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 Editorial
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Website www.subscriptions.flyer.co.uk

Editorial Ed Hicks
Telephone +44 (0)1225 481440

Changing of the guard

Email editor@seager.aero
Website www.flyer.co.uk
Seager Publishing, 9 Riverside Court,
Lower Bristol Road, Bath BA2 3DZ

T
EDITOR
Ed Hicks ed.hicks@seager.aero

NEWS EDITOR here have been a handful of very special moments in my aviating
Dave Calderwood dave.calderwood@seager.aero life, witnessed at the strip where I’m based, but a few weekends ago
PRODUCTION EDITOR
I had the privilege of being present for one that really stands out.
Joss Hutton joss.hutton@seager.aero I’d been driving past on my way home from a day’s building work on
the RV. It was early evening, and the sun was slowly setting – it was
ART EDITOR
Ollie Alderton ollie.alderton@seager.aero
too nice to be indoors, which was reason enough to grab a quick cuppa and catch
up on the day’s activities.
CONTRIBUTORS Pretty soon after I rolled up, my friend Nye, who generously loans me his
Mark Hales, Dave Hirschman
Rod Simpson, Paul Kiddell,
beautiful Piper Vagabond to fly, popped round the corner of the hangar with
Nathan Barley, Yayeri van Baarsen his son, Keir, who I mentioned here a year ago. Keir had just gone solo and
I pondered the 24 years it’d taken to add a sub-twenty-year-old to the ranks of
FLIGHT SAFETY EDITOR the strip’s pilots. Well, Keir plugged away at his PPL, and passed his Skills Test
Joe Fournier joe.fournier@seager.aero
in February. After some weather interruptions, he completed his tailwheel
PUBLISHER & MANAGING DIRECTOR conversion in early May and then it was just a case of soloing the Vagabond.
Ian Seager ics@seager.aero Well, I say just, but Keir viewed it as a moment bigger than his very first solo. “I
PRODUCTION MANAGER don’t want to bend Dad’s aeroplane, after all…”
Nick Powell nick.powell@seager.aero Father and son flew a couple of circuits together, and after a short break for tea,
ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER while the sun moved directly off runway heading, Keir headed out for one more on
Simon Moss simon.moss@seager.aero his own. The Vagabond jumped off the ground one-up and the strip officially
ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE
added a new young pilot to its ranks.
Zoe Yeo zoe.yeo@seager.aero It was a slightly bittersweet moment as, earlier that day, I’d stood outside the
workshop while painting a piece of RV, and watched a Groppo Trail fly down
ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE
Debbie Wylde debbie.wylde@seager.aero
the nearby valley. In the cockpit was another friend of mine, one who I knew
was making his last flight as a pilot – it was a little poignant to watch.
EXHIBITION SALES MANAGER The low note of the Vagabond’s burbling Continental brought me back to the
Darran Ward darran.ward@seager.aero
moment in hand. Just as the sun began dipping below the horizon, Keir flared
EXHIBITION SALES MANAGER the Piper back onto the grass with a deft touch. “Not bad,” said Nye. Both had
Paul Yates paul.yates@seager.aero
matching grins, although his Dad’s was probably the biggest. We turned to follow
EVENTS COORDINATOR Keir back to the hangar, and although the day’s flying might have been at an end,
Victoria Smith victoria.smith@seager.aero it was a pleasure knowing that I’d just watched the first of many adventures for the
ACCOUNTS MANAGER Vagabond’s newest pilot.
Kirstie May kirstie.may@seager.aero

FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
Martine Teissier martine.teissier@seager.aero

PRINTING
William Gibbons & Sons, West Midlands ed.hicks@seager.aero
CIRCULATION
Newstrade Distribution UK and
Left The strip’s newest pilot takes off… under watchful eyes
Rest of the World by Seymour

More…
www.seymour.co.uk

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

/flyermagazine @Flyer_Magazine
© Seager Publishing 2018

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 3
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 Contents SUMMER 2018

Features
14 
News Extra
Cost-Sharing
Why the CAA’s recent guidelines marked
a turning point for the likes of Wingly

17 
Show Report
Popham Microlight Trade Fair
Highlights from this year’s event

20 I Get Paid for This…

Phil Mathews
A very experienced GA instructor who’s
given over 1,000 people flying lessons

28 
Flight Test
Junkers F 13
Thomas Borchert flies a fabulous re-creation
of the first all-metal airliner

38 
My First Solo
John Torode
The founder of Dynon and Vashon Aircraft

40 Training
Class Rating Instructor Course
David Kelly takes a CRI course at Andrewsfield

48 
Accident Analysis

Junkers F 13 28
State of Control
Joe Fournier on why it’s more a state of mind

56 
Flying Adventure
Day Stripper
Paul Kiddell and a friend from his EuroStar
syndicate visit a fine selection of Scottish strips

66 
Top Gear
OSEI Crystal Mic
Make your own headset by fitting a
microphone to a pair of headphones

Regulars
3 Editorial 27 Ian Seager 17 40
6 News 50 Accident Reports
18 Pilot Careers 68 By Association
23 Dave Hirschman 70 That Worst Day

56
25 Mark Hales 82 QSY

SIX Free Landings!

72 
SAVE £54
Six great airfields to visit!
n Beverley n Holmbeck
n City Airport, Barton n Sandown
n Fishburn n Walton Wood
PLUS
Win a Pooleys
UK Flight Guide

July 2016 | FLYER | 5
 Take-off
Aviation news from around the world – for the latest, visit www.flyer.co.uk

Pilots flying on a CAA Medical

Declaration banned from Ireland
Main Carlingford
Lough, on the border
between the irish
Republic and
Northern Ireland. Pilots
flying on a medical
declaration will now
have to stay out of
Ireland’s airspace
UK pilots who hold an NPPL
or PPL and have a CAA Pilot
Medical Declaration cannot
legally fly to Ireland. The Irish
Aviation Authority (IAA) requires
all pilots to hold a minimum of
an ICAO Class 2 or EASA LAPL
Part-MED certificate.
This requirement only recently
came to light, though it dates back to
7 April 2017, when the IAA issued
‘Revision 3’ of Aeronautical Notice P21.
That’s the notification the IAA
requires when a pilot plans to fly in
Ireland on the basis of a third-country
licence, eg a UK national licence.
The IAA position is in direct
contradiction of the stance taken by
many European states, including
France, where national licences and
medical requirements are accepted
under an agreement negotiated by
Paul Kiddell

the European Microlight Federation.

However, since the IAA requires all
its resident pilots to have a Class 2
or LAPL medical, that’s unlikely to
be adopted by the Irish.
“The UK change, from a
GP-countersigned declaration to a
simple pilot’s declaration, has caused
the IAA to change the requirement
for all visitors to be inline with the
IAA resident regulations,” says
Geoff Weighell, CEO of the British
Microlight Aircraft Association
(BMAA). “It’s difficult to argue that
a visiting pilot should be able to fly
on a lower level of medical assurance
than a home-based pilot.
“I’ve been in discussion with the
IAA about this. I had hoped to be
able to influence a change of view,
but my understanding is that unless
there’s some common EU standard
of medical assurance for microlight
pilots, or other sub-ICAO licences,
they won’t change their minds. By
the way, it isn’t just UK pilots who
are affected, it applies to all visitors
flying any type or class of aircraft.”
UK microlight pilot Paul Kiddell,
the FLYER contributor who brought
the matter to our attention, said,
“The removal of acceptance of
the UK self-certification medical
will prevent the majority of UK
microlight pilots from operating
legally in Ireland, unless they pay
around £200 to get a medical.
The majority of pilots will be over
forty and require a medical every
two years.
“As a result, I fear most UK
pilots will choose to go elsewhere,
primarily France, for a foreign
adventure, and avoid the medical
burden and associated cost
required to fly in Ireland.
“The impact is much more
significant across the border in
Northern Ireland, as many self-
certified medical pilots routinely
cross over for fly-ins and days out.”

