RALLY WINNERS

At every Rally we have an awards team that judges the entries for the various awards and trophies that have been established over the history of the Association. Having missed a Rally last year, it was especially difficult to select the recipients because, for example, the number of first-class restorations and new builds was greater than usual. Well done and thank you to the team of judges and to the new head of judging Ian Castle, and judging administrator Susan Stowe, who take over from two of the Association’s long-serving stalwarts Stuart MacConnacher and Harry Hopkins.

Thank you also to all the entrants to the awards process, it’s a shame not everybody can win, especially when there are so many first-class aircraft on display. ■

Main The winner of the Prince Michael of Kent Trophy for Concours d’Elegance was Frank Cox for his superbly restored 1946 Fairchild 24R-46A Argus, G-BCBL. He was also awarded the John Randall Trophy for Best Vintage.

Frank acquired the Argus in 1993 and later decided it needed a re-cover. Having removed the fabric it became apparent that further refurbishment was required, and so began a 25-year restoration, which included a rebuild of the 200hp inverted straight six Ranger engine. In reality, Frank reckons the work took about half that time as he was working abroad for much of the periode. Frank was featured in the Meet the Members column of the November 2020 issue of Light Aviation and is a former RNAS and corporate pilot. From left, Steve Slater, Frank Cox and Ian Castle. Photo: Neil Wilson

Left Receiving a Commendation in the Best Vintage category is Michael Greenland for his Piper L-4 Cub, G-LOCH. Owned by his late father John since 1984, the aircraft was restored by Matt Boddington, at Sywell. Photo:

Above and left This year’s winner of the Air Squadron Trophy for the Best Plans Built goes to a man who can only be described as a persistent offender, in the nicest sense, of course. Richard Teverson has built a couple of Steen Skybolts, the second of which was modified to incorporate some of his own ideas; he then built the first Colomban Luciole in the UK and was instrumental in helping fellow builders with their projects; and then he went on to build a lovely Nicollier Menestrel. The Luciole and the Menestrel were featured a number of times during their build in the Homebuilders Tent at the Rally, as was his latest creation in 2019, an Isaacs Spitfire.

The Spitfire is a quite complex build which probably explains why it is only the third to have flown in the UK. It has taken Richard just four years to complete, and that included making his own canopy because he was keen for it to replicate the original Spitfire appearance as much as possible. Unlike Tony Razzell’s home-produced Menestrel canopy, the story of which was published in the August issue of Light Aviation, Richard blew his canopy, for which you do not require a mould. Tony used a vacuum which sucked the screen material down into a female mould, the different technique being necessary because of its more complex shape.

The one-piece wing is particularly complicated as it washes out from 2.5° at the root to -0.5° at the tip, and each of the ribs is in three sections. Richard covered the wing’s ply surface with 50g/m2 glass cloth and epoxy resin, a lightweight system as used on the Luciole. Great care has to be taken to remove all excess resign and when dry, pinholes are filled with resin, the wing is lightly sanded, and an epoxy primer applied. After light sanding the colour coats can then be added. It has certainly resulted in a beautifully smooth surface finish.

Above Winner of the RAA Canada Trophy for best Kit Built is Geoffrey Leedham for his Skystar Mk.7 Kitfox, G-CLML. It’s nice to see a new later marque of the Kitfox, the earlier models were very popular but as a number of European companies brought out updated variations of the genre, the later Kitfox models tended to suffer a drop in demand here in the UK. Photo: Nigel Hitchman

Above Receiving a Commendation in the Best Plans Built category is the superb Pietenpol Air Camper built by Pat Taylor. It really is a peach of an aeroplane and was on display in the 75th Anniversary celebratory display, alongside Bill Cole’s HM.293 Flying Flea. Photo: Neil Wilson

Right The Albert Codling Trophy for the Best Part-built went to the delightful Nieuport G-CLPN, built by Richard Vary, which is not too far from completion. Richard has promised an article on the build so I won’t get too involved in the tale other than to say it was built from Graham Lee plans and features a three cylinder Verner four stroke radial.

Above A silver tankard for the Most Meritorious Flight was awarded to Sven-Erik Pira who once again made the trip from Sweden in his Ercoupe SE-BFX. Sven has been attending the LAA and before that, PFA Rallies for many years, sometimes in the Ercoupe and others in his Thorp T18, SE-XIP. Great to see you again Sven. Photo: Neil Wilson

Left Another of the fascinating exhibits in the Homebuilders Tent this year was the Wright Type A Biplane, a flying replica of the machine the Wright brothers demonstrated in Europe in 1908, 1909. The plans were drawn up by Bill Whitney in Australia and used for the construction of a replica, which first flew in about 2005, and which is now displayed in the Narromine Aviation Museum in NSW, Australia. It is being built by Kim Bradbrook and M Parker, for which they received a Part-built Commendation.

Below Barrie Towers wrote two very interesting updates for Project News on his plans-build Stolp Starlet, G-CLNP, into which he has installed a Rotax 912 rather than a VW, which is what it was originally designed for. It was great to see it at the Rally, and it is also the subject of this issue’s flight test. Richard was awarded the CEO’s Choice Trophy as the aircraft Steve would most like to fly home. Photo: Nigel Hitchman

Above The Roy Mills Trophy for Best Classic was won by Glen Molloy for his Piper L18C, G-BJTP. Previously painted to represent a US Marines aircraft, Glen has recently completed an extensive rebuild and it now proudly carries an Italian Air Force scheme. Photo: Nigel Hitchman

Above Alan Twigg was awarded the Best Europa Trophy, which is selected by the Europa Club who have been attendees at the Rally for many years. Alan is another builder who has kept members abreast of his Europa motor glider G-GIWT build, which has taken him about 20 years due to the company ceasing trading and the glider wings not progressing. Alan’s is the first UK customer build to fly, and he says the wait has been worth it, and he is delighted with its performance. Photo: Neil Wilson

Right This early Gardan Minicab, G-AWEP, was built by Stan Jackson and first registered in 1968. Test Pilot Roland Beamont described it as ‘light and responsive, landing it required the delicate touch of a Spitfire pilot’. Now owned and kept in fine fettle by Richard Thomas, it won the Sywell Trophy for Best Classic Homebuilt. Photo: