Flyer Magazine September 2020

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September 2020

THE UK’S MOST READ GA MAGAZINE

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Editorial

FLYER Club Telephone +44 (0)1225 481440 Email subscriptions@seager.aero Website www.subscriptions.flyer.co.uk

Ed Hicks

Back in the saddle…

Editorial Telephone +44 (0)1225 481440 Email editor@seager.aero Website www.flyer.co.uk Seager Publishing, PO Box 4261, Melksham, SN12 9BN

S

ometimes it’s only when you find your way back to doing something you love that you realise just how much you’ve missed it. That was exactly the case a few weeks ago when I found myself back in the air solo. You might recall last month in our Summer of (Flying) Love feature, I mentioned that I was due a revalidation. Having set some time aside to practise, I got back up to speed, thanks to two good friends who were happy to sit right hand seat for a few hours… Then, before I knew it, the allotted day had rolled around and I found myself at Gloucestershire Airport. I’d arranged to fly a Licence Proficiency Check with Phil Matthews, CFI at Cotswold Aero Club. CAC was the first club at which I rented after I got my PPL in 1994, and I’ve returned on the odd occasion here and there since. A beautiful CAVOK day was perfect for some circuits, general handling, PFLs and one particularly brain-stirring task of flying a symmetrical figure-of-eight, the centre of which is over a fixed point on the ground. It’s all about pivotal altitude and is from the Federal Aviation Administration practical examiners tool bag apparently – try it, it’s a fun challenge to get right.

Test and paperwork complete, I was back in the air for 25 minutes of pure solo joy in the Piper Vagabond that same evening. This just left the challenge of the RV-3B, which sat waiting in the hangar… A brief with my good friend Jonathan who had collected the aircraft for me and flown it since, suggested that, with a degree of caution, I should just ‘get on with it’.

So, the next day I did.

The single seat ‘thing’ did feel slightly odd after years of flying aircraft with space at least for two, but that was soon forgotten. In this light, simple machine a grin definitely started to spread as I climbed away from its Wadswick base, and at around 2,000 feet I began to feel that I’d caught up with it… By the time we landed, the -3 and I were working as a team. I have to say, for light, simple fun, this might be my new favourite aeroplane.

The grin most definitely suggests that’s the case…

EDITOR Ed Hicks ed.hicks@seager.aero NEWS EDITOR Dave Calderwood dave.calderwood@seager.aero PRODUCTION EDITOR Lizi Brown lizi.brown@seager.aero ART EDITOR Ollie Alderton ollie.alderton@seager.aero CONTRIBUTORS Mark Hales, Ed Bellamy, Peter Wolter Paul Kiddell, Dave Hirschman Mark Flynn, Yayeri van Baarsen FLIGHT SAFETY EDITOR Steve Ayres steve.ayres@seager.aero PUBLISHER & MANAGING DIRECTOR Ian Seager ics@seager.aero PRODUCTION MANAGER Nick Powell nick.powell@seager.aero SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Kirstie May kirstie.may@seager.aero ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGER Zoe Yeo zoe.yeo@seager.aero EXHIBITION MANAGERS Darran Ward darran.ward@seager.aero Paul Yates paul.yates@seager.aero MARKETING COORDINATOR Joanna Woronowicz joanna.woronowicz@seager.aero EXHIBITION & EVENTS MANAGER Aimee Janes aimee.janes@seager.aero ACCOUNTS MANAGER Stuart Dobson stuart.dobson@seager.aero

ed.hicks@seager.aero

FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Martine Teissier martine.teissier@seager.aero

Left Ed, post-RV-3 flight. No, the grin hasn’t worn off…

CIRCULATION World-wide, free to download digital edition from flyer.co.uk

© Seager Publishing 2020

Mark Mitchell

At FLYER we aim to produce the best possible magazine for our readers. All correspondence is welcome and will be read, but we can’t guarantee a written reply. We welcome contributions from readers, and guidelines are available from us. We take great care to ensure what we publish is accurate, but cannot accept any responsibility for any misprints or mistakes. Our reviews examine what we believe to be a product’s most important points, but readers are advised to check a product suits their needs before purchasing. No part of this publication may be produced in any form without permission.

September 2020 | FLYER | 3

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Contents September 2020

Features 18 I Get Paid for This…

Dominique Roland

From testing to certifying, Dominique Roland’s job embodies his passion for GA

26 Flight Test JMB VL-3TE-915

Fitting the 141hp Rotax 915iS into the JMB Aircraft VL-3 had created one hot microlight

36 My First Solo Ben Atkinson

Ben Atkinson actually owned a nominal piece of the aircraft in which he first soloed…

38 Special Floating to Oshkosh

Oshkosh 2020 fell foul, along with others, to coronavirus. Mark Flynn recalls his memorable trip to the airshow – by floatplane

46 Accident Analysis Risky intent?

While we all applaud a light touch to the regs that govern the way we go about our flying, sometimes that isn’t enough to protect us from ourselves. Steve Ayres reports…

52 Flying Adventure Summer stripping trip

With lockdown restrictions eased, Paul Kiddell joins his friends, for a summer day of flying – not forgetting the bacon, banter and plenty of airfields…

JMB VL-3TE-915 26

64 Top Gear Garmin aera 760

We put Garmin’s latest, and biggest, portable navigator to the test

Regulars 3 Editorial 6 News 16 Pilot Careers 21 Dave Hirschman

23 25 48 66

Mark Hales Ian Seager Accident Reports

By Association

SIX Free Landings!

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Take-off

Aviation news from around the world – for the latest visit www.flyer.co.uk

Pipistrel and Green Motion to create electric aircraft charging network Main Pipistrel Velis Electro – approved by EASA as the world’s first certified electric aircraft Right, top Pipistrel is also making its E-811 electric propulsion system fitted to the Velis Electro available to other aircraft makers Right, middle The aim is to create a network of recharging points with standard connections Right, bottom Pipistrel boss Ivo Boscarol, left with François Randin, founder and CEO of Green Motion

6 | FLYER | September 2020

A Swiss company specialising in electric vehicle charging is to partner with Pipistrel Aircraft, developer and manufacturer of the world’s first type certified electric aircraft.

Green Motion was a pioneer in setting up a network of electric charging points for electric cars, motorcycles and trucks known as ‘evpass’. For the past two years it has been working on a similar network for electric aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

Green Motion already has charging stations for electric aircraft at two airfields in Switzerland which it calls ‘Flight XT’.

The two companies have four objectives: ■ Universality: create a worldwide standard for electric aircraft charging ■ Future-proof: a charging solution here to last and evolve with latest technologies

Turnkey installation: easy to install and combine with a photovoltaic system – solar technologies help airports receive subsidies ■ Network: create the first EV charging network for electric aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

Ivo Boscarol, founder and president of Pipistrel, said, “I have dedicated my life to contributing to a cleaner atmosphere and emissionfree aviation. Type certifying the first all-electric airplane was the necessary step towards this goal.

“However, to assure a significant change to a cleaner atmosphere, widespread use of electric aircraft is a must, and we need to spread the network of chargers to airports all over the world. This cannot be achieved by Pipistrel alone, but with a skilled and distinguished partner as Green Motion, this becomes a reality.”www.pipistrel-aircraft.com www.greenmotionEV.com ■

Take-off A couple of well-equipped likely lads but Govt guidance says pilots need not wear a face covering, just passengers

Passengers to wear face coverings Pilots flying light aircraft do not have to wear a face covering while flying, although it’s recommended that passengers do, according to the latest advice from the UK Government.

The Department for Transport updated the coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for General Aviation on 24 July, with a new section on face coverings, which are now mandatory in shops and airports.

The update states: Passengers must wear a face covering in airports and when on board aircraft in England.

This includes people: Flying as passengers in a balloon On an introductory flight Flying on a cost-shared basis, i.e. with Wingly.

People sharing piloting or flight crew duties don’t have to wear a face covering.

However, face coverings are recommended to be worn by all individuals on aircraft, where social distancing is not possible, where it is safe to do so. Interestingly, this seens to suggest that flying with other people, such as Wingly arranged flights, is now acceptable.

■ ■ ■

The full advice for GA covers: ■ Risk assessments ■ Social distancing ■ Face coverings ■ Large gatherings ■ Reopening of aerodromes and training organisations in England ■ Training and flying instructors ■ GA maintenance check flights ■ Communications for aerodromes ■ Air traffic management ■ Areas under local lockdown ■ Return to business as usual The full DfT guidance be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/3gbzjEu

Click for more News…

Hangar Homes appeals over

UK firm unveils hybrid-electric 70+

Solent Radar sets summer hours

Hybrid-electric firm Faradair

Solent Airport plan

seat airliner

to reduce airspace busts

moves to Duxford

Garmin recovers after ‘ransom’

Private Flyer event to go ahead at

Protect historic aircraft with

Chiltern Park in bid to keep airfield

hacking attack

Wycombe Air park

special register

open

September 2020 | FLYER | 7

Take-off

Legend launches ‘Mother Of All Cubs’ Main With flaps and leading edge slats plus 208hp, the Legend MOAC’s take-off is phenomenal Top left Legend MOAC is loosely based on Piper’s Super Cub but has been thoroughly modified Middle left A Titan O-340 producing 208hp is shovelled into the engine bay Below left Garmin G3X Touch fills the panel nicely

Looking like an escapee from Pimp My Ride, this is the ‘Mother Of All Cubs’ from the American Legend Aircraft Company.

Yes, it’s based on a Piper Super Cub but the MOAC is a thorough remake with all-new construction aimed straight at backcountry flying.

“MOAC is the most exciting way to fly low, and slow, while driving performance to the extreme,” said the Texas company.

For a start, horsepower, always a favourite upgrade.

The MOAC has a Titan Continental engine producing up to 208hp with max continuous of 180hp. Various props are available from a Cato fixed-pitch to a Hartzell constant-speed.

The airframe has been totally reworked. There are full-span flaps with up to 40º of movement, plus leading edge slats to give astonishing landing and take-off performance. American Legend claims the MOAC can take off in its own length.

To aid landing performance, the undercarriage is also beefed up. Gone is the old bungee gear and steel springs, in comes TK1 Racing Shock Monster front suspension, which is claimed to ‘eat up all the landing aircraft’s stored energy on compression’.

Of course, you’ll need space for the camping gear.

MOAC has an opening turtle deck for extended aft fuselage storage. The fuselage also allows extended rear windows and a skylight offering near 360º viewing.

The cockpit is a far cry from the basic Cub with Garmin G3X/G5 glass panels and iPad or handheld panel mounts. There’s engine monitoring and an autopilot, plus USB ports for charging devices.

Prices start at a base price of $174,900.

Legend MOAC spec Top speed 128mph Cruise speed @ 75% power 108mph Stall speed 26mph w/o flaps 32mph Endurance @ 75% power 4.5 hours Take-off distance 145ft Landing distance 260ft 8 | FLYER | September 2020

Rate of climb 1900ft/min Service ceiling 15,000ft Powerplant Titan O-340, producing 208hp max, 180hp max continuous Seating One pilot, one passenger, tandem https://legend.aero/

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Take-off

First flight for aerobatic Aura Integral R France’s aircraft industry is now bigger by one manufacturer. Aura Aero gave its all-new Integral R two-seat aerobatic aircraft its first public flight at the beginning of July, a few days after making its maiden flight.

The Integral R has its seats arranged side by side, rather than the usual tandem seating for most aerobatic aircraft. That suggests the Toulouse-based start-up is looking to fulfill the market for Upset Recovery Training (UPRT) created by such training became mandatory for professional pilots.

Aura Aeros’ prototype Integral R took off at 1530 local time on 1 July, for a one-hour flight, during which test pilots Eric Delesalle and Hervé Poulin explored the aircraft’s flight envelope.

The aircraft was accompanied by a chase aeroplane for observation of the various manoeuvres, and its progress monitored on the ground in realtime via a direct telemetry link.

Jérémy Caussade, president and co-founder of Aura Aero, said, “This first flight marks the start of the Integral adventure and we are very thrilled and proud to see our project finally and actually take to the air! Our first orders confirm that this aircraft has its place on the twin-seater market today.”

The Integral R has tailwheel landing gear configuration but there will also be a nosewheel version, the Integral S. Series production is currently under preparation on two French sites, said the company, and the final assembly line will be located in the south-west of France.

Aura Aero Integral R spec Seats Two, side by side Engine Lycoming AEIO-390 producing 210hp, constantspeed propeller Length 23.82ft Wingspan 28.80ft Height 8.07ft MTOW 2,094lb Load factor @730kg, +9/-9 G 10 | FLYER | September 2020

Cruise speed (@8,000 ft / 75%): 180kt (335km/h) Manoeuvring speed 162kt Stall speed 49kt VNE 210kt Range 700nm Fuel capacity 46 gal US Luggage capacity 66lb

Main Aura Aero’s Integral R on its first public flight from the company’s Toulouse base.

Looks like a modern CAP 10?

Right middle Side by side seating is better for flight instruction such as UPRT training Below right Aura Aero test pilots, Eric Delesalle and Hervé Poulin, a few minutes before the Integral R’s first flight

Take-off

Garmin’s July of highs and lows

Top Now OK’d in Europe: Garmin’s G3X Touch, here fitted under STC to a Grumman Tiger Above Older generation Cirrus aircraft can now be fitted with the G500 TXi flight-deck which includes an Engine Information System Left Autopilot capability has been added to GI 275 round electronic instruments and also to the G500/600 flight-decks

12 | FLYER | September 2020

July was a torrid month for Garmin. After working their socks off to launch their own virtual Oshkosh Experience to replace the cancelled event, then enjoying the euphoria of gaining European approval for the G3X Touch electronic flight display, the month ended with all of the US company’s online systems being hacked by a Russian ‘ransomware’ outfit.

The hack attack brought down all of Garmin’s online systems, updates to data, online pilot logbooks and more. It took nearly a week for everything to be restored, with Garmin assuring customers that personal accounts had not been compromised.

Deep breath. Relax. Triple the security.

Anyway, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has now granted Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval for the installation of the G3X Touch in nearly 500 certified single-engine piston aircraft. Configuration options include a large 10.6-inch G3X Touch Primary Flight Display paired with a seven-inch Multi-Function Display. Another option allows dual seven‑inch displays.

The G3X Touch can also work with the G5 EFIS and Garmin’s autopilot, the GFC 500, which includes features such as auto-trim, flight director, airspeed climbs and descents, dedicated level (LVL) mode, and Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP).

Announced over what would have been Oshkosh was a Garmin G500 TXi flight-deck replacement for the avionics fitted to older Cirrus SR20/22 aircraft.

Those early Cirrus aircraft were fitted with avionics that were state of the art at the time but things have moved on.

The 10.6-inch TXi flight display now features an MFD/EIS design, showing EIS data in a single strip on either side of the flight display that occupies 20% of the display. For example, pilots have the option of displaying moving map information on the remaining 80% of the flight display, or pilots can split that into two windows (40%/40%) to show the moving map alongside an approach chart.

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Instant Expert

The Basic Instrument Rating Getting the BIR regulations in situ was no easy task, as Ed Bellamy reports

B

ack in early March, while the world and aviation entered a rather dark hour, a small piece of good news for GA slipped out almost unnoticed. The regulations to support the EASA Basic Instrument Rating (the ‘BIR’) were finally published, more than four years after the associated rule-making task first convened.

The BIR was conceived as part of a package of measures to improve access to IFR flying for GA pilots – an aim originally identified by EASA at the 2014 Safety Conference in Rome.

The regulations do not enter legal effect until September 2021, but getting them across the line was a significant achievement.

Also alongside the BIR are other updates to the Aircrew Regulation, including extending the provision which allows IMC ratings (issued as the IR(R)) to be added to EASA licences. The extension is also until September next year, although that will likely become a moot point at the end of 2020 if the UK leaves EASA as anticipated.

The BIR is designed to provide a more obtainable IFR qualification for GA pilots that should bring most of the utility of the normal Instrument Rating, but with less theoretical knowledge and a more flexible training regime. There are no minimum hours required for the rating – it is entirely ‘competency based’. Being an EASA rating, it will be valid in all EASA Member States.

A key difference from the IMC rating is that the BIR will have almost all the privileges of the full IR. There are no restrictions in terms of class of airspace and only moderate additional limitations to weather minima. Approach minima is 200ft above normal, and departures need a 600ft cloud ceiling and 1500m visibility. Destination forecasts must meet similar criteria to commence a flight.

Simple flight planning

For the nature and frequency of flights conducted by most GA pilots, approaches flown in IMC to minima are likely to be few and far between, so I suspect in practice there will be little difference in utility versus the full IR. With access to all classes of controlled airspace under IFR, the BIR supports one of the key benefits of flying IFR – that of simple flight planning and end-to-end ATC clearances.

EASA’s encouragement of GA IFR is to be welcomed.

Although some GA pilots will have no interest in IFR flight, evidence from the US suggests if ratings were more accessible there would be more uptake.