Get lost with D&D Build a BushCat

If you’re lost, just squawk The new UK agent for the
0030 and call D&D. That BushCat kitplane and the
and other useful info is Aerobility charity, which helps
contained in a free guide disabled people fly, are to build
issued by the RAF’s Distress an aircraft over six days at this
& Diversion (D&D) Cell. July’s Farnborough Airshow.
Download it from www.tinyurl. Make a build donation via www.
com/RAFDandDLeaflet tinyurl.com/BushCatChallenge

6 | FLYER | Summer 2018
 Take-off

CAA and NATS

accused of lower
airspace stitch-up
The All-Party Parliamentary
Group on General Aviation (APPG
on GA) has accused the CAA and
NATS, working with regional
airports on a redesign of lower
airspace, of stitching up the
General Aviation community.
Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate,
Parliamentary Chair of the Airspace
Working Group, said, “We understand
that an agreement has been reached
between CAA and NATS on how at
least a significant part of the lower
airspace will be redesigned by a number
of airports working in collaboration,
using a CAA process which will include
Airspace Change Proposals.
“On the face of it, this appears to be a
plan within which CAA, NATS and
fifteen airports will decide what the
airspace should look like, and then
collaborate to make it happen. We’d like
to understand the strategy behind the
plan, how this redesign is being governed,
and how the CAA intends to ensure GA
needs are understood and addressed.”
Military sell-off
In a separate initiative by the APPG
on GA, the Government’s plan to sell
off fifteen military aerodromes around
the UK for housing is to be reviewed.
The Defence Minister, The Rt Hon
Tobias Ellwood MP, has pledged to
look again at the sell-off.
“The Minister clearly understood
the issues facing the £60.6bn wider
aviation sector,” said Grant Shapps
MP, the Chair of the APPG on GA,
“and unbeknown to the APPG in
advance of the meeting, happens to
understand GA too, as a current FAA
licence holder.
“These airfields have been built and
maintained at vast public expense and are
a national resource. They’re practically
irreplaceable and should be recognised
as such in Government policy.”
Other airfield news
Businesses on Wellesbourne Airfield
are anxiously waiting for a judgement,
following a court case which took place
in May, between them and the Littler
family, which owns the site and wants
to develop it for housing.
A shortage of ATC staff has delayed
the re-opening of Carlisle Lake
District Airport for scheduled air
services until September. Loganair
had planned to start flying from there
on 4 June. Flights are planned to and
from Southend (also owned by the
Stobart Group), Belfast and Dublin.
Duxford is also looking for a
full-time Flight Information Service
Officer (FISO). More information at
www.tinyurl.com/DuxfordFISO
Visitors to Arran Brewery – on
the Isle of Arran, naturally – can now
arrive by helicopter. The Brewery has
opened its own helipad and is building
a terminal for arriving guests.
www.arranbrewery.co.uk
Extensions to
licences and
8.33kHz funding
The UK CAA has issued two extensions to
deadlines which many thought had passed.
Firstly, the requirement to hold an EASA
PPL or LAPL to fly an EASA-certificated
aircraft – such as a Cessna C172, Piper PA-28
or Cirrus SR – has been postponed again,
this time until 7 April 2019. Therefore,
holders of a UK national licence can continue
to fly EASA Annex I aircraft. The reason for
the extension is because the EU has delayed
publishing the relevant aircrew regulation.
The details are in the CAA’s ORS4 1269,
which can be download as a PDF from
www.tinyurl.com/CAAORS41269
Secondly, following negotiations by the
UK CAA, last year’s EU-funded scheme to
encourage aircraft owners to install an
8.33kHz-compliant radio has been extended
to 30 September 2018. The scheme
provides a twenty per cent rebate on radio
and associated equipment, and includes
support for the purchase of handheld units.
“The final call period is now open,” said
the CAA. “This will close on 30 September
2018 and supports the impending change
of law, on 1 January 2019 when, if your
flight mandates carriage of a radio, then
it must be 8.33kHz-capable.”
Details of the scheme can be found at
www.tinyurl.com/CAA833rebate

Worldwide ADS-B Gosport turnaround

NATS has taken a $69m stake in According to developer Peter
Aireon, the space-based air traffic Day, Gosport Borough Council’s
surveillance company, to help Planning Officer “rigged” a
accelerate the worldwide roll-out May meeting of newly-elected
of ADS-B through a network of 66 councillors, persuading them to
satellites. Although aimed at the vote down previously agreed
airlines, ADS-B will also help GA permission for five live/work
implement electronic conspicuity. hangar homes at Solent Airport.

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 7
 Take-off

First flight of
Diamond’s
GE-powered
DART-550
Diamond Aircraft has flown a
new variant of its DART military
trainer series. The DART-550 is
equipped with a General
Electric GE H75-100 turboprop
engine, rather than the Russian
Ivchenko turboprop fitted to
the original 450 model.
According to Diamond, the
DART-550 has completed a
basic flight programme,
including low approaches,
system checks and landing-gear
operation at different speeds
plus a short-field take-off.
The DART-550 turboprop
is from General Electric’s new
H range, produces 550shp and
has an electronic engine and
propeller control (EEPC)
system, a five-blade, full-
feather MT propeller, Martin
Baker Mk16 ejection seats and
a Garmin G3000 integrated
avionics system.
The expected maximum
speed is 247ktas with a max
weight of 2,400kg, and and
endurance of eight hours at
loiter speed.
The DART-550 will be at
the Farnborough International
Airshow on 16-22 July.
www.diamond-air.at
Rolls and racing at the
Portugal Air Summit
A world record for the number of rolls
completed by a glider on tow and a
brand-new form of air racing were just
two of the highlights of the Portugal Air
Summit, staged at the Ponte de Sor
Airfield in central Portugal on 24-27 May.
The record, set by Brit Guy Westgate in the
gliderFX MDM-1 Fox, was for 100 rolls behind a
tug aircraft. Guy said that he was okay during the
rolls and landing, but was unable to get out of the
aircraft for a few minutes afterwards, while his
balance stabilised. A special iPhone app counted
the rolls in real-time and Guy’s feat been
accepted by the Guinness Book of Records.
The new Air Race Championship (ARC)
concept mixes elements from the Reno Air
Races and the Red Bull series. ARC organiser
Nulo Molarinho said it was impossible to stage
Reno outside Nevada and too costly to try and
produce a Red Bull event.
“This idea combines racing round a circuit
of pylons with an aerobatic display round a
Main The British
gliderFX team set a
world record for
rolls-on-tow in a glider
Inset Sevenair’s
immaculate C152
timed lap,” Molarinho explained, pointing out
that they had to meet stringent regulations to
maintain separation from watching spectators.
One of the Reno race bosses, Rick Vandam,
was on hand to help with the organisation, and
explained that they hoped to expand the ARC
concept to other events around Europe.
Several British pilots were among the
competitors, who came from all over the world
and prepared at the Pylon Racing Training
Camp. Ponte de Sor is the ARC’s preferred spot
for holding this international training camp due
to its unique features and weather conditions.
The Portugal Air Summit combined the
ARC with an air display – which included
gliderFX team performing its night-time
pyrotechnic routine – an exhibition of aviation
companies and a conference. In addition, the
training company Sevenair showed off an
immaculately renovated Cessna C152, complete
with modern avionics and a glass cockpit.
www.portugalairsummit.com / www.airrace.pro

