, mainly because the bolts themselves don’t stretch much – it’s the stretch that provides the tension in a bolt in service. The smallest amount of settlage in a bolted joint will reduce the tension and therefore, in this set-up, the clamping force. Now we are sure that we understand why these bolts fail, and importantly, all involved are in general agreement as to cause, LAA Engineering has issued an Airworthiness Information Leaflet (AIL) laying out a new inspection regime for this part of these engines. For this inspection regime to work, engines will need to be modified to use the Nord-Lock method of cap bolt locking when they next fall due for a cap bolt change. As part of this modification, the ‘spider’ needs to be modified very slightly so that the bolts can be torque-checked easily in service. In addition, cap bolts have been given a 100-hour life – this sounds daunting, but cap bolts are a cheap item and, once the engine has been modified to accept them, they are very easy to change in most installations. As always, the AIL is available via an Airworthiness Alert available on our website.
CAA sponsored CO detector trial
If you are a regular reader of Safety Spot then you will remember that LAA Engineering recently published an Airworthiness Alert which gave access, in turn, to a CAA Safety Notice (CAA SN 2020/003) which discussed, at some length, the dangerous effects carbon monoxide can have on our bodies. Following the publication of this report, senior engineers from the CAA have asked us to invite a number of aircraft operating members to assist with a trial. The latter has been designed to practically assess a variety of commercially available carbon monoxide sensors available, primarily to see whether they are really appropriate for use in the close confines of a sports aircraft. Naturally, devices that were initially designed for use in a house might actually be quite distracting if they were to go off during a critical phase of flight, so this trial hopes to tease-out the good aspects, the not-sogood aspects and the downright dangerous aspects, of a number of sensors. The LAA will be coordinating this trial and the CAA will be supplying the sensors. As a bonus, when the trial is over, you’ll be able to keep the device. We want to trial the various devices in a number of aircraft types, and naturally the number of sensors is limited, so if you’re interested get your name on the list as soon as you can – we need to know your aircraft type and a little about your flying experience. We appreciate that many members will have already gained experience with some of the commercially available sensors available in the UK market so, if this applies to you, it would be extremely useful if you could let us know of your experiences, both good and bad. So, if you would like to take part in this trial, or you have experience in using a commercially available carbon monoxide sensor, we’d like to
Above No, this isn’t a Where’s Wally? picture, nor is it one of those ‘aerial airfield spotter’ picture quizzes, often found in Strut Newsletters – it’s a ball and stick model of a tiny part of the hemoglobin molecule. Hemoglobin is the clever molecule that carries the oxygen from the air to every cell in your body – it’s an incredible and wondrous bit of evolutionary engineering. OK, not directly associated with aeronautical engineering… but, as you are reading this, it did get your attention! Photo:Wiki hear from you. Please let us know by email at the usual address engineering@laa.uk.com and in the subject area type ‘CO Monitors’ followed by either ‘TRIAL’, or if responding with information about a specific monitor, its name. Pictures as well as your experience with the device will be very welcome. Thank you.
Check out our Airworthiness Alerts
Please take the time to check the LAA website for new Airworthiness Alerts, which often carry details of new Airworthiness Information Leaflets and manufacturer Service Bulletins etc. – important safety information not only for specific types but components fitted to many different aircraft. The following are amongst recent new information added.
Above Since 2012, Dynon Avionics has used Kavlico fluid pressure sensors to provide analog (voltage level) input to their various electronic flight displays, though for unexplained reasons, there have been a number of failures reported. Even though the oil pressure sensor requires only a miniscule amount of pressurised oil to do its job, if the sensor springs a leak, oil will be lost from the engine surprisingly quickly. Dynon have recently issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) explaining that they are changing the sensors they use to a more robust Kavlico type (tested to 15 times normal max. pressure). Photos: David Pitt / Kavlico
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Above The failure mode of this aileron cable fairlead appeared to be the disintegration, possibly due to aging, though the fairlead may have been over-tightened at some time in the past. Photo: Adam Wankowski
Super Spot!