Recent FAA stats suggest around a quarter of US private pilots hold an IR (although it’s not known how many are active). What is interesting is that the FAA reckon that the proportion with an IR has risen considerably since 1980 when it was only around one in ten.

Both the US and Europe show long term declines in new PPLs being issued, but the IR stat is an interesting one – in the UK the number of IRs added to an EASA PPL(A) was all of 66 in the last counting period available, April 2018 to March 2019. This compared to 1,736 new EASA PPL(A)s issued overall. Even the IMC rating (including IR(R)) was down to 14 | FLYER | September 2020

“BIR training will be split into three simple modules - core instrument flying, approach and departure skills, and en route IFR“ around 200 in the same period. Go back to the 1990s and in a good year the CAA might issue nearly 1,000.

The introduction of the ‘competency based modular’ (CBM) route to the IR in 2014 has increased IR uptake among PPL(A)s slightly. In 2013, the year before it came in, a mere 29 IRs were issued to PPL holders, so 2019 does represent a small increase.

So why might the BIR improve things? It is often said that PPL holders are put off by the volume of theoretical knowledge (TK) needed to obtain the IR. The CBM route for the IR did reduce the TK, but it still requires a formal groundschool course, seven exams and a big commitment of time and money. Although the IMC rating has always been popular with GA pilots, being UK only and the lack of access to en route controlled airspace may have limited its perceived utility.

The BIR will hopefully forge a middle path on the issue.

Practical training will be split into three simple modules consisting of core instrument flying, approach and departure procedures and finally en route IFR which should tie the skills together such that a pilot can plan and execute an end-to-end IFR flight.

There are no minimum hours requirements, so instructors and flying schools will have to judge that all competencies have been acquired before recommending for a test. There will be three ground exams, one per module (the CBM IR is seven), although multiple subjects will be covered in single papers – for example, questions on Met might find themselves next to radio procedures.

With the regulations not entering into force for another year, this does raise the issue of how the BIR intersects with Brexit. Individual pilots wishing to gain EASA ratings post the transitional period do have the option of obtaining an EASA licence from another state, for example Ireland.

Currently the plan is to implement the BIR in UK law, so when the UK leaves EASA there will be a parallel UK version in place. However, because it may not be considered an ICAO Annex 1 rating (due to the modifications from the standard IR), unless the UK can do a bilateral agreement with Europe, UK BIR holders may find themselves limited to the UK.

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In Brief Airbus Helicopters has reacted to the COVID-19 crisis by improving its distance learning online training. On the trainees’ side, distance learning requires a personal computer, internet connection with sufficient bandwidth, a built-in camera and a microphone. On the instructor’s side, Airbus has tailored hardware. “We now have a separate large TV display showing all the faces of the trainees so that valuable non-verbal communication cues are not lost.” https://bit.ly/ AirbusHeloTraining

It’s not just helicopter pilots in demand – drone pilots are too. Skyborne Airline Academy has responded by teaming up with Flyby Technology, a leader in UK drone training and operation.

Newly qualified pilots from Skyborne’s UKCAA/EASA Integrated and Combined Modular ATPL programmes will be hand-selected to join Flyby Technology as commercial drone pilots, completing the company’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) training course. www.skyborne.com The Air League, too, is offering two sponsored places on training courses for commercial drone pilots.

Applications are now being accepted and there will be an assessment day in Lincolnshire on 24 August.

More here: https://bit.ly/ AirLeagueDrones Flight simulators are expensive, take up a lot of space and need instructors to become familiar with their working. So the idea of one simulator to serve three different levels of aeroplane – single-engine piston, twin-engine piston and twin-engine jet – is hugely appealing for flight schools.

And here it is, the Fensome 360 from Simloc. Full story here: https://bit.ly/ SimlocFensome

16 | FLYER | September 2020

The alternative aviation career: flying helicopters While airlines are currently making redundancies, there is one area of aviation that is continuing to employ new pilots: helicopter flying.

Many flight schools offering professional helicopter flight training are also operators of rotary aircraft on contract work, such as pipeline inspections or supplying pilots to industry and services.

Sarah Bowen, head of training at Leicester-based Helicentre Aviation said, “I can’t speak for the whole industry but we have hired four pilots since March and have offered four additional positions to new instructors due to start in the next three months. So we’ve never been busier. Oil and Gas, Police and HEMS (helicopter emergency medical services) are obviously still operating and have done so throughout Covid – so yes, it’s clearly nothing like the impact that Covid has had on the airline industry.”

Brian Kane, sales and marketing director at Heli Air, agreed, pointing out that restarting flight training at the company’s main base at Wycombe Air Park, which is due to happen in August, was being made easier because some of its instructors had continued to fly pipeline inspections during the lockdown and were therefore still current.

Online training Airbus Helicopters has responded to Covid by increasing its online training, covering everything from type ratings, recurrent training and familiarisation as well as technical training for technicians. Sabrina Barbera, head of training and flight ops at Airbus Helicopters, said, “Remote courses allow

Above Tom Barnard is the winner of the first Bristow CPL Scholarship, and he’ll continue his training with Helicentre Aviation

customers to perform training wherever they are based, without having to travel, which significantly decreases the overall cost and makes certain courses more accessible in all ways for our customers.

“The COVID-19 crisis reinforced the need for both on-site and distance learning,” said Barbera, “and enabled us to accelerate the efforts already in place.”

However, lockdown did affect pilot training and for that reason Helicentre has extended the deadline of its 2020 Professional Helicopter Pilot Scholarship Programme.

Applicants now have until 31 December 2020 to apply for the scholarships, which include a fully funded modular Commercial Pilot’s Licence, a Flight Instructor Course, and a number of part-funded sponsorships worth over £150,000 in total.

The programme is open to all Helicentre Aviation students who obtain their PPL(H) at the

Academy before the deadline.

Previous scholarship winners have moved on to Oil and Gas, HEMS, and other onshore roles.

Bristow winner Earlier this year Helicentre Aviation announced the award of its 2019 scholarships.

Tom Barnard from London received a fully funded Commercial Pilot (CPL) Scholarship, and Sam Wyss from Lichfield was awarded a Flight Instructor (FI) scholarship.

For the first time a brand new Bristow CPL(H) Scholarship was awarded to James Lee from Birmingham, strengthening the industry partnership that Helicentre Aviation and Bristow Helicopters formed last year.

The scholarship will provide James with a fully funded, 35-hour modular CPL(H) course, while he is mentored by Bristow towards the Oil and Gas career pathway he strives to achieve in the future. Several partfunded scholarships were also awarded to finalists. Details: www.helicopterscholarships.com

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Pilot Careers

I Get Paid for This…

Dominique Roland From testing to certifying for EASA, Dominique Roland’s job embodies his passion for GA. Interview by Yayeri van Baarsen

How did you get into flying?

Like many boys, flying has always been a dream of mine. Although my family wasn’t rich, I had the opportunity to start in gliders when I was 15, when the French government subsidised gliding clubs. I spent a lot of time at the Aéroclub in Rennes and obtained my PPL when I was 17.

Tell us about your job?

I’m Head of General Aviation at EASA, managing the team in charge of certification processes and continued airworthiness for everything from balloons to business jets. I’m also champion for the GA Roadmap Project, aiming Flying CV to improve the GA in Europe. My job is EASA’s Head of General Aviation wonderful, it’s all about GA, which is where my Dominique Roland is a driving force heart is. Like breathing air, flying is an essential in light aircraft certification part of my life.

Started at EASA August 2005 All aircraft we certify need to comply with Now flying TB-20 Trinidad (privately). Pilatus, safety standards and be adapted to their mission.

Daher, Bristell, Stemme, Aquila, etc. (professionally) A two-seat trainer, for example, will be used by Favourite aircraft Extra NG. “In terms of inexperienced pilots who solo after 10 hours, so it flying qualities, it’s probably the best aircraft should be stable and easy to control. Since most I’ve ever flown.” fatalities come from loss of control, we mainly Hours at job start Approx. 5,000 Hours now Approx. 5,800 focus on handling characteristics, like spin recovery, low speed and stall characteristics.

Understanding the certification requirements is crucial in my job. Not just for testing, but also to convince the applicants What’s been your favourite flight? of their necessity. Often, applicants see these requirements as constraints.

Winning the Breitling World Cup of Aerobatics in 1995. In this However, they’re based on many years of experience and safety issues. competition I performed aerobatic figures synchronised to a waltz by Communication is important. You need to explain to aircraft companies Tchaikovsky, playing from speakers and in my headset. The wind made it that compliance with requirements helps safety and their business. difficult to move in sync with the music and stay in front of the judges. It An interesting project that I recently worked on was certifying was the most challenging flight I’ve made, but a beautiful experience.

Pipistrel’s Velis Electro. Alongside the technical aspect of certification, we were working on the regulatory framework. As there’s no piston engine in And your favourite airfield? this aircraft, aircrew, OPS and maintenance regulations needed to be Bernay, a small grass strip in Normandy. It has a nostalgic feel to it, like adapted – you can’t talk about ‘fuel reserves’. Certifying the battery GA from old times. The place still looks like it did 50 years ago. management system was challenging as well, because of the fire risk of lithium batteries. I really appreciated Pipistrel’s co-operative spirit, Do you get to fly much outside of work? working towards the same goal, it felt like we were one team.

Yes, on weekends my wife and I often fly the four-seat TB-20 I share with I’m still involved as a test pilot, mostly for small aircraft. Whenever I colleagues. We visit our daughter who lives near Cannes, meet friends in get the chance I test aerobatic aircraft. Having flown 10 years in the Normandy or fly up to Wangerooge and Langeoog. On these islands French team, aerobatics is my passion. Aerobatic aircraft are wonderful north of Germany cars aren’t allowed, so we go for a walk. Our dog, a to fly, not only because of their high performance, but also in terms of German Pointer, loves joining us on these trips – she’s always the first to controllability. You can do so much more than with a normal aircraft. climb into the aircraft!

“Like breathing air, flying is an essential part of my life”

What training did you have?

Working for Avions Mudry & Cie, a small company designing and building aerobatic aircraft, I got some on-the-job training testing aircraft.

In 2010 I went to EPNER test pilot school at Istres Airbase where I obtained my test pilot licence. I had already started working at EASA in 2005, first as a team leader and test pilot GA. Since April 2019, I’ve been Head of the General Aviation Department.

18 | FLYER | September 2020

What’s the most valuable career advice you’ve received?

Don’t focus too much on predesigned career plans. I never planned to become an aerobatic pilot, test pilot or Head of GA. When I was young, I always assumed I’d get a job as an airline pilot. At the end of the day, it was more a case of being open to opportunities and following my destiny, than of having a clear-cut career path.

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Column

Unusual Attitude Dave Hirschman

Mark Mitchell

P

Short takes…

ilot priorities. It’s OK to drive a crappy car so that you can fly a cool aeroplane. Cars are only good for driving to the airport, and pilots should spend as little as possible ‘aeroplane money’ on cars. The biggest lie we tell prospective pilots is that learning to fly is easy – anyone can do it. The truth is that learning to fly is difficult, time consuming and expensive. Most who attempt the task don’t complete it, and not everyone can (or should) fly aeroplanes.

Our second biggest lie is that learning to fly a light GA aircraft will expand your business by providing reliable, cost-effective transportation to distant places. In reality, weather, maintenance, fatigue, and many other factors conspire against our travel schedules.

A true accounting of the real costs seldom justify aircraft ownership on a spreadsheet.

The best reason to learn to fly is this. You want to confront a big challenge, and you’d feel an incomplete person if you didn’t at least try.

Flight instructors get emotionally invested in their students’ success. More than anything else, students who fail to progress can demoralise their instructors.

Ever wondered just how to turn a timid student into a tiger? Throw a roll of toilet paper out the window, let it unfurl, and have the student slice it with the wings. They’ll go after it like a terrier chasing a rat.

What if you don’t have a roll of toilet paper? Then have your students follow a twisting, turning river while keeping the aircraft precisely over the middle. They’ll bank aggressively and pull hard while keeping their eyes outside.

It’s a valuable exercise that also illustrates that the elevator turns the aeroplane – not the ailerons.

The trick to smooth landings? Don’t land. Try to fly one foot off the runway surface for the entire length and be surprised when the main tyres roll on.

Calculate percentage power using the ‘rule of 48’. (Add rpm/100 and inches of manifold pressure to get the magic number.) For example, 2,400 rpm (24) plus 24 inches of manifold pressure = 48, or 75 per cent power. Use the ‘rule of threes’ for descent planning. (Take the number of thousands of feet from your cruising altitude to the airport elevation and multiply it by three to get the distance from the destination to begin the descent.) For example, you’re flying at 10,500ft and the airport elevation is 500ft. You’ve got 10,000ft to lose, so, 10 times three and you know.

OK, but how quickly should I descend? What’s the proper rate? Divide your ground speed by two, and multiply it by 10.

If your ground speed is 150kt, dividing by two and multiplying by 10 makes it 750. Your target descent rate is 750ft per min.

Don’t be an A-to-B pilot. Be an A-to-Z pilot. Learn broadly and have as many varied aviation experiences as possible. Tailwheels, aerobatics, seaplanes, gliders, antiques, turboprops, experimental designs, and jets are all fair game.

The biggest obstacle to pilot learning is thinking that the certificates we’ve already obtained make us experts.

Curiosity and humility are essential to continuing education.

The only two bits of aerodynamic theory pilots really must understand are angle of attack and the total drag curve. Get those concepts sorted and you’ll be able to expand your aeroplane’s range, endurance and performance capabilities.

There’s no correlation between a pilot’s confidence and their skills. Many skilled pilots lack confidence, just as some confident pilots lack skills. The most simple, elegant, and truthful aircraft instrument is a yaw string.

The foundation of formation flying is trust. Without trust in your fellow pilots, other skills are irrelevant. The best advice

“Don’t be an A-to-B pilot.

Be an A-to-Z pilot” for living a long, rewarding, and contented life of aerobatic flying is: get good instruction, buy a Pitts (or another purposebuilt aerobatic aeroplane) – and don’t do airshows (because they require low-level flying). Aerobatic flight in aerobaticcategory aeroplanes at legal altitudes is remarkably safe.

GPS navigation, in-cockpit weather information, graphical terrain maps, solid state air data computers, and digital autopilots are extraordinary safety tools. Radio navigation has outlived its usefulness. WAAS GPS makes VORs, localisers, and even ILS obsolete. Radio technology was superb in its time but its time is up. If radio navigation disappeared tomorrow, most of aviation would neither notice nor care. The golden age of aviation is right now.

Aeroplanes are too expensive – and too cheap. The fact that these things last for decades hurts the value equation for new ones. And the fact that there are so few new ones, and that they’re so costly, keeps the old ones around forever. The ICON A5 is a great aircraft. It’s too bad so few can afford it.

Moderation is a worthy life goal – but not when it comes to the centreline. Be a zealot for the centreline. Make every landing an accuracy landing and you’ll be ready if you’re ever called upon to land on an uncomfortably narrow surface.

Expect that – someday – you’ll be called upon.

RV-4 pilot, ATP/CFII, specialising in tailwheel and aerobatic instruction dave.hirschman@flyer.co.uk September 2020 | FLYER | 21

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Column

Full Throttle

Mark Hales

Mark Mitchell

I

Knowing when to stop…

’ve been a follower of Bangernomics for as long as I can remember. The science that is to find a vehicle that does the job at the most reasonable price possible. And the more unusual and least fashionable, the better – a combination that usually goes hand in hand. Maybe old habits die hard, but when the winged obsession took hold, I applied the same rationale.

Aeroplanes are admittedly a bit different – but the rewards of Aviation Bangernomics are even bigger. Fly a Piper Cherokee, and then try anything made by Miles or de Havilland, and the point will be amply made. There are, let’s say, conditions of use I will admit, but since I’m not using it to commute, they are ones I’ll happily accept.

If there’s a problem with Bangernomics, it’s mainly psychological. You absolutely can’t worry about what people think, but you also have to remember the first motivation, which is not to spend too much.

So, let’s say I paid £500 for my motor, and after a month, the temperature gauge starts going up. Say £300 with Mr Fixit to attend to the head gasket and it’s still economical transport. Then the ECU starts playing up… Let’s say 200 quid on eBay, including the ignition barrel and the speedometer. It would still probably be worth it, but… this is definitely the time to say no. Stick it on eBay for spares or repairs and find another one…

That’s not so easy with aeroplanes… It had taken some time finding the ideal Jodel to carry my diesel conversion, but I also knew that it might be a while before that engine was ready.

This was autumn last year, so I reckoned I might as well do some flying rather than have a nice Jodel just sitting there. A couple of weeks to renew the Permit, give it a service and check over, and maybe attend to a couple of oil leaks on the Potez. I’ve flown plenty of hours behind a Potez and I like them. Spares are also plentiful because people are wary of them. Bangernomics y’see.