Just enough Tecnam’s hybrid

It’s back to bare essentials for Just Tecnam, Rotax and Siemens
Aircraft with its latest type, the Just have teamed up to develop
103. It conforms to the US Part 103 hybrid propulsion for light
ultralight category, with a single-seat, aircraft. The three-year H3PS
a weight less than 254lb and a top (High Power High Scalability
speed under 63mph, and will Aircraft Hybrid Powertrain)
probably meet the UK’s SSDR criteria. project is being financed by
www.justaircraft.com the EU. www.h3ps.eu

8 | FLYER | Summer 2018
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 Take-off
Right Pipistrel’s eVTOL
Inset Ivo Boscarol,
founder and manager
of Pipistrel

NASA-Uber
air taxi plan
NASA and Uber are to work
together, to explore concepts
and tech for future city air
transport, under the name
of the uberAIR project.
Uber will share its plans for
an urban aviation rideshare
network, while NASA is to
use the latest in airspace
management computer
modelling and simulation to
assess the impact of small
aircraft, from delivery drones
to VTOL passenger aircraft,
in crowded environments.
“Urban air mobility could
revolutionise the way people
and cargo move in our cities,”
says NASA’s Jaiwon Shin.
NASA wants to ensure that
small aircraft, such as those
Pipistrel’s amazing electric
proposed for uberAIR, operate
safely, with acceptable noise
levels and without burdening the
VTOL Batmobile project
current national ATC system. This is Pipistrel’s extraordinary highly aerodynamic wings results in a new
May’s second Uber Elevate proposal for an electric Vertical Take class of eVTOL that maximises high-speed
conference saw the firm show its Off and Landing (eVTOL) air vehicle cruise performance and dramatically lowers
designs for Skyports – passenger for the uberAIR project (see sidebar). the cost of operation.”
terminals with aircraft recharge Uber plans to operate a network of small, Pipistrel has also announced a partnership
points – to leading aircraft electric aircraft in numerous cities around with Elan, a fellow Slovenian company,
manufacturers plus industry the globe, to enable four-person ridesharing one which has been producing composite
and government officials. flights in densely-populated urban regions. materials and structures on a massive scale
Dallas and LA will be the “Pipistrel isn’t trying to reinvent the for over fifty years.
launch sites for uberAIR’s first helicopter by giving the vehicle many “Building in automation, building in
flights, expected in 2020, and rotors,” says Ivo Boscarol, the company’s digital manufacturing [and] high speed
the company is seeking a third, founder. “Instead, we’re embracing dedicated RTM [resin transfer moulding] composite
non-US city to join the project. propulsion solutions for cruise and vertical construction and other things,” explained
The commercial launch of lift, with built-in scaling capability for a Pipistrel R&D Director, Tine Tomazic,
uberAIR is planned for 2023. family of vehicles with two to six seats. “This is how we believe we stand a chance
www.uber.com/info/elevate/ “Pairing an innovative integrated vertical of going from where we are today, with the
cities lift system, which is quiet and efficient, with concept design, into the future.”

Embraer shows eVTOL Winged chariot

Brazilian regional and business jet An Anglo-French team is also
manufacturer, Embraer unveiled working on an eVTOL aircraft.
its eVTOL air taxi concept, right, at Neoptera Ltd, which has bases in
the Uber Elevate conference. Bristol and Toulouse, is developing
Embraer, Airbus, Bell, Boeing, a winged eVTOL type capable of
Pipistrel and Mooney are all aiming transporting 3-5 passengers,
to have flying air taxi prototypes for with a central pod which swings
the launch of city trials in 2020. through 90°. www.neoptera.aero

