LA May 2023 issue

Aviation THE MAGAZINE OF THE LIGHT AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

LIGHT

May 2023 £4.25

ROTAX JODEL

Light Aircraft Association WWW.LAA.UK.COM

What have 10 years and more than 600 hours flying his Rotax-powered Jodel DR1050 taught Bill Brooks? Mark Hales finds out…

MEET THE NEW CEO

SIMON TILLING ON GOING FROM AIRFIX TO AIR RACE CHAMPION

BÉBÉ VS THE OUTBACK

KERRY SKYRING AND HIS JODEL D9 TAKE ON AN 800NM TRIP

Ed’s Desk Edging closer to completion…

Ed’s import RV-3B project makes its first run

Chairman ERYL SMITH CEO SIMON TILLING Chief Technical Officer JON VINER CEng MEng MRAeS Chief Inspector LUCY WOOTTON MEng(Hons) DIS DipHE MRAeS

President ROGER HOPKINSON MBE Vice President BRIAN DAVIES Engineering email engineering@laa.uk.com 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 ED HICKS Email ed.hicks@laa.uk.com

Design and Print SEAGER PUBLISHING Production Editor LIZI BROWN Art Editor LISA DAVIES Opinions expressed by the authors and correspondents are not necessarily those of the Editor or the LAA. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission.

What’s new…

E

arly morning alarms aren’t my favourite, and as I finish this editorial I’m contemplating a zero-dark-early wake up in the morning to head off and catch a flight to Zurich, ultimate destination Friedrichshafen, for the fabulous AERO show.

There will be a full report on this amazing event in the June issue of LA, and I’m pretty excited to see what new aircraft and engines the show has to offer.

Certainly we know that there will be the European debut of the 160hp Rotax 916iS, an engine that’s come a long way since the engine from which it’s been developed, the 912, first appeared on the scene back in the early 1990s.

It’s amazing to think that the 80hp engine has doubled in output, though the unit has certainly got a whole lot more complex (and expensive!) in the process. It’s certainly going to be a tremendous engine option for some of the lightweight, four-seat homebuilts.

Elsewhere, there’s also talk of a 160hp turbine from French manufacturer TurboTech This issue also sees us saying farewell to retiring LAA CEO Steve Slater – thanks Steve, and all the best for the future – and welcome to our new CEO, Simon Tilling. You can read more about Simon and his aviation experiences in a special Meet the Members feature that begins on page 47. I spent a bit of time talking with Simon in the course of putting that feature together, and certainly came away with the feeling that we have someone new in the role who is a totally enthusiastic sport pilot who wants to help shape the LAA for the future Away from making the magazine, I’ve

been pushing on with the Van’s RV-3B import project that I’m tackling with my mate Nye, which took the biggest step to being nearly complete, when we fired it up over the Easter weekend. Having arrived in the UK back in October, it’s taken a little while getting it sorted, as we decided to completely rework the panel while we’ve been doing the re-assembly.

Quite surprisingly, during the recent re-weighing in the hands of my Inspector (thanks for all your help, Toby), we’ve managed to shave 12lb from the aircraft, demonstrating just what sort of weight savings modern avionics can offer over older kit that dates back to the mid-2000s.

With just a compression check and the paperwork to complete, we’re hopefully on the home straight to getting it flying for the summer… watch this space!

ed.hicks@laa.uk.com

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 3

Contents May 2023

FEATURES 12 PROJECT NEWS

The high and lows of Michael Hunter’s Van’s RV-8 build, New Projects and Cleared to Fly

16 FLIGHT TEST

Almost a decade after this airframe and engine combo took to the sky, Mark Hales catches up with Bill Brooks on over 600 hours of Rotax-powered operation…

24 COACHING CORNER

Part one of a two-part discussion on forced landings, where Head of PCS David Cockburn, re-examines the factors for a successful outcome

26 ENGINEERING MATTERS

Bogus X’Air parts, Rolls-Royce O-240 cylinder base studs warning, and checking your control cables...

30 MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE

No-one is more familiar with the parts of his Wot biplane Francis Donaldson, but that said, he thinks it’s a good idea to put a maintenance programme together to work to each year. But how to go about it…?

16

Rotax 912-powered Jodel

36 FLYING ADVENTURE

A Jodel D9 Bébé may not be suitable to fly across a big chunk of Australia, but for Kerry Skyring, she was the ideal partner…

47 MEET THE MEMBERS

LAA’s new CEO, Simon Tilling, talks to Ed Hicks about his role – and his passion for aviation, which began with Airfix kits, bought with his ’paper round earnings…

12

47 REGULARS 03 EDITORIAL 06 NEWS 08 LETTERS 10 STRAIGHT AND LEVEL 44 STRUTS4U 52 WHERE TO GO 54 LANDING VOUCHERS 58 FROM THE ARCHIVES

36 May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 5

LA News

News

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

LAA Grass Roots Fly-In returns to Popham Aerodrome for 2023 The LAA is returning to the green grass of Popham Aerodrome in Hampshire for a repeat of its Grass Roots Fly-In from 18 to 20 August 2023. The Fly-In will again, on one hand take the Associate back to its traditional roots, while continuing to offer the first chance to see some of the latest aircraft and products in the recreational aviation market.

A joint venture with Popham Aerodrome, the LAA Grass Roots Fly-In will develop its strengths as a social event, bringing flyers from around the UK

and Europe to meet fellow enthusiasts. The grass runways at Popham and the airfield’s famed rural ambience will mean that the event will focus on the fly-in and social element as much as on a large exhibition campus. The earlier mid-August date will also mean longer evenings, allowing more scope for flyers from further afield and hopefully, milder conditions for those who choose to ‘camp under the wing’.

Simon Tilling, the new LAA CEO said “The LAA Grass Roots Fly-In was a great

Gyro fee reduction

of liability at least, the factory-build gyro fleet has no higher a risk than a 1,000kg fixed-wing, it was agreed at the last LAA Board meeting that the fees for gyro permits will revert to the same as a 1,000kg aeroplane.

Owners who have paid the £285 fee since January 2023 have been contacted

by LAA to arrange a refund of £10.

When the LAA originally took on the gyroplane fleet in 2014/2015, the fees were based on a projected higher insurance premium, based on the higher liability risks associated with the type.

As we have now been able to demonstrate to our insurers that in terms

Cubcrafters unveil Carbon Cub UL CubCrafters has introduced a new version of its best-selling Carbon Cub aircraft, based around the new 160hp Rotax 916iS. Called the Carbon Cub UL, the aircraft has been specifically developed for international markets, and is the launch aircraft for the new Rotax engine.

The aircraft is lighter and better performing than its predecessor, the Carbon Cub SS. It can also burn both mogas and avgas, meets ASTM standards, and carries two adult people, with a full fuel load and a reasonable amount of baggage, at a max take-off weight of 600kg. That’s the 6 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

same limit as Light Sport Aircraft class in the US, and the Light Sport Microlight class in the UK and Europe.

Patrick Horgan, CubCrafters President and CEO said, “We’re reimagining the Carbon Cub by incorporating the latest in pre-preg composites, more titanium components, and innovative manufacturing techniques, along with the best new engine and avionics technologies for even more performance and versatility. We believe this aircraft will make a major contribution to unlocking the enormous potential of the international marketplace.”

CubCrafters are accepting deposits for the Carbon Cub UL, but first consumer deliveries are not expected until early 2025.

success last year, with over 3,000 visitors, more than 30 exhibitors and a total of 350 visiting aircraft through the weekend. It is a different event to the past, larger scale LAA Rallies, and we’re working on plans for the continuation of a larger scale LAA event in the future. For this year, we’re looking forward to another great, social and fun, LAA fly-in.”

Farewell Steve!

Following a handover week with new CEO Simon Tilling, retiring CEO Steve Slater left HQ for the final time after steering the Association for the last seven years.

Steve was presented with a reproduction of one of his favourite paintings in the LAA collection by members of staff and the LAA Board.

I’m sure we all wish Steve all the best for his retirement, and hope he finds a bit more time to enjoy his Piper Cub and Currie Wot biplane, plus tackle a few of his projects that have been sitting on the back burner in recent years.

Henstridge 80th Anniversary Fly-in The Henstridge 80th Anniversary Fly-in (including Meet the LAA Day) on 22 April, has been postponed until later in the year due to waterlogging. Problems with waterlogging of the grass areas has made it impossible to cut or roll the grass with the heavy equipment needed without making ruts or making the area into a mud bath. A new date will be announced soon.

LA News

Lucy Wootton’s pre-flight tips video for spring New Bose A30 ANR headset

Bose Aviation has launched a new Active Noise Reduction (ANR) headset, the A30. The A30 promises a lighter weight design with a low clamping force, said to be 20% less than the A20 headset the A30 now replaces.

Bose say the ANR technology has been enhanced for increased clarity, and has three switchable levels. High mode, ideal for general aviation and piston aircraft environments, medium mode, well-suited for business jets and low mode, which Bose describe as best for commercial airliners.

The microphone boom can be swapped easily from left to right side without tools, while a thinner, more flexible down cable helps reduce overall weight.

Price is £1,219.95, and there’s no differential pricing between Bluetooth and non-Bluetooth models, so the smart choice is to opt for the Bluetooth option unit.

New Ofcom Online Aircraft Radio Licensing Platform

The new aircraft radio licensing platform has now launched, enabling self-service for new applicants and existing licensees to apply for – and manage – Wireless Telegraphy Act Aircraft licences, which are required to operate radio equipment on board an aircraft. The service will enable new licence applications to be built, variations to existing licences, surrender of licences, payment of licences and management of contact details.

To access the new system you will need to be a registered user. tinyurl.com/ofcomonlineportal

160hp Rotax 916is Perhaps the worst kept secret in the light aircraft engine world for the last couple of years, BRP-Rotax officially took the wraps off its new engine, the 160hp Rotax 916iS/c, at the Sun ‘n Fun exhibition and airshow in Florida in early April.

The 916iSc weighs at 85.8 kilograms and with a claimed max power of 160hp for five minutes and a maximum continuous power of 137hp to a service ceiling of 23,000ft, Rotax say it has an ‘unprecedented power-to-weight ratio in the light aircraft segment’. It’s also available with a 24-volt option.

The 916iSc is aimed at four-seater aircraft and for high performance two-seaters. Peter Ölsinger of BRP-Rotax said, “For us, it was crystal clear that we had to build on the success of the 915 engine. We can now seize new opportunities in the four-seat market segment with a perfectly mature product and thus continue our steady growth of recent years.”

The Rotax 916iS is already EASA certified and will be introduced to the European market at AERO Friedrichshafen, Germany from 19 to 22 April 2023.

In support of GA making a return to flying after the winter break the CAA has teamed up with the LAA’s Chief Inspector Lucy Wootton, to produce a video that gives some hints and tips on a pre-flight inspection after a winter lay-up. tinyurl.com/Lucysspringpreflight

Davidstow devastated by arson attack Nine aircraft were destroyed in an arson attack at Davidstow Airfield in Cornwall on the night of 11 April. Aircraft involved included two C42’s, an RV-6, a Thruster, two Quantums and four lightweight flexwings – an estimated loss of circa £250k. The hangar building that was attacked has also sustained significant damage to its structure from heat and smoke. It is the second time Davidstow has been targeted in as many years.

Gary Perry, who operates Davidstow Flying Club posted on Facebook, “No words can describe how I personally feel at this time, as I have not only lost my fantastic C42B, but also my operating base for my school, and my livelihood. When the police opened the doors to let me see Bravo Yankee and all the carnage caused to the other aircraft, the reality of seeing the scene in person, and the overwhelming emotion of it all, made me cry.

Thanks everyone, we really appreciate your messages of support.”

MAF Flight simulator challenge With Private Flyer Fest coming up this month at Wycombe Air Park, there are plenty of opportunities to discover all that’s new and exciting in the world of General Aviation.

New, for 2023, is the chance to land on one of the world’s remotest airstrips – courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship’s (MAF) state-of-the art flight simulator. Delivering life-saving cargo, performing medical evacuations, and providing development solutions in rural locations, MAF provides access to places unreachable by road – where hazardous terrain, weather or conflict mean communities are cut-off from basic supplies.

LAA readers may remember seeing Stu Blanchard’s beautifully restored Miles Gemini featured in January’s issue – a type that was the genesis of MAF’s operations back in 1948. Today, MAF operates in more than 25 low-income countries with a fleet of 120 Cessna aircraft – and you could take to the controls of one at PFF on 19 and 20 May. Landing MAF’s flight simulator is not merely a test of skill, but also offers any Show Pass ticket holder the chance to save a life in one of the actual locations where MAF operates.

MAF is running a competition for all who attempt the flight-sim, a great way for pilots or novices to experience the sharp end of humanitarian aviation.

For more information, visit www.maf-uk.org/pff May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 7

Letters

Letters We are always pleased to receive your letters, photos of your flying, and your feedback. Please email the editor at ed.hicks@laa.uk.com Spirit of Boxted Fly-in & BBQ

Hi Ed, I know you use the events list Dave Wise puts together on the RAeC website for the ‘Where to Go’ page in the LAA mag, but as he only updates this every couple of weeks, and I’ve only just emailed Dave the details below, he may not update the site before the next magazine deadline…

Suffolk Coastal Strut: ‘Spirit of Boxted’ Fly-in at Monewden Airfield.

Saturday, 8 July 2023: 1000-1700.

A PPR event: www.suffolkcoastalstrut.org. uk/flyin or 07990 672729 for details and PPR. Landing Fee £10 includes drinks & biscuits – additional charge for BBQ. Many thanks.

Martyn Steggalls.

Suffolk Coastal Strut.

Live propellers

Hi Ed, About your intermittent live mag switch problem. I was taught to do an occasional

Ed replies: Thanks Robin, while I always used to check both mags before shutdown, a dead cut has definitely become part of the routine for the Cub now.

Obituary John Rogerson

Coaching Corner: LA, March 2023

1948 – 2022

John Rogerson, pilot, aircraft builder and world-renowned dog trainer, passed away suddenly in late December 2022. He had just arrived in India where he was due to run an advanced dog training and behaviour course. A celebration of John’s life was held on April 5 in the Aviator Bistro at Fishburn Airfield, which was his spiritual home.

John was a member of the PFA/LAA from the early 1970s, providing quite a few articles for the magazine with snippets of his aircraft achievements. In his spare time, from dog training, he was a prolific aviation engineer. John built or refurbished six aeroplanes, often with the help of his build buddy Ron and I, including a Fisher Horizon, Isaacs Fury, Piper Vagabond, Piper Tripacer, Jurca Spitfire, and a Taylor Titch. The projects took shape in a garage-sized outhouse to which he eventually added a hangarsized shed, in which to build the Spitfire.

John tells his own Spitfire story in a video, made with his son Mark, which they submitted to the LAA 2019 lockdown video competition. tinyurl.com/ LovellsSpitfire On completion, aeroplanes were moved up to Fishburn, where John facilitated many flying opportunities for friends, including Shaun, John’s main flying mate, who often spoke about their fun flights together around the North East and down to London.

8 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

dead cut to make sure both mags were earthing. This is not an American dead cut, which is our mag check, but a full dead cut, which shows that the engine is not firing. The most important element of this is to completely close the throttle, turn off one mag, then turn off the other mag and turn it back on the moment the engine begins to die.

It is essential to do this at the lowest possible throttle setting and quickly – at higher power you might blow the exhaust off !

Best wishes, Robin Helliar-Symons.

John was a prominent Fishburn Airfield member and its representative on the North East Strut, eventually becoming strut Chairman. Contributing to Strut activities by presenting talks, hosting BBQs, workshops and meets in his hangar (even renting a cinema once to show a film of his son’s flight round America.)

He enjoyed showing his aircraft outside the Aviator Bistro at Strut gatherings and would promote the LAA, always inviting interested people to look at aircraft up close, and share photo opportunities for families with their children, always thinking every child was potentially a future pilot or engineer.

Our thoughts and feelings are with his family, and Miya, his partner, for their loss.

Roger Grimes.

Ed, In David Cockburn’s copy, he writes about a CO detector, “My own has an audio alarm and is normally kept switched on in my flight bag.”

I have an CO detector identical to that pictured and it came with very clear instructions: To be mounted above head height (since CO is lighter than air and will migrate to the top of any enclosed space).

I cannot imagine David keeps his flight bag above head height, thus negating the detector’s effectiveness.