The Permit was straightforward, but I couldn’t find the oil leak, and there was already the conversion designed to fix exactly that problem. Maybe best pull the cylinders and take a look. I’d find out why there was no torque on the through bolts… Which turned out to be thanks to a large crack across the main bearing webs. So that’s the source of the leak. No matter, I had access to a container load of Potez bits, among which was an engine that had been removed because it was burning oil. I rang Barry and asked if that was the only problem. Barry said that it was and other than that, it ran fine. Was the oil pressure OK? Barry

said it was. So, just a simple matter of removing the top end from Barry’s engine (which revealed all the broken piston rings, and a perfectly intact crankcase), removing the Jodel’s existing engine, and installing its cylinders on to Barry’s.

More than I’d planned to do, but doable nonetheless. I then found out that the ancillaries wouldn’t fit. The starter and alternator conversions were on different sides. So the electronic ignition, which should have been a bonus, wouldn’t go straight on.

Meanwhile, my diesel conversion was taking its time.

Official scrutiny is never a ‘yes/no’ affair. It was at this point experience should have come to my rescue. I should have removed the engine which I had just fitted and made the rest ready to accept the diesel, whenever that arrived.

“It’s rare I call a halt, but I have now parked the aeroplane” But spring had sprung, and I still had nothing to fly. And I’d painted all the cylinders and tidied all the wiring, and, and… Surely it couldn’t be that difficult? Surely I could take advantage of all the work I’d already done? I spent huge amounts of time making the ignition fit, only to find the sparks were retarded by about 20°, and only after I’d worked out that the firing order was different. More bracketry required, the essential parts of which remained totally inaccessible and required the flywheel and all the various conversions to be removed, I think six times...

The engine finally ran well enough, but why was the oil pressure so high? The gauge said over 160psi when cold, or enough to split the oil cooler. I rang Barry again. Now he came to think of it, his aircraft didn’t have a gauge, or a cooler. The light went out, so he remained blissfully unaware. It was just the engine’s appetite for W100.

It’s rare I call a halt, but I have now parked the aeroplane. The diesel installation is closer than it was, so there are better uses for my time. And the Permit application for my Messenger is at last with the LAA and summer is not yet over.

I won’t think of it as giving up, more like finally accepting it’s time to stop…

Working vintage aircraft and cars make Mark particularly happy mark.hales@seager.aero September 2020 | FLYER | 23

Column

Squawks Ian Seager

E

Lundy Sunday

ven the most optimistic among us can struggle to maintain a bright outlook from time to time. Covid, economic uncertainty, ever more complex aviation regulation, airfield closures, airspace designed by people who presumably aren’t old enough to even look like policemen… the list, which always seems to lack sufficient golden nuggets, goes on. But from time to time something special crops up, something that warms a slightly jaded aviation heart, something that reminds you just what is possible and how much fun it can be.

On Sunday August 2 I was walking along the track that runs from the airstrip on Lundy to the Marisco Tavern. The rain had stopped, the sun was out, I could see the Devon coast ahead and to my left, and if I glanced back I could see Wales.

The pub was busy (too busy for me), but I sat down with fellow flyers, and shared some pleasant aviation chat and a pork pie (thanks Graham!).

This was my second visit to Lundy, the first being a few years ago on June 21, the longest day, when I flew in with my wife in the C182, and we met up with a good friend and another Ian, who was in his Cessna 180, more on that later.

The strip on Lundy, as the guides and any previous visitors will tell you, is short, rough, and undulating with a not insignificant hump in the middle.

Although there are no big holes, there are animal tracks, embedded rocks and enough sheep poo to make it likely that you’ll somehow manage to put your foot in it at some point. Oh, and there’s a substantial stone wall at the 24 threshold that’s always worth missing. All of this and much more is covered in an excellent and comprehensive brief that’s sent out before the event (if you haven’t guessed, PPR is essential, as is a telephone briefing if you’re a first timer to the island’s airstrip).

It was the annual Lundy Fly-in, organised by Pete White and the small ‘Lundy Team’ with the full support of those on the island (winter population of around 20). The event first was run back in 2000 (how can that be 20 years ago?), when it was organised by what was then the PFA’s Devon Strut. Concerns over its challenging nature lead the PFA/LAA to withdraw, and ever since Peter and his small team of volunteers have been making it all happen. They arrive on the island the day before the event (by air, obviously), and walk the runway and parking areas to check for anything more than the usual Lundy hazards, reacquaint themselves with the lie of the land so they can figure out where to park everyone and finally test the quality of the Marisco Tavern’s refreshments.

It’s become somewhat of a highlight in strip flyers’ diaries and for good reason – it brings together a bunch of interesting aeroplanes and interesting pilots at what is a unique and challenging location. Numbers have grown over the years, and despite some weather challenges and Covid, this year there were 80, yup, EIGHTY visiting aircraft, including more than 30 vintage aeroplanes.

The event is obviously not without risk. The small island is often affected by local weather (we saw some of that!), and bringing lots of aircraft into and out of a short rough strip, over not much more than a few hours, will always be a bit more challenging than having a full English with a couple of mates at an airfield with a long and smooth runway. There’s no mechanical support on the island, just whatever spares, tools and goodwill you and your fellow pilots bring with you, so minor mishaps or technical issues come with a disproportionate risk, but the reasons that make it challenging and the satisfaction that comes from it all going to plan are clearly an integral part of its success.

Mark Mitchell

“This might be one of the biggest, if not THE biggest fly-in this year.

Lunkosh perhaps…?”

I could have taken the C182 back in again (there were quite a few there), but the other Ian – the one with the C180 I’d had dinner with on Lundy a few years ago – is currently out of the country, and in an act of supreme generosity he said he had no problem with me taking his aeroplane to the fly-in (he didn’t mention bringing it back again, but I took that as a given). So, I refreshed my short field landing and take-off technique beforehand, but I don’t mind admitting to feeling a little trepidation as Ed the Editor and I departed for Lundy.

Later in the day while walking the lines of aircraft with Ed wondered if this might be one of the biggest, if not THE biggest fly-in this year. Lunkosh perhaps…?

It was bigger than AERO Friedrichshafen, had more aircraft than Sun ’n Fun – and more than Oshkosh! I bet nobody, especially Pete White and the team, ever thought anyone would be able to say that about Lundy Sunday.

Thanks everyone, I’m looking forward to next year already, and hope to see you there (don’t forget to PPR!).

Publisher, pre C-19 often found flying something new and interesting ics@seager.aero September 2020 | FLYER | 25

FLIGHT TEST | JMB Aircraft VL-3TE-915

Speed Freak The first version of the VL-3 broke three world speed records and the latest version builds on that using the Rotax 915 iS turbo engine.

This 600kg microlight can top 180kt and has been created to be a formidable touring machine…

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY Peter Wolter 26 | FLYER | September 2020

September 2020 | FLYER | 27

Flight Test

“Mustang! Lancair!

Glasair! With its new radiator under the wing, the VL-3 looks like a combination of those types” 28 | FLYER | September 2020

A Above Sleek cowl hides tight Rotax engine install. Carbon Woodcomp prop is constant speed Left Main gear legs retract aft and in, beside P-51-style belly scoop that provides the necessary cooling for the liquid cooled cylinder heads of the Rotax 915iS Below JMB Aircraft CEO Jean-Marie Guisset

s we roll to a stop after my landing, the guy in the right seat has a question. “OK, so do you want me to show you how to get a really short take-off?” That guy is Jean-Marie Guisset, managing director of JMB Aircraft. “Wasn’t it short enough for you?” I ask back. “Well…” Jean-Marie grins and suggests changing places. OK, so with him in the left seat and me in the right, we roll back to the start of Runway 33 in Choceň. Jean-Marie sets the flaps to position 2 (37°), holds the Beringer brakes, which are only mounted on the left side of our machine, opens the throttle and lets the engine reach 5,750rpm, then releases the brakes. It’s a real kick in the back and we’re airborne a few seconds later. Was that 200 metres? A quick circuit, and when landing, the VL-3 ends roughly at the same place where it took off, Jean-Marie keenly using those brakes again.

The Cirrus that we’ve flown to the Czech Republic to visit JMB Aircraft’s home base, feels smoother at the start. Sure, with a normal take-off, we don’t hold the aeroplane against the brakes until the engine has reached its maximum power, but a look at the numbers reveals that both aircraft are equally dynamic regardless of their class: The SR22-G3 Turbo has a weight-to-power ratio of 4.9kg per horsepower at max weight, while the VL-3 Evolution with its Rotax 915 iS manages 4.3kg per horsepower. 1,548kg and 315hp versus 600kg and 141hp.

I’d first seen this Rotax engine, with its characteristic blue rocker and manifold covers when visiting the same factory in mid-February 2020. The project to fit the Rotax 915 iS to the VL-3 had not long begun and the aircraft still looked very unfinished. My question of when we could fly was met with a typical manufacturer’s answer – ‘as soon as it’s ready’. And now, at the end of June, I find myself looking at the second prototype, parked outside the hangar. “It’s not completely fine-tuned yet,” admits the JMB boss.

It is quite a sight though. On our photo flight above the clouds, I feel like putting the camera away and simply just looking at it. The composite form, painted in a racer-like colours, flies in wide circles, as if circling with the pace-plane, Reno Air Race-style, in readiness to go racing. Mustang! Lancair! Glasair! With its new radiator under the wing, the VL-3 looks like a combination of those types.

As many aircraft manufacturers have found, it was not a trivial task to fit the newest Rotax aircraft engine in the VL-3. Like the most powerful VL-3 engine to date, the 115hp Rotax 914, the 915 iS is turbocharged, but the 915’s turbo also has an intercooler. This increases both the space requirement and the weight in September 2020 | FLYER 29

Flight Test

“As a microlight designed for fast travel and never intended to set speed records, the VL-3TE-915 enters into a performance range where few microlights have been before” front of the firewall. The nose of the VL-3TE-915 is eight centimetres longer than that of the other versions.

“All in all, the new engine weighs around 30kg more,” says Petr Kábrt, who designed the VL-3 with his brother Miroslav and oversees their latest development. The additional weight would be even greater if they had not been satisfied with a simple version of the belly scoop holding the cooler, through which the coolant for the cylinder heads is pumped. An adjustable solution would have been preferred by Jean-Marie Guisset, just like the P-51 Mustang, but it would have weighed more. As it is, a large part of the undercarriage hydraulics had to be relocated from the engine compartment to behind the cabin. The aircraft we’re flying today weighs around 380kg when empty.

Complex cooling From the front you see five air inlets that are used for cooling – in the cowling, a NACA scoop for the intercooler, two inlets for the air-cooled cylinders, one round intake for the oil cooler, plus the belly scoop for the radiator cooling the liquidcooled cylinder heads

30 | FLYER | September 2020

This is too much for Jean-Marie. “We definitely want to be under 370kg in the production aircraft.”

With the increase in performance, JMB completely reevaluated and retested the aircraft’s structure. The airframe has been tested and found flutter-free to 242kt, Vne was increased from 170 to 184kt. Max speed in turbulent air is up from 135 to 150kt, while the manoeuvring speed remains 102kt. The VL-3’s Galaxy ballistic parachute rescue system has a maximum deployment speed of 180kt at 600kg – just below Vne. On my first flight with this new VL-3, before Jean-Marie’s short take-off demonstration, the runway was not so important to me. Flaps to position 1 (15°), feet off the brakes and accelerate, but not abruptly. My right foot is ready to respond if the aircraft decides to turn strongly to the left, but it doesn’t. I later learn that a little offset to the thrust line of the engine has been added to help compensate for any swing.

In the vicinity of Choceň we remain low, underneath the military airspace until we get further east when we climb, full throttle at 5,500rpm and 80kt at over 1,500fpm.

All about performance Every difference on this new VL-3 with the Rotax 915 iS, compared to the earlier 100 and 115hp models, boils down to performance. So what does the new engine deliver? Obviously, True Air Speed increases ​​ with altitude, and this is where the intercooled turbo shows its prowess, with its ability to develop full take-off power up to 15,000ft. This aircraft is fitted with oxygen so you can take advantage of flight above 10,000ft should you so desire. In the Czech Republic, microlights are rarely approved for heights above 10,000ft, so on our flight we make do with 9,500ft. The constant speed Woodcomp composite propeller stays at 5,500rpm as I push the throttle fully forward. As we accelerate, I try to keep the nervous needle of the VSI at zero. The ASI comes to rest – 185ktas – wow! OK, the SEA Risen (tested in FLYER April 2017) might be faster with 26hp less, but is a far different overall concept with its very small airframe. But as a microlight that was designed primarily for fast travel and never intended to set speed records, the VL-3TE-915 enters into a performance range where few microlights have been before.

Pulling the throttle back gradually, applying 90 per

Above While the prototype uses Garmin G3X Touch screens, Dynon Skyview is available too.

Trim and flaps are mechanically operated, though electrical flaps are an optional extra Right Slightly reclined seating position and well-padded seats add comfort for touring Below Baggage compartment is accessible from the outside thanks to a good-sized hatch Left An oxygen bottle is fitted in the baggage area – essential for flights at altitudes above 10,000ft

September 2020 | FLYER | 31

Turbine Maule Grumman Widgeon M-7-420AC

Top Paint scheme has racing aspirations, but the VL-3TE is all about serious touring Above Previous VL-3s used two movable trim tabs, but the new VL-3TE retains just one, with a fixed tab instead on the left elevator Left Enormous split flaps allow very steep approaches Below Fences defuse the power-on stall – ailerons are short

32 | FLYER | September 2020

cent power and the speed of the constant-speed prop falls from 5,500 to 5,000 rpm and the speed to 150ktas.

In Germany, Jean-Marie says that with ATC clearance he climbs 2,500ft higher to 12,000ft when he’s making the trip back and forth between the factory and his Belgian hometown of Amougies. He has made the trip three times in this particular aircraft and can cover the 485nm in two hours and 50 minutes. In a hurry, 90 per cent power, 5,400rpm, at 12,000ft givres a True Air Speed of190kt and a fuel burn of 35 litres per hour. A more economical cruise at the same altitude, is 50 per cent power, 150kt and 18 litres per hour. Theoretically, with this power setting you can travel 1,084nm with a 30 minute reserve from full tanks. In practice, a typical pilot’s flight will be shorter, as not many of us are comfortable spending over seven hours in the cockpit in one go…

Landing configuration It takes a while for us to be slow enough to approach the stall in landing configuration. Undercarriage at 80kt, we slow more and gradually add flaps. At 49kt a warning tone sounds. It was not programmed but comes from the angle of attack indicator. “If you want to fly stalls, you have to do it with my test pilot,” says Jean-Marie. At 43kt, the aircraft begins to buffet. I release the back pressure, the stall speed is sufficient for the approval of 600kg ULs in Germany, where 45kt must be demonstrated. With the flaps retracted, we are warned acoustically at 58kt, the stall stops at 55kt. That is still too high for Jean-Marie – he says the angle of the pitot tube is not yet perfected, the aim is 50kt. To improve the stall behaviour with the bigger engine with power on, the 915-powered VL-3 has been fitted with boundary layer wing fences. I’m told the VL-3 with the 115hp Rotax 914, has power-on stall behaviour without boundary layer fences that is routine.

Handling, operation, the view (excellent by the way) and cabin comfort is unchanged from the smallerengined VL-3 models. Unfortunately, our prototype does not have the optionally available electrically operated landing flaps, but mechanical ones. The muscle power that you need to extend them is high, especially as you near the lever position needed for full flaps. I find this a bit of the distraction to the light touch

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Flight Test

TECH SPECS

VL-3TE-915

One slippery microlight…

The 915iS-powered VL-3 has a longer nose than this original design drawing… It’s is so new, they couldn’t send us a 3-view for it…

that’s otherwise needed with power during take-off and landing. The pitch trim is effective, and even at maximum power in level flight the aircraft can be trimmed hands-off. However the substantial angle at which the tab deflects alarms me. Not just because it increases drag, but also because of the the considerable mechanical load it imposes on the trim tab and the control surface at high cruise speeds. When I raise it with designer Petr Kábrt, he defends the solution and says he is less keen to use the alternative of having a spring trim, that is used in the control system on some other microlight types. JMB is currently testing electrical actuation of the trim tab.

Warning horn Landing holds no particular challenges for the pilot. At Jean-Marie’s suggestion I turn downwind at just under 80kt and extend the undercarriage, fly crosswind at 70kt and extend 15° of flap, turning onto final at 65kt, and extending 37° then 55° of flap. You should plan to cross the threshold at 54kt. If somehow you set the flaps with the undercarriage retracted, a warning horn sounds to remind you to lower the gear.

As I mentioned at the start, just how steeply the VL-3 can be flown on the approach is shown to me by Jean-Marie in his short take-off and landing demonstration. When the huge slotted flaps are fully extended and the aircraft is throttled right back to idle, at 67kt the aircraft will descend comfortably at nearly 1,500fpm.

Next project to follow the Rotax 915 iS is to fit the VL-3 with the fuel-injected 100hp 912 iS, which is in response to customer demand. Interestingly, hardly anyone opts for the fixed undercarriage version that JMB offers. At the moment however, the most powerful Rotax excites the most new customers. Over half of new orders for the VL-3 are to include the 915, says Jean-Marie. At over €200,000, for over 180kt, is it worth it? What a question! Would you ask the same about a Mustang…?