Above Over the last few months, owners of Pioneer 200, 300 and 400 aircraft have been busily checking the control surface attachment cap bolts to ensure that they remain in perfect condition, there’s a requirement to wire-lock the cap bolts when they are refitted. This picture, sent in by Pioneer 300 owner Neil Harrison, shows him drilling the head of one of the many bolts that need to take the locking wire. The Airworthiness Information Leaflet (AIL) mandating this check required the work to be completed by the beginning of June 2020 – of course, because of the initial ‘stay at home’ message due to the coronavirus epidemic, most Pioneer owners haven’t been able to complete this work. For this reason, and subject to a few conditions, the AIL has been reissued to give owners more time to complete this important work. Photo: Neil Harrison
Adam Wankowski is the proud owner of a beautifully restored Aeronca Chief, and recently found this failed aileron cable fairlead during a routine inspection. We had some correspondence trying to decide what the fairlead was made from (I thought possibly one of the early phenolic plastics, similar to but Bakelite). Though this failure could be seen as a minor one, it certainly isn’t. It would be an easy thing for an aileron cable to become jammed in the device once it had come to pieces. In turn, a loss of a primary control would probably result – not good if it happened while you were turning final and thinking about pulling off a great landing. Well done Adam on the thoroughness of your inspection. So, that’s it for this issue, and (as I write), thankfully the DfT has just switched on the green light and we’re able to get our bums back in the air. Please take it steady, there’s no rush. Our 2020 accident/incident ‘inbox’ is nearly empty – let’s all do our best to try to keep it that way. Fair Winds. ■
LAA engineering charges LAA Project Registration Kit Built Aircraft £300 Plans Built Aircraft £50 Issue of a Permit to Test Fly Non-LAA approved design only £40 Initial Permit issue Up to 450kg £450 451-999kg £550 1,000kg and above £650 Permit Renewal (can now be paid online via LAA Shop) Up to 450kg £155 451-999kg £200 1,000kg and above £230 Factory-built gyroplanes (all weights) £250 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) Up to 450kg 451 to 999kg 1,000kg and above Four-seat aircraft Manufacturer’s/agent’s type acceptance fee Project registration royalty Category change Group A to microlight Microlight to Group A Change of G-Registration fee Issue of Permit documents following G-Reg change Replacement Documents Lost, stolen etc (fee is per document) Latest SPARS – No 17 April 2018
£150 £250 £350 £2,000 £50 £135 £135 £45 £20
PLEASE NOTE: When you’re submitting documents using an A4-sized envelope, a First Class stamp is insufficient postage. June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 57
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Meet the Members
Hats off to Harry…
We meet Harry Hopkins, career RAF officer and Cold War Vulcan pilot, RV-4 co-builder, founder of the Gloster Strut and former LAA Board member elcome Harry, can you tell us something about your career?
W
Above A young Harry enjoys some flying in a Chipmunk, having initially learned in Tiger Moths at Rochester courtesy of an Air Training Corps scholarship.
What started your interest in aviation?
Right As a trainee in Canada, Harry and Canada got on very well, he still has a soft spot for the country and its people.
I was born in Buckinghamshire in late 1937 and went to High Wycombe Royal Grammar School but just for one term, as we then moved to Kent. I finished my education at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone. I’ve been retired for some years and I am finding it quite busy.
I grew up a few miles from RAF Booker, a wartime Elementary Flying Training School equipped with Tiger Moths, I suspect that the sight and sound of them puttering overhead ‘infected’ me.
In what, where and when was your first flight?
When we moved to Kent, I joined the local Air Training Corps squadron, which led to the first of many visits to RAF Hawkinge, then the home of No 166 Gliding School. I went to work as ground crew and was taken for a flight in a 58 | LIGHT AVIATION | June 2020
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“I really
missed Canada when I got back to the UK and found that everything was shut when you came out of the cinema” Sedburgh glider as a reward. I can still remember it as being exhilarating and I was totally hooked.
Where did you do your flight training?
I was awarded an Air Training Corps flying scholarship and was given 30 hours on Tiger Moths at Rochester, culminating in a PPL. I joined the RAF later the same year and was lucky enough to be sent to Canada for service flying training, starting on the Harvard, which seemed big at first. It was noisy and smelly and shook and bucked when doing the pre-take off run up for mag checks. I used to feel air sick doing spins and aeros, and regularly greyed out when doing a roll off the top. It had no G meter, so we had no idea what we were pulling. That apart, the flying was great. I had one ‘interesting moment’ – just after take-off the airspeed began to decay, and I was bracing myself for a stall. If I’d noticed how fast the countryside was whizzing past, I’d have realised it was an instrument fault. An instructor was sent up to formate on me and lead me back into the circuit and set me up on finals (we hadn’t yet got to formation flying). I was told it was my fault – that the static vent had been taped over for washing – but I later realised this didn’t explain it at all. It was a leaky ASI bellows that caused it. The RCAF used the T-33 Silver Star for advanced training and it was a delight to fly; quiet, aerodynamically clean and with good performance. Ours were Canadian built versions with RR Nene engines.