In addition, he states it is kept inside his flight bag, which means that any CO has to penetrate through the walls of the bag, potentially delaying any warning.

Surely such elementary mistakes should not appear in Coaching Corner?

Keep it high, Dave Scott.

David Cockburn replies: Dave’s point is noted.

As a flying instructor, without an aircraft of my own, I carry my personal detector as an additional item to whatever is in the aircraft already. When I bought it (many years ago) I’m sure there was no mention of positioning in the instructions. However, perhaps that last bit is a slip of memory.

A model Minor

Stephen Slater has been a good friend for some years. Upon moving house from Aylesbury to nearby Quainton in 2005, he presented me with an R/C model as a much-appreciated housewarming present.

(At the time, I’d been restoring the full-size ‘FIR, later sold on due to lack of space,

Letters Right Luton Minor G-AFIR at a 1950s RAeS Garden Party.

ongoing building alterations, and a growing business as The Incredible Cloth Flying Machine). He’d spotted it on eBay, and I was amazed to find he’d driven from Chesham to the other side of Birmingham – and back – to get it!

The early history is unknown, but it had obviously been flown quite a lot. It was in good shape, although the balsa was dried out and there was some glue-failure, tailplane and upper wings full of holes, damaged lift-struts, and minus an engine, etc. I made the decision to restore it as a ‘static exhibit’ in my home, as and when time would allow. This timing happened to coincide with Steve’s announcement of retirement, after 15 years as CEO of the LAA. What a wonderful opportunity to re-present it to Steve as a retirement present!

The last time I did any serious modelling was back in my teens, so it was never going to be a prize-winning job – and models are harder to work on than the real thing – with a touch of arthritis setting in! So, I decided on one of those finishes you see on The Repair Shop – where it’s presentable, but retaining all those historic bumps and scratches.

Some broken ribs were repaired and several items re-glued, then tailplane and upper wing surface re-fabriced with ‘proper’ lightweight Ceconite! This enabled the wings to be finished in the silver / red scheme I’d done on the real ‘FIR prior to selling on… yet another variation of similar schemes it carried through its chequered history.

Next, a couple of new struts and fittings.

The nose bugged me. It had carried a model diesel engine, not bad, but the JAP-99 profile was really quite a feature. It had to be done, so out came the junior hacksaw and the nose was cut off and re-profiled, surplus R/C stuff

Above Steve Slater, receives a special retirement gift from Arthur (left) and Leigh. The model will remain on display in the entrance at LAA HQ. removed, and aluminium cowlings were made.

This is where a Chesham-based modelmaker friend comes in. “Leigh, can you make a JAP-99 please? Nothing too substantial, just a couple of cut-down toilet roll tubes sticking out the sides to look something like…”

Well, Leigh being Leigh, need I say more?

Plus, he added the full-span lettering, fixed the control-cables, all with a good deal more patience than I could have mustered in the time available.

Leigh takes up the story…“Taking up the reins from Arthur, using photographs as a guide to get the shape correct, I made up a new internal foam nose-section that was later clad in ‘beer can’ aluminium (as you can imagine, sourcing this material took time and effort). Then it was onto the JAP-99 engine which definitely gives G-AFIR its distinctive look. Many hours and late nights later I had managed to replicate something that resembled an aeroengine. Other details were also added such as a headrest, windshield and new control cables etc.”

“Being asked to help with this restoration project was very humbling, and it’s been a great pleasure to have been a part of this. I hope many people enjoy seeing this model for years to come.”

And Arthur adds, “Apart from the original ‘constructor’, nearly all the credit must go to Leigh, and we both rather like the result, and hope that Steve and others might like it too!”

Arthur Mason and Leigh Richardson.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 9

Straight and Level Updates from LAA HQ A new season beckons Eryl Smith Chairman

W

ell so much for spring! Recent weeks have been particularly wet, and good flying days few and far between. Many airfields have been waterlogged and early season fly-ins and events restricted or cancelled, hopefully to be rearranged later in the year. Let’s hope things improve!

As incoming CEO, Simon is now ensconced in the role, meeting with staff, establishing relationships with key stakeholders and getting to grips with the myriad of everyday issues that come across the CEO desk. I know that he has received support from many members following the announcement of his appointment, as well as many comments and views on how to improve the Association. No doubt he will receive more thoughts and suggestions as he establishes himself in the role and meets more members as he is out and about. Inevitably there will be a pause in some activities while he takes stock before bringing forward his proposals as to how the Association should move forward. These will be shared with the Board at the end of May and I look forward to reporting back with Simon in subsequent editions of Light Aviation. Please bear with him as he takes the reins!

Reaching out

Once again we will be out and about promoting the benefits of affordable flying which can be achieved through Permit to Fly ownership with LAA. In addition to supporting Struts by combining Meet the LAA with local fly-ins, we will have a significant presence at AeroExpo and Private Flyer events during the coming months.

We already have a significant number of members with feet in Permit and Certified camps, as well as numerous former Certified aircraft owners who have transitioned to operate Permit aircraft.

Our aim is to reach out to the wider GA pilot community to

Above Steve, is given a LAA lifetime membership from Eryl Smith 10 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

promote the opportunities and benefits of the LAA and these two major events provide an ideal opportunity to do this. Both organisers are keen to showcase the full range of sport and recreational flying and we have secured reduced entry fees for LAA members. So why not take the opportunity to visit one of these events.

Of course, I can’t talk about the summer flying programme without acknowledging the challenge of staging the LAA Rally.

Despite pursuing a number of opportunities, we have once again been unable to secure a suitable venue for a full-scale Rally. I know that many will be disappointed and feel that returning to Popham disadvantages members from the north of England and Scotland. This, together with the need to change the date of the Rally to fit in with Popham’s schedule of events, is not ideal, but it addresses some of the practical realities of ensuring that we can stage an event in 2023 while we continue to pursue a long-term venue solution for 2024. Working with the team at Popham we will build on last year’s successful Grass Roots Fly-in for 2023.

Final farewell

As reported in the News section, members of HQ staff and the Board gathered at Turweston on the occasion of Steve’s last Board meeting at the end of March to present him with an evocative print illustrating many of the LAA fleet types. On his last day in the office I had the pleasure of presenting Steve with a lifetime membership of the LAA in honour of his long-standing support and commitment to the Association. I know that he will continue to support the LAA in many ways in the future.

From the Board

While Simon gets his feet under the table, the usual CEO Chat column provides an opportunity to report on a couple of important issues discussed at the recent LAA Board meeting.

Many members will be aware that the rules applicable to third party passenger flying at Strut events required pilots over 70 to hold a Class 1 or Class 2 LAPL medical certificate, precluding pilots over 70 from flying passengers under a Pilot Medical Declaration (PMD). This was constraining those able to participate in such events. Current medical evidence has shown that there is no known medical evidence to have affected the safety of such pilots. Accordingly, the Board has removed this age restriction. I hope that this will encourage both pilots flying on a PMD and Struts to continue these activities which provide such a great way of introducing people of all ages to our world of flying.

Pilot Licensing and Training on Permit aircraft continues to cause concerns. The Licensing review being conducted by CAA grinds on slowly, with the CAA recently reporting on the conclusion of its consultation phase. Meaningful discussions on the consultation recommendations have yet to commence. Elsewhere members have reported concerns at apparent changes by CAA to the use of PtF aircraft under CAA ORS4 No 1510, which enables the use of such aircraft by an owner, spouse or relative for pilot training. This has the potential to significantly restrict the use of PfT aircraft in this way. We have sought clarification and challenged the CAA on this interpretation and change, and will continue to work closely with members who are potentially affected. Safe Flying! ■

Inspiring members to take on their own aircraft build or restoration project Compiled by Mike Slaughter

Project News I was just looking down the New Projects list at the end of this column and thinking it’s good to see scratch built aircraft still being started, with an Isaacs Fury, as probably the first plans built project start for around six months. It’s a constructional route that requires excellent craft skills and patience, but that’s true of all our projects, I guess.

For some time to come we’ll be hearing how the pandemic affected builders’ projects, either giving them a boost or a roadblock, some both. And so it was / is with Michael Hunter’s lovely looking Van’s Aircraft RV-8, both a hold-up and a source of focus. Michael’s project report is written from a slightly different angle, but is an interesting story of building in a fairly short time while juggling a busy work life,

finishing a house build, bringing up a young family, oh, and that pandemic.

Finally, all hail the arrival of ‘The Flying Season’. The sun’s now up before most of us are awake and setting after many airfields’ evening curfew time. Time to fly more than build, but just in case it’s not flyable and you’ve used all your building tokens issued by the management, why not take a few moments to get in touch with Project News and update your fellow members with a build report. It’s very easy and, don’t worry, your pride and joy doesn’t need to be finished, do get in touch, it doesn’t have to be onerous or hard work.

To tell your story, report a milestone or just to send a picture, email projectnews@laa.uk.com.

G-RVBH (LAA 303-15403) Van’s RV-8

By Michael Hunter

T

he aircraft has only a total of six hours of flying, out of which five were dedicated to engine break-in, while the remaining one hour was for testing.

Although I had the opportunity to carry out some of the test flying while being in the back, the LAA did not allow me to test her due to its requirement of having at least 10 logged hours in RVs. This was despite the fact that I have accumulated more than 14,000 hours of flight time in other aircraft. Looking back, I regret not logging every aircraft I have flown to avoid such situations in the future.

Mark Southern, the test pilot, is busy with the rest of

12 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Above Mark Southern setting off for a test flight.

the Raven Aerobatic Team aircraft. I am waiting for him to sort out his own aircraft before he can get back to mine.

So far, she goes like a rocket. The engine seems stable, the stall is benign and the Angle of Attack system has been set up. I did enjoy sitting in the back with a sponge doing zero G manoeuvres to calibrate it. Luckily, I recently did an aerobatic practice in my hangar buddy’s Extra 330, just to get back into spinning and flicking, in case anything went wrong.

A bit about our family… My wife Joanne and I are both pilots. I’m a Captain on the Airbus A320 at easyJet and my

Joanne and the Starduster Too.

wife is a Senior First Officer on Boeing 777 at British Airways. We met when we were both First Officers at bmi.

She was on the Fokker 100 and I was on the Boeing 737.

Joanne had done a trial lesson at Welshpool and had been hooked, applied to the British Midland Cadet Scheme, and had been sponsored through Oxford Air Training School. She flew the F100 and the A320 for Midland. She left Midland to go to BA where she flew the A320, A318 LCY-JFK and now the B777. Jo likes touring, hence the IFR fit in the RV-8.

I had a different route. I had been born into aviation and first flew when I was still a baby. My dad had been in the RAF and was doing air taxi work and was a member of the Glasgow Flying Club, a very busy place in its heyday. We moved to Libya, where I went to school. He moved around the world flying Gulfstreams for governments and VVIPs, and this ignited my interest.

Since then I have always wanted to fly. I flew Air Experience Flight Chipmunks at the school CCF in Glasgow and the Bulldog at Glasgow University. Before I joined the University Air Squadron my dad got one of his best mates, Jim McTaggart, to teach me to fly. My dad bought me a share in Jim’s L4 Cub at Cumbernauld under the PFA. Jim made sure that I did STOL flying in the Cub and plenty of aerobatics and spinning in his STOLP Starduster Too. I wasn’t able to log the Duster instruction, but my dad felt it was vital that I undertook this training.

Upset Recovery Training is a must for any pilot. During my time at university, Jim decided to rebuild the Starduster.

My LAA builder apprenticeship was to begin. I went to Oxford where I was taken on by BMI, I flew the B737, F100 and A320. I left and joined easyJet at Gatwick, before transferring to Manchester and moving the family to Shropshire, which is where Joanne is from.

Just before we had had our son, Alex, and while living in London as we were finishing building our house near her parent’s in Oswestry, Shropshire, Joanne was flying with RV-8tor Andy Hill on the Airbus for BA. She told

Above Making a sledge.

Michael’s first aircraft share.

Above Still hard to believe it started out as a box of parts in 2016.

Above Slowly making shapes.

Above We put in the order for the empennage and tools. And got on with it!

Above The wing and fuselage Quick Build boxes arrive in front of the garage workshop.

Above left, and right Engine parts ready to be assembled by the late Neil Andrews, and complete. It is a Superior IO-360 B1HD2 with twin P-mags.

Above left, and right Getting on with it during lockdown.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 13

Project News Left Paul Winters (left), a most welcome second pair of hands and RV builder brain.

Andy about my desire to buy a Bulldog, he said I should build an RV-8. Having never heard of the aircraft Joanne phoned me and asked about it. Shortly after and having got back into London late one night, I received a call from Andy at 0630 the following morning telling me how I was going to build it. That was it, we were starting the build!

After joining the Shropshire Aero Club in Sleap, I met some great people, including my buddies Andy and Pete, who were known as the Old Buckers, as well as Bob Pooler and Glenn James. It was through them that I was introduced to our Inspector, Nigel Jones. Nigel proved to be a patient and helpful resource for me whenever I got stuck during the building process. I would highly recommend him to anyone who is looking to undertake a building project.

Around the time that I began the building process, Joanne was pregnant with our daughter, Catherine, and I Charlie Brown’s new tractor takes her to the airfield.

14 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Top left The prop is on… is any workshop ever big enough?

Top right Alex and Catherine testing the seats.

Above left Off down the lanes to the spray painter.

Above right Switched on and all working.

had managed to break my foot due to an unfortunate encounter with one of Alex’s toy aeroplanes. After being grounded for six weeks, I was eager to make progress on the build, so I started constructing the tail.

We were soon in a position to buy the fuselage and wings. But then Brexit happened. It was a disaster for the build, the pound plummeted against the dollar and my shares in easyJet halved. It set us back a year. I was gutted. After saving again, we ordered the two Quick Build giant boxes, which contained the wings and fuselage.

Thankfully, we live in a farming community and everyone around us has a forklift. We borrowed one to get the boxes off the truck. I got stuck into the wings and altered the left fuel tank to be an aerobatic tank.

We ordered the engine and had it built by Neil Andrews. It is a Superior IO-360 B1HD2 with twin P-mags. Sourcing the solid Aerobatic Crank was troublesome as there had been a coating failure and good crankshafts were rare. It cost us extra to get it.

Unfortunately, soon after the engine was picked up, Neil succumbed to cancer. He never got to see the engine running.

In July 2018, we went to Oshkosh, where we spoke to many vendors, put a rivet in the RV-12 One Week Wonder and spoke to Van himself about the direction of the build. I went to the Dynon/AFS briefings, spoke to Hartzell, Superior and lots of DARs. We soon knew what we wanted. It was to be a touring, aerobatic platform that could be thrown upside down when I need an evening’s aerobatic fix.

On returning home I started talking to Paul Winters on the forums. He had just sold his RV-8 following a health issue, had recovered and was willing to lend time to help me. An RV-8 can mostly be done on your own, but a second pair of hands is always welcome, as is a second brain to think things over. We had just got started when covid hit.

I used the lockdown to get stuck into the fibreglassing and cutting the canopy. I do not want to ever do that job again, it was several months of torture, lots of advice came down the phone from Paul and Andy H. Joanne and the kids helped me put the wings on and drill the spar, that day cost me a lot of ice cream and chocolate. My son Alex was not impressed at being stuck in the aircraft while his mum and I manoeuvred the wings into position and then got him to fit the drift pins.

After lockdown ended, Paul came over to help hang the engine, and help make the cowls and baffles. His main hobby is electrics and avionics, and the deliveries from Advanced Flight Systems made his day, it’s the bit he loves, we hooked it all up and it worked. Paul had plenty of advice on where to put the instruments and switches in the cockpit during the design with AFS. This setup is to allow the pilot to be able to still fly using the right hand on the stick, be it during formation or flying a GNSS/ ILS to minima.

Following the avionics it was a general tidy up, windshield installation and the final profile of that was sorted by Andy Cumming. I had bonded it on, but his skills with fibreglass were required to make it look good. You just need to look at his Jungmeister to see how good an engineer he is.

Project News Left Tucked up at Sleap with her new hangar buddies.

We then towed the aircraft down our lane to a neighbouring farm with a spray booth. Rob Evans, a local aviation artist and ex-sprayer from the RAF, painted her.

The design was done by a young car designer in Italy.

We didn’t want to use the usual aircraft designers and he had just designed my friend Alex’s striking Pitts Super Stinker scheme (G-EWOK, that is one serious aeroplane). My kids wanted orange – there was no way I was flying an orange aeroplane on my days off – and the Williams F1 colours were chosen. The final polishing was done at home.