10 | FLYER | Summer 2018
 GNC 255A VHF NAV/COM

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GTR 225A VHF Transceiver

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Visit our website to see our full and comprehesive range of aviation products.
 Take-off
Main HondaJet Elite
Right Bombardier Global 7500
Right centre Beechcraft King Air flightdeck
Far right Socata TB-30 Epsilon
HondaJet
Elite announced
at EBACE
Honda Aircraft Company revealed a new upgraded model,
the HondaJet Elite, at this year’s European Business Aviation
Convention and Exhibition (EBACE), which was held at
Geneva Airport, Switzerland, at the end of May.
The HondaJet Elite has 17 per cent more range (396km/200nm) so it’s
now capable of 1,437nm, claimed to be the best in class. The Elite is also
equipped with newly-developed noise-attenuating engine liners, to reduce
high-frequency noise. The Garmin G3000 flightdeck has also been tweaked,
with extra performance management for optimum flight-planning, including
airspeed, cruise altitude, fuel flow, required runway, V-speeds and climb/
approach gradients. It also has automatic stability and protection, which stop
the Elite flying outside its performance envelope. There are fresh colours too
– Ice Blue, Ruby Red and Monarch Orange – plus a Bongiovi audio system.
More from Geneva
EBACE also saw Bombardier take a share of the limelight, announcing
that its eagerly-awaited flagship Global 7000, which is due to enter service
later this year, had exceeded its performance targets during flight tests and so
was being renamed the Global 7500. It has a 7,700nm range, full-size kitchen
and four living areas. Bombardier also announced the Global 5500 and
Global 6500 models, with 5,700nm and 6,700nm max ranges, respectively.
TAG Farnborough Airport is to be the site of Gulfstream’s new UK
service centre, with full maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities
and a hangar for thirteen large-cabin types plus apron and car parking.
The top-of-the-range Beechcraft King Air 350i/ER twin turboprop
will come with Integrated Terrain Awareness and Warning System (iTAWS)
as part of its Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flightdeck. iTAWS adds aural
and visual warnings to the primary flight display and multifunction displays,
and eliminates the standalone TAWS unit. Over 7,300 King Airs have been
delivered since 1964, making it the best-selling business turboprop.
Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) is gaining emphasis
in business aviation. Apache Aviation, which operates the Breitling Jet
Team, is to offer UPRT using six Socata TB-30 Epsilon military trainers.
The instructors will be members of the aerobatic jet team!
12 | FLYER | Summer 2018
Inbox
All quiet on the CAA front
We’ve all been inundated by GDPR emails but,
surprisingly, have had nothing from the CAA.
As Andy Haigh, pilot and operator of Maypole
Airfield, points out: “The CAA holds and makes
publicly available all sorts of information I regard
as personal. This information is passed on to
other, third parties, who then exploit it for
commercial gain. Using these combinations
of data sources, anyone, including the
troublemakers surrounding our airfield, can track,
record and attribute every aircraft movement.
“The CAA informed me that the right to
have my data removed from their systems was
‘not absolute’ and that they were required by
the Civil Aviation Authority Regulations 1991
to make the UK Register available for inspection
by any person.
“I’ve always been uncomfortable about
G-INFO and have witnessed many (mostly
unfounded) complaints about flyers which
were clearly facilitated by that database.
“I think that the data G-INFO contains is at
least as private as car ownership information,
yet I don’t see the DVLA publishing any data
of that type. So, why do aircraft owners and
operators have to accept the flagrant abuse of
our similarly private information by the CAA?”
ATPFlightSchool.com
 News Extra
Cost-sharing
reaches a
turning point
Wingly and other sites matching pilots with passengers for cost-sharing flights
have now been endorsed by the CAA and EASA. Dave Calderwood reports
W
ingly, the online cost-sharing
service, held its first fly-in
at Wolverhampton Halfpenny
Green Airport at the end of May.
The event marked a coming of
age for the France-based company and followed
what was effectively an endorsement by the UK
CAA in April, when the regulator’s Head of
General Aviation, Tony Rapson, issued new
guidelines for cost-sharing by private pilots.
Wingly launched in the UK two years ago and has
slowly built a following among British pilots who
are looking to fly more. Crucially, Wingly has also
attracted non-pilots looking to fly in a light aircraft,
either just for fun to go somewhere in particular.
However, that isn’t to say Wingly’s progress has been
entirely smooth. Several airfields have banned the
company’s operations, and the service has existed in a
kind of limbo between being legal but not exactly welcome
and merely tolerated. With the UK CAA’s guidelines and
endorsement, Wingly and its lesser known rival, Coavmi,
have become part of the General Aviation establishment.
Saving money, not making a profit
So what exactly is Wingly and what does it offer? Firstly,
and Ahaad Adiji, the boss of Wingly’s UK operations is
clear about this, it isn’t an air charter or air taxi service.
The CAA’s guidelines are equally clear: there must be no
element of making a profit when the pilot shares the cost
of operating the aircraft with the passengers.
What Wingly does is put its members, private pilots
with access to an aircraft, in touch with those who are
looking for a flight. Wingly does charge a fee for doing
that, it isn’t a charity after all, but as we all know, no-one
makes a fortune from GA.
“Our goal at Wingly is to democratise General Aviation
and allow a larger audience to experience the incredible
thrill of flying,” explained Adiji. “Moreover, we allow pilots
to share their passion for flying while sharing their costs.
“Over the last year, since our launch in the UK, we’ve
had nearly 1,500 passengers share costs with a Wingly pilot,
collectively saving them nearly £50k in flying costs, most of
which is reinvested into getting more ratings, and increasing
flying for the pilots. That accounts to 1,500 hours flown in a
light aircraft during this period. All these numbers are
growing and bringing even more people into GA.”
However, the limbo that Wingly has slipped into in
the UK has slowed its growth here. In France and
14 | FLYER | Summer 2018
Above Recently endorsed by the UK CAA, Wingly allows
pilots to share costs and fly to more interesting destinations
Germany, where the company has been operating for
longer, the numbers are five times greater.
“It’s really unfortunate that due to bad communication
and misinformation, many pilots in the UK are being
denied the opportunity to fly more by sharing costs on
Wingly,” said Adiji. “Fewer young people are taking up
flying as it’s become more challenging for today’s generation
to fly or obtain a PPL. The costs of flying have clearly
increased. Moreover, many GA airfields are threatened
due to people no longer finding them useful. We feel that,
with Wingly, we can help bridge this gap.”
We spoke to several Wingly pilots who, without
exception, praised the service. Bagby-based Nathan
Missin told us, “I joined Wingly simply to be able to fly
more often by sharing the costs. This has enabled me to
fly to more varied and interesting destinations that I
wouldn’t otherwise have been able to without finding
passengers willing to fly and share the costs.
“At the end of nearly every flight I’ve done through
Wingly, the passengers have commented that, ‘Wingly
is such a great idea, why wasn’t it around sooner?’
“As a pilot, there’s no commitment to complete the
flight. I’m able to cancel it any time and the passenger
gets a full refund, therefore removing any pressure that
the flight must be completed. For a passenger, joining
someone on, say, a local sightseeing flight, to see the
Yorkshire Dales, the moors or a trip to Barra, isn’t an
option unless you know a pilot or are willing to pay a
flying school a lot more than a cost-sharing flight.
“Every passenger who’s joined me through Wingly
has had a great experience and some even return. Every
passenger enjoys different aspects of the flight. Some like
staring through the window at the scenery, others ask
me technical details about the flight and aircraft, and
some like to hold your chart and assist navigation by
identifying features.
“If I’ve had to cancel a flight due to weather,
availability or technical issues, they’ve always been
very understanding. I believe this is because Wingly
does a great job of informing passengers how GA operates,
but a pilot has their part to play by keeping their passengers
informed and to remind them how cost-sharing works.”
North Weald-based pilot, and FLYER subscriber,
Ian Brierly says, “My motivation is to share the flying