34 | FLYER | September 2020

Performance

Vne 184kt Cruise speeds (50% / 65% / 90%, 9,500 ft) 148kt/157kt/178kt TAS Vs (full flaps) 43kt Rate of Climb 2,000fpm (MTOM, sea level) Endurance 7.25h/2.008 km plus 30min reserve Take-off distance 180m Landing distance 200m

Weights & loading

Empty weight 380kg * (Prototype) MTOM 600kg Useful load 220kg * (Prototype) Fuel capacity 140L

Dimensions

Wingspan 8.44m Wing area 9.77sqm Length 6.32m Height 2.05m Cabin width 1.15m

Spec

Airframe Composite Engine Rotax 915 iS Max power 141 PS ** Propeller Woodcomp KW31- AH, 3-blade, constant speed, wood / CFRP, 1.74m Undercarriage Tricycle, retractable

Manufacturer www.jmbaircraft.com

Price

From €203,000, plus VAT *** * Production target: max 370kg ** alternatively: Rotax 9 ULS (100 PS, Rotax 914 (115 PS), in future also Rotax 912 iS (100hp, injection) *** with hydraulic adjustable propeller retractable landing gear, rescue system, mechanically operated landing flaps, strobe, position lights, basic paint, tinted canopy, basic instrumentation including radio and transponder

Above As the UK contemplates the transition to 600kg microlights, then machines like this could be the shape of things to come…

My First Solo

Ben Atkinson

Ben Atkinson actually owned a nominal piece of the aircraft in which he first soloed…

Words by Yayeri van Baarsen

Solo stats Radio presenter Ben Atkinson vlogs about lessons learned, and mistakes made, on his YouTube channel, which is all about learning to fly.

When: 25 February 2019 Where: Cotswold Airport Aircraft: Skyranger Swift Hours at solo: 13 Hours now: 62

How did you get into aviation?

Although I loved getting on an aeroplane as a kid, I’d never considered the possibility of becoming a pilot myself. Aviation seemed like such a different world. In 2015, my family bought me a Cessna flight experience which I loved. Immediately afterwards I researched learning to fly, but financially this was out of my reach. A few years later, my friends gave me a microlight trial flight. During that lesson I knew I had to continue flying.

How did your flight training go?

I trained at Kemble Flying Club in a kit-built Skyranger Swift. At the time, you couldn’t learn in a kitplane unless you owned part of it, so I paid £1 and hold a nominal share. Learning to fly wasn’t easy but I was very enthusiastic. My instructor David Young was great.

Why did you film your flying?

In order to debrief myself. I have a terrible memory, so by filming my flight it meant that I could sit down afterwards and process everything my instructor had said, which I hadn’t taken in. I could go through the lessons again, take notes and remember all those golden nuggets of information.

What was your first solo like?

It was unexpected. When halfway through the lesson David asked, “How do you feel

about going solo?”, my reply was a nervous laugh. During his briefing, my brain was overloaded and after take-off, my first words were, ‘wow, that’s fast!’ – the aircraft just shot off. The flight itself is all a bit of a blur in my mind. It felt like I was on autopilot. I’m so glad I have it on camera as it’s one of my greatest experiences.

I was in two minds about releasing that video though. Without the instructor you lose some confidence, so I got David to review the footage to see if I did everything OK and add some commentary. This gave him the opportunity to experience a first solo from a student’s perspective.

Why do you show your mistakes in your videos?

The whole premise of my channel is learning to fly, and making mistakes is such a big part of learning. Nowadays lots of vloggers cover up their mistakes, but that way you don’t learn much – and your viewers won’t learn anything. If only one person picks up a single thing from watching, those hours of editing have already been worth it.

What vlogs are on your wish list?

I’d love to visit the Isle of Wight, head up to the north-east coastline or fly to Cornwall.

The approach at Perranporth Airfield looks amazing. I’d also like to do another lesson in a Cessna and see how I get on.

“I’d recommend leaving your mistakes in, be yourself and don’t worry how you come across” 36 | FLYER | September 2020

And even though I’d probably get sick, I’d like to give aerobatics a go once and try a loop the loop.

What are your tips for pilots who want to film their flying?

First, record your audio. The reason my first three lessons aren’t on my channel is that I hadn’t recorded any audio. This leaves you with a lovely video, which is useless for learning. I’d also recommend leaving your mistakes in and be yourself without worrying about how you come across on camera. Finally, check out some other channels. Rory on Air, The Jodel Flyer and Flight Chops have been a huge inspiration to me.

If you could have any aircraft in your ‘fantasy hangar’, what would it be?

A Spitfire and a Hurricane, because of the history and the emotions they evoke. The Spitfire is the aircraft I clearly remember from airshows when I was a kid. It was such an advanced aeroplane for the 1940s, and 70 years later it’s still amazing. I’d love to fly one. Seeing R4118, the last surviving Battle of Britain Hurricane still flying, up close, was a dream come true. A beauty, they don’t make them like that anymore.

What do you love most about flying?

Finding the headspace of forgetting everything else in the world and only concentrating on one single thing. You have to focus solely on flying. You’re living to the max with all your senses in overdrive. It’s a great feeling, and one I never felt stronger than on my first solo. l Watch Ben’s first solo on YouTube.

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Floating to Oshkosh

SPECIAL FEATURE

Alongwith numerous events, Oshkosh 2020 fell foul to coronavirus. But Mark Flynn recalls his memorable trip to his beloved airshow – by floatplane…

38 | FLYER | September 2020

S

ome years ago my wife and I flew to Oshkosh in a 1946, 85hp, J3 Cub – on floats. From Lake Champlain in Vermont, we had 18 hours of flying over three days, in the company of two other Cubs. It was an adventure, exciting, a true Odyssey – a journey of epic proportions with swings and reversals of fortune.

There was no GPS, just maps and a hand-held radio with an intercom and no electrical system (stand on the front right float and prop it to start).

So, a few weeks ago when the email arrived announcing the cancellation of AirVenture 2020 – Oshkosh, it was another poignant reminder that COVID-19 has dramatically changed the world we cherish.

Undoubtedly, the loss of Oshkosh 2020 will go unnoticed, other than in aviation circles, where it will certainly be keenly felt.

Oshkosh is an institution. A celebration. A gigantic and dynamic thriving party. It is more than just an airshow, it covers the entire aviation spectrum. From homebuilts to warbirds, military hardware to airliners.

Not forgetting vintage, modern, fixed-wing, rotary – the eccentric and the magnificent. It is a spectacle that everyone from the experienced pilot to the novice should visit for several days. Take time to talk to the people, listen to a rock band in the evening, meet your heroes, relish the things you love and above all else, marvel at the aeroplanes. Swarms of RVs are everywhere you look, which alone make the journey worthwhile.

I first heard about Oshkosh when I was a teenager, more than 50 years ago, when helping my neighbour,

Facing Pre-flight check, Mark with float pump in hand Below The Cub at home on Lake Champlain, Vermont

Jim, build an aeroplane. Jim had been an RAF night-fighter pilot in WWII, post-war test pilot and ultimately an airline pilot, whose enthusiasm for the EAA and Oshkosh was infectious. He was insistent that you couldn’t just ‘turn up’ to see the show. Your journey had to be made with reverence, a true pilgrimage, and as a participant not just an observer – preferably in an aeroplane that you’d built!

Then, a few years ago, my chance came. One of my friends, Doug, a Delta 777 Captain at the time, offered my wife Fionnuala and I the opportunity to fly his Cub. We would be with Doug, in his Super Cub, and Frank, a UPS 767 Captain, in another J3. My wife was persuaded by Doug that it would be a great way to see the country… A couple of nice places to stay en route, six friends together, as Doug’s wife and Frank’s wife would also come along. In short, a fun trip. He even promised to limit the ‘aeroplane talk’, so Fionnuala agreed, albeit, reluctantly.

Of course, although I hadn’t built Doug’s Cub myself, I sensed that Jim would have approved…

Strong winds

So, the Friday before the show’s start on Sunday, at the end of a family holiday on Lake Champlain, we set off.

Or rather, after a delay of about four hours waiting for strong winds to die down and the waves on the lake to subside, we set off.

Cast off from the dock, standing on the front right float to swing the prop, the Cub that always started first swing, wouldn’t. Advice was shouted from the shore: “Are the mags on?” “Of course!” I did a quick check inside – they weren’t. Nervous? Me? Heck no… So it was somewhat of a ‘poor beginning’ for Fionnuala, who was shoehorned into the J3’s cramped front seat.

First leg, north-west, north of the Adirondacks towards Massena, then left to follow the St Lawrence to Kingston on Lake Ontario to land, refuel and clear Canadian Customs.

Following the St Lawrence was like a geography lesson from schooldays, passing the lock systems of the Seaway, which allows ships to transit from the Great Lakes to the ocean.

Somehow, the message to delay our flight plans never got through to Canadian Customs. Being non-radio, they weren’t informed of our delay. Landing was straightforward, but taxying to the marina’s crowded dock in a wind, with the hazard of buoys, jetties and yachts, whose tall masts and stainless steel September 2020 | FLYER | 39

Floating to Oshkosh

Above The marina’s bemused pump attendant at Kingston, more used to powerboats than J3s Right Heading north-west over Canada in the 1946 J3 Far right An island home on the St. Lawrence River

rigging is so taut that a Cub’s wing would shred on contact, was terrifying. (I should also mention this beautiful 1946 J3 with its Edo 1320 floats, only has one water rudder and limited control authority). However, it wasn’t as terrifying as the anger vented by Canadian Customs. They were furious that they weren’t informed of our delay, and incensed that we’d allowed the women to visit the bathroom on arrival before we’d been ‘cleared’. Luckily, the situation was diffused by the novelty of four US passports, which were mixed with Fionnuala’s (Irish) and mine (British).

Refuelled and airborne again, we had a spirited take-off into a strong headwind and followed a westerly course for Orillia on Lake Simcoe. It was a leg of more than three hours over forested country, into the wind.

Our little trio of floatplanes, now in a loose formation, flew over towns, villages and hamlets with wonderful English names including Peterborough and Hastings.

We stopped at Orillia, which has seaplane docks and a runway, to refuel and have a stretch (a Cub is pretty cramped), then set off for a short leg initially west to Georgian Bay, right onto north, along the coastline to Parry Sound, and now at 500ft agl. The place is fabulous, with islands, inlets and holiday homes, which range from shacks and tents to mansions hidden away in secluded bays. Then, crossing a tiny island with a 40 | FLYER | September 2020

single house on it, we look down and see three people waving, one with an enormous Canadian flag. As I am at the back of our little armada, I waggle the wings furiously to acknowledge their welcome.

As Doug and Frank have used the Parry Sound motel before, the owner is expecting us, providing drinks on the dock as we tie the floatplanes down on the shoreline for the night. Rested and ready, the next morning sees the inlet shrouded in fog. A further delayed start, then when it clears, a large freighter moored in the channel makes for an interesting take-off.

Procession of floatplanes

We set off north-west along the coast of Georgian Bay, with Lake Huron far off to the west, and head for Killarney, a quaint little town split in two by an inlet that runs through its centre. We land south of the inlet and then water-taxi on the trail through it. A procession of three little floatplanes may be a common sight in Canada, but, nonetheless, we feel like rockstars with people waving from the shore and boats and cars hooting in appreciation as we pass!

Next, we must land at Drummond Island in the US where Customs and Immigration will meet us. Kathy, with Frank in the lead J3, works sheer magic with a

Above Potagannissing Bay, after being cleared

by US Customs Left Frankfort, the night before the storm…

mobile phone filing three flight plans and submitting the details of six different passports, including numbers, nationalities and expiration dates etc.

As we clear the inlet it’s all sorted. We take-off in a very loose formation, and head west again, through the North Channel. Manitoulin Island to the south is wild, desolate and very remote. We pass an enormous Great Lakes freighter, which is moored, immobile, and riding high in the water awaiting a cargo.

We cross over Drummond Island to land in Potagannissing Bay. The wind is strong, the waves higher than I’d like, and there is a stiff onshore breeze.

The beach, on which we are scheduled to meet officials, is crowded with swimmers and jet skis, which all adds up to a nightmare scenario for a floatplane.

Taxying in as slowly as I can, one mag off, carb heat on as little power as I can get, I’ve unstowed a mooring line, reached out and secured it to a float strut with a bowline and head nervously to the shore. As I’m the last of the three, the beach is now very tight. At the last minute, both mags on, carb heat off, a big burst of throttle, rudder full over, into wind, engine off and drift back to the shore. Then when I sense the water is shallow enough to stand, holding the line, it’s out, off the float, into the water, grab the front cross-float wire and ease the Cub back gently onto the beach. Phew!

This time we are exactly on schedule. The US authorities are polite, welcoming and charming as they go about their duties thoroughly. We are intrigued, but not surprised in this post-9/11 world, that the aeroplanes and our baggage are scrutinised with a Geiger-counter.

Top of the wave

Refuelling from 10-gallon containers, and cola and sandwich scoffed, we’re off again, this time to Frankfort on Lake Michigan. The wind is strong and the water rough, which makes the take-off a challenge. Then nose high, speed low, we get thrown off the top of a wave, and I do my best not to collide with the top of the next wave. I’m discovering that the Cub is more of a ‘pondplane’ than a seaplane.

We head west to Mackinac Island, a beautiful, former fur-trading post turned holiday resort. No cars, just horse-drawn carriages. Then on towards Mackinac Bridge with its enormous span that divides Lake Huron from Lake Michigan. We head south along the bridge, then south-west along the Michigan shoreline, across the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay. With careful pre-flight briefing, Frank (in the other J3) and I are flying a much tighter formation, with me in his 4 o’clock, as Doug in the faster Super Cub forges September 2020 | FLYER | 41

Floating to Oshkosh

“Suddenly, we are in the middle of a swarm of power boats, large and small, planing out of the bay at high speed” Above Doug breaks away in the Super Cub

ahead. On our left, Michigan’s coast has high, steep sand dunes, sloping down to the water’s edge. We can see people ‘surfing’ down the dunes, waving as we pass.

We reach picturesque Frankfort, where a narrow channel from Point Betsie Lighthouse leads into a sheltered bay behind, in which we land. The others land first and then I head onto the water, to follow them through to the beach to tie-down for the night.

It is 6pm, a time, which unbeknownst to us, is the start of a massive 24-hour annual fishing competition on Lake Michigan. Suddenly, we are in the middle of a swarm of power boats, large and small, planing out of the bay at high speed, intent on every minute of the next 24 hours being used to catch fish. We wallow and rock, bounced from wake to wake as they blast past, hoping to goodness we don’t get rundown.

Luckily we survive, the aeroplanes are tied down securely on the shore, protected from Lake Michigan by a breakwater with a narrow exit to the lake in its centre. So we can relax with drinks and dinner in the hotel overlooking the lake with the three floatplanes nestling on the shore.

Nagging sense of doubt…

As I crept out of the hotel to get coffee for everyone early the next day, I’m struck by the wind as soon as I leave the room. A nagging sense of doubt sends me down to the shore to check things out. Disaster…

Overnight, the wind rose considerably, directly through the gap in the breakwater and stirred up big waves.

Wave action has turned the Super Cub, and in turn its wingtip has cracked my windshield. My Cub in turn has floated out, off the shore and is now turned through several degrees to the right. The water has completely flooded the left float and the wingtip jutting out is now 42 | FLYER | September 2020

only about a foot off the water. Grabbing the pump from the cabin, I began pumping, while a helpful stranger out walking his dog raced to the hotel to sound the alert.

Within minutes, it was literally ‘all hands to the pumps’, but with the float submerged, even with three pumps on the seven float compartments we couldn’t get ahead. Moreover, the Cub was too heavy with water to move and the wingtip was getting lower.

A crowd of willing helpers offered every assistance, but the one thing we most needed was pumps.

Someone suggested the town’s marine store, another said it wouldn’t open until 10am as it was Sunday. A third said, “Heck, I’ll go find the owner.” And so, a little before 9am, a truck roared up, the owner of the marine store, in his dressing gown, with a box full of pumps!

By 10.30 am we’d won. The Cub was refloated and beached. Someone produced a drill, so we stop-drilled the crack in the windscreen and with a speed-tape / band-aid repair we were ready to go.

Now, on to mighty Lake Michigan. Do we go straight across, 85 miles over water, or go north-west, along the ferry route? Maybe the ferry would pick us up if the engine stopped. We elected for straight, and a height of 9,000ft. Back through the channel, the water was too rough to attempt a take-off from Lake Michigan itself, all the way to the end of Betsie Bay. The other J3 went first, then the Super Cub and then our turn. CARS check? Carb heat – off, Area – clear, (water) Rudder – up, Stick – all the way back and open the throttle.

With little or no acceleration, the Cub ploughed forward. Full power? Definitely. Carb heat off?