You enjoyed training abroad then?
Yes, it was brilliant. I really missed Canada when I
Top left Back in the UK Harry was sent for training on the Vulcan and is seen here second right with his crew in June 1961. He did four tours on the Vulcan at a time when the Cold War was at its height. Above left An unfortunate incident befell Harry when he was co-pilot on a three-aircraft goodwill visit to New Zealand, the Vulcan ending up with a collapsed main gear. Above Having joined up, Harry was sent to Canada for training on the Harvard. Like all pilot recruits, he wanted to be a fighter pilot.
got back to the UK and found that everything was shut when you came out of the cinema, and all the houses looked drab after the multi-coloured Canadian scene. I still have a soft spot for Canada.
What were you flying when you got back?
Back in the UK we were given a few hours in Vampire T-11s and FB5s, to get used to the British weather etc. It was then that I had my first experience of negative G and slow rolls. By now I knew I wanted to be a fighter pilot and it was great fun to fly the single-seat FB5s, although the instrumentation was dated – a magnetic compass and a DI which toppled if you threw the aircraft around. The performance of the Vampires was similar to the T-bird, but the cockpit of the T-11 seemed very cramped in comparison (ejection seats had been fitted as an afterthought). Before a first flight in the -5, the ground crew would push the booms down to show us what the landing attitude looked like. I have fond memories of both aircraft. At the end of this short course I was posted to the Vulcan school at RAF Waddington to be a co-pilot.
How did you get on with the Vulcan?
The navigators on my first crew failed the course, and I was loaned to Boscombe Down for some Vulcan trials flying. I managed to scrounge trips in the back of a Meteor T-7 and a Javelin, the latter being the only aircraft in which I’ve been supersonic – going down vertically. I also flew a few trips in a Valiant. This little secondment ended with a landing accident when we brought the trials Vulcan back to Waddington and hit a snowbank on the runway in the dark. The port u/c leg folded, followed by the nose leg and I was ordered to June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 59
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Meet the Members
jettison the canopy so the crew could exit through the top of the aircraft. A couple of years later, by which time I was on a squadron at Scampton, we took three aircraft out to New Zealand for the opening of a new runway at Wellington Airport. We approached in a Vic formation and the aircraft in which I was co-pilot then peeled off to land. Unfortunately, we hit a lip at the start of the runway and had to divert to a nearby RNZAF airfield for a landing on one main u/c leg and nose leg. Again, I got the order to jettison the canopy but this time the nose leg didn’t collapse. So my slender claim to fame is my belief that I’m the only Vulcan pilot to have to blow the canopy twice.
was a slow process (no quick build kits in those days) but it was enjoyable. Maintenance is straightforward until someone bends something.
How many types and hours have you flown? Excluding purely passenger flights, I’ve flown about 30 types but clocked up less than 5,000 hours.
Do you have a favourite and less well-loved type? The RV-4 handles beautifully and has a sparkling performance, but the aircraft of which I have fondest memories is the T-33. I had a flight in a Streak Shadow which I really didn’t enjoy, but not enough to say I truly disliked it. The Vulcan was the most uncomfortable aircraft to fly because of the length of time you’re strapped to a hard seat, with poor air conditioning. I have zero wish to fly one again, which is just as well now the last one’s grounded.
Tell us more about your ‘Vulcan career’
After three years of co-piloting I went back to Waddington to form a crew of my own and was the most junior captain at the time of the Cuban crisis. By this time each Vulcan squadron had one aircraft at 15 minute readiness to go to war. The readiness could be upped to five minutes by manning the aircraft, and to two minutes by taxying out to the runway, something we practised regularly. At about that time Gary Powers had been shot down over Russia, and our role changed from high level to low level, which made the flying more interesting. After this second tour of duty I escaped the V-Force, or so I thought at the time, to become a Jet Provost instructor, but at the end of two years instructing I was unceremoniously yanked back to Waddington for a third tour. I was later to have two more years – my fourth and thankfully last Vulcan tour. Several years later I was sent to do a staff job in America (working in an underground bunker, need I say more?). There I discovered the wonderful world of private flying in small piston engined aircraft, fly-in breakfasts and trips to Oshkosh and Sun ’n’ Fun.