experience. I like taking passengers and they love to fly.
I feel it is rather selfish flying a four-seater as I do, and
not trying to fill up the spare seats.
“I offer Wingly flights when I have spare seats for a
destination I’m already flying to. So for me it’s an
opportunity to get some recompense for the flight.
For passengers it’s an opportunity to experience light
aircraft flying at an economic rate.
“Wingly ties this all together well. There’s been some
club backroom talk, that perhaps Wingly intrudes on
flying school activity. My experience is contrary to that.
All my passengers are ‘punters’ who just wanted to fly,
they aren’t looking to become pilots themselves.”
Andrew Hyett used to fly from Elstree, until the
airfield banned Wingly ops. As one of the first to join
Wingly (and its predecessor, SkyUber), Andrew became
an ambassador for the service. He says, “For the pilot, it
dramatically reduces the cost of the flight, as the costs are
split equally between all the people flying in the aircraft.
“As an addition I personally get a great sense of
satisfaction introducing members of the public to the great
benefits of private aviation and showing them that it isn’t
difficult. It’s very enjoyable and the easiest and fastest way
to travel distances in the UK and Europe – four hours to
the south of France, for example, brakes to brakes.
“For my passengers, they get the best ‘Monday
morning coffee machine bragging rights’. ‘What did
you do at the weekend?’ ‘Oh, we flew to France for lunch
in a private plane.’ I know a few of my passengers who
are now training to be PPLs. The more people who are
aware of GA and its benefits the better so, to my mind,
Wingly is excellent.”
For his part, initially, Shoreham-based Michael
Childs was cautious, as he explains, “At first I was a
little unsure as it seemed to be a bit like a commercial
operation so I put it to one side. After a short while,
seeing Wingly’s adverts, I decided to look into it more
in-depth and joined up. I was contacted by the company’s
Ahaad Adiji, which was great as I still had questions.
He explained the rule changes and sent all the CAA
guidelines to me. I passed these on to the owner of the
plane that I fly, for him to review, and he was happy for
me to go ahead.
“Wingly has brought me endless enquiries from
people who want to experience flight. In fact, it’s
renewed my enthusiasm for wanting to realise my dream
of becoming a commercial pilot and has now made it
financially viable. I’m now able to clock up many more
hours and fly further than I was able to before.
“Being able to fly regularly and stay current is what
makes safer pilots. It also prepares you better for your
future, if you choose to go commercial, as there’s a lot
more to it than just flying the plane. In the real world,
you have passengers and all their associated issues to
deal with. It also gets you thinking about other aspects,
like aircraft performance. Anyone can fill the tanks of
a plane and go flying for an hour, but when you start to
do longer trips, you need to start doing more in-depth
calculations which, again, makes you a safer pilot.”
Experience counts
All of the pilots FLYER contacted agreed that a minimum
level of experience – P1 hours – is desirable before listing
flights on Wingly. No minimum is set by Wingly, although
it does have restrictions for pilots with fewer than 100hr
as P1, but it makes sense to make sure that you’re
comfortable flying with passengers, dealing with ATC
and Controlled Airspace, and arriving at new airfields.
News Extra
“For a pilot starting cost-sharing on a platform,
taking up passengers you have never met for the first
time can be a little daunting,” reasons Nathan Missin,
“and I don’t believe a pilot, only just having passed their
skills test, is in the right position to do so. They need to
be fully comfortable operating the aircraft in varied
airspace, making a go/no-go decision and telling
passengers the flight is cancelled before they fly with
people they’ve never met.”
Paul Buckley agrees with Nathan, opining, “There
are many different elements of a potential flight which
may be new to a pilot – eg flying to an unknown airfield,
across water, to a foreign country, a new aircraft etc – all
of which stretch them.
“A twenty-minute local sightseeing flight close to a
home airport is quite different to, say, a 200nm cross-
country to France or the Channel Islands. I’d always
recommend that pilots not do something with someone
else, especially someone they don’t know, until they’re
very comfortable doing it by themselves.”
Further change ahead?
All the pilots we spoke to think Wingly is doing a great job
in matching them with passengers. However, there is still
potential for tweaking the service. One change would be to
the costs which are allowed to be charged, although that’s
outside Wingly’s control.
“As a sole owner of an aircraft, I’m disadvantaged by
the cost-sharing rules,” says Ian Brierly. “I can only share
fuel, oil and landing fees. The insurance, hangarage and
maintenance costs are not allowed to be included for me.
On the other hand, a pilot renting an aircraft can share
the rental cost as well – which obviously includes a
proportion of those costs – so the rules favour the renter.”
However, perhaps the biggest welcome change would
be to the attitude of some in the GA industry.
“I’d like to see some airfields and insurance companies
take a more accepting approach to cost-sharing,” says
Nathan Missin. “For the airfields, this will surely bring
them more money, and perhaps even inspire some
passengers to take up and learn to fly at their schools.”
Michael Childs summed it up nicely by reasoning,
“Wingly is opening up the world of GA to the masses and
allowing them to experience what we as pilots really enjoy.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone in the GA sector.”
Wingly’s take-off
What prompted the start of Wingly and similar
flight-sharing platforms was a change in the
regs, notably European Regulation (EU)
No 379/2014, dated 7 April 2014. Pilots are
allowed to share flights as long as the aircraft
doesn’t exceed six seats and is non-complex.
Wingly has written confirmation from EASA,
stating that flight-sharing and advertising flights
is totally legal, as long as the costs are shared
fairly. The company has also signed a Safety
Charter with EASA.
Wingly requires both pilots and passengers
to provide ID, such as passport details, upon
registration and also offers additional cover
on top of the aircraft’s standard mandatory
insurance via Allianz Global Corporate &
Specialty SE (AGCS).
www.wingly.io
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 15
 Popham Microlight Trade Fair
More for less 01
01 The EuroFOX 120
has an aftermarket
Rotax 912 engine
conversion with
fuel-injection which
provides 120hp at max
continuous 5,500rpm.
It’s intended for glider
towing operations.
02 Airplay Aviation
showed its sub-70kg
‘nanolight’ Snake
single-seater, which
actually needs no
licence to fly, though
both BMAA and
manufacturer certainly
recommend training.
David Broom, the boss
of Airplay and a British
microlight champion, is
offering five free hours
of training, valued at
£600, for a limited
time. The Snake can
cost as little as £7,400
(+VAT & delivery), fully
built and fitted with a
27hp Cisco engine.
03 You cannot be
serious! But apparently
FlyLight is, as the 02 04
Sywell-based firm
was showing its
float-equipped
Dragonfly SSDR trike.
04 PilotAware has
launched its latest £256
Rosetta unit, which is
self-contained so it can
be swapped between
aircraft. PAW is also
working with a start-up, 03
Aircrew, on a panel-
mounted traffic display
(inset) which can also
function as an artificial
horizon with slip ball or
a direction indicator
with heading bug. The
Aircrew display is still
very much under
development – the
on-screen annotation 05
is too small at the
moment – but it’s
expected to go on
sale later this year
for around £400.
05 The EuroFly
MiniFox is an SSDR
with a 33hp Cisco Bull
Max engine, available
from Airplay Aviation
as a kit for around
£14k, or ready-built
at £16k. The wing can
be removed by one
person, or there’s a
wing-fold option for
easy hangarage.

Report and photos

Dave Calderwood

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 17
 Pilot Careers
MARKETPLACE

www.pilotcareernews.com The definitive source for pilot training, career and industry news

In brief Main L3 European Airline Academy staff

with two new Diamond DA40 aircraft
and the latest batch of UK cadets

Helicentre Aviation Academy

has opened applications for its
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Programme. Previous winners
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May saw the Irish regional

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and Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

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The world’s first Bombardier C
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Four years is an ambitious
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Zunum Aero. The launch
customer for the twelve-seat
ZA10 is JetSuite, a small
charter airline backed by
JetBlue Airways and Qatar
Airways. www.zunum.aero
18 | FLYER | Summer 2018
Over 300 days of sunshine a
year makes central Portugal
an ideal spot for VFR flight
training, and that’s one
reason why L3 Commercial
Training Solutions (L3 CTS)
has settled on an airfield just
outside the little town of
Ponte de Sor for its new
European Airline Academy.
L3 acquired G Air, the
Approved Training Organisation
(ATO) which previously occupied
the site, in January of this year,
and is now busy re-branding the
company’s assets and aligning all
of its training materials.
Ponte de Sor Airfield has
recently been spruced up with
the help of an EU grant, and
hosted the Portugal Air Summit
at the end of May (see News).
The airfield is located in Class G
airspace, has its own tower, an
1,800m runway, a sizeable apron,
two large hangars, maintenance
facilities, an Instrument Landing
System at one end of the runway,
VOR, and, crucially, plenty of
space for L3’s European Airline
Academy to expand even further.
The ATO’s current facilities
are impressive, and include
brand-new classrooms, recently-
installed ALSIM FNPT II
simulators, and a business
hotel-standard accommodation
block for cadets. With catering
and leisure facilities also on site,
the Academy will be able to train
500 pilots per year.
L3 is expanding its fleet at
Ponte de Sor, to twelve Diamond
DA40D aircraft and a quartet of
single-engined Cessna machines.
The first two new DA40Ds arrived
“Ponte de Sor’s current
facilities are impressive, and
include brand-new classrooms
and recently-installed ALSIM
FNPT II simulators”
during our visit, and will go into
service immediately, providing
ab initio training for the first batch
of cadets from L3’s UK Airline
Academy at Southampton. Once
they’ve passed the VFR flying
stage, and obtained a PPL, the
cadets will return to the UK for
multi-engine and instrument
rating training.
“The L3 European Airline
Academy is a truly world-class
environment, and we’re excited to
be investing to expand capacity,”
said Mário Spínola, L3 Airline
Academy Director, Europe.
www.l3airlineacademy.com
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 Pilot Careers

I Get Paid for This…

Phil Mathews
One of the UK’s most experienced GA flying instructors,
who has given more than 1,000 people lessons since 1984
Interview by Yayeri van Baarsen

How did you get into flying?

In 1967, I visited an airshow at Gloucestershire
Airport, which was then called Staverton.
That was the start of many afternoons leaning
over the fence, watching aircraft take off.
I also helped out at the nearby Skyfame
Aircraft Museum, and for my thirteenth
birthday, my Dad bought me a trial lesson.
The next summer, I joined Cotswold Aero Club,
doing odd jobs and getting paid in flying time.