Definitely. Trim? Correct. But there was nothing. No

chance of getting on to the step. I tried everything but couldn’t get up to speed. Nothing worked. Eventually after nearly a mile of dragging through the water, fearful of overheating the engine, I gave up. With the others overhead and urged on through the ICOM hand-held, we tried again. Again, no acceleration.

We taxied back to the far end of the bay and beached in among the weeds. Frank and Doug landed and together we worked on the problem. I was sure it wasn’t technique, sure I was getting full power, and sure the carb heat was off. We tried pumping the floats again, but little or no water came out. Puzzled, we opened the centre compartment on the left float. No water, but sand. Wet sand. There must have been hundreds of pounds, washed in when the waves were breaking over the float.

With hands rubbed raw from scooping out the unwanted ballast, our next take-off was sprightly! Off, then a turn back to gain height before striking out across Lake Michigan. During the slow climb both lower and upper doors are closed. For a while the cabin is snug and warm, but approaching 9,000ft, it begins to get cold. We are higher than I’ve ever been in a Cub and all around us now there is nothing but water. The horizon just a thin line between the blue of the water and the blue of the sky. In WWII, US Navy pilots practiced deck landings off training carriers that steamed the Great Lakes. The blue sky and patchy

Top An EAA expert handler takes the Cub to its mooring. Note, the ‘speed-tape / band-aid’ on the windscreen Above left Fionnuala, still smiling after 18 hours in the Cub’s front seat!

Above right Following Frank and Kathy Left Refuelling – the hard way!

clouds reflecting off the calm waters often caused disorientation and loss of control. I’m mindful of the hazard, so I remind myself, ‘needle, ball, airspeed’ as we head west.

Stunning vistas

America’s size, seen low and slow from a J3, mostly with the door open, is enormous. It is a fascinating panorama of stunning vistas, among whose people are the warmest, most hospitable, friendly and helpful folk you could wish for.

In the middle of this vast continent though, we’ve never felt such solitude. There is absolutely nothing to see other than the water and the sky, not a living soul September 2020 | FLYER | 43

Floating to Oshkosh

13 Above Cubs at rest in the Oshkosh seaplane base Right Mark, Doug and Frank Far right A Cub on floats – the greatest fun on Earth!

except the two of us. Then, Fionnuala, in the front, calls out that she thinks she ‘can see land’. Wisconsin begins to firm up on the horizon. After an hour over the vast expanse of Lake Michigan, our very existence preserved only by the little 4-cylinder 85hp Continental, I almost know how Lindbergh felt!

A long descent begins, during which another Cub ‘personal best’ is set – fastest I’ve ever flown a J3 as we descend to keep below the controlled airspace surrounding Green Bay. Then, south over the green, rich dairy farmland of Wisconsin, we see huge turbines churning away at massive wind farms. Then, finally, we see Lake Winnebago.

Carefully following the Oshkosh notam, we overfly the seaplane base, descend for a circuit, land in the bay and then taxi to hold just clear of the lagoon that houses the seaplane base. We announce our presence on the hand-held. After a few moments we are called in: “Yellow Cub, 1586 November, enter the lagoon, park dock six.”

We taxi in, are marshalled to our dock, willing hands expertly tie mooring lines and we shut down after 18 hours flying.

We unload, refuel, tidy up and then the EAA’s boat-handlers expertly tow the Cub away to moor it in a line of other yellow Cubs, a line around the prop hub attached to a swinging mooring.

A truck, which driven ahead of us to the show, 44 | FLYER | September 2020

awaits. Doug’s part-time business is selling aeroplane fabrics and teaching covering techniques to homebuilders. The truck contains all the items for his stand and so we head off to Wittman field to set up for the show, which opens in the morning.

Doug has rented a house nearby while we are at Oshkosh. We have three nights there for Monday and Tuesday of the show.

The show is as good as I’ve imagined. People from everywhere, aeroplanes of every sort and a freedom to walk around and get ‘up close and personal’ to examine the aeroplanes in detail. No litter, good-natured queues for food and drink and talks on all sorts of things.

Sharing a table in the shade with a cold drink, we chat to a charming couple from Texas. We boast about our epic voyage, about how high we’ve flown the Cub, how fast, how cold it became, how we battled the elements and won. Then I ask, “And you, how did you get here?” “Oh, we came in our Harvard. In formation.

Six of us,” they reply modestly, as if it is an everyday thing…

The cancellation of Oshkosh 2020, as with so much that we have lost this year due to the pandemic, will be keenly felt by many. But the sun will still rise tomorrow, and we will – at some point – get back to normal. My resolve is firm. The return of Oshkosh, be it 2021 or later, will signal a victory over this virus – and I will celebrate by being there…

PASSION GETS AIRBORNE

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Safety Accident Analysis

Risky intent?

M

any pilots are quick to lambast our various certifying organisations as being overly proscriptive, bureaucratic and even, in some instances, ‘killjoys’.

Many pilots fly homebuilt aircraft considered ‘experimental’, and surely the principal is in the title – ‘... it’s experimental guys, which means we can give it a go’.

I must confess to thinking like this at times in my own flying career – and during a recent aircraft build – but it is for the better that we have that independent oversight.

As these two accidents show, when left to our own devices, it might be good to have someone point a finger and ask ‘are you sure about that?’

Accident 1

An experimental amateur-built Jet Eze aeroplane was destroyed after an inflight break-up and a subsequent impact with terrain near Covington Municipal Airport, Tennessee.

The owner, an airline transport pilot, was fatally injured. According to a witness, who routinely observed the accident aeroplane’s flights and was familiar with the aeroplane’s design, reported that the aeroplane departed and climbed to an altitude of about 1,000ft before starting a 270° descending right turn to overfly the airfield at about 200ft, with an estimated speed of 200kt to 210kt.

Shortly after the aeroplane crossed the runway, he saw the left wing and winglet ‘oscillate’ about five times, and that the left wing then ‘exploded’. This witness subsequently observed pieces of

the aeroplane falling, abruptly pitching up about 90°, the right wing separating from the fuselage – and then the aeroplane descending into a field.

He provided an additional statement about three months after the accident, indicating that the aeroplane was travelling ‘at least 200kt, it could have been 230kt’, just before the left wing failure.

The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with an aeroplane multi-engine land rating, plus a commercial pilot certificate with aeroplane single-engine land and lighter-than-air balloon ratings.

He also held a flight instructor certificate for aeroplane single- and multi-engine land, plus type ratings for the Airbus A320, Jetstream BA-3100, Embraer EMB-120, and Saab SF-340. He also had a repairman experimental aircraft builder certificate for the accident aeroplane as well as for the DR-107 experimental amateur-built aeroplane.

According to FAA airworthiness records as well as publicly available information, the aeroplane was a two-seat, original design, canard-style aeroplane manufactured by the pilot.

It was powered by a modified GE-T58-8B turbine engine, which was originally designed for a military helicopter. The aeroplane received a special airworthiness certificate on 30 June 2014. Earlier in the year, the accident pilot described the design, manufacture and operation of the accident aeroplane in a narrated webinar entitled So, You Want to Build a Jet?, which was hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association.

“A cockpit video showed the left winglet moving forward and aft about four inches” 46 | FLYER | September 2020

During the webinar, the pilot reported that the accident aeroplane had a Vne (never exceed airspeed) of 250kt indicated airspeed (KIAS), or 310kt true airspeed, and stated, “Have I been past that (airspeed)? Yeah, it was exciting, and I won’t tell you how far I went past it.”

He explained that the aeroplane was ‘airframe limited’ because the jet engine could propel the wings faster to loads that they could not tolerate.

He also reported that the aeroplane’s first flight was in 2017, although the aeroplane had received its FAA special airworthiness certificate in June 2014.

Examination of portions from the internal left wing structure was performed by the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, DC. This examination showed that the upper wing surfaces and the upper spar cap sections had areas that were consistent with a resin-starved or dry laminate.

These areas were also consistent with an adhesive disbond between the respective faying surfaces. This adhesive disbond was consistent with a lack of impregnation and interaction of the resin into and with the fibreglass fabric, resulting in a lack of strong adhesion between the wing skin and the spar cap. These issues were consistent with a fabrication problem during manufacturing of the layup rather than wear over time or an environmental degradation failure.

Additional information: The first witness reported that about two months after the accident aeroplane’s first flight in 2017, a flutter event occurred with its left wing. The witness stated that he saw the flutter event on a video that the accident pilot had shown him. The video camera appeared to be mounted on the left wing, and the video of the flutter event showed the left winglet moving forward and aft, in a back and forth motion, about four inches and about one revolution per second. The witness

Mark Mitchell

While we all applaud a light touch to the regs that govern the way we go about our flying, sometimes that isn’t enough to protect us from ourselves. Steve Ayres takes a look…

thought that the airspeed during the flutter event was 232 KIAS. He reported that he was unaware of any structural repairs or modifications to the aircraft after that flutter event.

Accident 2

The Jodel D117A was being operated on a Permit to Fly and had no modifications adapting it for the disability of the pilot, a left forearm amputee. When flying the aircraft, the pilot used his right hand to control the throttle. To operate the ailerons and elevator, a rose jointed adapter which was secured to the prosthesis on his left arm, was attached by an interference fit to the control column. All other controls were conventional.

The pilot was flying circuits with a wind slightly from the left and steady at 10kt. On the fourth circuit, the pilot established the aircraft on the final approach and trimmed for 50 KIAS. At about five feet above the ground, while the pilot was flaring the aircraft, the prosthetic adapter became disconnected from the control column.

The aircraft reverted to its trimmed shallow nose-down attitude and subsequently struck the ground. The landing gear dug into the ground and folded back under the wings, and the nose of the aircraft pitched down further, damaging the lower engine cowl and the propeller, and shockloading the engine. The pilot was uninjured and, after making the aircraft safe, exited without difficulty using the left cockpit door.

The pilot was a doctor with extensive experience in the management and prosthetic rehabilitation of people with acquired and congenital limb loss. He had held a flying licence for almost nine years and had flown the Jodel for almost five, of which he had flown more than two years and more than 230 hours using the prosthetic adapter.

The reissue of the LAPL medical certificate required the pilot to undergo a medical examination, and a medical flight test (MFT). The medical examination, conducted by an Aeromedical Examiner (AME), focused on the medical aspects of the amputation, and included an assessment of the prosthesis and its fitting to the limb.

The MFT was carried out by a chief flying instructor (CFI) and included discussions about the possibility of disconnection of the adapter and actions to mitigate the

“As the pilot flared, the prosthetic adapter became disconnected from the stick” consequence of any such occurrence.

Typically, this would involve taking hold of the control column with the right hand to enable the pilot to retain control of the aircraft, while he reattached the adapter before resuming normal control. During the MFT the pilot demonstrated this and the CFI noted the prosthetic adapter was ‘solid, well made with no play’. Subsequently, the pilot practised regaining control while flying following a disconnection of the adapter from the prosthetic on a regular basis.

Conclusion: The aircraft landed heavily when the prosthetic adapter

detached from the control column late in the approach and the pilot was unable to regain control before touchdown. The pilot met the requirements for medical fitness to fly, but there was no engineering rating by a suitably qualified individual of the interface between the prosthesis and the aircraft controls.

The lack of a secondary device securing the prosthetic adapter to the control column meant its security was solely reliant upon the interference fit.

The CAA is taking action to ensure there is proper engineering oversight under similar circumstances.

Ayres’ Analysis When hearing about some accidents it is difficult not to think that, at best, it was a bit of Murphy’s Law – ‘anything that can go wrong will go wrong’ – and at worst, ‘an accident waiting to happen’. And this despite all those involved with aviation working tirelessly to ensure that inspection regimes, design authorities and legislation operate to give us the freedoms we as aviators crave while keeping us safe.

Regrettably, as individuals we don’t always play the most constructive role and no amount of legislation, rules and oversight would be enough. True, when things go wrong they can do so without warning – and quickly. But not always.

Often there is a bit of a heads-up, a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’, which gets our antennae quivering and has us delving under the bonnet or at least muttering questions behind a raised hand to a trusted colleague. And yet things still fall through the cracks.

In the case of the Jet Eze, the pilot openly admitted to exceeding Vne and experiencing flutter. Something that would set alarm bells ringing with most of us and leave us questioning the cause and the potential damage, all the while thankful that we had survived the flight. Despite the pilot holding numerous flying and engineering qualifications it was not enough to keep him safe.

And even when we get things mostly right, as did the Jodel pilot in producing a cleverly designed prosthetic adapter, no one spotted the weak link in the chain.

Even though he was able to demonstrate inflight that he could relocate a disconnected adapter, to be able to do so at a critical phase of flight was always going to be problematic. In this instance, new CAA legislation should prevent a repeat accident by requiring some proper engineering oversight.

While in the UK we might not always appreciate that level of regulation and bemoan how sometimes it stifles experimentation and innovation in aviation, it does protect us from some of our greatest excesses and for the vast majority, at least, keep us safe.

However, it will never pick up everything, and if something unusual happens or we find ourselves operating on the edges of what might be deemed ‘normal practice’, it might be worth taking a step back, reflecting a while and seeking a second opinion. Which, of course, we will do, listen to and take action.

September 2020 | FLYER | 47

Safety Accident Reports

Make time to check

Steve Ayres summarises and comments on accident reports from around the world and looks at a very neat and lightweight ‘bothy bag’ that could just save the day…

That sinking sound

Full and free?

Icon A5

Van’s RV-8

N838BA

N836JC

Duluth, MN

Mandan, ND

Injuries: None

Injuries: One fatal

An ICON A5 amphibian aeroplane was damaged when it was involved in an accident near the Sky Harbor Airport (DYT), Duluth, Minnesota.

According to the pilot, he taxied downwind on the water for take-off.

When facing into the wind, he applied full power and about five seconds later, heard a ‘loud bang’. He shut down the engine, climbed out, looked back, and saw that all three propeller blades were missing. At this point the aeroplane started to sink.

He and his passenger donned life jackets and evacuated the aircraft.

Substantial damage was noted to the aeroplane’s fuselage, including holes in the hull.

Several days later, the pilot recalled that before he taxied out the aircraft had been washed. He had placed a portable speaker on the top of the aeroplane to listen to some music. He did not recall putting the speaker away before departure. He added, ‘that the speaker must have rolled over the engine compartment and into the propellers’.

Comment We’ve all done it, put something on the wing while chewing the breeze or while working on the airframe, but this accident reminds us how risky that can be, particularly where pusher props are concerned.

I will leave our amphibian pilots to explain how they do their walk rounds, but there is no doubt how vital a part they play in keeping safe.

A Van’s RV-8 was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Mandan, North Dakota, in which the pilot sustained fatal injuries.

According to initial information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a witness observed the aeroplane on the ramp prior to the flight and advised the pilot that the rear seat belt was securing the rear control stick. The pilot subsequently departed in the aircraft. The take-off was a threepoint one and the aeroplane then had a steep climb. The aeroplane descended, impacted terrain, and a ground fire occurred.

Comment The probable cause is a reminder to always do that full and free check. For tandem cockpit aircraft in particular, it is a further reminder that securing the rear stick for whatever reason is a potential recipe for disaster.

Galloping go-around Cessna 182RG M-GOLF Mount Rule, IoM Injuries: None

The pilot and a passenger, also a pilot, were flying from Ronaldsway Airport to a private airstrip at Mount Rule on the Isle of Man. The pilot had not landed at the airstrip before, but the passenger had landed there many times, but not in M-GOLF.

“A witness advised the pilot that the rear seat belt was securing the rear control stick” 48 | FLYER | September 2020

The take-off appeared normal and there were no technical issues noted with the aircraft while en route.

Upon arrival, the pilot flew three circuits, with one at low level, in order to familiarise himself with the airstrip before positioning to land on grass Runway 28, which was about 530m long and had an uphill slope.

At the end of the runway were several farm gates that led to an adjacent field, bounded by a hedge, which was used for livestock. The reported wind was from 100° at 7kt.

The pilot recalled configuring the aircraft for the approach with the propeller set to its fine position, carb mixture fully rich and flown at a speed of 60kt. The pilot stated that the flaps were set at an intermediate position between 20° and full flap.

A witness next to Runway 28 recorded video footage of the aircraft as it landed. The final sequence was not recorded, but the footage showed that the aircraft touched down about halfway along the runway. It stayed on the ground for a further six seconds before the video ended. At this point it was estimated that the aircraft was about 110m from the end of the runway.

The pilot stated that as the aircraft touched down, he saw a horse appear near the end of the runway and almost immediately initiated a baulked landing. At the same time, the passenger also expressed the need to go-around, as the aircraft had landed further along the runway than intended. The pilot stated that he then set the flaps to 20° and advanced the throttle to the full power position, but the aircraft did not accelerate as expected. As the aircraft approached the end of the runway it started to become airborne, but then hit the farm gates.

The aircraft then touched down in the adjacent field, overturned and ended up inverted. The pilot and passenger were uninjured and vacated the aircraft unaided, but the

Safety Accident Reports aeroplane was damaged beyond economic repair.