What aircraft have you owned?
I’ve owned shares in an Emeraude (underpowered but pleasant to fly), an RF-6, a Robin DR200 and an RV-4, but a stroke has put paid to my flying days.
How did you hear about the LAA
The PFA used to advertise in the back of Flight magazine, so I’d been aware of the Association long before I had any idea of building – possibly since 1958. I joined while I was still in the US, around 1988, by which time I’d decided I wanted to build the RV-4.
And I believe you went on to form the Gloster Strut?
Did you join the EAA?
Yes, and I became a member of Chapter 80 and met some amazing people, one of whom was building a Van’s RV-4. Sitting in it I realised this was just what I wanted, so I brought most of a kit back with me when I returned to the UK.
How did you get on with the build?
Most RVs are built by first time builders and there are more than 10,000 of them now flying, but no, it wasn’t easy. It
Below Harry formed the Gloster Strut, which is very active with events such as an annual Scout Camp at Defford.
I retired from the RAF about a year after getting back from the States and looked for a Strut offering the same experiences I’d enjoyed in EAA Chapter 80, but there wasn’t one in my local area, so I set about forming the Gloster Strut, which I based on my EAA experience. At first I ran it single-handed but soon found a kind soul – Tim Houlihan – who took over the printing and distribution of the newsletter, which in those days was mailed out, and I’m talking about the days before self-sealing envelopes and self-adhesive stamps. A few years ago, I found another enthusiast – Mike Waldron – to arrange the monthly speakers. After 25 years at the helm I handed over to Mike, and now just act as membership secretary.
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Meet the Members
How do you think Struts can help the LAA member? Struts provide a social dimension to LAA membership and are a wonderful source of information, help and encouragement to those who are building, operating an aircraft or running a group. They also help the Association, both in recruiting and member retention. (Harry is too modest to mention that as part of his Strut duties he represented his Strut at the National Council, ultimately becoming the Council Chairman. This eventually led to him serving for a long spell on the LAA Board, where he very much represented grassroots issues, and raised the Association’s profile at awards events, such as the Royal Aero Club Annual Awards, to its current high position. Ed.).
When was your first PFA Rally?
I attended my first Rally the year I left the RAF in 1991 – the first year it was at Wroughton. My wife and I owned a VW Camper and we found a great camaraderie in the camp site. I was assigned to the fencing crew and remained in that team right up to the move back to Sywell, since then I’ve been involved in organising the judging for Association trophies. But I’m a latecomer when it comes to Rally workers, several have been volunteering in little-known but important background jobs since the early days. We have many unsung heroes.
What was your best aviation moment?
My first flight in the RV-4 that I’d helped to build. It flew like a dream. I’d been flying an underpowered Robin, so the contrast was striking, plus the feeling of flying an aircraft that I’d helped to create put a big grin on my face.
Any aviation heroes?
Several, but Bob Hoover stands out for his exceptional skill and modesty.
Any ‘hairy’ moments?
Doing a display in thick haze in a Mk 1 Vulcan and pulling it in a tight turn on finals, having gone through the centreline I realised I had a lot of out of turn aileron control on, but bank was still increasing (they had separate ailerons and elevators, rather than elevons). Fortunately, when I stopped pulling the ailerons took
Above Harry with his wife Valerie, now sadly deceased, in the Van’s RV-4 that they brought back as a kit from a posting in the US and completed with a group of builders. Val was also an integral part of Harry’s LAA activities.
effect again. Lessons learned – stick within what you’ve practised and throw away a bad approach.
Do you have an aircraft or vehicles wish list?
As a youngster I was an aeromodeller and the first issue of the Aeromodeller magazine I ever bought had photos of the diminutive Chilton DW1. When I saw one in the flesh I wanted to own and fly one. Now I never will. I’ve lusted after so many cars in my time – too many to mention – but I still have an Austin10 convertible which Valerie and I used for our honeymoon!
Are there any Aviation books you would recommend? Wind in the Wires by Duncan Grinnell-Milne and Sagittarius Rising, by Cecil A Lewis – two books by WWI pilots who were very brave young men.