I ordered the Composite Hartzell Prop from Van’s on Andy Hill’s recommendation. He had it in G-HILZ and was very satisfied with it. Joanne held it up while I put the bolts in. It’s very light for a CS prop and gives good short field performance. The -8 is sensitive to CofG positioning and, with the advice of our test pilot and Raven 5, Mark Southern, a lightweight flywheel was fitted. We wanted

Above Michael can't wait to start flying 'BH.

the weight off the nose. My friend Charlie Brown moved her out to Sleap on his new tractor trailer, it was a nerve wracking 30 minutes seeing her going down the narrow lanes. She moved into Glenn James’ hangar with her new hangar buddies, Glenn’s Anson, T-28 and Yak11. After final construction aided by the Bucker Jungmann pilots, Nigel weighed her and did the final paperwork. I drove the paperwork to the LAA on a snowy day in November 2022.

On the day of the first flight having had the paperwork back from Jon Viner, the brand new starter failed. Luckily, Mark had a spare, as you do. Minor surgery was performed, my stress levels were reduced and Nigel took her into the air. She went like a rocket. I was elated to see her fly, it was quite overwhelming. I was even more delighted to see Nigel come back safely. It was then I realised I was definitely not the person to do the first flight. I was too emotionally attached to the six year project.

Now we are testing her…

I owe thanks to my very patient wife Joanne. She kept the house together, did the saving up, and let me disappear into the garage every night for two hours to build, once the kids were asleep. Nigel Jones, Paul Winters, Andy Hill, Pete Gaskell, Andy Cumming and Mark Southern for build advice, Glenn James, Rob Evans, the UK Van’s group and Van’s Aircraft themselves. Nigel and Mark for testing it – and the LAA for allowing it. ■

Nigel Jones taxis out for some early engine tests.

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

n Isaacs Fury II (LAA 011-15862) 24/3/2023 Name & Address held by LAA Engineering n Van’s RV-7A (LAA 323-15863) 27/3/2023 Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

n Sling 4 TSi (LAA 400A-15864) 27/3/2023 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 like to hear from you at: projectnews@laa.uk.com

n G-KEVJ Sling 4 TSi (LAA 400A-15753) 1/3/2023 Kevin Jobling, High Barns, Bellerby, Leyburn, DL8 5AF n G-NGLL Bristell NG5 Speed Wing (LAA 385-15835) 17/3/2023

Tony Palmer & Faray Sayyah, Palmers Farm, Lower Dicker, Hailsham, BN27 4AT n G-RDAR Van’s RV-7 (LAA 323-15270) 6/3/2023 Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 15

Flight Test

Rotax Jodel

16 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Flight Test

T Nearly 10 years after this airframe and engine combo took to the sky, Mark Hales catches up with Bill Brooks on over 600 hours of his Rotaxpowered Jodel DR1050…

Photos Ed Hicks

here are a lot of Jodels on the UK register. Not counting the baby ones (Bebe/D9/18/20 and derivatives), a random tot up says there about 350 of the ‘traditional’ D112/117/120 and 1050/51 models wearing a ‘G’ reg, and about 50 of the sportier two-seat Mascarets. Many of them will have been built in French factories during the ‘Golden Years’ (Avions Wassmer in Issoire, Centre Est Aeronautique in Dijon, Societe des Avions du Nord in Bernay) and because Robin Aircraft in its various guises (still based at Dijon-Darois in Burgundy, having grown out of CEA) hung on to the Type Responsibility long after factories stopped making Jodels, many of the factory-built ones remained subject to a full CofA, irrespective of age.

Robin eventually gave up the responsibility around 2007 (it kept the type responsibility for the Robin Robins), which gave the D117, D120, DR100, 1050, 1050 M1, 1051, 1051M1, (and the larger D140) Jodels, the orphan status, which they should have enjoyed for ages. In the UK, it made them eligible for an LAA Permit, but amazing to relate, this relatively recent rush of official common sense still hasn’t dawned in the country of their origin (doesn’t look like it will either…) where the factory-built aeroplanes are still certified, just like a Cirrus. Which means every part has to come bearing an EASA Form 1 before it can be legally fitted. Quite how you manage that when your aeroplane is powered by a Potez – which a fair few in France still are – I have no idea.

Range of engines

Mention of Potez, brings me nicely to the question of Jodel engines. The Potez was a brave, government-sponsored attempt to take on the Americans, but Moteurs Henri Potez only made about 150 of them before deciding to concentrate on airline production. I’ve sat behind one for a good many hours and they work just fine, so it does seem a pity they were never developed, but almost all Jodels on the G-reg are powered by the factories’ other option which was an American four-cylinder Continental A65/ C90/O-200. Just for the record, on the G-reg, there are seven Jodels which are still Potez 4E-20A-powered and five which have been retrofitted with Lycoming O-235s (none of the French manufacturers offered a Lycoming for May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 17

Flight Test

Above Bill’s Jodel.

His narrower, sleeker Eurostar-derived cowlings accommodate the smaller dimensions of a Rotax and certainly add a stylistic flourish, as does the lack of paint on the glazing.

Fortunately, there is a set of curtains…

the smaller models). There are (I think) five more UK retrofits. Two feature diesel power – one Wilksch WAM 120 and one Hales Aerodiesel TD110 (that’s mine…) – and three Rotaxes; two 912ULS 100hp and one 115hp 914 turbo.

Having expended a considerable amount of time, effort and money on a Kerosene-capable substitute for the Potez, which SAN fitted to my 1051 in 1965, I can see there are plenty of reasons for sticking with the original, especially if it’s a Continental. They carry on running even when their internal state suggests they shouldn’t, and if the bits to rectify that are ruinously expensive, for the O-200 at least, they are available because they are still in production. Yes, you can even buy a new one. Just the 50k should do it, and no, I’m not making that up… That’s not true for the older C90 and A65s though, for which, parts are becoming harder to find. All that said, and since in theory we’re allowed to, I’m still surprised that more people haven’t gone the Rotax route. Especially because a particularly ludicrous piece of legislation mandates the removal (or overhaul) of a perfectly serviceable 912 from any certified aircraft after 15 years, irrespective of hours run. Most people occupying that particular rabbit hole just buy a new one because they cost much the same as an

“Bill Brooks is a prolific professional

aeronautical engineer, designer of the PM Quik, plus the Quantum and Quasar flexwings” 18 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

overhaul and the old one can be sold to continue carrying passengers in a Permit aircraft. I said it was ludicrous.

Bill Brooks was the first Jodel owner to fit a Rotax 912, and I flew his 1050 just after he finished it in 2014. In the intervening years he’s flown it for about 600 hours with almost no problems. This then, is the second chapter of one man and his Jodel…

But, before that, a bit of a recap of ‘chapter one’… Bill Brooks is a prolific professional aeronautical engineer, designer of the P&M Quik, Quantum and Quasar flexwings, and he was involved with the certification of the all-composite Flight Design CT, and much else. I had asked him about his choice of a wood and fabric aeroplane, which first flew in the 1950s and seemed a concept far removed from a composite tadpole. His explanation was simple; being the designer of composite stuff didn’t mean he could afford one, and besides, the Jodel 1050’s design was, and still is, ‘depressingly good…’

Weight aft

Bill purchased a 1050 which had suffered a ground loop and a damaged wing, and set about repairing and overhauling everything, with a particular eye to weight aft of the datum, which he expected to be an issue once the 240lb of Continental came out, and the 123lb of Rotax went in. The latter came from a crashed CT which came up for £6,000, also providing the engine’s forward mount – many Rotax mounts have an engine part, and an airframe part, which makes it easier to suit numerous types, and in this case, it allowed for the inclusion of a set of Lord vibration isolating mounts, which Bill describes as ‘very good’. The CT also yielded an exhaust system, silencer and all the other engine ancillaries, and a set of instruments which included an MGL Stratomaster Voyager

Flight Test

glass panel. The remaining parts were then sold to subsidise the project.

Bill’s motivation was to be flying as soon as possible and he said at the time that he didn’t want to do anything which would hold up the project – like the temptation to design a new wing rather than repair the existing one, just because he could – but also because there was no real need. The one Jean Delemontez designed in 1948, Bill reckons, is still difficult to improve. “The NACA 2012 section that he utilised features a tight leading edge radius,” Bill explains “so it should give a sharp break at the stall, but the designer added so much washout at the (traditionally cranked) tips, that these don’t stall at the same time, and there’s still good aileron control…”

From personal experience, a Jodel can still drop a wing pretty sharply at the stall, so I’d hate to think what it would be like without the washout. On the question of weight and its distribution, Bill had replaced the rear portion of the canopy with 2mm Lexan (thinner and lighter than Perspex), removed all the trim and carpets, and chucked out anything else which wasn’t essential, like the two kilos of Dunlopillo rear seat. He did add some curtains though.

Also from experience, I know the Jodel’s extensive glazing which offers such a good view, can come with added sunburn…

Rubber biscuits

When I flew the aeroplane, Bill was still looking for a tailwheel that weighed less than the original Maule-derived item but he’d overhauled the Jodel’s main undercarriage, a job which is relatively simple but tends to be neglected, and involves replacement of the column of rubber biscuits in each leg. These grow hard over the years, and the extra spring, which provides a much nicer ride, also raises the

nose and creates more room for the 72in Warp Drive three-bladed composite ground-adjustable propeller.

The bit forward of the firewall was also relatively straightforward, according to Bill. He designed (and stressed) the aft portion of the engine mount, and installed the rest much as it came from the CT, which included carburettors, radiator and exhaust, catch tanks, swirl pots

Above Jodel interior minus carpet, and trim reduced to save weight. MGL Stratomaster display is from the crashed Flight Design CT which provided the engine.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 19

Flight Test

Above Rotax 912 engine looks as if it’s meant to be there.

This one came as a package, complete with all the ancillaries. Note the Brooks designed two-part engine mount, with the Lord shock absorbers in between to keep everything very smooth.

and all the rest. There are no baffles (which are always a pain with aircooled engines) and a closer look at the layout highlights the potential bonuses of buying a crashed aeroplane, especially in terms of hardware and widgets, of which there are many. The finishing touch which really sets off the aeroplane though, is a set of modified Eurostar cowls, which having been designed for a Rotax, neatly accommodate the radiator intake and propeller thrust line. No doubting that the longer, sleeker cowling is a stylistic bonus of the engine’s smaller exterior dimensions Bill made a set of moulds, and mouldings from these appear on the nose of two more 1050Ms; G-CJNL which is Mike Dolphin’s lovely scratch-built 1050M, and G-BEYZ which is William Bliss’ 914 turbo-powered aircraft.

Both also feature Bill’s engine mounts.

That was nearly 10 years ago, so what of the

“The decision to have the Jodel

approved for IFR flight, although rather simple technically, turned out to be vastly more onerous…”

20 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

aforementioned intervening? Bill takes up the story. “I flew it for a while, but then my daughter grew and the dog got fat…” which meant that in order to accommodate them, or simply to carry more weight in the rear, Bill had to look again at the rearward CofG issue with which he’d started.

Following much research, he’d settled on a Matco tailwheel – ‘the lightest I could find…’ – to replace the Maule, and he’d already used the lightest glazing for the aft canopy and stripped out the interior, so there was no alternative but to add some weight to the nose. Bill settled on a simple ring of steel bolted on the front of the propeller, inside the spinner, which added four kilos.

“I couldn’t think of anywhere further forward, and technically it’s only the same as adding a Constant Speed Propeller, but because it’s a similar size to the flange, it adds very little to the Rotational Inertia.” This has allowed him to carry another 15kg on the rear seat.

“In retrospect,” Bill adds, “I should have made the engine mount a bit longer, maybe 30mm.” The Rotax mount already puts the propeller 200mm ahead of the Continental’s, but he says doing it after the event ‘wasn’t worth the trouble and expense’.

Rather simpler technically, but turning out to be vastly more onerous, was Bill’s decision to have the Jodel approved for IFR flight. Before that, he thought he’d just revalidate his IMC rating which had lapsed during covid.

Flight Test

His examiner (Bob Cole) had since retired and finding someone – in Bill’s words – as ‘flexible and pragmatic’, proved difficult. Bill wanted to use GPS rather than VOR-based approaches because his aeroplane didn’t have a VOR, but his new instructor said he’d have to programme in all the ones they were going to use, and then decided they weren’t approved, or ‘not official’, and they would have to use an NDB as a locator, but then the CAA came back to say you can’t use a substitute on an inbound approach… And so on.

Heated pitot

Bill fitted a handheld VOR, and they got it done, eventually. He also decided that a heated pitot would be a good idea, especially as they’re on the shelf. Not so the fittings… The holes for the pipes that service the original pitot had to be opened out to about half an inch, but Bill didn’t want to uncover the wing so he used a flexi throttle cable as a guide, attached it to an electric drill and drew the cutter through the existing holes in the wing ribs.

Clever eh? The approval for the pitot took just a couple of months, after which it transpired that because his Jodel has a vacuum driven turn and slip, fed by a venturi, the aircraft was restricted to flight above five degrees C… ‘Bit of a googly’, which the LAA threw at him after the event, says Bill. The actual IFR approval of the aircraft, which began in 2017, then took five years. Bill had to create an electrical load analysis, failure analyses, create fault codes, create the PoH supplement, write a special inspection report, argue the case for retaining the standard 18 amp Rotax generator, and so on. Then there was covid, which delayed the flight testing by the IFR assessor pilot.

“It all just seemed to drag on and on. It actually took longer to get IFR approval than it did to build the aeroplane,” says Bill, “but at least I was able to keep flying it in the meantime.” Even more annoying, he now finds that he can’t renew his IMC, which has lapsed again thanks to covid, in his IFR-approved Jodel.

First flight with the Rotax engine was in October 2013, and I flew the aircraft after meeting him at Nympsfield in 2014 in the trusty Continental-powered 1050, in which I had flown many hundreds of hours, and which offered the perfect opportunity for comparison.

Bill’s aeroplane looked sleeker, thanks to the longer cowls, and sat higher on its overhauled undercarriage, taxied better over the tussocks for the same reason, and went better in the air thanks to its lighter weight (just 390kg empty), even if it didn’t really cruise any faster. It was livelier on the controls too, which at first I found perplexing, but for reasons which are now obvious. It was lighter overall certainly, which always helps, but the main thing was a CofG which was a long way further aft than mine, plus there was less mass on the nose. Bill adds that the excellent performance, for which all Jodels are renowned, is mainly down to light weight from clever construction, and the use of a significantly lighter engine has only complemented this. “My aeroplane weighs about

Above The man and his machine. Aircraft designer Bill Brooks and a vintage design which he describes as ‘depressingly good’.

Left Left-hand throttle, connected to the right by a torque tube. The action is up and down rather than in/out, or forward/ back..

Below It’s not a Eurostar, it’s just the cowls… Propeller is a 72in Warp Drive, which is a good six inches larger in diameter than the typical Evra on a Continental O-200.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 21

Flight Test

Above Nose to nose with the original. The Rotax-powered model stands taller thanks to an overhauled undercarriage.

Picture courtesy Bill Brooks

Below Bill made his own spat moulds – a total of six individual mould parts, and then making a set out of carbon/aramid hybrid. The spats really set it off and are worth 5kt at the same fuel flow.

the same empty as a microlight does at gross.” Put like that, it makes perfect sense.

Bill says he normally flies at about 90kt – which seems to be ‘the sweet spot’, using about 16 litres per hour. In the 600 hours he’s flown the aeroplane and engine combination, he says it translates to a saving of about four litres per hour, or £5,000 worth of avgas/£3,800 mogas, over a Continental.

I never managed 20 litres an hour in my Conti-powered model, more like 23, so Bill’s figures are probably conservative, or maybe it’s the extra weight, or possibly because I preferred cruising closer to 100 than 90…

The Rotax meanwhile, is ‘very quiet and smooth’, and quieter in the cockpit and on the ground (O-200-powered Jodels are typically not fitted with silencers), and Bill adds

22 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

that it makes him feel better to know he’s ‘puffing out less Co2…’

No great problems…

The 600 hours included trips to Eggersdorf near Berlin, the west coast of Ireland, ‘when I coasted-in at Waterford the clouds parted to reveal wall to wall sunshine…’ and several trips to Alderney and Guernsey.