The pilot considered that the aircraft did not accelerate and climb as expected because of a possible loss of engine power or malfunction with the constant speed propeller.

Comment: The AAIB did not determine a cause, but as we know landing on a relatively short strip with a tailwind can be a challenge, even with an upslope and everything working for you. It all happens in a bit of a rush until it comes to getting airborne again, such as in the event of a baulked landing when it takes forever. That makes a late-decision go-around really fraught. Add to that a possible mechanical problem…

“The extinguisher went past the passenger’s head and through the windscreen” reflect on what might have happened if the baggage hold was stuffed with Beaujolais, or whatever else we carry around ‘down the back’. Sudden stops can happen – even in aircraft.

Honest reporting Piper PA-28 Warrior II G-BODB

Watch out for FOD…

Sherburn in Elmet Airfield, Leeds

Glos-Airtourer 150

The aircraft was parked close to the airfield fuel pump installation. The pilot carried out his pre-flight inspection and, passenger boarded, started the engine. He taxied the aircraft forward before making a right turn, and during the latter stages the outboard section of the left wing leading edge struck the fuel pump. The pilot immediately shut down the aircraft and inspected the wing, which had a small dent on the leading edge. Having inspected the

G-AXIX Almeley Wootton, Herefordshire Injuries: None

The aircraft was being flown to a grass airstrip near Almeley Wootton (approximately 5nm south-west of Shobdon). The pilot made an approach to land on the northwesterly runway with the wind about 5kt across. The pilot reported that he landed on the main wheels, but as the nosewheel touched down the aircraft started to oscillate in pitch. The nosewheel detached, the propeller struck the ground and the aircraft came to a sudden stop. Neither occupant was injured and both exited the aircraft normally. The pilot believes the accident was caused by a slightly higher ground speed than he was used to, due to the lack of headwind, as well as him closing the throttle slightly early, causing the aircraft to drop onto the runway. He was aware that he was landing on a short runway so did not want to land too far along it.

The pilot reported that as the aircraft came to a sudden halt the fire extinguisher, mounted at the back of the baggage compartment, came loose, went past the passenger’s head and through the windscreen. Once the aircraft is fixed, the pilot intends to relocate the fire extinguisher behind the seats to ensure it is secure.

Comment: While there are lessons to be learned from the accident itself, I was struck by the detachment of the fire extinguisher! Photographs show that it punched a neat hole in the windscreen, and I couldn’t help but 50 | FLYER | September 2020

Injuries: None

damage, which he considered was minimal, he considered that it would be safe to fly. It was late afternoon and he had to complete the flight before night, but he did not want to disappoint his passenger, so he pushed the aircraft back, restarted the engine and departed.

Due to the delay, however, he then landed about 15 to 20 mins into night time. He reported the contact with the fuel pump and having flown at night to the flying club. It made clear to the pilot the action he should have taken – getting the damage inspected and curtailing his flight to avoid flying at night.

Comment: The club was correct in pointing out to this low hours PPL holder such an incident should be handled. Hats off to the pilot for reporting the events. Honest reporting, without any fear of recrimination is a big step towards safer flying. May there be more of it.

Safety kit Emergency storm shelter £18.50 | https://bit.ly/3hGm1jF

While the Lomo shelter is probably an essential piece of kit for the more adventurous among us, most occupants rarely fly ‘dressed to survive’, so having this on board could certainly be a life saver.

It is made from high-viz orange, PU-coated polyester and has two large retro reflective patches on the front to help reflect the torch light from a search party or helicopter searchlight.

A viewing window is also included to let the occupants see out, while keeping sheltered, and two air-vent snorkels help with ventilation. These can be adjusted or closed in heavy winds and rain.

This type of emergency shelter,

sometimes referred to as a ‘bothy bag’, is in common use by hill walkers, and weighing-in at only 360 grams makes it practicable to carry airborne too.

The dimensions are: 21cm x 10cm (when folded away) and 1.3m x 96cm x 45cm (when erected).

Aeroprak A32 Vixxen iS

Now available with the fuel injection Rotax 912iS engine (available also with auto pilot).

600kg Max weight very comfortable, fly 25 to 135mph

www.foxbataircraft.com

Dragon Aviation: 07974952118

FLYING ADVENTURE

A successful stripping trip…

With lockdown restrictions eased, Paul Kiddell joins his friends, for a summer day of flying – not forgetting the bacon, banter and plenty of airfields…

52 | FLYER | September 2020

W

ell, it would certainly seem that 2020 hasn’t quite panned out as expected. But there’s always hope, and on 15 May the announcement by Department for Transport breathed life back into recreational flying in England, followed soon after by Northern Ireland and Scotland. As a result, our four-man syndicate Evektor EuroStar G-CEVS took the opportunity to embark on some exciting new flying adventures.

On 25 June, with high pressure firmly in charge, Alex Smith and I departed our Eshott base at 0900 to meet up with good flying friends, Roger Iveson and Nigel Hitchman, for a day of stripping. While our group had initially flown solo, I took advantage of updated guidance to bring single flying buddy Alex into the Kiddell family bubble so we could fly together. Mrs K did, however, make it crystal clear that this wouldn’t extend to feeding Alex and giving him pocket money!

Newcastle Airport was showing signs of resuming ops and granted us a zone transit via the overhead and bridges in the city centre. Prior to this, Newcastle used very limited operating hours, and outside these it had been quite surreal to fly where we wanted around the city, just monitoring the tower frequency for the police and air ambulance helicopters.

Continuing south, Durham Cathedral looked magnificent in the morning light. After repeated Viking raids on their Holy Island retreat, the resident Monks fled in 875 taking the body and relics of the revered St Cuthbert with them. They ended up in Durham, where the Normans later replaced the original timber church with the magnificent World Heritage building we know today. From the air, it’s easy to see how welldefended the site was in the loop of the River Wear, and St Cuthbert, the patron saint of Northumbria, is still buried there.

Passing over the Yorkshire Dales, we noted on our SkyDemon, which is fed by our Pilot Aware Rosetta, that our buddy Roger Iveson was readying himself in his Eurostar from Felixkirk (some 30 miles away).

Like Roger, we have our PAW system permanently installed and ADS-B out via our Trig transponder, which gives excellent range and is invaluable, not only for conspicuity but also for situational awareness when touring in loose formations.

The Yorkshire Dales are very scenic with impressive hills covered by endless dry stone walls, with pretty villages and hamlets nestled in valleys.

We flew low for sightseeing, which included many of the 11 reservoirs built to serve Bradford in the 19th century, including the largest, Grimwith, completed in 1864.

September 2020 | FLYER | 53

Flying Adventure

Previous page Durham Cathedral Above Grimwith Reservoir built in 1864 to serve Bradford Right St James’ Park football stadium, home of Newcastle United Far right Ince residents, father and son Eurostar pilots, Phil (right) and Andrew Santus at Ince Below Ince Airfield

54 | FLYER | September 2020

Our first stop was Oxenhope, 4nm south-west of Keighley under the 3,000ft base of the Leeds western CTA. This hilltop strip is reputedly the highest airfield in England at 1,150 ft AMSL, and Roger just beat us down, landing on the 460m Runway 11. Alex made a good landing on the undulating strip and we were soon parked up.

It was great to see Roger and we also met locals John Bowes and Matthew Heaton who were preparing for a trip out in their Jodel D117 and Sport Cruiser. John told us the strip can get pretty wet in the winter so like all strips, PPR and a good brief are essential.

After a good chat, Alex and I swapped seats so I could fly us the short 30-minute leg to our next stop, Ince, just south of RAF Woodvale. Our formation flight with Roger took us over many of the Lancashire mill towns such as Burnley, Blackburn and Chorley, which were the ‘boom’ towns of the Industrial Revolution.

We spied several large former mills, including India Mill in Darwen, with its magnificent 303ft chimney, the largest in the country when it was built in 1867, and whilst Fred Dibnah climbed it, it was with some foresight that it was preserved rather than blown-up.

Ince has three good grass runways and we landed on the 396m Runway 11. My old friend Nigel had beaten us there in his 1940 Piper J3C-85 Cub, which he’d flown up from his Hinton-in-theHedges base, and was parked in the bright sunshine. One reason for meeting was to celebrate

“Strips can get pretty wet in the winter, so PPR and a good brief are essential” both the Cub’s 80th birthday that very day and mark Nigel’s 25-year anniversary of owning it. It was wonderful to see him, although it still felt odd not to shake hands in line with the ‘new normal’.

Ince is home to the West Lancashire Microlight School operated by fixed-wing and flexwing instructor Carl Bayliss. It was really great to see Carl and irrepressible dad, Paul, who was busy with the never-ending grass cutting. Both were in great form, despite the ongoing uncertainties about future instructing.

The Ince clubhouse was closed, but I deployed my secret weapon – a Coleman stove powered by unleaded petrol from the Eurostar fuel-drain. Alex supplied the rolls and bacon, so we all got to enjoy

Below Emeraude arriving at Oxenhope

September 2020 | FLYER | 55

Flying Adventure

Above Overhead join at Barton Right Barton resident Steve Middleton Far right Spanish-built CASA Jungmann in the Barton 1930 Pemberton hangar Below Bacon sizzling in the pan at Ince…

Below right On approach for 08L at Barton

56 | FLYER | September 2020

bacon rolls in the warm sunshine. It was marvellous!

Taking on plenty of water we all taxied out together, with the outside air temperature on our Kanardia Horis already showing an impressive 29°C. Nigel was showing off by flying with the Cub split door open, while we were glad for the Eurostar mecaplex sliding windows and our Fly-Tex canopy blind which provided some very welcome relief.

Airborne for Barton in a three-ship, we carefully navigated the local airspace which, as most will know, is full of traps for the unwary. As a result, we decided to remain at 1,800ft, north of the Manchester Low Level Route (LLR) and under the 2,500ft/2,000ft Manchester CTA to enable a straight forward 1,800ft overhead join at Barton via the Hulton Industrial Estate VRP.

Birthday snaps

Before we got to Wigan, Alex closed on Nigel to enable me to get some formation air-to-air snaps to record the Cub’s 80th birthday. Nigel was at 75mph and Alex deployed some flap to make it easier, which made a real change as Nigel usually flies with us in his Vans RV-6 and is the one who struggles to slow down. Photos in the bag, I had time to reflect on how Nigel and I had first met as teenagers outside the fence at Farnborough watching the display practice at the 1978 airshow.

Nigel ended up as a British Airways pilot, while I had a long career in the RAF, but we’ve always remained best of friends and shared many great adventures around the world. I wonder what the 14-year-old me would make of us flying alongside together some 42 years later?

Barton was busy having just reopened at 1220

after a 20-minute controller break. It has featured heavily in FLYER forums recently with the CAA supporting Barton’s interpretation of Rule 11. It has caused much controversy with some pilots being MOR’d after failing to gain positive two-way contact prior to entering the ATZ. However, we had nothing to worry about, having established two-way comms in good time and were efficiently handled by FISO Nick, who is also the airfield manager. I must say I always enjoy flying into historic Barton. It’s fantastic that an airfield with four grass runways still operates so close to the city centre.

Built in 1930, Barton was the UK’s first purposebuilt municipal airport and pre-war, hosted scheduled services by the likes of Imperial Airways and Railway Air Services until they moved to the new Ringway Airport in 1938. WWII saw the airfield used for military aircraft repair and overhaul while 812 RAF Percival Proctors were assembled and test-flown at Barton after being built at nearby Trafford Park by F Hills and Sons.

We parked next to the iconic tower which, I believe, is the oldest operational tower in the world having been built in 1933. We were aware that Barton’s café and toilets remained closed but Nigel wanted to recreate his first landing in the Cub 25 years prior and also needed fuel. It was good to see resident Eurostar buddy Steve Middleton who took us on a guided tour of the hangars.

The giant 1930 Pemberton Hangar is a Grade II listed building and was originally built to house the Imperial Airways giants such as the ArmstrongWhitworth Argosy Tri-Motor. It remains in use and holds a beautifully restored CASA-built Jungmann, among others. Further up, the very smart, large

Below Nigel and ‘AF taxy in at Barton

September 2020 | FLYER | 57

Flying Adventure

Above Final Runway 11, Dairy House Farm Right 19th century lock on the River Weaver in the Manchester LLR Far right Tony Whitehead’s 1941 Fairchild 24W Below at Hawksview, (left-right) Roger Iveson, David Creedy, Alex Smith, Karen Hardman, Gordon Verity, Steve Dancaster and Nigel Hitchman

58 | FLYER | September 2020

Flying Adventure

new hangar is now in use, and held another vintage classic, Tony Whitehead’s fabulous 1941 Fairchild 24W (Argus to us Brits) with a 245hp Jacobs radial.

It was clear that Barton, like many larger fields, was slowly coming back to life in a phased return with reduced hours and limited staff and services.

Although, as I write, flying training was expected to resume on 4 July which is a very positive step.

Our merry band had a quick brief on our next

Twenty-five years of Cub fun

By Nigel Hitchman Eighty years ago, on 25 June 1940, Piper J3L-65 Cub s/n 4645 NC28199 rolled off the production line at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania for its first flight.

Then on 27 June 1940 it was sold to its first owner John Drescher of Genesee Airport, Buffalo, NY. He paid $1,358, and a few days later he sold it to Beacon Flying services, which he also owned, for $1,371 – a $13 profit! I guess not bad for a day’s work in 1940.

Between 1940 and 1986 the Cub was owned and operated by various people in the US North East, including the Defence Plant Corp from 1943-1945, and was used in the Civilian Pilot training scheme. It features on the cover and in the book Mr Piper and his Cubs by Devon Francis, although he was never a registered owner. In 1986 it was exported to Belgium, as OO-UBU, but although assembled it never flew as such, due to problems with the Belgian CAA. It was bought by Ron Souch and crucially registered as a PFA project in 1992, before the CAA changed its mind about imported vintage aircraft going on a PFA permit. Sold to Roger Breckell, he had it restored

by Clive Repik in Devon and it was flying again in June 1994.

Then, 25 years ago on 26 June 1995, I bought the Cub from Roger Breckell at Woodvale and flew it to Barton and then on to Cranfield where the PFA Rally was just setting up. I’d flown up from Toulouse in Emeraude F-BJVD with Doug Carlile and we flew back together in the Emeraude. I left the Cub at Thruxton for a month before flying it down to Toulouse on an epic trip with Paul Kiddell via the Schaffen-Diest Fly-in in Belgium.

I’ve flown the Cub for around 750 hours in the past 25 years, coming back from Toulouse to live in the UK shortly after buying it. I took it on another trip to Schaffen-Diest and also an epic trip to the Mull Fly-in, but generally it’s been fun flights to fly-ins, giving rides and local flying.

Soon it will be time to recover and paint the Cub and hopefully that will set me up nicely for another 25 years of fun!

destination of Hawksview, a private strip in the Manchester Low Level Route (LLR). We agreed to transit into the corridor at 800ft on the Manchester QNH (around 550-650ft agl) to remain well below the LLR upper limit of 1,300ft AMSL on the Manchester QNH. The UK’s exemption from SERA Class D VFR minima expired on 25 March 2020, giving airspace planners a headache regarding the busy 4nm-wide LLR. While the corridor has always formally been Class D airspace, it has provided a pragmatic way to enable GA to pass through the Manchester and Liverpool zones without having to seek ATC clearance. One post-exemption stumbling block was adherence to the SERA Class D minima of remaining 1,000ft vertically and 1,500m horizontally from cloud. The solution doesn’t see huge change, and should there be a low cloud base, the AIP entry enables pilots to fly Special VFR down the LLR without individual ATC clearance as long as they have 5km visibility and remain in sight of the surface. Note: there are different Frequency Monitoring Codes (FMC) (‘listening squawks’) for VFR and SVFR, though nontransponder equipped aircraft like Nigel’s Cub only have to monitor the Manchester Radar frequency.

Microlight community

Comfortable with our cunning plan, we enjoyed a short low-level flight down the LLR before landing on the well-kept Hawksview grass runway. We were met by enthusiastic flying friends Gordon Verity, Karen Hardman, David Creedy and Steve Dancaster who are part of both Hawksview’s thriving microlight community and the wider – and very active – Cheshire Flyers group who organise many exciting flying outings to exotic destinations.

Gordon has built a EuroStar classic, a Sport Cruiser and his current steed, an immaculate EuroStar SL. We enjoyed outstanding hospitality at this wonderful little strip and I was chuffed to get a nice cup of tea, which is much underrated on a hot summer’s day.

After a really good aviation chat and look around the resident aircraft, our generous hosts provided us with cold bottles of water as we returned to the Eurostar greenhouse for another short flight down the LLR to Dairy House Farm just north-west of Crewe. Again we transited in loose formation at 500ft agl, enjoying some lovely views, including some of the five locks on the River Weaver that remain navigable.

The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank shone in the distance. The telescope, some 250ft in diameter, was the largest steerable telescope in the world when it was commissioned in 1957, just in time to track Sputnik’s launch. Today it is the third largest in the world behind Green Bank in West Virginia and Effelsberg in Germany.