Do you have other non-aviation hobbies? Throughout my adult life I’ve taken evening classes in metalwork, and more recently in silversmithing.
And what advice would you offer fellow pilots?
For pilots I’d say keep in regular practice and don’t just bore holes in the sky, have a programme of exercises to maintain your skills. And, before take-off, think how you would cope with an engine failure or power loss before lift-off, just after lift-off and early in the climb – moments count, and you won’t then waste any wondering what to do. And for owners, read Malcolm McBride‘s articles in Light Aviation and learn from them. ■
July 2016 | LIGHT AVIATION | 33
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Environment
Headset review
Airfields as vital green spaces In Part II of Steve Slater’s piece on Green Flying, he takes a look at the environmental benefits of airfields, large and small
hink about it. What’s the biggest green space you visit? My bet is that for most of us it’s our local airfield. Airfields, whether a major airport or a small grass strip, are all vital green spaces. Even concrete jungles like Heathrow or other major international airports have large areas of grass, or other open spaces. While they have to minimise wildlife and bird conflict with aircraft, there is increasing evidence from local nature and environmental surveys that all airfields are important as a low-insecticide, low-herbicide, sanctuary for plants, insects and associated wildlife. We should remember too, that commercial air transport and airline operations are focused on just 25 UK airports. General aviation supports more than 120 aerodromes licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority for non-scheduled passenger carrying use, and we can add to that more than 500 unlicensed flying sites. These range from former military aerodromes to more modest airfields with asphalt or grass runways, privately owned ‘farm strips’ and helipads.
T
Above The circular, into-wind airfield at Bicester, along with its margins, provides the largest, most diverse wildlife reserve in the area. Photo: Steve Slater
Imagine, that amounts to more than 650 nature reserves around the country. From a Governmental point of view, they are a bargain. Most are privately owned and operated, and many are accessible to the general public. These airfields receive no government subsidies yet directly contribute to their local communities as a civic and visual amenity, through the generation of employment and by their payment of taxes and business rates. And because most GA airfields are in semi-rural locations, they are a focal point for outdoor activities for bikers, cyclists, ramblers, ornithologists, photographers and many others.
Ecologically important open space
The curtilage of airfields, the areas away from hangars, clubhouses and workshops, are ecologically important ‘open green spaces’, even when they are surrounded by what looks like ‘green’ farmland. That surrounding land is often the result of quite intensive agriculture with just one or two crop species being grown on ground which is regularly sprayed with fertilisers, herbicides or insecticides.
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Environment Left The different types and lengths of grass and flowers which would normally be restricted by herbicides, all add to the ecological value of airfields. Photo: Michael Miklos Below Turweston’s easily recognised solar farm, shrub planting and the solar power panels on LAA HQ all add to the airfield’s ecological credentials. Photo: Turweston Flight Centre
In contrast, airfields offer a wide range of sustainable and diverse wildlife habitats both in their margins and even up to, and if it’s a grass airfield including, the runway. There is certainly no incentive for an airfield operator to use fertilisers to make the grass grow faster, nor to use herbicides to increase crop yields. I wonder how many of us have taxied out to the sight of rabbits or hares on the aerodrome, sometimes scuttling away or in the case of hares, pressing themselves into the grass for cover. Or after an afternoon’s flight, when you have sat beside your aircraft and been serenaded by skylarks somewhere in the blue skies above you. Or perhaps on a grass strip you’ve heard the sound of the grass and wild flowers under your wheels as you swish into a perfect ‘daisy-cutter’ landing. They’re all proof of an airfield’s ecological credentials. At airfields with grass runways, the mixture of mown runways and longer grass margins is a perfect wildlife sanctuary, with the longer grass around the runway providing nesting cover for birds such as skylarks and lapwings, and animals such as hares and voles. At the grass airfield at Stow Maries in Essex, an English Nature survey listed no fewer than 105 species of plant and nectar-giving flowers. These drive populations of butterflies, bees and moths, which in turn create an eco-system, with other protected species such as sparrow hawks and owls taking advantage of the food chain. In fact, every British breed of owl has been recorded at Stow Maries, many of them living, nesting and hunting in the old buildings scattered around the former Royal Flying Corps WWI aerodrome.
Can we do more?