Bill says he’s just as happy flying the aeroplane over water as anywhere else, and why not? I’ve always felt much the same, but in general his 600 hours have been trouble free which always adds to the confidence when there’s only sea on the horizon. “I’ve had no great problems,” adds Bill, once he’d sorted out the inevitable installation bugs. “There was a whistling noise,” he says,

Flight Test

which defied all attempts to identify and which only happened at idle. Initially, he suspected something in the gearbox, but it turned out to be the venturi for the turn and slip… And there was the buzzing noise which proved similarly difficult to track down, but turned out to be the wing root fairings, rectified by a dose of silicone. He’s suffered cracked exhausts, which apparently most Rotax owners have – “the answer is probably a CKT system” – but none of the ‘traditional’ cracked mounting rings.

The engine dates from 2003, which makes it a fairly early model, and it’s running on condition, but apparently none the worse for it. “Earlier 912 crankcases apparently suffered from fretting which led to the inevitable oil leak”, says Bill, “so I bolted a 10mm plate to the top, which stopped the leak but apart from the recommended gearbox overhaul at 1,000 hours, there’s been nothing with the engine installation… I’ve had a lovely time with it.”

The MGL data box went down, but that was because the circuitry on the back had made contact with the metal-clad firewall to which it was bolted and that had fused a circuit board on the main display. Bill identified the offending CB and replaced it, where most of us would have sent the unit back to the manufacturer. It’s an impressive record then, but with the benefit of 600 hours flying experience, what would he do differently for the Mk2, other than make the engine mount and cowls 30mm longer?

“I’d make the instrument panel easier to remove.

Currently it’s a pain, mainly because of the throttle cable system which has a separate cable to each carburettor with a torque tube connecting them. I thought that was a good idea at the time… And I’d opt for a tapered blade on the Warp Drive propeller. It wasn’t available then, but it’s supposed to be better in the cruise. Other than that, nothing really.”

The more you speak to Bill, the more you wonder why more people haven’t followed suit. The cynic in me says that Brooks’ pedigree meant he was better able to navigate the complex road of modification approval because he is at least as well qualified as those providing the approval, and with the considerable benefit of much greater hands-on experience.

And at the risk of sounding like his advertising rep,

since he’s happy to sell mounts and cowls, there’s even more reason. He’s done all the research and development, so you don’t have to… ■

Above Spot the difference… Bill’s 1050 in the background with Mike Dolphin’s beautiful scratchbuilt 1050-M, closer to the lens. The ‘M’ model was a CEA-only precursor to the Robin series, and has an all flying stabilator and swept fin. Both feature Rotax power, thanks to Bill’s Rotax installation kit and cowlings.

Left Single piece rudder with no fixed fin on this DR1050.

ROTAX JODEL DR1050 SPECIFICATIONS General characteristics

Performance

Length 6.48m Wingspan 8.75m Wing Area 13.6 sq m Empty Weight 390kg (standard DR1050s are around 420) MTOW 730kg Load limits +4.1 -1.7

Vne 142kt Cruise Speed 70-110kt, best range at 90kt /16lph Stall Speed 47kt Rate of climb 1600fpm at max weight Range 620nm Engine Rotax 912ULS 100hp Propeller Warp drive three-blade fixed-pitch 72in 14° at tips Max rpm static 4,700 rising to 5,600 at 110kt.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 23

Coaching Corner

Coaching Forced Corner… landings In the first of a two-part discussion on forced landings, Head of PCS David Cockburn re-examines the factors for a successful outcome…

A

n engine failure is probably the most obvious threat to the pilot of a flying machine.

Whatever the cause of an engine problem, and however much power may remain, the pilot’s priority should be to fly the aircraft at the speed which is going to give the maximum performance for whatever power remains – and unless trying to make headway into a strong wind that should be the speed which the manufacturer recommends for gliding. At the same time, with a carburetted engine, we should select full carburettor heat to counter the most likely cause of power loss. Accurate trimming and a relaxed grip on the controls will assist in maintaining control.

Once the speed is set, we need to think about where we might have to land. Which way is the wind blowing? It is important to land into wind, or as close to that as possible, to reduce the risk of damage on landing or on the subsequent ground roll.

And we should always be aware of the wind direction, unless it is forecast light and variable when we have to rely on local indications such as smoke. I usually mark the gradient wind on my navigation chart with a triple arrow.

Instruments can help. GNSS displays should be able to tell us what the wind direction is, but not every device has it displayed graphically, so there is always the risk we shall misread it in the heat of the moment.

Any other navigation instruments we carry might also assist. I try to set my landing direction on the HSI if it is not needed for another purpose.

If the power available allows us to climb, unless we are just below cloudbase, that is what we should do to gain as much energy as possible before the failure becomes complete. If there is some power remaining, but not enough to maintain level flight at glide speed, we are committed to an early forced landing.

Accident reports suggest that positioning ourselves for a safe landing is a higher priority than attempting to regain

24 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Above Smoke provides a good wind indication.

engine power, which we can do once the aircraft is safely gliding towards a safe landing area.

Unless we can easily reach a runway without manoeuvring violently, we shall be landing in a field which has not been prepared for aircraft to land on. We need to position the aircraft in such a way that we can make our forced landing more or less into wind and stop, or at least slow down, before we hit any obstruction on the ground.

The height at which the problem occurred, and the amount of power remaining, if any, will determine how much gliding distance we can achieve, and therefore where our forced landing pattern will start.

If the engine fails immediately after take-off our choice of fields will be very limited, but we can use any power remaining to increase that choice. However, I wouldn’t try turning out of the wind unless we have enough height to get all the way back into wind if the engine fails completely. If we briefed ourselves on how we proposed to manage that particular threat before we started the take-off roll, it would considerably increase our chances of successfully coping with it.

Follow the ‘S’ checklist…

Below Fields surroundings may not be evident till late on the approach.

If time permits, and there are several possible fields within gliding distance, some instructors recommend a series of checks, all beginning with ‘S’, to follow that initial, and vital, identification of the wind direction. There are: Size (relative to the wind), Slope (not obviously down or across), Surrounds (especially the approach – power lines or trees reduce the available field length, often run along hedges and are difficult to spot), Surface (no changes in colour or texture which might indicate fences) and Stock (animals in one area may also indicate fences).

Notice that under ‘Surface’ I did not suggest a particular colour of field. Green fields may be long crops, which may catch the undercarriage, or grass which may

Coaching Corner

be very rough. Dark brown fields are likely to be harrowed and smooth, but the wheels may sink into soft earth, or ploughed furrows may damage the undercarriage unless we land along them. A light brown colour tends to indicate ripe and therefore high crop, but during harvest a cut field will also be light brown, although it may also contain bales.

However, aeroplane pilots cannot afford to be too choosy – unless our checks identify a positive danger to landing in a particular field, the longest available landing run into wind is almost certainly our best bet.

Making such checks on a field requires us to be close enough to inspect it. Although there is no hard and fast ideal forced landing pattern. I suggest that if height permits we try to fly around the field, and if that is not possible it is a good idea to fly a downwind leg before turning onto our final approach, if we possibly can. That also simplifies our judgement during the approach.

If we fly a pattern at glide speed around the chosen field (see picture), it provides an opportunity to spot obstructions and simplify judgement during the descent to land. Aim for a point about a third of the way into the field to allow for errors and use of full flap on final approach.

However, height is often insufficient to follow the ideal pattern completely. In that case try to follow as much of the pattern as possible, or manoeuvre in the area of the start of a glide circuit base leg until you judge that the height is correct for the final approach.

While setting up the glide and looking for our landing area we should prepare the passengers for a possible emergency landing, reassuring them that we practise the procedure frequently (we do, don’t we?). Ensure doors are unlocked, seat belts are tight, and remind them of the brace position if their seats are not fitted with upper body restraint. A call of ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Callsign, engine failure stand by’ will alert the air traffic service unit on the selected frequency, and hopefully stop extraneous

Above A forced landing pattern like the one shown provides an opportunity to spot obstructions and simplify judgement during the descent.

noise, while we sort out our priorities. However, controllers with flying experience may pass us the surface wind at their airfield to assist in field selection. Selecting 7700 (with ALT) on our transponder should provide any radar unit, and the Distress and Diversion (D&D) Cell, with our position.

Once heading towards our chosen landing field we can try to regain power. If the carburettor heat has not improved matters after about 30 seconds, statistics tell us it is likely to be a fuel problem. If the aircraft has more than one tank we could change tanks. We could also switch on a booster pump if we have one, but we should also check all fuel cocks in case clothing or another object has caught on one and selected it off. The other likely cause of power loss is the ignition system. Magnetos have been known to slip, and I can assure you if two are firing out of synchronisation this can produce very disconcerting rough running and power loss. Switching them off in turn and running on the one which produces the smoothest operation ought to regain a considerable amount of the lost power. However, no attempt to regain power should be allowed to interfere with making a safe approach to the chosen field.

Making a safe landing

Left The brace position could be useful if passengers only have a lap belt.

If we are unsuccessful in our attempts to regain power we can continue our distress call with more details. If we were on an ATC frequency we should transmit on that, but otherwise consider changing to 121.5 MHz and call D&D. There is an ideal distress call published in CAP 413, but we shall be under considerable stress, and really all that is needed is probably our rough position and intentions, although if we still have some power remaining D&D may be able to guide us towards a nearby airfield. Again we must not be distracted from the priority task of making as safe an approach and landing as we can.

Any remaining power may make it difficult to judge our approach slope, so we should consider closing the throttle (at least) when we are sure of reaching our field in a glide.

Once on the final approach, we should not steepen the approach until the aircraft is guaranteed to cross the boundary. It is less dangerous to hit the far hedge at 20kt than the boundary at 45!

Before landing, switch off the fuel, ignition and battery if possible, even if the engine is still producing a small amount of power. Aim to land as nearly into wind as practicable and touch down at normal landing speeds, this will minimise the energy to be absorbed if the aircraft contacts an obstacle on the ground.

After the aircraft has come to a stop, passengers should leave asap, while the pilot makes the aircraft as safe as possible by switching off the fuel, ignition, and battery if not already done. Having avoided the propeller area (there’s still a possible hazard), the occupants should go to a safe area upwind of the crash. Although we could consider collecting and using the aircraft fire extinguisher, it is important to ensure people are safe.

In the second part of this article we will introduce the detailed forced landing pattern which the RAF’s Central Flying School has been teaching for many years, and discuss some other aspects of making a forced landing. ■ May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 25

Engineering Matters

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

Engineering Matters Including: Bogus X’Air parts, Rolls-Royce O-240 cylinder base studs warning, and check your cables...

W

elcome to Engineering Matters – the section of Light Aviation that is dedicated to discussing all manner of topics concerning both technical and operational aspects of the LAA fleet. We all learn by sharing information, so if you have anything to

Above and right The wheel, as found with the crack, highlighted.

say that you think would benefit others, or have experienced an interesting technical issue or component failure, then please contact us with a description of what you encountered and include accompanying pictures. Send your submissions to LAA Engineering at engineering@laa.uk.com.

Worn control cables LAA Inspector, Steve Cooper, was carrying out an inspection on a gyro, and found a broken strand on a rudder cable where it passed over a pulley.

At first glance it appeared there was only a single strand or so broken, but when Steve gained better access to the cable, he discovered that in fact many strands were broken.

The broken strands apparently sit at the bottom of a pulley where they are obscured from view and the cable only operates at a very shallow angle. The pulley is an aluminium one and the cable stainless steel.

Cables may be guided within an airframe by a number of methods: pulleys, fairleads and guide blocks. Strangely, it tends to be the cables that wear before the ‘guide’, regardless of the material from which the ‘guides’ are manufactured.

As well as removing pulleys periodically to check cables where they contact the pulley (and clean and lubricate the pulley), it is always best to run a cloth along a cable when looking for broken strands. You can do it with your hands, but it hurts when you get stabbed by a stray steel strand, so best not to use that method!

EuroFox mainwheel crack As has been reported a number of times before, many examples in the LAA-administered EuroFox fleet have a busy life working as glider tugs and, therefore, tend to fly more flight cycles than most.

On a recent inspection of a Eurofox used as a glider tug, LAA Inspector, Nick Stone, discovered that the port main wheel had cracked through one of the wheel half bolt holes.

Nick thinks that it is possible that the bolt was over torqued on installation. However, it may also have been the number of landing cycles that the aircraft has done in its life.

One thought Nick had was to record the number of landings in the airframe logbook against the day’s flights and introduce landing-based inspections on undercarriage components.

26 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Above Gyro cable at first inspection.

Above Gyro cable when the cable has been flexed.

Engineering Matters Rolls-Royce O-240 cylinder base studs Left O-240 case showing failed cylinder studs. (Images AAIB) Below left O-240 studs 2, 5 and 6 failed just above the cylinder mounting face.

Above and below O-240 stud showing failure mechanism.

A recently released AAIB accident report has highlighted a potential issue with Rolls-Royce O-240 engine cylinder base studs and nuts.

There are a few RR O-240 engines installed in LAA-administered aircraft. Failures of the cylinder base studs have resulted in a number of forced landings in certified aircraft (mostly Cessna FRA150L/M).

The RR O-240 is now type-supported by Continental Aerospace Technologies. The investigation found that new cylinder base nuts installed at engine overhaul (or during other engine work) were damaging the threads of the studs on installation. The damage to the studs was sufficient that the nuts eventually lost its torque, the studs then failed in fatigue, releasing the cylinder and causing the engine to fail.

According to the AAIB report, Continental Aerospace Technologies will issue a Service Bulletin calling for cylinder base studs on RR O-240 engines during the next overhaul, and for a repetitive torque check on the cylinder base nuts following engine overhaul or replacement of any of the cylinder base studs or nuts.

The new studs are intended to achieve consistent torque values above the maximum stated in their engine manuals when using the current nuts.

Although no mandatory action currently exists, it is obviously prudent to keep a close check on all cylinder base nuts and studs, regardless of the engine type.

Above O-240 stud showing correct installation of Spiralock nut May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 27

Engineering Matters

Lucy Wootton: Chief Inspector notes

Updates from the LAA Chief Inspector, including the renewal of LAA Inspectorships…

The last month has been an extremely busy time, as apart from having the normal day-to-day Chief Inspector job to do, the LAA Inspectors renew their LAA Inspectorship on the 1 April every year…

Inspector renewals

As previously mentioned, there has been a slight change of procedures this year in conjunction with the new ‘interactive’ Inspector map, found on the LAA website. Inspectors are no longer issued with an Inspector card detailing their authorisations. Instead, a virtual card can be found on the Inspector map which provides an ‘up-to-the-minute’ record of what categories of aircraft and engines for which an Inspector can sign.

Inspectors have also been asked to sign their Inspector Declaration again, along with providing their details, which helps keep their records up to date.

The renewal process takes a considerable amount of time and effort to accomplish and this year, ensuring the data aligns with the new Inspector map, has added to the task. It has been a pleasure to add the Inspectors’ smiling faces to their contact details on the map!

Inspector Training Seminar – Hendon

Towards the end of March, an Inspector Training Seminar (ITS) was held at the RAF Museum London – aka ‘Hendon’. The ITS was well attended, provided lots of good discussion points – and there was time after the seminar to wander around the museum and look at the exhibits.

Inspectors should be aware that to maintain their Inspector approval, they are required to attend an ITS within the previous four years, taken from the 31 March each year. There are other possible ways to comply with this requirement, but attending an ITS is the preferred and most productive method.

Further Inspector Training Seminars are being planned and dates and locations will be publicised once finalised.

Above Inspector Training Seminar at RAF Museum Hendon.

28 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Above Each inspector now has their own ‘virtual’ Inspector card.

Compliance with Procedures

Following on from the series of webinars that were held for Inspectors, it has become apparent that many Inspectors and aircraft owners believe that the procedures have changed.

In actual fact, apart from some minor changes (such as the new Permit to Fly revalidation forms), procedures and regulations have not been changed.

LAA Engineering has held a CAA A8-26 organisation approval since 2016. With the A8-26 approval, there is a requirement to have a company Exposition and Engineering Procedures Manual and the procedures recorded in these manuals, must be complied with.

LAA Engineering is regularly audited by an independent Quality Manager and the CAA to ensure compliance with the A8-26 procedures.

The Inspector webinars and other methods (Technical Leaflets, Inspector Updates and Engineering Matters, to name but a few) are used to educate Inspectors and owners on how to follow the procedures.

The Inspector SPARS Manual Procedures Section is currently being updated and will be sent out to Inspectors upon completion.