Dairy House Farm is another great strip, and on very short final for the 530m easterly runway Alex executed a timely go-around as a large flock of September 2020 | FLYER | 59

Flying Adventure

Above Arriving at Coal Aston – not far from Sheffield Right Parked up at Dairy House Farm in a cool breeze Below Roger Iveson showing how its done at Coal Aston

60 | FLYER | September 2020

crows got airborne further down the strip. Our bird-scaring duties for Nigel and Roger complete, we followed them in over the farm buildings and landed on the downhill slope. Despite it only being a short flight, it was a relief to pop the canopy and enjoy the breeze. After parking, we again opened the oil inspection hatch to let the heat dissipate from the tight EuroStar cowl to discourage any vapour lock on a hot-start.

We received a very warm welcome from legendary microlight instructor and examiner John Bradbury who has amassed over 17,500 hours in the past 31 years, including 12,000 hours instructing. John had recently relocated his Cheshire Microlight Centre to Dairy House Farm after 28 years of successful operations at Arclid Airfield, which recently closed for quarrying. John teaches on both flex and fixed-wing and, as we spoke, he received a tremendous boost as word came through of the resumption of flying training.

We also met Dave Colton, one of John’s students who had made the most of the lockdown by doing ground school with John on Zoom and passing several of his exams.

After another good catch-up, Alex and I again swapped seats and we all departed for the 20-minute flight to Sleap. Speaking to RAF Shawbury, our PAW was alive with low-level Shawbury helicopters training tri-service pilots of the future and we stayed at 2,000ft to remain above. Sleap is a classic former RAF WWII airfield and we joined in turn overhead for Runway 05.

Care should be taken as Shawbury helicopters often operate low-level on the deadside, but no sign today, and we were soon down and parked at the pumps where we took on 40L of UL91. Nigel was very happy with the competitive £1.27 avgas price which was even cheaper than our £1.36 UL91.

We met operations coordinator, Bruce Buglass, who took time out of the office for a chat. Sleap has been exceptionally proactive in attracting visitors since recreational flying resumed with cheap fuel, a COVID-19 secure café, an evening BBQ event (with free beer!) and an excellent social media campaign. It is clear that Bruce’s infectious enthusiasm has played a major part in this, so it was great to see him and his team’s efforts bearing fruit.

Bruce flies a Skybolt paired formation routine alongside dad, Jason, just two of the many interesting aircraft among the 160 residents, which include a Yak-11 and an Avro Anson, in which you can book a flight. Before we left, Bruce reminded us that the new 500m grass 05/23 Runway is now available and will be formally added to the AIP entry shortly.

It was great to see a GA field buzzing again and it’s clear that fields like Sleap and Dan Subhani’s Sandown can thrive in these challenging times with some drive and imagination. A glance at the watch

Flying Adventure

Above Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, resplendent in the evening light

Route Map 1

2 4

3

5 6

8

7

1 Eshott 2 Oxenhope 3 Ince

62 | FLYER | September 2020

4 Barton 5 Hawksview 6 Dairy House Farm

7 Sleap 8 Coal Aston

showed it was already 1645, so time to say our goodbyes to Nigel. It had been wonderful flying alongside him in the Cub and doing some stripping.

It’s always interesting to contrast a 1930s design like the Cub with a modern microlight like the EuroStar, both which were aimed at providing affordable flying to the masses with low fuel consumption and easy maintenance. We all agreed that it was a shame that the BMAA and LAA merger talks collapsed prematurely as we all share the same fun flying outlook. Maybe one day…

With a wing-waggle, Nigel headed east as we climbed alongside Roger to the north. Shawbury asked Nigel to climb above 2,500ft to de-conflict with their one last helicopter of the day and we had a giggle as he said it could take some time!

Fortunately, the Shawbury controller took pity on the octogenarian Cub and routed Nigel behind before they finally closed down the frequency for the day.

Despite being pressed for time to make the firm Eshott closure of 1900, we decided we could make a brief stop at Coal Aston, 4nm south of Sheffield.

The air was cooling, though very surprisingly, thermals had never really been that bad even during the hottest part of the day. As we flew low-level over the Potteries and the Peak District National Park, a real treat awaited us as we came across the magnificent 16th century Chatsworth House, residence of the Duke of Devonshire, and now a hugely popular tourist destination, it really was quite the spectacle in the evening light. We did some orbits over the house and the superb gardens, designed by Capability Brown, before positioning for Coal Aston Runway 11. Resident Zenair 601 flyer Adrian Kentzer was expecting us and a call on Safetycom saw the local aero modellers land and give way for the mighty Eurostars, which didn’t look much bigger to be fair…

We are so fortunate in Britain having so many excellent grass strips, and Coal Aston is another well-kept strip of some 600m – slightly undulating but fun. Roger followed us in and we enjoyed a quick chat with Adrian, and with Bob Hitchcock, who is secretary of the Europa Club. But time was at a premium and we soon mounted up to fly the one hour 15 minutes home. We escorted Roger back to his Felixkirk base before breaking-off back to Eshott, landing at 1859 precisely and shutting down at 1900 in an act of timing that would have done the Red Arrows proud.

So ended another brilliant day, six hours of varied flying visiting seven airfields and strips in glorious weather. It’s so good to be flying again. But most of all it feels fantastic to once again enjoy the company of great pals and dropping in on likeminded flying friends old and new. Exciting flying, bacon, banter and a good laugh – what more could a pilot want? Happy days are coming back…

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W

hen I first read about the aera 760 I couldn’t quite figure out who’d be buying one, and by the time I got my hands on an actual unit I still hadn’t managed to answer the question. It seemed to me that it did less than an iPad, while costing more. Maybe a couple of weeks of flying with the aera would change my mind…

The aera weighs in at over half a kilo (561gm), and is almost an inch thick (2.3cm), so physically it’s quite a chunky unit, despite being smaller overall than an iPad mini. Not only is its screen smaller, but the resolution’s lower too. And since you didn’t ask, no, it doesn’t do email or movies, but it does have Bluetooth, WiFi and pdf document storage (which I tested by loading a PDF of both the interception procedures (useful) and an issue of FLYER (very useful, but perhaps not in flight!).

If you are at all familiar with the Garmin Pilot app, anything from the GTN series of panel mounts or this unit’s predecessor, the aera 660, the interface will be very familiar. If this is your first time with recent(ish) Garmin kit, the top level menu stuff that most of us would use most of the time is pretty intuitive, and it’s

64 | FLYER | September 2020

Left aera 760 showed its strengths best when yoke-mounted and integrated into the Garmin ecosystem Right Panel-mount the aera 760, and you’ll have access to a combination of information and features at a cost that’s significantly lower than installed avionics Far right The aera 760 can show additional information, like this dedicated traffic page in suitably equipped aircraft – FLYER Club member?

Watch extra video content on the aera 760 screens in the FLYER Club online

only when deep diving into some of the more technical menus that you might want to reach for the manual or tech support. Most will do just fine after a spell of armchair flying to get the hang of things, but a canter though the user manual (which is also stored as a PDF on the unit) will give a fuller understanding.

Out of the box the aera comes with Garmin’s base and terrain map, Jeppesen’s navigation data and Garmin’s ‘flitecharts’, which are essentially the charts provided by individual countries.

The base map is a vector chart, drawn dynamically so you can pinch to zoom, change between portrait or landscape, or even do something really weird and look at your map in ‘North Up’ mode and you’ll still be able to read everything the right way up all of the time! If you haven’t yet managed to drag yourself away from the comfort blanket of digitised versions of paper charts, you can buy and install those produced by NATS (the ones most people still call the CAA half-mil) for $79 a year.

While we’re talking about optional additional costs, if this is going to be your main way of navigating around the UK’s complex airspace, I strongly suggest a regular airspace database update, which’ll

set you back an additional $179.99 a year.

If you want the full European mix of VFR and IFR digitised charts, then expect to spend almost $700, although you’ll be relieved to know that you can buy individual countries, which just makes it expensive – as supposed to plain silly.

Create waypoints

Planning a flight is done through a pretty simple text interface. If you’re routing between and over-known waypoints points then it’s all very easy, but if you want to rubber band your route around something, you’ll have to dip into the ‘Graphically Edit Flight Plan’ option in the menu, which enables you to grab legs of your route via the touch screen, and create waypoints at your new turning point. The loaded Jepp data comes with terminal procedure information, so when building your flight plan you can add instrument departures, arrivals and instrument approaches into your flight plan. You can also incorporate vertical navigation, which will set the unit up to give you descent or climb cues.

All of this is overkill for a bit of local hand flying, but surprisingly useful for a flight that might incorporate an approach,

or one where you need to be at a given altitude in order to vertically avoid airspace. For airfields without an instrument approach, as with the GTN series, you can load and activate a visual approach which will give you pseudo instrument guidance to a visual runway.

No, it’s not meant to be used as a pop-up instrument approach, it’s not meant to be used in IMC, but it’s useful if you’ve ever had trouble seeing the runway in some conditions (or at night).

Before finishing your flight planning and heading for the airfield, if the aera is connected to WiFi, it’ll download weather for you, giving you TAFs and METARs, plus composite radar. In the US, with the correct ADS-B In equipment fitted, you can also get weather and traffic when airborne, but no such luck in the UK, well not yet, but who knows…

It’s important to note that you are not able to view Notam, which is really what’s stopping the aera from being a full pre-flight planning device. While I was testing the aera, I sat outside with my iPad and aera side by side and planned the same route, noting the lack of Notam in the aera, I picked up my iPad to take a scroll through the essential information about a light bulb

being missing from a mast somewhere in Libya (Notams are serious kids, even if there is a lot of guff in there…Ed), only to find a message about it having switched itself off because it was too hot! Advantage aera…

In addition to the moving map that we’re all (I assume) used to, there’s a screen called 3D Vision that gives you synthetic vision over which is overlaid a pseudo HSI (it has no magnetometer, so only provides GPS track info) and tapes for speed, altitude and vertical speed, as well as vertical guidance when using VNAV. If you are connected (via Garmin’s Connext system) to something in your avionics stack that has a compatible attitude source, you will also see attitude information.

not-so-great) height, so I can’t guarantee its toughness, but with a rubberised back, and a tough looking and feeling exterior, my bet is that inadvertent damage to the aera is less likely than to the iPad. Used loose in the cockpit, it didn’t lose the GPS signal, even when put on the floor, but I got more out of it when on its yoke mount (which will probably require an additional purchase). I’ve got quite a bit of Garmin kit in my aeroplane (see FLYER Summer 2020), and by connecting it to Garmin’s network via Connext I was able to use the aera to amend and upload flight plans to the GTN, receive traffic information and use the aera as a dedicated traffic screen.

So, have I now figured out who’s going to buy one of these? Maybe. If you currently have nothing, and you are looking at buying your first moving map for flying, you should go and buy an iPad (or other suitable tablet) and a planning/ navigation app. It’ll do more and cost less.

If you’ve already got an iPad, and you’re looking for a back-up, or an easily readable screen, or you want to guard against your iPad/tablet taking a break when it gets too hot, then an aera’s a great, if expensive, addition. It’s perhaps more compelling if you already have other Garmin equipment and a Connext network. But it really comes into its own if you’re thinking of using it in a Permit aircraft where the flight plan, including its vertical navigation element, can be used to drive Garmin’s experimental version of the brilliant GFC500 autopilot. Linked to the right radios you can select frequencies, and if it has access to gyro info you’ve got a mini removable glass cockpit in your aeroplane for a lot less than a permanently installed one would cost. Ian Seager

Verdict

Easy to read

So how about in flight? I’ve already said that it is both smaller and lower resolution than an iPad, even an iPad mini, but in the cockpit the aera screen is bright and easily readable. With backlight set to 80% it is supposed to be good for four hours (not tested), but there’s a handy USB-C port through which you can power it in flight. I didn’t exactly throw it around the cockpit, nor drop it from a great (or even

Pros

• Easily readable bright screen • Robust build • Added functions when fitted with other Garmin kit

Cons

• Golly, it’s expensive • No Notam • Database updates can get expensive

September 2020 | FLYER | 65

By Association Looking after General Aviation The UK’s flying associations at work

AOPA Moral obligations It is important for me to say that while the UK Government continues to relax the rules governing the control of COVID-19 we still need to take this virus seriously. We are still being asked to take precautions, which means we should take the necessary measures to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus.

The government has issued, and continues to update, the advice on what we need to do, such as wearing masks / face coverings. Take time to review, understand and follow the advice (www.gov.uk/coronavirus).

Where COVID-19 cases have increased,

local authorities now have the ability to enforce a lockdown in their regions (as we have seen in Leicester). If these regional lockdowns occur on a regular basis it will also impact on local aerodromes, local pilots and aircraft owners. However, it should be understood that these measures, if taken, will be on health grounds and therefore outside of the remit of the DfT and CAA. If anyone has a concern with respect as to how a business is applying the government guidance advice, it is a matter for the local HSE and should be reported to them.

Finally, on the topic of using latex gloves.

AOPA believes that these should be worn

until the aircraft is ready to taxi and not used inflight. Flying gloves that belong to one person should be used by that individual. On landing – and after shutting the aircraft down – use antibacterial/antiviral hand gel and wear another pair of latex gloves before you exit the aircraft. Remember, this all helps to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus – and it’s our moral obligation to protect others. Martin Robinson

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association www.aopa.co.uk

BMAA Be information wise For the recreational pilot, keeping up to date with so many sources of information, can be daunting. Most are electronic – email, websites and apps are among the favourites.

One of the most useful is the CAA’s Skywise app which I have tuned to suit my needs as a microlight pilot.

Recent updates have included useful information about infringement hotspots and how to avoid being an infringer, airspace restrictions due to specialist activity, guidance advice when returning to flying after a long lay-off and the new CAA Stay in Control: GA Safety Campaign. It’s

a worthwhile app to have to hand, provides a bit of reading when you have a few spare moments – and is free.

One of the great advantages of being an BMAA member is access to information that otherwise might be missed. During the current COVID-19 pandemic the Association has been sending out frequent news bulletins to our members, keeping them up to date with changes to regulations governing recreational aviation throughout the UK. The response from members is that this has been very helpful, and while not relieving pilots of responsibility, has helped pinpoint information that otherwise

may have been missed.

Last month I expressed concern that the devolved administrations were slow in responding to requests for clarity. I am pleased to say that now all four countries of the UK allow dual flying, and importantly our flight training schools can open and continue teaching people to fly, which is what we all want to see. Geoff Weighell

British Microlight Aircraft Association www.bmaa.org

LAA Airspace – again We all know the frustrations when road works reduce motorways to just a single lane. In the inevitable tailbacks, there are of course increased risks of collision as frustrated drivers are forced into closer proximity.

In the air, the consequences of any such collisions are much more serious, which is why we are so concerned at the proposals by RAF Brize Norton and London Oxford Airport to sequester controlled airspace – an increased amount of lower-level airspace in the heart of the country. It will inevitably create pinch-points, and an increased risk of

collision among pilots attempting to circumnavigate the aerial road block.

Some may remember the furore in 2017 when Farnborough carried out its airspace ‘smash and grab’. One of the results was that the CAA changed the consultation process on 1 January 2018, implementing a revised, more transparent, CAP 1616 airspace change process.

One of its key differences is that the ‘airspace change sponsor’ is required to look at the safety impact on the wider airspace around it, not just the controlled airspace itself. However, Osprey CSL, who are consultants to Brize Norton and Oxford,

rushed the initial stage of its proposed changes through before the CAA changed its code, avoiding the requirement for such due diligence.

However, that was more than three years ago. So now, after such a long delay, perhaps it is logical that the CAA or DfT should require that these changes be judged to the newer, safer, criteria? Steve Slater

Light Aircraft Association www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk

Aviation associations Got something to say? You’re welcome to contribute to this page, email editor@seager.aero 66 | FLYER | September 2020

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Join The FLYER Club formation!

Three months on and we’re taking The FLYER Club to a new level. Join us as we get social, add benefits and fly to the airfields offering free landings

H

ello and welcome to the new FLYER Club pages. When we launched The FLYER Club three months ago we wanted to create the world’s best flying club. We’re not there yet, and it’ll be an ongoing and exciting journey, but we’re determined to make membership something that’ll enhance your enjoyment of aviation, bring you unique opportunities and save you money!

In the following pages you’ll find details of the free landing fees, plus all of the other benefits that membership brings. In the coming months there will be details of additional exclusive discounts, plus news of our series of event meet-ups (all socially distanced and Covid appropriate!).

By the time you’re reading this, if you’re a FLYER Club member you will also have

received the first of our regular weekly emails.

These will be short personal emails from the editorial team, keeping you up-to-date, not only with club news, but with our personal take on whatever is current in the GA world.

Finally, on behalf of everyone at FLYER I’d like to thank you for your support – we really couldn’t do this without you. Your membership helps us bring you and others what is now the UK’s most read General Aviation content.

ed.hicks@seager.aero

PS: If you’re a member who’d like to get involved, a business which would like to offer an amazing deal, or you’re not a member and tired of missing out, then turn to page 74.