While we always should exercise caution when tree or shrub planting as it may encourage wildlife such as deer or larger birds into potential conflict with aircraft, the large curtilage of many airfields makes this practicable without creating any safety impact on flying operations. Guidelines on risk mitigation and strategies such as ‘long grass policies’ adjacent to runways can be found in the CAA document CAP 772. There is also scope for environmentally friendly development, including tree or shrub planting in airfield peripheries well away from flying areas, to act as carbon offsetting environments. In addition, areas such as disused runway beds and hangar roofs can be used as the basis for solar power arrays, which can operate without impacting on airfield safety. One example of this is Turweston Aerodrome where the LAA HQ is located. The 720-acre site has had over 10,000 trees and shrubs planted in the past decade and it is home to an 18.4mW solar farm supplying the National Grid, while the main tower building and adjacent offices, including the LAA HQ, receive a significant proportion of their power from solar-generated electricity from panels on a hangar roof. In fact, Turweston, and it’s not unique in this, has a ‘carbon footprint’ which can more than offset emissions by the aircraft operating from the airfield. So, what next? Watch out in next month’s magazine for the results of a research project carried out by our Engineering team on both (forgive the pun) current electric aircraft and watt – sorry – what technologies we might enjoy in the future. ■ June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 63
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CEO Thoughts
Working together irst of all, I hope you are all well and thank you for your support of the LAA as we have groped our way through, we hope, the worst of the COVID-19 crisis. It’s been a very difficult few months for everyone and I hope that you, your families and your colleagues are healthy and have avoided the worst consequences of this dreadful virus. If you are one of those more badly affected, my deepest sympathy. Well, many of us are back in the air once again, regaining currency either by flying solo or with members of our households. As I write, the news has just come in that the Northern Ireland Assembly has sanctioned a return to flying with similar guidance to that in England, and I am hoping that by the time you read this our letters to Michael Matheson MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity in the Scottish Parliament and Ken Skates MS, Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales in the Welsh Parliament, will have also borne fruit. If not and you’re still locked down by their devolved legislation, write to them immediately! We are in a uniquely challenging position in that unlike angling, tennis or horse riding, we are a recreational activity that has a higher level of legal regulation, namely that via the CAA and their paymasters, the Department for Transport. We owe thanks to the respective GA units in the DfT and CAA, and not least Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, with whom we developed our case for a return to flying for Government approval. These discussions have also demonstrated that the main organisations involved with sport flying can achieve more by working together. We’ve been putting forward our arguments jointly with the British Gliding Association and the BMAA, and this combined approach has been seen as stronger and more credible than if we’d merely been ‘banging on’ on our own. Post-COVID planning discussions are still going on, with the CAA and DfT hosting regular round-table meetings and we hope that if infection rates continue to decline, suitable precautions will ultimately enable a return to wider passenger carriage and dual instructional flights. A significant number of airfields are heavily dependent for their income on instructional flying. For them, the current scenario of bringing back staff from furlough and getting operational again, the reduced income from just private flying landing fees and fuel sales is a real financial challenge. Another concession raised and taken up by the CAA, was that when air traffic controllers are unavailable, some Class D controlled airspace has been reverted to uncontrolled Class G, notified by Notam. It offers us greater access and reduces controller workload, a win-win for all.
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CEO Thoughts
By Steve Slater
It goes without saying that for all of us, the prime challenge is to beat the pandemic. I worry that the current cautious release, of which GA flying is a small part, might trigger a second rise in infection levels, forcing the government to re-apply restrictions. It’s in all of our interests that we adhere to government advice on avoiding close proximity to others and consider the use of protective gloves or masks when appropriate. Also, on the subject of personal protection, bear in mind that some alcohol-based sanitisers may adversely affect aircraft finishes or interior plastics, so be careful how you use them when near to aircraft.