Engineering Matters

X’Air – Bogus parts LAA Engineering has been advised that, allegedly, an ex-employee of X’Air has been producing ‘bogus parts’ for the type. The X’Air factory has said that the person involved now has no connection with them

and is producing parts without their authorisation or quality control.

As ever, when sourcing aircraft parts, ensure that they are the genuine article and fit for purpose.

LAA Engineering housekeeping Permit to Fly Revalidation Procedures The new Permit to Fly revalidation procedures are now in force. Please refer to LAA Technical Leaflet ‘TL 2.00: Revalidating Your Aircraft’s Permit to Fly’ for more information. The relevant forms can be downloaded from the LAA website ‘Forms, Checklists and Worksheets’ section.

An LAA Alert A-003-2023 has also been issued, promulgating the new procedures. The previous LAA/FWR-1 forms have now been retired and should not be submitted.

Please ensure that the aircraft registration (and preferably what documents are attached) is stated in the email subject heading, and send each individual document as a single complete multi-page PDF document attached to as few emails as possible.

Multiple emails sent with a page of a form in each can not be accepted as it takes too long to merge the documents into the aircraft’s history. If they cannot be sent as a single, complete multi-page document then please print the forms off, sign them and

post them to LAA Engineering. The correct email address for the documents to be sent to is stated on the forms: permits@laa.uk.com.

On the LAA/ARR-1 Airworthiness Review Report, please ensure that the maintenance programme reference is stated in section 3a, along with any scheduled maintenance checks completed since the previous Permit to Fly revalidation.

The forms are being amended as required from time to time.

Please ensure you have downloaded the latest version of the form, which may require you to refresh your browser.

If an LAA/PRFC Permit Flight Release Certificate has been issued by an Inspector authorising a check flight to be flown when the Permit to Fly Certificate of Validity has expired, please submit a copy of the PFRC with the LAA/CFS-1 Check Flight Schedule.

All Permit to Fly revalidation applications should now be made in accordance with the new procedures as detailed in Technical Leaflet TL 2.00.

Recent Alerts & AILs Recently issued instructions for continued airworthiness. (Please check the LAA website for further details).

complied with as detailed in the current revision of the SB. Refer also to LAA Alert-002-2023.

Van’s Aircraft Service Bulletin SB-00036 Rev 3 Van’s Aircraft have issued SB-00036 Rev 3 calling for an inspection of the outboard elevator hinge on the horizontal stabiliser rear spar of various models of RV and the actions to be taken if cracks are found.

LAA Engineering has reviewed the Service Bulletin and can confirm that it should be

Sling Aircraft Service Bulletin #0021 Sling Aircraft have issued Service Bulletin #0021 concerning missing elevator torque tube locking bushes, affecting Sling 4 TSi kits and quick-build.

Potentially affected airframes are listed by serial number in the Service Bulletin although it might be considered prudent for all examples of the type to be checked.

LAA Engineering charges LAA Project Registration Kit Built Aircraft Plans Built Aircraft Initial Permit issue Up to 450kg 451-999kg 1,000kg and above

*Gyros note: if the last Renewal £300 wasn’t administered by the LAA, an £50 extra fee of £125 applies

Modification application £500 Prototype modification minimum £60 £600 Repeat modification minimum £30 £700 Transfer (from C of A to Permit or CAA Permit to LAA Permit) Permit Revalidation Up to 450kg £150 (can now be paid online via LAA 451 to 999kg £250 Shop) 1,000kg and above £350 Up to 450kg £190 451-999kg £240 1,000kg and above £275 Four-seat aircraft Manufacturer’s/agent’s type acceptance fee £2,000 Factory-built gyroplanes* £50 (all weights) £275 Project registration royalty

Category change Group A to microlight Microlight to Group A

£150 £150

Change of G-Registration fee Issue of Permit documents following G-Reg change £55 Replacement Documents Lost, stolen etc (fee is per document)

£20

PLEASE NOTE: When you’re submitting documents using an A4sized envelope, a first-class stamp is insufficient postage.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 29

Technical

Maintenance programming – a personal approach No one is more familiar with the parts of his Wot biplane than he is, but nevertheless, Francis Donaldson prepares for the new requirement for every LAA aircraft owner to be able to present a dedicated maintenance plan at Permit revalidation time – and at audit. Here’s his thoughts…

30 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Damien Dyer

Technical

S

ome time in late summer, when my LAA Inspector comes to do the Permit revalidation on my Currie Wot, he will ask me what maintenance schedule I am maintaining it to. I know this because it’s one of the questions on the airworthiness review forms that LAA has issued this year, the white APP-1 form that’s taken the place of the lion’s share of the old blue Permit renewal form.

My problem is, like many LAA aircraft owners, I don’t have a maintenance schedule to work to at the moment – until now I’ve been keeping it ‘in an airworthy state’, which is what the wording on the Permit to Fly conditions require me to do, but not following any particular schedule.

The aeroplane flies fewer than 25 hours a year, and it gets inspected annually. Why do I need a maintenance schedule? What is my Inspector going to write on that little box on the form?

Of course, between Permit renewals, I’ve kept the Wot in good shape by changing the engine oil and cleaning the oil filters, and being a Pobjoy R with exposed valve gear it needs its valve guides and rockers lubricating every few flying hours, generally on a day when I’ve turned up at the field and found it too windy to fly and everyone else has

gone home. Every few flying hours it also needs its pushrods to be greased, which takes very little concentration, so I can do this to make use of the time while my hangar mates are standing around chatting, sharing their tales of derring-do and far-off airfields they’ve descended upon. I’ll generally check the valve clearances after the next flight, once any excess grease has been pounded out from the receptacles in the cam followers and rockers.

Oh, and yes, of course, I’ll take the plugs out at each annual and clean them up, check and reset the gaps, and copperslip the threads. Well, yes, naturally, the gascolator bowl and its filter needs cleaning out from time to time, at least annually.

The magnetos are working fine at present – one was expensively overhauled two years ago, and the other five years ago, but to increase the chances of them continuing to work reliably I’ll unclip the contact breaker covers at each annual, naturally, make sure all’s clean and tidy inside, have a look at the contact breaker points and gaps and make sure the faces of the points are in good shape.

Some mags like a drop of machine oil on a felt pad that keeps the cam nicely lubricated.

The Wot has no electrical system as such, but the terminations of the P leads connecting the mags to the magneto switches get looked at as part of each pre-flight – being a hand swung engine with a seven foot propeller, the dangers of an unexpectedly ‘live’ prop are all too obvious. Talking of the prop, which is a wooden one of pre-war vintage with a brass leading edge, I’ll be keeping a close eye out for any signs of separation of the sheathing before each flight (the wood of such props sometimes rots underneath the sheathing, sight unseen).

I’ll check the tightness of the prop bolts at the beginning of the season and in the late summer, to make sure that the wooden prop hasn’t dried out and come loose, or swollen and the bolts over-stretched to the point where the prop drive flange or faceplate are starting to impress themselves too deeply into the front and back faces of the wooden hub.

The airframe? Well, there’s very little to it, most of it is visible externally and gets looked at during the pre-flights – and more minutely when I’m giving the aeroplane a wash and clean down, which is every few months. I have to replace the tailskid shoe from time to time when it’s worn out, jack the aeroplane up each year and give the wheels a spin to check the bearings aren’t dragging or loose. Every other year I’ll take the wheels off and clean up and re-grease the bearings, reassembling them carefully with new split pins for the wheel nuts.

One day I’ll need new tyres, I suppose, but with the amount of use the aeroplane gets, and being flown only off grass and kept indoors, then that should be far in the future – the tyres were new a couple of years back, when I treated the Wot to a new pair of wheels as part of a general refurb and recover. Speaking of which, the fabric is all still like new, and the structure was all ‘A1’ before the new fabric went on, but with the hangar being home to a variety of wildlife I’ll keep a very close eye out for any indications of anything taking up residence inside – I don’t May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 31

Damien Dyer

Technical

Above Francis’s highly modified Wot is powered by what is thought to be one of only two Pobjoy R engines still flying.

Below LAA provides generic templates for a maintenance program on the website, in ‘Word’ so that they can be easily tailored to suit individual aircraft.

“ I customise the GMS’ ‘list’ to

suit the Wot, which has no air con, brakes nosewheel, battery, pneumatic systems or hydraulics…”

32 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

want to find all my immaculate rib stitching has made a feast for some rodent or other.

The flying control systems were all examined and refreshed at the last recover, with new control cables and fairleads so nothing should be amiss – but all the same, need keeping a close eye on – unlike a certified aeroplane, machines like this have no redundancy designed into their control systems, so it only takes one cable to break, fall out of its cable groove or split pin or bolt to shake out to render the aeroplane unflyable. Nuff said…

I do all this because the condition of the aeroplane’s parts is imprinted in my consciousness, like the contents of my wardrobe, the car’s boot and the boat’s sail-locker.

Until now there’s been no list of maintenance tasks as such – I’d be as unlikely to go flying without having checked the valve clearances recently as I’d be to go to work in my carpet slippers – or so I’d like to think.

But I have to admit that as time goes on, and age and over-familiarity takes it toll, it’s more likely that one day I will turn up at Turweston without my brogues, (maybe even without a tie…?) and so maybe the CAA’s new insistence that I write down some kind of schedule does make sense. It will certainly help, come the day, when someone else takes charge of the aeroplane, and wants to know how to look after it properly.

So what to do? There’s nothing by way of a maintenance schedule stated on the Permit to Fly operating limitations document – mostly these only appear for four-seaters, night-IFR types and complex aircraft.

There’s no schedule or manufacturer’s advice specified in the aircraft’s TADS – hardly any of the plans-built homebuilts do, although the TADS sometimes include specific maintenance points for the type, based on things that have given trouble in the past.

Rather than start with a clean piece of paper I’ll turn to the LAA generic maintenance schedules (GMS) available to download from the LAA website. I’ll not download the 50-hour checks because I never fly more than 50 hours in a year, and all the 50-hour check items are also in the list of annual check items in the GMS, so I shall only need to customise the GMS’ ‘annual’ to suit the Wot. Downloaded onto my laptop, this looks quite a lengthy list of things to do. But fortunately, as this humble biplane contains no hydraulics, pneumatic systems, fire extinguisher, air conditioner, nosewheel, battery, brakes or constant speed unit, I can go through the list in ‘Word’ and delete references to all the things that my aeroplane simply doesn’t have. This will cut it down to a much shorter list.

Then I will make a few changes to the items to make it read more appropriately to a fabric-covered biplane – the GMS, and the LAMS schedule upon which it was based, having been written to cater for a very wide range of aircraft and all different construction techniques, I shall change references to ‘skins’ to ‘fabric’ and ‘plywood’, for example. I shall emphasise the fact that it has external bracing wires rather than struts, and a tailskid rather than a tailwheel – all this should only take me a few minutes – and it will leave me with a list of annual check items and maintenance tasks not dissimilar to the list that used to appear in the old blue Permit renewal form. I’ll give my smart, new customised schedule a reference at the top

Technical

“The 1930s maintenance booklet

from the engine manufacturer suggests when oil needs changing, filters cleaning, and tappets doing” my limited resources in keeping the aeroplane airworthy.

Importantly, I must make sure that my annual check schedule and separate list include any maintenance actions or parts replacement items that are legally mandatory, primarily, actions called for by Airworthiness Directives (if it’s an ex-certified aeroplane) and Mandatory Permit Directives. Apart from those ADs and MPDs I already know about, every year it needs to be checked that no new ones have come out which need to be actioned, or that need adding to my maintenance schedule in order that I can make sure they get actioned at the appropriate time. I’ll also add to my separate list some more items of my own which are of more long-term significance – similar to the extra items over and above the annual check items which occur in the GMS’ three-

Above The list of maintenance tasks extra to the annual check, some of them more frequent items that need to be during the year, others being major items included for more long-term maintenance planning.

Below All panels are removed at each annual check for a thorough inspection and clean-up.

Damien Dyer

(probably something imaginative like the aircraft’s registration letters and type followed by ‘maintenance schedule issue 1 – annual check’). Then I’ll print a few sets off ready to use as checklists during forthcoming annuals.

Then I will take a look at the maintenance schedule that the engine manufacturer provides – in this case in a little pocket-sized booklet published by Pobjoy Airmotors in the 1930s, which tells me at what intervals I should be changing the oil, cleaning the filters, doing the tappets and so on, and at what points in its life the engine should be top overhauled and finally totally overhauled. Similar schedules are, of course, provided by Continental, Lycoming, de Havilland and by modern manufacturers such as Rotax and Jabiru – often with further elaboration by way of service bulletins and service instructions.

Since all these refer to actions necessary at intervals unlikely to correspond with the annual check, I shall create a separate document on screen which lists all these items in a column along the left-hand margin. In an adjacent column I shall write down the intervals at which Pobjoy recommend each be undertaken, either by calendar time or hours flown. I’ll fill the rest of the space on the page with further columns where over time I’ll enter the dates or hours at which I actually do each thing.

If my aircraft had other components for which the manufacturers provided maintenance advice, such as a constant speed prop’s strip down and bare-blade inspection, or so-called throw-away Slick magnetos, then I’d add these items to my document. Of course, as the owner I am not bound strictly by such maintenance instructions (the whole engine is, for example, shortly to reach Pobjoy’s recommended ‘TBO’, but I hope to continue to operate it ‘on condition’ for as long as seems prudent. But at least by listing all this advice I shall be able to see what the baseline expectations are for looking after all the bits of kit that make up the aeroplane, and be able to make properly informed choices, and so best allocate

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 33

Technical

With the maintenance plan committed to paper, the LAA inspector will be able to check at permit revalidation time that the logbook entries reflect the plan and list the title of your plan on the revalidation APP-1 form. This will also help assure a smooth ride if the aircraft is picked out as a candidate for LAA’s annual quota of audits of the LAA fleet.

34 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Below Proactively spreading the maintenance activities helps keep the aircraft 'online' and ready to fly.

and print off a few of these too, and file them in a manilla folder with the annual check lists. I’ll write a title on the folder boldly in marker pen, something like ‘Maintenance Programme Currie Wot G-AVEY issue 1’, and put it with the aircraft’s logbooks ready to refer to and annotate whenever I’m doing an annual check or other maintenance, and as I get increasingly muddle-headed with age, or distracted by life’s other trials and tribulations, I’ll use it as a reminder of what I need to be doing to keep all in apple-pie order.

And when the Permit to Fly revalidation time comes round, and my Inspector asks me what my maintenance programme is, I shall hand over the manilla folder, point out its title and look forward to a broad smile spreading across his face as he opens it up and starts to read… ■

Nigel Nitchman

year check. These are things that I don’t want to do every year but will need doing every few years, for example removing the fuel tank to service it and clean out and inspect the area underneath.

At some point I’ll want to remove the undercarriage legs and give them a thorough going over, and this will also allow me to strip the paint off the undercarriage attachment brackets, give them an even more close-up than usual check for cracks, and then re-prime and paint them. The tail surfaces perhaps need to come off for similar reasons, to check the state of their mountings – it’s very hard to tell whether an Emeraude’s tailplane mounting brackets are corroded with the tail in place, for example.

If it were a Jodel, removing the wings would be a major job, not to be undertaken lightly for fear of damage – but sensibly, the mounting bolts should be withdrawn from time to time to check for corrosion or other distress.

Even removing and refitting the Wot’s nine-foot wing panels is quite a job, but I’ll plan to do it every 10 years to refresh the paint on the mounting lugs – sooner, if I see corrosion starting to take hold on the steelwork.

These kind of activities can either be done all in one go, which results in the aircraft likely being out of the air for quite a while, or proactively spread over a number of years so that at each annual you do just one ‘extra’ major item, but everything gets dealt with and refreshed over a five- or 10-year cycle. This approach spreads the costs, keeps the aircraft available for flying and, importantly, reduces the likelihood of the whole thing becoming paralysed in a dismantled state for so long that everyone loses interest.

Finally, I shall give my separate list an appropriate title

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Flying Adventure

Bébé vs Outback A Jodel D9 Bébé might be a somewhat unsuitable vehicle to fly on a mega adventure across a chunk of Australia, but for Kerry Skyring, she was the ideal travelling companion…

F

rom a distance the scene might be described like this: A large toddler approaches a toddler-size aeroplane. After throwing some toys on board the child turns the small wooden propeller by hand at least 44 times, not always in the same direction.

On the 45th turn the engine barks into noisy life. The toddler climbs clumsily aboard, and squirms a bit before becoming comfortable. A short time later the small aeroplane begins to move, gathers speed and takes to the air. The toddler and his toy aeroplane are last seen merging with the summer haze on a northerly heading.