Tell us about your job…

I’m the owner of and CFI at Cotswold Aero
Club, which has four aircraft and five
instructors. We offer everything from trial
lessons and PPL training to advanced ratings
and aerobatics. Apart from teaching, my job
Flying CV
“Over time,
Phil Mathews owns Cotswold Aero
Club and as CFI handles PPL courses,
advanced ratings and check flights.

my job has
also involves an awful lot of paperwork and the
usual stuff that comes with running a business. Started work 1984
I prefer teaching – it certainly beats sitting Now flying Piper Arrow , Robin R2112
behind a desk! The best moment is when it
suddenly clicks and the student masters
and DR400
Favourite “The Arrow is good for touring,
become a
way of life”
whereas the Robins are better for training as
whatever they’ve been struggling with, which they’ve good visibility and nice handling.”
can vary from landing to map-reading – Hours at job start 500
everybody has different peaks and troughs. Hours now 23,500
Over the past thirty years, GA has evolved,
especially in terms of volume. Also, previously,
flying clubs mainly relied on private owners allowing their aircraft to became a QFI. Afterwards, I went on to get my CPL, ATPL and
be rented out, whereas nowadays they have their own. Gloucestershire became a Flight Examiner – every course adds something to your
Airport has changed dramatically, from a sleepy little place with only repertoire. Nowadays, instructor training focuses more on classroom
fifteen aircraft on-site to the UK’s busiest GA airfield. Last year, it saw stuff, whereas back in my day it was mostly about flying the aircraft.
over 82,000 movements, predominantly of light aircraft. On a
nice sunny day, we get between 400 and 500 movements – more than What’s been your favourite flight?
Heathrow! For us, busy days just mean that we need to plan in more Low-level flying in the Elan Valley, mid-Wales, pretending you’re a
detail, but for new students it can get a bit tricky. For example, delays Dambuster. I do it every now and again and it’s always pure fun!
on departure or arrival can make a lesson longer, which has an impact
on the cost to the student. Sometimes it’s more convenient practising And your favourite airfield?
circuits on a nearby airfield. Another challenge Gloucestershire Other than Gloucestershire, I don’t have a favourite. Every airfield has
presents novice pilots is getting to grip with the radio, as there’s so its plus points and although a few have some minuses, everywhere is
much traffic. It’s hard work, but we get them there in the end. worth visiting. Gloucestershire is home – I live on the other side of the
An FI’s job revolves around communication. You need to develop the fence and on average spend eleven hours a day on the airfield. Over
ability to let students make mistakes and not take over too soon or they time, my job has become a way of life – more a vocation than a career.
won’t learn. Also, you really need to consider how you deliver the
information. For example, most pilots say ‘pitch the nose down’ but that Do you get to fly much outside work?
isn’t actually what you’re doing – it should be ‘pitch the aeroplane in a Not a lot. I do try and go on one long European trip every year.
nose-down direction’. They’re small differences but particularly relevant It was Eastern Germany in 2017 and this year we’ll fly to Poland.
in a tandem aircraft. During new FIs’ first fifty hours of teaching, they
learn almost as much from their students as the other way around. What’s the most valuable career advice you’ve received?
I couldn’t think of anything specific, things have just unfolded with the
What training did you have? passage of time. My advice for people wanting to run a flying club
I got my PPL, flew the required 150 hours PIC, obtaining my IMC would be to put in a lot of hours and be prepared to invest quite a bit of
and Night rating in the meantime, and then did my instructor course. money. Also, it’s essential that you’re good at talking to people, even on
After 200 hours of instructing, I got my restrictions removed and busy days. Students need to feel like people, not numbers.