Business as usual at HQ
Administratively, we are still handling all correspondence, including renewal applications, via home-working; with staff picking up the post daily from the local sorting office and scanning and distributing electronically as required. We have elected not to furlough any of our staff, as the engineering team are still flat-out processing Mod and CofV enquiries and the admin team are working hard on member support, so despite moving to home-working, apart from not being able to handle telephone enquiries, it’s pretty much business as usual at LAA HQ. We’re also looking ahead to other longer-term issues and working with AOPA and the Historic Aircraft Association (HAA) to evaluate future fuel strategies, as it appears that forthcoming European legislation might restrict the supply of tetra-ethyl lead, an important constituent of our staple, 100LL, avgas. Watch out for more on this in next month’s magazine, where we’ll also be revealing the findings from our recent member survey. We’re working on the data at the moment and it’s already giving us some food for thought! Finally, thanks for your responses to Part I of the Greener Flying article in last month’s magazine. One I particularly enjoyed came from Dr. Bill Brooks, whose name also comes up in the Rotax Jodel Project News feature elsewhere in the magazine: On the subject of low carbon flying, I would encourage those who are not in a great hurry to get anywhere to try some ‘powered thermal soaring’. Just set the throttle to achieve about 200fpm sink at best glide speed and try to stay up. I can get down to 10LPH in my DR1050, which is cheap and quite green flying. You will also become better at flying efficiently close to the stall and turning, so will be much less likely to stall/spin inadvertently as you will get used to the feel of the aeroplane near the stall and what it tells you. Warm the engine now and then. The only thing I have to use full power for a while for, is to get the oil temperature above 100C before landing. Worth a try in your current post-lockdown flying? ■ May 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 63
21/05/2020 16:05
Classifieds
June HOLIDAYS
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE
France, Loire. Montrichard private airfield. Hangarage for two aircraft, four-person cottage. Package designed by flyers for flyers. £700 per week. www.lachaumine.co.uk Tel 07802 217855 or 01424-883474.
AIRCRAFT SERVICES 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
Pietenpol Aircamper. Engine A65 532 hr. Airframe 452 hr. 642 flights. Permit to 26/07/2020. Selling due to retirement. Offers in excess of £10,000. 01825 891346.
FOR ALL MEMBERS CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES CONTACT SHEILA
Deadline for booking and copy: 18 June 2020 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.
Design & Stress Analysis Service. Type submissions, modifications, and general advice. We cover structures, powerplant (IC and electric) and avionics. Ex-Chief Stressman and Part 21J Head of Design. Contact John Wighton enquires@acroflight.co.uk or call 07770399315.
Beagle Pup 121 Srs 1. G-AWYO. Insured value £15,000. Airframe 4562 Hrs. Engine RR Continental O-200A, 1891 hrs, 117 hrs since major OH. Airworthiness Cert expires 19th SEPT 2020. One owner since 5th OCT 1977. Reason for sale owner 80 yrs old. Recent OH by Wiltshire Aircraft at Popham. ICOM ICA220 8.33 KHZ radio. Funkwerk TRT800 Mode S Transponder. Covers. Offers please to Barton Wild 01962-732209. Bartonwild@gmail.com Fred 2 G-RONW complete with trailer ‘hanger’. Engine VW 1834 with 232 hours smoh. Provision for handheld radio installation. Permit run out. £3,500 ono. Contact William at malden@clara.co.uk
GROUP FLYING
SHEILA.HADDEN@LAA.UK.COM
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1/3 share for sale in a Perth based beautiful MTO3. Upgraded to 500kgs MTOW and RSll rotor head fitted by RotorSport UK. £12000 share, £88/month, £20/hr dry. Call or message Colin McLean on 07912 055739.
MISCELLANEOUS Book for sale. The Man who Created the World’s largest Aircraft Manufacturing Enterprise. Book for sale at £13 (incl P&P UK). Profits go to Air Ambulance. Cheque to D.G.Scott, 21 Ellsworth Road, High Wycombe, HP11 2TU. June 2020 | LIGHT AVIATION | 65
SERVICES & MORE
AIRCRAFT WELDING
COVERS
TRANSPORTATION
Aircraft Transportation Specialists Specialist vehicles to move your aircraft safely
INSTALLATION
Telephone: 0121 327 8000 E-mail: info@ponsonby.co.uk Web: www.ponsonby.co.uk
Lima Zulu Services Ltd.
Contact us now for a quotation
limazuluservicesltd@gmail.com / 07713 864247
Working as usual throughout with MP approval.
One out - last part of Chipmunk recover
One in - RF.5 wing for repair and recover
Thank you Aircraft Coverings Ltd, Paul Ponsonby, Ardent Paint Care Ltd and customers for enabling the work to continue without hold-ups during these strange times. Specialising in wood repairs, fabric covering and composite repairs. Also offer consultancy, inspection, weighing & documentation services
For all display and company advertising contact Neil Wilson 66 | LIGHT AVIATION | June 2020
NEIL.WILSON@LAA.UK.COM
WWW.LAA.UK.COM