Nobody raises the alarm…

Eduard Joly and Jean Delemontez (Jo-Del) first flew their Bébé in 1948. They hoped their design would satisfy the needs of French pilots, who didn’t have many francs in the bank, but with a desire to fly. Those pilots were obviously not ‘large’ pilots, because the cockpit is suitable only for one large toddler or a (very) skinny French aviator.

It is made of wood, weighs just 271kg fully loaded, and speeds through the air at 73kt. The design hit the mark

36 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

– and 500 D9 Bébés were built – becoming the progenitor of the remarkable range of Robin aircraft which is still being built in France today. It is a fair weather flyer, a ‘Sunday afternoon jaunt’ type of aircraft, and definitely not designed to fly long distances at even moderate speeds.

My flight’s purpose was to relocate my 1964 Jodel D9 from Maryborough in Victoria to Maryborough in Queensland. This would bring it closer to where I now spend most of my time in Australia, the coastal city of Hervey Bay. The distance between Mary’s two Australian boroughs is 1,826km. For Europeans that’s the equivalent of London to Warsaw, plus a bit more. So not that far in an aeroplane, although very few baby Jodels are taken on such journeys. Therein lies the appeal; to eschew the easy option of fast and comfortable for the exact opposite – like sailing a dinghy across Bass Strait or Chichester flying the Tasman in a Gipsy Moth or Mike Smith flying around the world in a Searey. I don’t mean to compare this flight to theirs in terms of achievement, just to make the point that there are others as, well, ‘mad’ as me.

Apart from the lack of speed and instrumentation,

Flying Adventure

Above Ted Turner said: ‘The chance of mistake is about equal to the number of crew squared…’ I feel I can use Ted’s truism to justify this strange desire to fly single-seat aeroplanes. provisions for luggage and range were not serious concerns for Jo and Del; 26 litres of fuel and a small compartment behind the pilot’s head for baguette and fromage would surely suffice.

Arriving in Melbourne from Vienna at 0700 on 2 January (we flew into 2023 over Bucharest), I went directly to the Jodel on a farm at Kooroocheang. Don’t worry, nobody else knows where it is. Some aircraft preparation was achieved before jet lag and storms drove me to bed in Maryborough.

The following morning the aeroplane’s inspection was completed and then it was time for the pilot’s inspection.

I’d flown 28-3503 (formerly VH-IVB) into this short sloping field for the first time 12 months earlier. This would be our first flight out. The field is exactly that, a farmer’s field where Richard and Tracey keep a 1943 L-19 Piper Cub. The 350 metre mown strip runs beside a line of trees downhill to a creek, a tall tree and a power line. The breeze, mostly crosswind, favoured a downhill take-off, which seemed the ideal situation – except for the trees and the power line. Richard explained that he mostly takes-off (in the Cub) uphill, even with a light tailwind, to avoid the consequence of engine problems or turbulence causing contact with tree or power line or creek on the downhill run.

The Jodel is very light, lighter than the Cub, but not as powerful. Against my training and instinct I opt for the uphill-downwind take-off because if the engine says ‘non’, or I’ve misjudged Jodel’s abilities, the worst that can happen is a landing in the neighbour’s field of unmown grass. I decide on my go-no-go point, a mound of hay at the halfway distance. This means that the aircraft must be in the air, or ready to fly, after about a 150 metre run. If not, the power will be cut and we will run to a stop in long grass. By the way, did I mention that the Jodel has brakes borrowed from a bicycle? These replaced the no-brakes of its early years. I pour fewer than 10 litres into the tank and empty my bladder… every gram counts, after all.

It all goes well. At the hay stack the Jodel is light on the wheels and an immeasurably small moment later the wheels leave the grass, we climb the slope, kick left rudder to meet the wind direction head-on and, above tree level, are rocked left and right by the wind. A quick turn over the top to tell those on the ground all is well, and then a 20-minute flight has us down on Maryborough’s municipal aerodrome for a full six gallon/26 litre tank-full. I pack the bare basics of underpants, toothpaste, engine

It’s a bit cramped in there…

Where does this go? In the ‘turtle’s carapace’ – through that small opening behind where the pilot sits. Already a 10-litre bladder of fuel has been loaded there and what you see on the ground will also be squeezed in.

Above It would require more lines to describe what’s missing from the instrument panel than what’s there. Indicated airspeed 65kt; altimeter 3,200ft, oil and cylinder head temps in the green and oil pressure reassuring. The G-meter records that on take-off Kerry hit a 2.5 G bump, while the heading is 045°, so at this point Kerry and aircraft are pointed in approximately the right direction – to Tocumwal.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 37

Flying Adventure

oil, tie-down ropes, muesli bar – plus an extra 10 litres of fuel in a flexible bladder, the latter would later prove worth the struggle required to squeeze everything into the tiny space behind my head. I try not to dwell on the consequences of a forced landing and sudden stop.

Certainly the fuel and muesli bar would move forward to join me in the cockpit… a 98 octane muesli bar for breakfast, perhaps…?

Riverine flooding and tour of WWII air bases Time to fill up.

After a year of abundant rains, the once dry streams and lakes are overflowing onto the wide brown plains of southern NSW. A WWII Bellman hangar – built in haste – but still standing, still serving.

“The former WWII air base of

Tocumwal was created to help repel the expected Japanese invasion” 38 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

The route north is across the farming heartlands of Victoria and NSW. Two great Australian rivers, and many smaller streams, flow slowly through this mostly flat landscape.

The Murray meanders east to west before turning south to empty into the great southern ocean. The Darling runs north to south joining the Murray well off to the west of my track. In all directions water reflects the sun’s rays, from streams, lakes and dams. I must have flown this route a dozen times over the past 40 years, and I have never seen so much water. The record breaking rains of 2022 have led to flooding on an epic, albeit slow moving, scale. Two months earlier the flood peak would have been below me but as I fly north on 3 January it is reaching communities near the mouth of the Murray 800km away.

These riverine floods are mostly fine weather floods.

The former WWII air base of Tocumwal, just north of the Murray, is my first stop. I love the fact that this piece of wartime infrastructure, created to help repel the expected Japanese invasion, is still serving the nation, but in a completely different context. It’s a busy GA field, but also a top destination for glider pilots from all over the world. On my flight south with the Jodel a few years earlier, staying overnight and dining in a local hotel, I found myself in the company of Austrian and German glider pilots on their annual pilgrimage to Tocumwal, thus escaping the European winter but also exploiting almost unlimited thermals to soar long distances across the outback.

The Tocumwal taxi

My first three fuel stops on this flight are all at former wartime bases, with long runways and taxiways from landing point to fuel pump, which means my tailwheel tyre suffers wear at a rapid rate. At Tocumwal I land on the grass strip used by gliders, but must taxi along a bitumen runway to refuel. I find time for a quick chat with Matt and Karen Henderson who have established an excellent museum on the aerodrome. The history is rich. More than 7,000 US servicemen worked to construct what was, in 1942, the largest aerodrome in the southern hemisphere and the RAAF’s largest ever base. It’s worth a visit or at the very least, a google.

After departure I head for yet another wartime base, Temora, where thousands of Australian and Commonwealth pilots received their training, mostly on the DH82 Tiger Moth. This is another major gliding centre, but also the location of the Australian Aviation Museum, which focuses on the country’s military aviation history. There is an excellent collection of warbirds nearly all of which are regularly flown. I’ve visited Temora before, once in the Jodel and many times in the Auster, and I like its friendly reception and facilities. Like at Tocumwal the wartime built infrastructure continues to serve the community.

Flying Adventure

It’s 1900 before the Jodel is refuelled and secured for the night, so it’s a relief when I find a room on the aerodrome and can borrow a car to drive a few kilometres to town for dinner. You know Temora is an aviator’s destination when you find yourself sharing a table with fellow flyers, in this case glider pilots from Canberra and locally based Auster owner Mike Cleaver.

At 0230 I am wide awake, my body clock telling me it’s Central European Time. I begin planning the day’s flight, which will involve at least four refuelling stops. Three hours later, with the sun rising, I am still noting down runway directions, time-intervals and Notams. Flight planning expands to fit the time available, but eventually one has to accept that not all eventualities can be planned for and the only thing left to do is fly.

Parkes – Narromine – Coonabarabran – Narrabri – Goondiwindi

Parkes is the next destination… and on a beautiful clear country morning the Jodel climbs away from Temora.

However, this was not how the day would continue.

Parkes is deserted but the fuel bowser accepts my credit card, and we are off again for a smooth run to Narromine – once more a landing at a former WWII aerodrome, now a gliding centre, with a long taxi to the fuel bowser and more rubber disappearing from the tailwheel tyre.

Cumulus clouds are building themselves into towering cumulo-nimbus and the runways are wet from a recent passing storm. In the clubhouse the latest weather radar image is displayed on a large screen. There is a line of storms which is already past Narromine and moving north-east. I decide it’s ‘OK’ to go.

The next leg will stretch the Jodel’s range to the limit, beyond its limit if there is a headwind, so I have planned to land at Coonabarabran and add the 10 litres of fuel stashed in the ‘turtle carapace’.

Top On track for Parkes, crossing the Lachlan River, which winds west towards the Murray Darling basin.

Above This isolated CB was joined by several others approaching the Warrumbungles.

Tooraweenah is my alternate, should storms intervene.

The wonderfully named Warrumbungles, a mountain range and a national park, are dead ahead – as are dark thunderstorms shedding heavy rain on the rocky slopes.

The route north-east to Coonabraran is completely cut-off and my alternate, Tooraweena, is visible, but on the edge of a downpour. However, conditions are clear to the west so we make a near 30-minute diversion to Baradine. The conditions are bumpy with midday heat generating strong thermals. On the ground the temperature is 36°. Baradine is populated by crows and flies. I walk to the facilities.

At the small but comfortable terminal building, I replan for Narrabri with the possibility of continuing to Moree, if storms and fuel allow. The 10 litres of avgas is poured from fuel bladder to the tank and we take-off, immediately joining eagles, thermalling for altitude.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 39

Flying Adventure

Above Here’s one taken shortly after take-off from Moree.

Note the land is flat out here. The shiny bits are flood irrigation ponds for the giant rice fields.

Did you ever see a straighter line than that horizon?

Left Baradine terminal facilities: ‘small but comfortable’. No crowds, no queuing.

40 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

It’s now that I realise my error in choosing Baradine as the alternative, although there were few choices available.

I’m on the ‘wrong side’ of the dreaded Piliger scrub – a vast area of bush with no open country and zero human habitation. If the engine failed and a landing was vital, I may survive the arrival among the trees but it would be a long walk to the nearest pub. To detour to the west around this hazard would need an extra 30 minutes flying time and push me close to the limits of the Jodel’s range.

I set a direct heading for Narrabri and concentrate on converting lift from thermals into altitude and speed. It soon becomes clear that I will easily reach Moree, another 30 minutes flying time north of Narribri, so I cut the corner and land in Moree with more storms close behind. On final approach to Runway 23 a strong thermal refuses to let the Jodel descend, so with some satisfaction I re-discover the little aeroplane’s ability to side-slip, holding crossed controls almost to the runway before she settles softly. I have not reached my planned destination of Goondiwindi but I’m safely down and unable to contemplate another minute in the cockpit.

Benjamin Franklin said: ‘A small leak will sink a great ship’. I’d add ‘any old storm can destroy a small aircraft’.

The fuel agent is absent, so while waiting for him to appear I walk the flightline looking for a tie down spot.

They are all occupied. What was the captain of the Titanic doing before his ship went down? Not paying attention to the details, perhaps…?

I walk a few hundred metres further to the busy Aircair Aviation hangar where enormous (bear in mind that

Flying Adventure

“Airborne photos are difficult – the

compared to the Bébé all aeroplanes are enormous) agricultural aeroplanes are repaired then sent out to sow and spray crops of rice. Timidly I enquire if there might be a spot in the corner for a small wooden aeroplane. “Yeah I reckon we can squeeze you in,” says Cam. It’s 40° and my jet lag is returning. I walk back to the bowser, refuel, swing the prop a few times, climb aboard and taxi to the other end of the apron where Cam downs tools again and shows me to my hangar spot. A few minutes after closing the doors on the Jodel the first wind gusts hit, rubbish bins etc blow across the tarmac.

Not only has the Aircair team interrupted its important work for me, it’s called a motel, thrown me the keys to a ute and given directions to my bed for the night.

Exhausted, I grab a take-away and hit the hay. Next morning at breakfast I see Cam and his team of mechanics. “You’re starting work early,” I say. “Actually we’ve just finished,” says Cam. They had worked through the night, such is the demand for their skills. And yet they still had taken the time to ensure a lone aviator in an aeroplane of little value was taken care of. Thanks, big thanks, to the Aircair team and to Dobri and Vesna at the Jackaroo apartments.

I can only put down the absence of photos from the Moree stop-over to an exhaustion from heat, jet-lag and concern for the aircraft, leaving no brain capacity for photography. Plus, airborne shots are extremely difficult.

The Jodel has no elevator trim, which means that taking my hand off the stick results in an immediate dive.

By holding the stick between my knees I can sometimes fire off a shot through reflective perspex.

On the one occasion when I slid the canopy open for better photography the thing refused to slide forward again and I had to continue open-cockpit to the next destination. This is neither dangerous nor difficult – just don’t unfold a map…

Jodel has no elevator trim, so taking my hand off the stick leads to a dive”

Playing that old slow-aeroplane game called ‘pass the road train’. I was faster than the trucks on the highway below, but not by much…

Moree to… not Maryborough

The original aim of this flight was to relocate the Jodel from Maryborough, Victoria to Maryborough, Queensland (Qld), but a couple of days before departure I received news that the hangar space promised in the Qld borough was no longer available.

Gympie, a short flight to the south, was now the best option, and after making contact with the local aero club I soon had an offer of temporary shelter for the Jodel.

This was now becoming an aviator’s home-coming, a return to the roots adventure with deja-vu, and other clichés, writ large. I had grown up within long final distance of Gympie Aerodrome. I was at the aerodrome on opening day, 7 May 1966, and took my first flight from there, as a 13-year-old wedged into the back-seat of a Piper Comanche between my father and a neighbour, barely able to see out, but absolutely in love with the experience.

So now, on day three, I’m flying towards my past. The first leg from Moree to Goondiwindi is about as good as flying can be, with barely a bump in the air, the Newell Highway below and the Jodel’s motor pulling us enthusiastically across the state border into Qld. The cloud base had been descending and with higher country ahead I called Trevor Bange at Clifton, our next

Weather was cooler than usual, with high cloud.

Stunning sky and landscapes between Clifton and Gympie.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 41

Flying Adventure

“The weather is unusual for south-

east Queensland in early January – high cloud, light rain and cooler”

Above Northern end of Lake Wivenhoe near Watts Bridge.

Left The muchabused tailwheel with just a tiny strip of rubber remaining after long taxis on long WWII runways.

The brown colouring is dust, not rust.

scheduled stop. He reported satisfactory conditions and offered some good tips on the best route to follow.

The weather is unusual for south-east Qld in early January – cooler than normal with high cloud, light rain showers and patches of low cloud, but I find Clifton, and land on its lovely soft grass after 1.3 hours.

Trevor provides fuel and a cup of tea as I worry about the next, and final, leg to Gympie. There are conflicting weather reports including one of light drizzle and possible storms near my destination. I call Watts Bridge, a busy field along the route, and I am reassured by reports of good visibility and sufficient ceiling to cross the Conondale range.

With routing advice from Trevor, away we go for a 1.7 hour flight which takes us over a low range into the Brisbane valley – Toowoomba is to the west and Amberley RAAF base to the east.

Soon we are tracking past the overflowing Wivenhoe Dam to Watts Bridge Airfield, home to many vintage aircraft, then further into the headwaters of the Brisbane River, over Somerset Dam then Kilcoy.

Finally we cross the Conondale range, the watershed between the Brisbane and Mary Rivers, and follow a familiar route, weaving with the meanderings of the Mary, past Conondale, Kenilworth and Imbil, over Bellwood where my father was born, Wattlewood where I grew up, until finally I am landing on Gympie’s perfect grass Runway 21.

The Jodel is now tucked safely into a corner of the gliding club hangar at Gympie, until I can return and give her some well-earned attention. n

Below Safely tucked into a corner of the gliding club hangar at Gympie….