20 | FLYER | Summer 2018
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Unusual Attitude
Dave Hirschman
Creatures of habit
P
ilots tend to do things the same way for some
very good reasons. Our habit patterns help us
spot things which are out of the ordinary and
build consistency during such critical phases of
flight such as take-offs, instrument approaches,
and landings. But doing things by rote, time
after time, has a downside – mindless repetition
can put our brains on autopilot, dull our senses,
and distract us from more important tasks. Here’s a case in point:
I was recently checking out a fellow CFI in a new-to-him aeroplane
– a very basic Piper Cub – and as part of that process I had him
perform a series of touch-and-go landings. The landings were well
within tolerances, as I expected from this veteran pilot, but every
time we were on a downwind approach he reminded me to ensure
that my seatbelt harness was properly fastened. I was okay with it
the first time he asked but slightly annoyed the second time. When
he told me to buckle up a third time, I barked at him.
From my seating position, directly behind him, I put both hands
on his shoulders and told him, gently but firmly, that if he
told me to fasten my seatbelt again, I’d strangle him.
“What’s the problem?” he protested. “It’s on my
pre-landing checklist, and I tell my students to ask
“I told him, gently but firmly,
that if he told me to fasten my
that question before every landing. Because of that,
I make sure to do it myself, too.”
Consistency and strict checklist discipline is
admirable, but robotic repetition of irrelevant items
isn’t, and that, to me, seemed like useless clutter,
especially since the question already had been asked
seatbelt again, I’d strangle him”
and answered, twice.
“Tell you what,” I said, peevishly. “I’ll let you know if I ever
decide to unlatch my seatbelt in flight.”
I regretted snapping at a fellow pilot’s innocent question, but it
got under my skin because it reminded me of other brain-dead things
we do just because they’re written down somewhere. Another fellow
pilot, a longtime friend and colleague, used to tell me to “extinguish
all smoking materials” during every run-up in his aeroplane. I let it
go the first few times we flew together, but I finally couldn’t take it
any longer.
“Look, you’ve known me a long time,” I protested. “You know
that I don’t smoke, and I never have. So why do you tell me to put
out my cigarette every time we get in your aeroplane?”
He shrugged and pointed to a checklist item which he was
reading verbatim. There it was, in black and white, on the factory
checklist in his 1968 Mooney. How could I possibly find fault with
that? Easy: engage your brain and use common sense.
As pilots, we judge ourselves on our ability to build and maintain
“situational awareness” (SA). Behaving as though there’s any chance
Mark Mitchell
that your non-smoking friend is about to light up just moments
before take-off shows poor SA. Do pay attention to the flap setting,
your fuel selector and the elevator trim, but telling me not to smoke
Column
just proves that you aren’t thinking about the critical stuff which
actually has the potential to do us harm.
Another time, a fellow pilot and I were on a long trek through a
remote part of Canada and we boarded our Piper Super Cub shortly
after breaking camp at dawn. We’d spent a chilly night at a deserted
airfield, then loaded our gear into the Cub on a wide, windswept
ramp. Out of sheer force of habit, the other pilot startled me by
yelling “Clear!” at the top of his lungs just before engine start, even
though there wasn’t anyone else around for miles.
Maybe it was just a pre-flight ritual, and it wouldn’t have felt
right for him to start an aircraft engine without shouting first.
I suppose that’s legit, I like ritual as much as the next pilot, but
let’s just recognise such actions as the goofy, anachronistic habits
they are, without sanctifying them with the explanation that a
checklist always has to be completed. Be a PIC, not an automaton
– sometimes the stuff on checklists doesn’t make any sense.
A friend owned and flew a Cessna C170 with a maladjusted
carburettor which consistently ran too rich. When he applied
carburettor heat, usually on downwind, as part of his pre-landing
checklist, the engine would stumble, run rough and sometimes quit
on rollout. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to change his procedure,
or fix the carburettor, during all the years he owned the aircraft.
The checklist in a Bonanza I sometimes fly says to inspect the
vacuum suction gauge and turn off the air conditioning before
take-off. Fair enough, except this particular glass-panel aircraft
doesn’t have either of them. The checklist probably should’ve
been modified long ago to reflect those changes, but it hasn’t been.
So, obviously, there isn’t any reason to read those irrelevant items
out loud, just like there’s no need to tell a non-smoker to put out the
cigarette he doesn’t have, a fellow pilot to fasten the seatbelt he’s
already confirmed that he’s wearing or yell a warning at a deserted
airport when there’s no-one around to hear it.
Flying is hard enough when you only do the myriad tasks that
you’re actually required to. There’s no reason to make it harder by
adding needless busywork which gives the illusion of adding safety
without actually doing anything of the kind.
RV-8 pilot, ATP/CFII, specialising in tailwheel and aerobatic instruction
dave.hirschman@flyer.co.uk
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 23
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Full Throttle
Mark Hales
Mercury rising
T
he Miles Gemini which has consumed so many
hours of my time over the last ten years has a
new owner but it’s still parked in the hangar at
North Coates, which is both good and bad. Stu
has lavished a huge amount of time and effort
on his new toy so it looks particularly shiny, and
perhaps as a measure of appreciation, it seems
to be running very nicely for a change. Ah well,
if a parting of the ways has been hard, at least its continued presence
means that I still get to fly a Miles from time to time – it could so
easily have gone to France, Belgium or Germany. I also seem to have
discovered someone with an equal passion for Miles aeroplanes, but
rather more means to indulge. Hardly a week goes by without an
email revealing the acquisition of another book or brochure.
“So, what you really need,” I suggested, over the inevitable mug of
Flying Club tea, “is another Miles aeroplane. Maybe a single that’s
easier to pull out of the hangar and just fly.”
And so it was that Stu and I found ourselves on the KLM red-eye
shuttle out of Humberside, heading for Denmark, to inspect the
world’s sole surviving Miles Mercury. Miles
“What you really need is another
built six of the single-engined, retractable
M28 model as a potential training and
communications aircraft at the beginning of
the forties, but other commitments to wartime
production saw it progress no further.
G-AHAA, the last surviving M28, was
Miles aeroplane…”
modified in the mid-fifties, by none other than
George Miles at his Shoreham facility, before disappearing to
Germany, where it eventually found its way to the back of a
hangar, to gather dust, before being rescued and trucked to
Denmark, returning to the air in the late-seventies. It had been
for sale relatively recently and I’d even been to see it at Stauning,
but since Hans didn’t really need the money and I hadn’t got
enough, it looked likely to stay where it was.
Stauning was just as I remembered, which is to say delightful.
Once home to a huge annual fly-in celebrating the history of KZ,
Denmark’s home-grown aircraft marque, it also used to be a
commercial airport, with all the attendant space and facilities, but is
now home to the spectacular Danish Air Force museum and a fair
collection of vintage aircraft as well as the usual metal Americans.
And there, in Hans’ private hangar, parked next to his Beechcraft
Premier 1 twinjet, was the Mercury, looking perhaps a little less silvery
than I remembered, but complete with its signature gull-wing doors,
elegantly rounded fuselage and twin fins. It couldn’t be anything other
than a Miles. Something though, was definitely shinier.
“Is that a new propeller?” Hans confirmed that it was and had
been expensive. “So what happened ?“ There was a brief pause,
Mark Mitchell
devoid of eye contact.
“Do you want the truth,” he replied, “or some fiction?” We settled
for the truth, which turned out to be less revealing than it might.
Column
“I was sat at the end of the runway on my island,” he said, “and
suddenly it just sat down. Maybe I did something but I’m just not
sure. The propeller was chewing a big groove in the grass…”
Hans said they’d checked the runout on the crankshaft but
couldn’t find anything wrong with the retract system which, together
with the flaps and speedbrake, is operated pneumatically via a pump
on the engine and a large reservoir behind the rear seats that looks
like a bomb. We rolled the Mercury outside and ran the engine,
which started first blade and sounded strong – mag drops and oil
pressure good. However, Stu was looking pensive. Maybe we should
go for a flight? Hans thought it was a good idea, then revealed that
his SEP licence had expired, so he couldn’t assist, and besides, the
Mercury has only one set of controls. “But,” he said, “I’ve added you
to the insurance, so you can take it...” Hans then added that although
its C of A was still current, it hadn’t really flown for a couple of years,
so maybe it wasn’t a good idea to retract the undercarriage. And that
the AI was the only thing he thought didn’t work but it was a nice day
so we wouldn’t need one anyway, and if we turned right from R09
and headed up the fjord, we’d have a nice view of his island.
So let me see… I hadn’t flown a Mercury before and it hadn’t
flown much in the previous two years, other than when the gear
collapsed, and there were things that didn’t work, to which we could
now add the radio. And the brakes, which were pretty limp – they’re
common to an Auster, which has a steerable tailwheel, unlike the
Miles. It would’ve been very easy – even sensible – to say no, but
there was no-one in the tower and what wind there was wafted
straight down the slot. So we didn’t. The Mercury lifted off at about
50mph and we rumbled above the water’s edge for forty minutes or
so, gear down and nose up.
The Miles brothers’ design genius swiftly filtered back to the feet
and fingertips, the pressures and temperatures all stayed where they
should, and the flaps and airbrake worked perfectly – the stalls were
a non-event. I even pulled off a passable landing. A touch fast at
60mph maybe, but better that than drop out of the sky at ten feet.
We’d enjoyed much the same the kind of adventure as we would
have seventy years earlier, and in a world where everybody knows
everything within minutes, it’s ever harder to find that kind of
experience. And… a Miles Mercury will be coming back to England
after six decades away.
Vintage aircraft and cars make Mark particularly happy
mark.hales@seager.aero
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 25

Squawks
Ian Seager
Avionics sweet spot
F
or a while now, I’ve been banging on about
modern avionics to anyone who’ll listen (and quite
a few people who won’t), and I’m about to do it
again… it seems to me that General Aviation
spent untold years in the avionics wilderness.
Some ‘modern’ aircraft had those orange gas
discharge displays which resembled early school
calculators, while older mechanical versions
meant turning clunky knobs that then changed physical numbers in
windows. When it comes to navigation aids you’ll find a few pilots and
instructors who insist that using an ADF to track an NDB is the only
thing that’ll make your chest hairy, and I bet some of them, after
having only just got over the change from the P12-style compass to
the vacuum-driven DI, still feel a bit threatened and uneasy around
VORs, the things that looked a bit like compass roses on charts.
Those at the cutting edge enjoyed a bit of ‘modern’ with the
Bendix/King KNS 80 as, among other things, as it enabled a pilot to
‘move’ a VOR to a desired location and then follow guidance.
Then came along early GPS
“We were all encouraged to stick to
sets, the first ones combining
single-channel receivers with
screen resolutions and display
tradition, shun technology and travel
graphics which were put to shame
by Pong, the seventies arcade
game. The batteries would usually
last long enough for the unit to
find itself, but extra-expensive
long-life AAs would often only
to the airfield by horse and cart…”
make it as far as the threshold, if it
wasn’t too cold. Some pilots loved them and realised their potential,
but the CAA, the Royal Institute of Navigation and many instructors
saw GPS as an evil, existential threat. We were all encouraged to
stick to tradition, shun technology and travel to the airfield by horse
and cart. Well, maybe not that last bit, but almost.
By the time GPS technology had improved enough to become
genuinely useful, an entire generation of pilots had been told not to
trust it. To this day, there are still some tribes – starved of contact
with the modern world, and Part-NCO – who believe that if you use
a GPS with a moving map while not taking a paper chart, it’ll invert
your wing and render a heavier-than-air flying machine inoperable.
But the magic pixie evangelists persevered and persuaded those
electrons to power an increasing range of clever things in increasingly
smaller packages. It wasn’t long before we had integrated displays,
solid state attitude indicators, digital radios and transponders which
squitted something or other while not needing to be turned to
standby before changing a digit or four. To replace those flickering
temperature and pressure gauges, there are now graphs, bars and
Mark Mitchell
numbers in bright colours with programmed warnings and lots of
stored data to analyse and agonise over.
Even the autopilot, that brilliant piece of equipment which, in the
Column
certified world, has been trapped by regulation and monopoly,
recently broke free and can now modernise and evolve.
Sadly, it’s a sign of aviation’s glacial speed of change – and the
high cost of buying and installing new kit – that you probably don’t
have to go much further than your local airfield to find examples of
early radios, or a Pilotosaurus Rex becoming misty-eyed as they
reminisce about the revolution that was the KNS 80 (I know, it was
revolutionary for its time, but so was eight-track tape). The majority
of the GA fleet still has analogue instruments, most relying on
vacuum pumps and fragile graphite vanes to stay the right way up,
and those have such an insidious failure mode that there’s a good
chance they’ll lead you astray, with possibly tragic consequences.
Increasingly reliable equipment and progressive regulatory
change, driven by avionics manufacturers who aren’t anchored in the
palaeolithic era, means that modern, reliable alternatives are now
more affordable and appropriate for older airframes. Certified
aviation still isn’t quite in the same league as homebuilt aviation, but
it’s much closer than it has ever been.
As the lines of capability and affordability converge,
manufacturers and installers will be hoping that an increasing
number of people will be ready to invest in avionics upgrades.
Everyone will have their own sweet spot, but I decided to pull the
trigger after the arrival of Garmin’s G5 in AI and HSI format and
the certification of the GFC 500 autopilot.
Within the next few days I’ll be leaving my C182 with GAMA in
Fairoaks, and before too long I should have a modern and capable
version, after having spent significantly less than I would’ve had to
just a few years ago. The decision process, planning, work and, most
importantly, the result will, as you can probably imagine, be the
subject of an upcoming feature.
So far it’s been a fascinating process, a lot of which has been about
(not always successfully) resisting mission creep. I can’t say I’m
looking forward to the part when my Cessna looks like it’ll never fly
again, nor the almost inevitable call which will start, “Erm, I’ve
found a bit of a problem with…”, but in GA, as with much of life, the
journey itself is the reward.
Publisher often found flying something new and interesting
ics@seager.aero
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 27
 Flight Test | Junkers F 13