September 2020 | FLYER | 69

Take-off

Out & About

Andy Archer’s and his daughter had a great flight above Bowland Fells in Lancashire!

As you can see in these photos, FLYER Club members are out there enjoying aviation and having fun, with many using our FREE landing fee vouchers.

These photos all came via the FLYER Facebook page, and if you’d like to get involved and share your flying experiences, you can either post your photos there or send them directly to flyerclub@seager.aero If your photos are too big for email (about 10mb is the maximum) use a free file transfer service such as wetransfer.com When you send us your photos – and videos – include a few words about who is in the photos, where and when it was taken, who took the photo/video, and any other relevant notes.

With a test pass and two solo QXC’s under his belt, Chris Hall has completed his PPL!

Above Ben Atkinson in formation over the Severn Estuary

Above Jonny Salmon and Isla the dog get airborne!

70 | FLYER | September 2016

Above Jono Holland goes farming with his Eurofox

Above Tom Bootyman’s vibrant Van’s RV-7 at Fenland

Above Keir Williams inverted in an Extra 300

Above Darren Legg doing some camping at Cromer

Above Robert Thompson at Southend mixing with the airliners

Above Simon Tobias departing at Popham

Above Tim Cook flew a C152 to go and fly a Spitfire at Duxford

Above Kerr Davidson’s Cherokee at Colonsay

Above Anthony Bryant’s 1,100ft Manchester transit

Above Richard Smith/Eurostar and friends at Troutbeck in the Lake District

Above Mike Newall formates with mate Derek in RV-6A

Above Russ Pinder at Blithfield Reservoir on approach to Abbots Bromley airstrip

Above Russ Barnes packing for a camping trip

Above Luca Dianati over Garda Lake, Italy

Above Nick Stone at Porthtowan with friends September 2020 | FLYER | 71

Free Landings In association with

If you’re a member of The FLYER Club, go to https://bit.ly/2DBaGmo to print your personalised vouchers and save £68 by claiming one FREE landing at each of these airfields valid for September 2020, although not at an aircraft’s home field. No jets. Please contact the airfield before setting off If you’re not currently a member of the FLYER Club, but would like to receive six new free landing fees every four weeks plus other Club member benefits, then click here to join!

Cambridge Airport

01223 373213 | www.cambridgeairport.com Cambridge Airport is located 1.5 miles from the city centre, with excellent public transport links.

Features hard and grass runways, plenty of grass parking, limited hard parking. Avgas and Jet A1 available, open 0800-1800, strictly PPR on 01223 373213. Free landing only applies to private aircraft under 2.7 metric tonnes.

Cambridge Airport offers a full ATC service including Approach and Tower. Open SEVEN days a week.

Nearby attractions Historic Cambridge city centre, Georgian Newmarket and race course, renowned Gog Magog golf course.

PPR 01223 373213 Radio 124.975

A

City Airport, Barton

A

0161 789 1362 | EGCB | www.cityairportandheliport.com City Airport (licensed as Manchester Barton) is a friendly airfield with up to 641m of grass runway and welcomes all forms of aviators, including microlights. It’s easy to find and fly-in, with an efficient service, including avgas 100LL and Jet A1.

AFIS, callsign ‘Barton Information’. Grass parking/ hangarage on request. PPR: tel or website. Open Tues-Sun from 9am until 6pm. Restaurant five minutes walk. Free Landing up to 1600kg MTOW. Advise using voucher when you PPR.

Nearby attractions Just five miles from Manchester city centre, close to ‘TRAFORDCITY’ including the Intu Trafford Shopping Centre (food, leisure and retail), AJ Bell Stadium, EventCity and MediaCity.

PPR 0161 789 1362 or via website Radio 120.255

M

Radio Accepts non-radio light aircraft, but PPR

PPR Prior permission is required

72 | FLYER | September 2020

Refreshments Including restaurants and cafes etc

Microlights are welcome

A

UL

Fuel Aviation fuel available A avgas, UL UL91, M mogas

While you’re there When you visit these six airfields, why not show your support by enjoying a meal in the cafe or filling up with fuel?

Free Landings are for FLYER Club member use only – click here to join!

Full Sutton

01759 372717 | EGNU | www.fullsuttonairfield.co.uk Full Sutton Airfield is within 15 minutes of York.

All welcome. Tea and coffee available. Chat to any club members or instructors about trial lessons or experience flights. There is a friendly atmosphere at Full Sutton and we hope to make you feel at home on the ground and in the air!

PPR is essential, as movements may depend on the condition of the runway as affected by the weather. Overflying of the nearby prison is forbidden. We don’t accept non radio.

A

Nearby attractions The city of York, the Yorkshire Air Museum and the National Rail Museum.

PPR 01759 372717 Radio 120.100

Kingsmuir

01333 310619 | https://kingsmuirairfield.com Kingsmuir (Sorbie) Airfield welcomes singles, light twins and microlights with PPR to its unobstructed, unlicensed, 620m grass runway.

Visitors can enjoy tea/coffee in the clubhouse (weekends only). Contact Leuchars Approach for LARS as Kingsmuir is close to the SE boundary of its MATZ. There’s no parachuting activity at Kingsmuir but visiting pilots should be aware that models occasionally fly from the R06 threshold. Overnight parking available.

Nearby attractions St Andrews, with its golf course, university and Scotland’s Secret Bunker, plus picturesque fishing villages.

PPR 01333 310619 Radio 126.500

North Coates

A

01472 388850 | www.northcoatesflyingclub.co.uk North Coates is an unlicensed airfield with a 760m grass runway, opposite Spurn Point, on the North Sea coast. Run by volunteers from North Coates Flying Club, this ex-RAF airfield is famous for WWII Bristol Beaufighters and has recently acquired a Mk 1 Bloodhound Missile that’s being restored for display. Food and fuel are available at weekends. Hangarage at competitive prices. The airfield is home to twins, flexwings and everything in between.

Nearby attractions Donna Nook Nature Reserve is adjacent and has one of the UK’s largest grey seal colonies. The coastal resort of Cleethorpes is also close by.

PPR 07952 923265 Radio 120.155

Stoke Golding

01827 712706 | www.stokegoldingairfield.co.uk Stoke Golding Airfield is set in beautiful countryside on the Leicestershire-Warwickshire border. It has been an active airfield since the 1960s. The airfield is in constant use by a variety of aircraft and is active most weekends during the flying season. All types of flying machine are welcome and the approaches are clear, flat and open, and the hedges are low at both thresholds.

The airfield is unlicensed and PPR is vital.

Nearby attractions The historic site of the Battle of Bosworth and its visitor centre, numerous walks, canal trips and an excellent pub.

PPR 07774 225298 or via the form on the website Radio 129.830

Win! A print or digital Pooleys UK Flight Guide QUESTION: What is the distance between Cambridge and Full Sutton in nautical miles?

To enter, post your answer, name, address and email details to Pooleys August Competition, FLYER magazine, PO Box 4261, Melksham, SN12 9BN or send an email to competitions@seager.aero The closing date is 9 September 2020.

The winner’s name and address will be passed to Pooleys, then deleted from Seager’s database. Pooleys will send the winner their prize and, in order to do so, also offer to supply them with further information about the company’s products and services.

1 Cambridge Airport 2 City Airport, Barton 3 Full Sutton 4 Kingsmuir 5 North Coates 6 Stoke Golding

4

2

3 5 6 1

The winner for Summer 2020 is: Trevor Wright, Braintree, Essex.

September 2020 | FLYER | 73

Take off with the FLYER Club

A

Aviation businesses… You can be a part of The FLYER Club as well.

And pilots… If you’re not a member, why not?

re you an aviation business operating in General Aviation? Most likely, you’ll already know and appreciate the advertising opportunities in FLYER and on our websites, www.flyer.co.uk and www.pilotcareernews.com But did you know that we also have the most comprehensive and far-reaching social media reach as well? We’re active on all the main platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, including a weekly Livestream (that’s at 7.30pm EVERY Thursday for 30 minutes on Facebook). If you miss it, then the video of the Livestream is on our YouTube channel shortly after.

This all means that FLYER magazine has the most dialled-in, switched-on, er, active set of readers and viewers interacting with us almost every day. We take that responsibility very seriously and try to make sure everything we do is accurate, fair and decent – and we will never misuse anyone’s contact details.

As a business owner you can be part of this activity by offering our club members

74 | FLYER | September 2020

something special or unique. Take a look at the benefits already available to FLYER Club members and see what you could contribute.

We’re on a terrific, exciting and worthy flightpath – why not join us? Drop us an email at flyerclub@seager.aero with your proposal and we’ll get back to you.

How to join The FLYER Club If you’re not already a member of The FLYER Club and you’ve read all these pages you must be thinking, ‘How do I join? Right now. This instant. I can’t stand being left out any more…’

Well, good news, it’s easy. Just follow this link: https://subscriptions.flyer.co.uk, complete the simple form, decide how you want to pay and start enjoying the benefits instantly.

Current member benefits

■ Our back issue library is open, and we’ve just added all of our 2011 issues ■ Save 5% whenever you shop at Pooleys (excludes Bose headsets) ■ £10 off when you spend £40 at Transair (excludes Bose headsets) ■ Free copy of A View from the Hover

■ An initial conversation with Dr Frank Voeten, FAA & EASA AME ■ Get your club membership paid by Stein Pilot Insurance ■ Twice-weekly General Aviation weather briefings ■ FREE Landings, print your vouchers here Coming soon ■ Back issues – We plan at least five years as soon as possible with more to follow ■ Mini weather webinars – dates and booking details will be published here soon ■ Our first members’ Fly-in – once things have settled down – we’ll be announcing details of when and where.

Learning to Fly? Under 30?

THE A RMSTRONG /I SAACS B URSARY

Have you reached your first solo?

Need support?

LAA Armstrong/Isaacs Bursaries offer additional funding to allow young pilots to complete their courses at a time when so often money starts to run out.

Five bursaries of up to £1,500 are available each year.

Closing date 1st Dec 2020.

Full details at

Light Aircraft Association

www.laa.uk.com

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Airfields

MANCHESTER (Barton) The Bristell NG5 is an aluminium alloy quick build kit plane which can be fitted with any of the Rotax 912 series engines. It is available in tricycle or taildragger configurations, carries 120 litres of fuel & burns 16 litres/ph @115 kt cruise. It has one of the biggest cockpits in class & has nose wheel steering. Stalls 34kts/Vne 155kts. BRS parachute is an approved option. Now can be used for conversion training (buy now to beat Brexit increases).600 kg Microlight ready to fly (RTF) NG5M’s and kits will be available in 2021

We offer a warm friendly welcome to all visitors.

With up to 641m of grass runway available and a dedicated Heliport, we are ideally placed close to Manchester City Centre and surrounding attractions. All types welcome.

PPR via phone 0161 789 1362 or via our website

www.cityairportandheliport.com Eccles, Manchester. M30 7SA

Email: bristelluk@yahoo.co.uk Tel: Farry 07801068210 Tony 07790669163

September 2020 | FLYER | 75

MARKETPLACE For more information on getting the best from your flight training see our website www.flyer.co.uk

Airfields

Full Sutton Flying Centre

Lancashire Aero Club is a thriving group of enthusiastic flyers who are based in Cheshire. We have a large array of offers listed on our website which members can enjoy.

Visit www.lancsaeroclub.co.uk for full details

Flying Lessons, Experience Flights, Trial Flights and Aircraft Hire in York and North Yorkshire. There is a friendly, informal atmosphere at Full Sutton and our hope is to make you feel at home on the ground and in the air!

Visit www.tatenhill.com or Call 01283 575283

Full Sutton Airfield, Stamford Bridge, YORK. YO41 1HS Tel: 01759 372717

Tatenhill Aviation • Newborough Road • Needwood Burton On Trent • DE1 9PD

www.fullsuttonairfield.co.uk

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1997 Saratoga II HP Fabulous avionics, 2019 Zero time engine, N-Reg. EUR€239,000 (Plus VAT)

2003 Cirrus SR22 Generation 1, non-Turbo, Parachute, glass cockpit Very affordable. EUR€187,000 Plus VAT

BONSALL MkII REPLICA MUSTANG (2011) TTAF128Hrs,Eng/Prop 35Hrs Permit to Fly. 8.33 & Mode S 300HP Lycoming IO-540. GBP£96,000 No VAT

1948 Percival Proctor 5 This wonderful piece of British aviation history can be yours. GBP£110,000 No VAT

1994 PZL-WILGA 80TTAF 1066, Eng/Prop 40Hrs Spare prop and very large spares package included GBP£50,000. No VAT

2016 Tecnam P2010 G500, GTN650, GNC255A, KN63,GTX33 EUR€179,000 + Import VAT

1975 Cessna 402B ‘Utiliner’ Based in Iceland EUR92,950. Plus Import VAT

WANTED Various See ‘WANTED’ page at derrickings.com

Tel: +44(0)1747 825378 Mobile: +44(0)7836 708564 eFax: +44(0)1747 440322 Twitter: DINGS_Aircraft Email: sales@derrickings.com Web: www.derrickings.com 76 | FLYER | September 2020

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QSY

For the funny, the weird, the wonderful and the just plane strange…

Brunty bonus

Nominate a local hero for the NHS Spitfire

D

uxford-based Aircraft Restoration Company has come up with its own special way of saying thank you to individual NHS workers, and has launched a JustGiving campaign to raise funds for NHS Charities Together.

The Aircraft Restoration Company is famous for its painstaking maintenance and restoration services for classic aircraft, as well as flying them. One of its operational aircraft is blue Spitfire PL983 which, since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the UK, has been flying around local villages to

Above There can’t be many better ways to say ‘Thank you NHS’…

support #clapforourcarers.

“The response was utterly overwhelming,” said the company. “Being around the Spitfires so regularly can make it all too easy to take for granted just what the sight and sound of this machine means to so many people.

“We just weren’t prepared for the emotionally charged messages of support and gratitude that we received for that first flight. It was what paved the way for the development of the NHS Spitfire project.

“Over the course of the next few months (5 July-20

September 2020) we are going to be hand-writing 80,000 names onto our photo-reconnaissance blue Spitfire PL983 ‘L’.”

Not just any names. The company wants members of the public to nominate local heroes – a kind neighbour, family member on the frontline, volunteer PPE producer, or anyone who has helped or inspired through the pandemic.

To nominate a name, go to the Aircraft Restoration Company’s JustGiving page and donate a minimum of £10 along with the name of the person and the reason for the nomination. https://bit.ly/2X2HZpj

Heroes & Villains HEROINE Olivia de Havilland, star of the 1939 film Gone with the Wind and many other Hollywood films, died recently at the age of 104. Viking Air, holders of the de Havilland brand, have named a DHC2T Olivia in her memory – she was a cousin of Geoffrey, the genius behind the aircraft.

VILLAINS Knock-off parts are well-known, but whole knock-off helicopters? A gang in Moldova has been arrested

for producing illegal copies of Russian Kamov KA-26 helicopters and selling them to former Soviet states. Ten helicopters were found on a production line.

HERO Hasan Kaval, a paraglider pilot in Turkey, is now the official Flying Couch Potato Man (pictured right). He created – and flew – a paraglider equipped with all the comforts of his living room including sofa, TV, standard lamp, slippers and, of course, crisps. Watch the video here: https://youtu. be/4usUy2QLjRc

HERO The air traffic controller operating Bournemouth Radar on Tuesday 21 July had more than 100 gliders flying in the Solent airspace – the weather was perfect for long distance gliding – yet still managed to give a good service including zone transits to passing GA traffic, reports reader Nigel Charles.

The #SaveBrunty campaign launched in July to allow historic aircraft preservation groups, above, to stay at Bruntingthorpe has borne fruit.

The historic aircraft were thought to be at threat after Cox Automotive acquired the automotive side of C Walton Ltd, the company which ran the former airfield. The airfield is now mainly used as a proving ground for testing and also for parking cars on their way to and from dealers.

Dave Walton, of C Walton Ltd, has confirmed a way forwards.

“There are no plans to scrap any of the historic British aircraft currently on site,” he said in a statement.

“We have reached agreement with a number of organisations to rehome several of the historic aircraft and are actively pursuing the possibility of establishing an aviation museum upon land adjacent to the airfield at Bruntingthorpe, but there are a number of practical implications which will determine whether this will ultimately be viable.” https://bit.ly/3g7EV2A

Airwolf replayed

Remember Airwolf, the 1980s TV show where a secret ‘black ops’ unit operated a high tech helicopter (actually a modified Bell 222) in all sorts of Cold War capers?

Musician Samara Ginsberg has arranged the enigmatic theme tune for eight cellos… and played them all.

Watch and listen at: https://youtu.be/73iTHJQaxcY

Send your QSY submissions to QSY, PO Box 4261, Melksham, SN12 9BN or to qsy@seager.aero 80 | FLYER | September 2020