NUMBERS Total Flight Time:

12.4 hours

Distance Flown:

811 nautical miles/1500 km

Fuel Consumed:

Approx 136 litres of mostly avgas and some 98 UL mogas

Share your adventures!

If you’ve made a really memorable flight either solo or with friends, or visited a great destination be it in the UK or abroad, then there’s a good chance that LAA members would enjoy reading about it. So why not share your travel tales by contributing to the Light Aviation Flying Adventure feature slot?

A typical Adventure can range from 1,500 to 3,000 words. Include a selection of high-resolution photos of highlights, ideally 1mb or greater. Phone photos can be great for this, but pictures from a camera usually give the best results.

Got an idea in mind? Drop me a line!

Email: ed.hicks@laa.uk.com

42 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

LAA Strut News

Struts 4U

Anne Hughes rounds up Strut news & views

E

very Strut is run by a dedicated team, which work away year after year to organise meetings, fly-ins, provide support for would-be aircraft builders and, in many cases, circulate a monthly newsletter for the local Strut members. I am fortunate in having all those newsletters drop into my inbox, and the stories they tell and the names they include, have become very familiar to me over the last six years. However, those who have a key role in the Strut, sometimes for many years, are often modest in their achievements and their commitment, and it’s not until they step down that they are acknowledged publicly.

The Highlands and Islands Strut has a new Chairman, Paul Wayman, who writes, “Well, it’s all change in the Strut after the last meeting in early February, which was the first after nearly three years, and was well attended. Some members ended up going home with perhaps more than they bargained for, in the shape of new positions of office! It goes without saying that our sincere thanks must be extended to our outgoing Chairman of the last seven years, Nigel Campbell, Vice Chairman, Duncan Sutherland, and Treasurer, Alister Sutherland, for their commitment and sterling work in the

44 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Above Moving day for Sophie the Strutter.

Below EoS Strutter in hangar.

Strut and the committee over many years. In Alister’s case, as an original founder of the Highland Strut in the 1970s.”

The East of Scotland Strut has also had a change of management this year. The outgoing Strut Coordinator, Iain Gibson, has been in the role for more than 15 years and passes the baton to Tim Raynor. Iain highlights the fact that he has been supported by other Strut members in helping to organise events but, nevertheless, his work over the years is much appreciated. Tim was one of the original founders of what was then called the Lothian Strut. Andrew Macleod, the EoS newsletter editor writes, “The membership of the EoS is scattered north and south of the Forth estuary and fly-ins usually take place at a member’s private strip on the edge of the former RAF airfield at East Fortune. This is also where Scotland’s Museum of Flight is based, which makes it a doubly interesting venue for visitors. Our bigger fly-in was held last year at Balado in Fife, which has a full suite of facilities, such as hangarage, catering and car parking space. We are a fairly small Strut, some 20-plus, but we have the whole spread of specialists in our group – Inspectors, air traffic controllers, marshallers, retired airline pilots and a core of experienced engineers.”

One of the main focuses for the EoS has been the build of the Sopwith 1½

LAA Strut News

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

Above Wessex Strut’s Tom Leaver receiving his Best in Fleet Trophy from Air Commodore Keith Dennison.

Strutter aircraft, which is now ready for a first flight. Steve Borthwick, Safety Officer of the Strut, along with other Strut members, has been involved in the project from its conception and the story has been filmed and reported locally, as well as on national TV. Steve says, “Back in 2000 we, as members of the Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland, started to build a Sopwith 1½ Strutter from original drawings. The main difference is that we fitted a Rotec engine. Sophie, as she is called, will be leaving the shed to travel by road to RAF Kirknewton to do her initial test flights. It’s been 20 or more years in the building and a lot of the members are no longer with us who started the project. There will be a plaque in the rear cockpit to remember them.” This is an amazing achievement and the website telling the story is www.strutteraviation.com The Wessex Strut has been celebrating the work of Strut members with an awards evening. Neil Wilson reported that Air Commodore Keith Dennison was the guest of honour and shared his flying experiences with the Strut, from the Bristol Boxkite to the Typhoon! Amy Whitewick was awarded the Doug Gale Trophy for Endeavour. Strut President, Dave Stokes, won The Most Meritorious Flight, which is sponsored by LA magazine contributor, Ian Fraser, for going single-handed to Glenforsa and back in his little Jodel D112, using only maps and his mobile phone for navigation. The Colin Difford Cup, for Best New Build/Restoration, went to Strut member Matt Thorne for his RV-12iS. The Tony Young Best in Fleet Trophy is sponsored by the Struts founder.

This year the winner was Tom Leaver and his 1929 Travelair D4000, which not only looks stunning in its lovely green and cream colour scheme, but was voted the best sounding aeroplane, too!

There are also times when the Struts report on the sad loss of Strut members. Gloster Strut newsletter pays tribute to Strut founder member Gordon Shears. Gordon, a proud Devonian, did his National Service in the RAF and was later employed at the Maintenance Unit at Aston Down. He had been an active member of the Cotswold Aero Club for decades and was one of the four builders of RV-4 G- BRXV. Many words have been printed thanking Steve Slater for all the initiatives he has set up for the LAA over the last seven years. We would echo those thanks here for his support for the Struts – and for this column. We know that he has every intention of turning up at various LAA gatherings in the future! Thank you Steve, and very best wishes to your successor, Simon Tilling. ■

Andover Strut: Spitfire Club, Popham Airfield, SO21 3BD. 8 May – Flying the Electric Aeroplane with Deepak Mahajan (tbc). Contact Bob Howarth email: bobhowarth99@btinternet.com Phone no. 01980 611124 Bristol Strut: BAWA Club, Filton, 1930. 27/28 May – Strut Fly-Out (Compton Abbas); 6 June – Strut Social Evening. Contact: chairman@ bristolstrut.uk www.bristolstrut.uk Cornwall Strut: The Clubhouse, Bodmin Airfield. 13/14 May – Vintage Aircraft Club Fly-in; Sat. 3 June – Ladies Day Fly-In. Contact Pete White pete@aeronca.c.ok 01752 406660 Devon Strut: The Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter.11 April – D&C Police Drone Operations. Contact: david.millin@sea-sea.com East of Scotland Strut: Harrow Hotel, Dalkeith. 2000. Contact: Tim Raynor hipe@btinternet.com East Midlands Strut: Meeting on the first Tuesday of the month on Zoom until further notice due to venue availability. Contact: tonyrazzell2@ gmail.com We also have a Facebook group and upload recordings of some meetings where we have speakers.

Gloster Strut: The Victory Club, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2SY at 1930. 9 May – Fly-In and BBQ at Croft Farm. Contact: Harry Hopkins phone 07902 650619 harry.hopkins@ talktalk.net Highlands & Islands: Highland Aviation, Inverness Airport. 27-29 May – Glenforsa Fly-In; 24 June – Easter Airfield Fly-In; 24-25 June – Sollas Beach Landing Fly-In. Contact: b.w.spence@btinternet.com 01381 620535.

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

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

Brunch Third Sunday of each month.

1130-1330 at Fishburn Aviator Cafe.

Contact: alannixon297@btinternet.com North Western Strut: The Clubhouse, Boysnope. 1400. Contact: cliffmort@ btinternet.com 07813 497427.

North Wales Strut: Caernarfon Airport, Dinas Dinlle. First Sunday of the month – HEMS Bistro Café. 1300.

Contact: Gareth Roberts gtrwales@ gmail.com 07876 483414.

Oxford Group: Sturdy’s Castle Country Inn, Banbury Road, Kidlington, OX5 3EP. Second Wednesday each month. 10 May – David Wilson from the FAST Museum – Building the Cody Flyer Replica; 14 June: Jeremy Liber: From PPL to Flying the Hurricane!;

July 12: BBQ. Contact LAAOxford@ gmail.com www.oxfordlaa.co.uk Redhill Strut: The Castle, Millers Lane, Outwood, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 5QB. Pub contact – 01342 844491.

Third Tuesday of each month meet at 1900-1930. Contact: david@milstead. me.uk Shobdon Strut: Hotspur Café, Shobdon Airfield, Hereford HR6 9NR. 1930. Second Thursday of the month.

Contact: Keith Taylor bushebiggles@ sky.com Southern Strut: ‘Longshore’, Brighton Rd, Shoreham-by-Sea BN43 5LD. First Wednesday of the month 1930 for 2000. Contact palmersfarm@sky.com Strathtay Strut: Scottish Aero Club, Perth Airport, Scone. Scone Clubhouse. Contact: keith.boardman@ peopleserve.co.uk 07785 244146.

Suffolk Coastal Strut: Earl Stonham Village Hall, IP14 5HJ. 19.30.

17 May – Talk from Southend Controllers Henry Spurgeon & Jeff Pacy, 21 June – Evening Fly-out or BBQ at Monewden 8 July – Annual Fly-in at Monewden. All welcome, details at www.suffolkcoastalstrut.org. uk/flyin/ Contact: Martyn Steggalls events@suffolkcoastalstrut.org.uk 07790 925142 The Joystick Club: Activities throughout the year. Pedal planes and simulators at Old Warden Air Shows.

Contact: Mike Clews, m.clews@sky. com. 07775 847914. www.joystickclub. co.uk Vale of York Strut: Chocks Away Café, Rufforth East Airfield. 1900.

Contact: Chris Holliday 07860 787801 valeofyorkstrutlaa@gmail.com www.valeofyorkstrutlaa.wordpress.com Wessex Strut: Henstridge Airfield Clubhouse. 1930. Check Wessex Strut website. 12 May – Bimble-Bangers and Beans night. Drive or fly-in (PPR).

1830 food. Local fortnightly Strut walks organised by Wessex Aviators Leisure Klub. Contact: neil.wilson@laa.uk.com West of Scotland Strut: Bowfield Country Club, Howwood, PA9 1DZ. 1900. Contact: Neil Geddes barnbethnkg@gmail.com 01505 612493.

Youth & Education Support (YES) – YES also available for Strut talks/ presentations. 7 May and 4 June – YES at Shuttleworth Air Show.

Contact: Stewart Luck captainluck@ hotmail.com (Contact 07974188395 to volunteer.)

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

Thank you to all Struts and clubs for getting in touch. struts@laa.uk.com May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 45

For all display advertising enquiries contact Neil Wilson 07512 773532

neil.wilson@laa.uk.com

www.LAA.uk.com

Meet the Members

From Airfix to air racing…

Ed Hicks talks to new LAA CEO Simon Tilling about his new role – and his passion for aviation – one that began with Airfix kits, bought with money from his ’paper round…

W

here did your interest in aviation begin?

An Airfix Spitfire bought from Woolies by my mum when I was about six. She made it for me, and it stayed in its moulded, blue plastic colour, lasting about two weeks before bits got broken.

A couple of years later, I started making them myself, and they improved as I learned how to put them together more efficiently. I had a ’paper round, and the newsagent sold Airfix, so I just ended up giving them back my wages.

Eventually though, I was making them for the window display. Those kits really drove my aviation interest. With no internet back then, it was kits like those, and films like The Battle of Britain and The Dambusters, that would just keep my mind buzzing. I also got into plane spotting at the old Liverpool airport.

Above LAA’s new CEO, Simon Tilling.

What has kept you busy for work?

I started as a telephone engineer, the guy in the little tent set up over the manhole running and joining cables. Then I moved to working in mechanical telephone exchanges. I saw a job advertised for Reuters in Fleet Street, so I applied for that. When they said come to London for an interview I was in Newquay on holiday, so they said ‘get on a plane!’ That was the reason I took my first flight in 1978.

I got the Reuters job and started fixing telegraph machines. Eventually, when Reuters computerised, I went to a computer training course and started to learn about hardware and went to work for a computer company.

Computers eventually got too complicated for me, so I started leading teams, and became a service manager.

That’s how I ended up working for Dell, where I was a services manager for 15 years. When I left I was the VP for services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 47

Meet the Members

I won the Castle Combe GT Championship twice and even managed to set a lap record which stood for a while.

What got you started towards getting your PPL?

Then I got a phone call from a guy who offered me a job running an outsourcing company. So I went and did that for a few years, then became a contractor. I’ve spent 10 years being parachuted in to companies to fix customer service issues, doing transformation projects, and helping build new organisations.

I never lost interest in aircraft, but a lot of other things got in the way like motorbikes, cars – plus I got married.

Eventually I started racing cars, and spent 10 years doing that. It all kind of started off with a little Peugeot 205 before progressing to racing Radical sports prototypes, and then I ended up building my own Radical, in which we turbocharged the engine.

48 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Above Radical racing car.

Below (top) Racing – and winning – at Castle Combe.

Below (bottom) Learning to fly at Old Sarum.

Below (right) PA28 Cherokee G-ATOR.

I had been building and racing cars for a long time, then 10 years ago my wife bought me a trial flying lesson for my birthday. I went for the flight which was at Old Sarum, and that was it. I was hooked and it was ‘love at first flight’, you might say. I got my licence in six months, learning throughout winter – and finishing up in February. I was lucky with the weather but I used to go down there and just sit and wait for a gap in the clouds, then just go circuit bashing. I loved every minute of the training. No one ever forgets their first solo and the realisation (usually after the downwind checks) that you are the only person in the aeroplane and it’s down to you now. The learning to fly journey never ends and there is always something new to get my attention.

What aircraft have you owned and flown?

Having got my licence and doing about 70 hours in club Cherokees, my long-term goal was to get my own aeroplane, but started off by trying a share in a tidy Cessna 172… G-BDZD, if I remember correctly. But it wasn’t long before I wanted the freedom of my own to take away anytime – and for however long I wanted. So I found a little PA28-140, G-ATOR, for sale at Shobdon. It was one of the early batch of Cherokees to be imported into the UK and had been a syndicate aeroplane for around 30 years. The guy who sold it to me had a tear in his eye when he handed me the keys – I promised I’d take care of it. It was good fun and taught me a lot in the 200 hours I flew in it.

Then I decided I wanted to do aerobatics and bought a Bulldog from a chap in Belgium. My first roll taught me not to try teaching myself aeros – I didn’t pull up enough going in, so I was pointing downhill on the way out. Stay calm, pull the power back and pull out. I flew home making a plan to get some tuition… I’d go on to fly it for 350 hours and it was a great all-rounder.

The Chipmunk was a beautiful aeroplane, just sublime handling and meant for throwing around the sky on a summer’s evening.

I put around 300 hours on that – it’s hard to beat,

Meet the Members

Top left Big grin in the Bulldog.

Top right Bulldog and Chipmunk.

Above left Yak 52 just the perfect aerobatic machine.

although my Yak 52 came pretty close though, and was the perfect aerobatics machine.

The Soko Kraguj was a bit of a monster. A singleseater ground attack fighter with a 350hp geared Lycoming, it had hardpoints on the wings for 600kg of munitions. Nothing breaks on it, as it’s made beefy! If you armed it, you could have gone to war. It felt like a mini-Mustang to me, but was quite benign to fly. It just didn’t glide… picking a spot after an engine failure for that would have been the field you were directly over.

At the moment I’ve got the Taylorcraft Plus D/AOP 1 which is one of the oldest flying Austers around. Built in 1942, it went to war, so it’s probably as close as I’ll get to warbird flying! I bought a North American Navion in late 2022, which is proving to be a lot of fun.

Above right Chuffed to be British number 1 Air Racing Champion.

Left Soko Kraguj.

Right Simon says that it’s humbling to see your name on famous air race trophies.

Any favourite or less liked types that you’ve flown?

I love them all! They are all very different and some are more challenging to fly well than others, but the important thing is flying.

You’ve been the Chairman of RRRA and an active air-racer, tell us some more about that.

I remember family day trips to London that had to include a visit to the top floor of the Science Museum, where I’d look at the Supermarine S6B and the Schneider trophy.

Having raced cars for a good number of years it seemed like a logical progression, especially when I saw an advert for air racing, I thought I’ve got to try that. I took part in May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 49

Meet the Members

Above North American Navion.

Army Air Corps Display Team, so it’s nice to have those two back together. I’m also doing some displays in the Navion. Display flying has taught me to fully understand what an aeroplane can do in terms of exploring the handling envelope, and then to ensure you ALWAYS stay on the right side of that envelope. It has also taught me to be well-prepared and to pay attention to human factors.

How long have you been an LAA member, and what does the Association mean to you?

I have been a member for five years now. The LAA allows more people to enjoy light aviation in all its forms in a way that would not be possible otherwise. From homebuilding to vintage aircraft, to the camaraderie and social side of flying via the many Struts throughout the country, it’s got so much to offer. race school, and started racing. When it looked like it was winding down a bit, I volunteered for the role of Chairman and did that for a few years. There is an awful lot of history associated with handicapped air racing and it is very humbling to think my name is on the same trophies as some of my boyhood heroes. I would recommend it to any pilot looking for the next step. It taught me to fly more accurately and to make the best use of factors such as thermals and wind. It really does hone your skills and teaches you to be a better pilot.

You’ve got your display authorisation?

What are your plans for 2023?

So far I have a few displays planned in the Auster alongside my good friend Kevin Hale in his AOP6. My Auster and Kevin’s used to fly together in the Historic

50 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

Above (top) Sharing the Auster with the judges at Goodwood Revival.

Above (bottom) Flying formation in the Chipmunk – the handling is just sublime.

Below Making sure my grandchildren get stated with flying early!

Have you had any favourite flying moments?

There have been many. There is something very, very special about being in a place so few humans ever get to experience. To see the clouds in three dimensions, to see sunrises and sunsets from altitude, to see the beauty of the coasts and the countryside, to see hawks at 4,000ft on a summer day. Every flight gives me something to remember.

Any thoughts as you begin your new job at the LAA?

I have been impressed by the commitment of the HQ team and the passion that all the members I have spoken to have for the LAA, it’s clearly dear to a lot of people’s hearts.

There are some themes I believe we need to be thinking about and discussing.

The first is, what’s the vision for the LAA for the next five to 10 years? How can we evolve with the changing environment, in all its meanings?

How can we embrace new technologies to benefit light aviation?

We need to think about how we make

Meet the Members

the LAA more relevant to a much wider audience, how do we communicate the pleasure our members get from aviation in such a way that we engage and enthuse a new generation of members?

Any aviation heroes – if so who and why?

My father-in-law, Frank, was a navigator in Bomber Command in WWII. I’ve always been in awe of anyone who went to war in an aeroplane. I cannot begin to imagine the courage needed to do something like that.

Any favourite aviation books?

Is it wrong to say I enjoy reading through aircraft maintenance manuals? I just like all the detail.

First Light by Geoffrey Wellum; Sigh for a Merlin by Alex Henshaw, Wings On My Sleeve by Eric Brown.

Any lessons that you’ve learnt from flying?

There is no shame in turning around or diverting when the weather starts to get worse.

Do you have any ‘fantasy hangar’ aircraft that you’d love to own?

I’m not sure there’s a hangar big enough, as there’s so many fantastic machines. I love spending time at places like Duxford, Sywell and Old Warden. If I really had to pick just one fantasy machine, it would be a Sea Fury – it’s just such a monster of an aeroplane, an awesome piece of kit.

Do you have other non-aviation hobbies/ interests?

Fast cars, sports car racing, and restoring 1970s motorcycles, and my grandchildren.

I love taking things to pieces and sometimes I can put them back together again! Motorbikes are great, because they’re small and you can get into every detail in your workshop. I tend not to enjoy winter, so if I can get in the workshop with a motorbike, I’ll spend many a happy evening just pottering away. I’ve focused on 1970s bikes because they were the bikes that I grew up with as a kid.

Plus, remember where I started with Airfix kits? About 10 years ago, I was thinking, I wonder if you can still buy those old kits? Sure enough, you can, but they cost a lot more than I remembered for the unmade ones. So I’ve started collecting the 1960s kits of my childhood.

Above (top) Rebuilt 1972, Honda 750 motorbike was a complete strip, nut and bolt.

Above (bottom) Collecting old Airfix kits from the 1960s.

Any advice for other aircraft owners and pilots?

Learn as much as you can about your aircraft, listen to it, get to know how it feels and sounds, if something changes, even slightly, investigate.

And always try new experiences – it’s how we keep learning. ■

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 51

Where to go

A

WHERE TO GO

selection of flying events for the months ahead, and some you definitely want to add to the calendar for later in the year. Don’t forget, GASCo is always running Safety Evenings up and down the country. We’ve got them listed here, plus keep an eye on their website, www.gasco.org.uk, for further updates.

May 11/12 13-14 13-14 19-20 20 20-21 26-29 27 28 28

Windermere Waterbird flight demo www.waterbird.org.uk Turweston LAA Open House (PPR) Bodmin VAC fly-in (PPR) Wycombe Private Flyer Fest Tibenham Motor glider Fly-in Compton Abbas Pooleys Air Day Sandown Spamfield Fly-in Popham VPAC Southern Fly-in Stow Maries Wings and Wheels Kirkbride Open day and Fly-in

June 3 8-10 8-10

Bodmin Ladies’ Day Fly-in Sywell Aero Expo – Meet the LAA in a dedicated display area Compton Abbas Spitfire weekend (PPR)

9-11 11 17 17 17-18 23-25 24 24/25 24/25

As always, check the Royal Aero Club Events website for the latest information and web links for many of the events: http://events.royalaeroclub.org/events.htm.

Our thanks to the RAeC and to Dave Wise for the use of their data.

If you have an event you want to advertise on the list, please email the details to Dave at: dave.wise@btinternet.com.

Guernsey Air Rally (PPR) Priory Farm Fly-in (PPR) Wickenby VPAC Northern Fly-in Kilkeel Fly-in and BBQ (PPR) White Waltham Air-Britain 75th Anniversary Fly-In Draycott Farm Great Draycott Fly-in (PPR) Easter Summer Fly-in (PPR) Breighton VAC Fly/Drive-in (PPR) Duxford Summer Airshow (PPR)

July 1 7-8 7-9 8

Middle Wallop Wheels and Wings (PPR) Leeds East Private Flyer Fest North Sleap Sleapkosh Fly-In (PPR) Monewden Suffolk Coastal Strut ‘Spirit of Boxted’ Fly-in (PPR)

Planning ahead July 8/9

Rufforth East Fly-In and Meet the LAA July 15 Old Warden Shuttleworth summer picnic evening airshow (PPR) July 15 Cromer VPAC Eastern Fly-in July 15/16 New Farm Shadowfest 40th Anniversary of CFM Shadow fly-in July 15/16 Bodmin Grasshopper Gathering L-Birds event July 21/23 Oaksey Park European Luscombe and Friends Rally (PPR) July 24/30 Oshkosh, Wi EAA AirVenture National Fly-in & Display July 30 Lundy Lundy Sunday (Strictly PPR) August 12 Shobdon VPAC Western Fly-in August 12 Bodmin Cornish Pasty Fly-in Aug 18/20 Popham LAA Grass Roots Rally Sept 9 Sleap VPAC End of season Fly-in Sept 9 Bodmin Cornwall Strut Fly-in

Get ready for Spring!

UK VFR Charts – S.Eng/Wales 1:250,000/1:500,00 (Folded) £15.99

Waterbird Wings over Windermere £12.00 Embroidered Wings £2.50

Engine Log Book - £14.00 52 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

LAA Navy Baseball Cap £12.50

Propellor Log Book - £16.00

Log Book Binder - £15.95

Prices exclude P+P.

Aircraft Log Book - £14.00

8.33kHz Airband VHF

Available NOW from ICOM Aviation Radio Dealers Throughout the UK

ICOM-UK

Blacksole House, Altira Park, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 6GZ. Telephone: 01227 741741 e-mail: info@icomuk.co.uk www.icomuk.co.uk

Landing vouchers

LANDING VOUCHERS Ah, the joy of longer flying days are now with us, as we begin to enjoy the benefits of the clocks changing!

For June, we’ve got three great landing voucher offers for you to enjoy at Enstone Flying Club, Eshott and Kittyhawk Farm.

✁ Aviation LIGHT

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

FREE Landing June 2023 Enstone Flying Club (North side grass only) 01608 678204

Situated in the middle of England, Enstone offers great countryside to fly around.

This voucher is offered by the Enstone Flying Club, so please use North side grass only, not the main hard runway. The club has an area in which to sit and relax, and you might see a MK.26 Spitfire being flown. Avgas available. Radio is 129.880 with no straight in approaches, join overhead. Circuit height 800ft for standard aircraft, and 600ft for microlights. Talk to Oxford or Brize Norton, both of which are both helpful. Please avoid overflying local villages. www.enstoneflyingclub.co.uk

✁ Aviation LIGHT

FREE Landing June 2023 Eshott Airfield 01670 787881

Operators Richard and Sam are offering LA readers the chance to visit again, as the weather was not so good in February. On 30 June an outside cinema is showing the film Top Gun (£12.50 a ticket), so why not book in and use your FREE landing and camp under the wing. The café has tea, coffee and meals. Equipped with both hard and grass runways, it’s close to the breathtaking coastline, and the National Park, so great views can be enjoyed. Avgas and Jet A1 on site. Radio is 122.855. PPR before leaving home, or visit https://eshottairfield.com

✁ Aviation LIGHT

£5 off Landing Fee June 2023 Kittyhawk Farm, East Sussex 01273 921446

This new airfield is run by a very keen LAA member who invites you to visit. Set in picturesque countryside please keep clear of local villages. Visit www. kittyhawk.farm and fill in the auto PPR form online. Apply this code LAAJUNE23 for the discount. Look at the circuit diagram and keep clear of nearby Deanland and power cables. No fuel, but tea and coffee are available. A/G radio 118.265, please make blind calls if no reply. Circuit 800ft AMSL.

54 36| LIGHT | LIGHTAVIATION AVIATION| May | July2023 2021

JUNE 2023

LAA MEMBER INSURANCE PROGRAMME

BY AIR COURTAGE ASSURANCES

Meet us this spring at Private Flyer + Aero Expo UK, LAA Village

Contact us: Tel:+44 3306 845 108 Email: laa@air-assurances.com Discover full details on: www.air-assurances.com/laa.asp

Free landing vouchers, informative webinars, great written content and lots more will help YOU improve your flying this year.

Join us on our #fly2023 challenge. Visit 23 new airfields and log 2,023 minutes throughout the year!

Sponsored by Bose and uAvionix.

Email your classified advertisement direct to the LAA: office@laa.uk.com

Classifieds

May

AIRCRAFT FOR SALE

For all display or commercial advertising enquiries please contact Neil Wilson: 07512 773532 neil.wilson@laa.uk.com You can email your classified advertisement direct to the LAA at the following address: office@laa.uk.com Deadline for booking and copy: 17 May 2023 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

​​Cygnet 28k ono. Plans built - started 20 years ago, builder shelved project due to illness.

Inspector purchased, completed build in 2020.

First permit in 2021. This is a 499kgs MTOW. 912UL refurb by Rotax Specialist. A&E time 17hrs. New Permit March 2023. Location Lewes Contact: Mobile 07976 643796

Isaacs Fury II A beautiful example powered by a Continental C90-14F. TT airframe and engine 455 hours. Best homebuilt PFA Rally 1984.

Electric starter. Generous payload and CG range. Fully aerobatic. Bruntons flying wires.

Becker 8.33 radio. Permit until 30th June 2023.

For more details call Mark White on 07771 894054 or email mark@rosebank.uk.net

SHARES FOR SALE

2016/600Hr Beautiful Pipistrel Virus G–PIVI: two 1/6th shares at White Waltham. 18L PH at 120KIAS; range of over 600nm; Dynon avionics/ autopilot; Rotax 912ULS; BRS. BMAA permit aircraft. £160 pcm and £60 per FH (NOT Hobbs). £20K per share. Weekend Flyers Welcome!! Contact Paul: paulandkimerie@aol.com or 0771 4984190

160HP 10-320 D2J 620 hrs. SENSINECH fixed prop 150 KTS on 27 LP Hr. Excellent condition no expense spared, flies beautifully. Always hangered - Cambria Cover. AVIONICS Dynon Skyview 7” (EFIS, Moving Map, Full EMS & Synthetic Vision), Auto Pilot, 12 month permit, more details on request. 07977 579 701

Fokker DR-1 replica triplane. ‘The Red Baron’.

Aircraft fully functional, excellent condition. New Superior IO-360 engine, 180 HP. Based at Felthorpe airfield near Norwich. £60,000 or offers. peterbruegg@gmail.com

BUILDING GROUP

PARTS FOR SALE New unused Warp Drive propellor.3 blade with hub etc in original packaging £900. • Little used Exhaust system suit Zenair Zodiac.complete with downpipes for Rotax 912. ex CFS. £450 • Rotax 912 cradle with Lord mounts ex Zenair Zodiac. £25 • Harnesses 2 complete, lap and diagonal. £25 each. Contact Roger on 01472 871 552 Email: rsc9@hotmail.co.uk Photos available.

Offers invited for Newly completed Vans RV9 (quick build) for sale. Tip up canopy,Tail wheel, New Superior I0-320,MT 3 blade VP prop, Dynon screens etc. Based Shoreham Call: 07966 078 558 or 01444 413 138

FOR ALL MEMBERS CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES CONTACT SHEILA: OFFICE@LAA.UK.COM

SERVICES

Sling TSi: builders wanted to form a new group of 4-6 members at Shoreham. Get involved from the ground up. 4 passengers, 450 kg useful load, 148 knots cruise, 800 NM range, 27 litres / hour. Anticipated contribution: £45,000 £67,500 per person depending on share size. shorehamsling@gmail.com

SERVICES Engine Overhaul. Zero time Major engine overhauls carried out on all types, since 1976, c/w dynamometer run-in and test. Bonner Engineering, Shoreham Airport. Contact Bill Bonner: 01 273 440250. aerobonner@aol.com.

Aircraft Weighing. Light Aircraft Weighing Service in East Yorkshire and surrounding area.

For details contact Demraview Ltd. Email: Demraview@gmail.com Mob: 07984 810 761

Design & Stress Analysis Service. Type submissions, modifications, engine frames and general advice. We cover everything from SSDR to A380:- structures, powerplant (IC and electric) and avionic installations. Contact John Wighton enquires@acroflight.co.uk or call 07770399315.

56 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

SERVICES & MORE

FUEL SERVICES

Safe flying No Ethanol Don’t risk it with water absorbing E5 and E10 fuels (mogas). WARTER UL91 and 100LL aviation fuels are ethanol free, storage stable and have a vapour pressure suitable for flying.

Please call for more information.

Available in 55 and 195 litre drums for immediate despatch, UK-wide, on a next day basis.

Anglo American Oil Company +44 (0) 1929 551557

www.aaoil.co.uk

COVERS

TRANSPORTATION

Aircraft Transportation Specialists Specialist vehicles to move your aircraft safely

For all display and company advertising contact Neil Wilson NEIL.WILSON@LAA.UK.COM

Telephone: 0121 327 8000 E-mail: info@ponsonby.co.uk Web: www.ponsonby.co.uk

Contact us now for a quotation

May 2023 | LIGHT AVIATION | 57

From the archives

FROM THE ARCHIVES The stories behind items in the LAA’s collection

T

GIPSY MOTH MANUAL

he yellowing manuals in the LAA’s technical library include several of the most popular models of de Havilland Moth types, from their famous DH60 open cockpit biplane to the sleek touring Puss Moth monoplane and portly Fox Moth air taxi – as well as, of course, that for the archetypal DH82a Tiger Moth trainer.

These manuals are of far more than just historical interest, as the ‘gen’ contained within is just as pertinent today as it was back then. True, there are different ranges of oils and greases on sale today than back in 1928, but the advice about as to what to lubricate each moving part of the Gipsy Moth with, and how often, and other such pearls of wisdom, are a great help for today’s maintainers putting together their customised

58 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2023

maintenance schedules.

These little manuals somehow also managed to find space for advice on how to do basic repairs in the field! In those days these aircraft weren’t the prized and molly coddled antiques that they are today, but rather, were thrown into the rough-andtumble world of unplanned field landings under threatening skies, perhaps to spend the night, wings folded, in a hastily vacated farm shed – or even in the open, exposed to the four winds. You get the feeling the writers would like your flight kit to include a few scraps of fabric, a jam jar of dope, a soft brush, odd bits of spruce, plywood and glue. With no mobile phones to summon help either, I guess it was even more important for pilots to ‘be prepared’! Francis Donaldson

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RV9 panel under build

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custom made loom for RV9

GNS to GTN adapter

We can help with panel and wiring design through to complete installation.

Contact us to discuss your Avionics build requirements and to go through ideas.

Call us on 01280 700020, or visit us at Turweston (next to the LAA) to discuss your requirements.

Talk to us for LAA member discounts

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Our Address: LX Avionics Ltd, Hangar 10, Turweston Aerodrome, BRACKLEY, NN13 5YD

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