Time
Travel
The ‘mother of all modern airliners’ first flew in
1919 and was the first to have an all-metal airframe.
Now the Junkers F 13 has been re-created and
certified for the modern world, and you can buy one…
WORDS Thomas Borchert PHOTOGRAPHY Cornelius Braun

28 | FLYER | Summer 2018
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 29
 Junkers F 13

30 | FLYER | Summer 2018
 O ne of the first things my flying
instructor taught me during training was that I only needed
one hand on the flight controls, but with the aircraft I’m
flying today, both my hands fall naturally on the polished
wooden handles of this machine’s control yoke, and it feels
entirely appropriate. The engine currently needs no
attention anyway. With the power set at 1,800 rpm, the
Wasp Junior is a gentle, steady rumble. Not loud at all. Its
nine cylinders can make 450hp, but this machine doesn’t
need anywhere as much as that.
The flight, in the fabulous re-created Junkers F 13, feels
like a surreal journey through time. As we glide over Lake
Zurich, surrounded by Alpine views, the spring sunshine
spreads out across the landscape. I feel a mixture of awe and
amazement in this incredible aircraft – the Junkers F 13
marked the point where air travel entered a new era.
When German entrepreneur and engineer Hugo Junkers
Opposite Family
portrait. The F 13 at commissioned the design of the original F 13, which would
Dübendorf, with a first fly in 1919, he caused a sea change in airliner airframe
JU-AIR Ju 52 behind technology. An aluminium alloy (duralumin) structure was
Above It’s a steep entirely covered with Junkers’ characteristic corrugated and
climb, but worth it.
Spot the kick-step
stressed duralumin skin. In the world of air travel, which
in the fuselage side, had previously been used to the bracing wires and fabric of
to help with climbing biplanes, it was a revelation. Junkers’ first commercial
into the cockpit aircraft, the F 13 became the world’s first cantilever,
Left So many fabulous
details on display
all-metal airliner, and a robust, reliable machine whose
Below The wheels and cabin seated four passengers in comfort, with a table, heat
brakes are from a T-6 and electric light. Comforts which, nearly 100 years later,
Texan, while oleo- are taken for granted by as many as 500 people per flight,
sprung gear and
lockable tailwheel
and a total of over four billion passengers per year.
are practical for Early F 13s were powered by a 185hp BMW IIIa upright
modern-day operation inline water-cooled engine, though as the aircraft was sold
overseas, variants also used the Armstrong Siddeley Puma,
Gnome-Rhône Jupiter and Pratt & Whitney Hornet
radials. During those formative years of commercial
aviation, rivers, lakes and seas were also common route
stops. That wasn’t a problem for the F 13, as the ability to
mount it on floats was incorporated into the design.
By 1926, 9.5 million miles had been flown by F 13s and
eventually, fifty operators would use the type in 33
countries ( five were registered in the UK – Ed ) . While the
pace of development in aviation was racing ahead, the
F 13 proved an enduring design, with the last commercial
example retiring from service in Brazil in 1951.

Back to the future

For close to seventy years there’s been no flying example
of this “mother of all airliners.” Of the 348 F 13s which
were built, just four complete machines remained,

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 31
 Junkers F 13
Opposite page
You might be sitting
outside, but it’s in
beautifulliy crafted
surroundings. The
cockpit is strictly VFR.
An airspeed indicator,
altimeter, compass and
slipball are the only
flight instruments
you’ll find. Spot the
modern engine
monitor at the base
of the centre panel
– there are a radio
and a transponder
in there too
32 | FLYER | Summer 2018
FLY08.flight test_Junkers.V8_EH_JH.indd 32
“For a hundred-year-old design
it flies great. It’s forgiving at low
speeds, and isn’t the least bit twitchy”
preserved in European museums. That fact was not lost on
private pilot Dieter Morszeck. In 1931 Dieter’s father,
Richard, had been influenced by Junkers’ corrugated
aluminium when he was looking for a material to make a
strong lightweight suitcase from for his company, Rimowa.
Dieter, who’d become Rimowa’s CEO, was increasingly
keen to build a replica F 13. The company had supported
JU-AIR, which operates a brace of its successor, the
three-engined JU 52, one of which crossed the Atlantic for a
North American tour in 2012. The issue was, although eight
airworthy JU 52s remain, not even a complete set of
drawings for the F 13 existed. So Morszeck partnered with
Bernd Huckenbeck, chairman of the Association of Friends
of Historical Aircraft (VFL), and Kurt Waldmeier, the head
of JU-AIR, on a project to return an F 13 to the sky. Their
initial thoughts were to restore an original airframe, though
the lack of a donor and incomplete historic drawings soon
indicated this would be a near-impossible task.
However, the curator of the Musée de l’air et de l’espace
at Le Bourget, France, was willing to offer its complete F 13
for inspection and, critically, gave permission to dismantle
and laser-scan the airframe, externally and internally. The
resulting data allowed technicians to create a 3D model,
right down to each rivet’s location. Combined with the data
from the historic drawings, that meant a re-creation could
be engineered, and an application to the Swiss Federal
Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) was made in 2013.
The new F 13 isn’t a reproduction of a specific model,
it’s an amalgamation of some of the best features of all the
marks built during the fourteen years it was in production.
Although early F 13s had a small, triangular fin and rudder,
the re-creation uses a bigger fin with a horn-balanced
rudder found on later models. There’s also a mechanically-
adjustable horizontal stabiliser for trim, with horn-balanced
elevators, like the W33 and JU 52. There were also engine
and undercarriage changes, more on those later.
The reconstruction effort was led by Dominik Kälin, a
young Swiss engineer with extensive experience in historic
aircraft structures. Kälin and his team turned 2,000 sq ft of
duralumin into a finished airframe over the course of two
years and 12,000 man-hours. After being revealed to the
aviation world at AirVenture Oshkosh in July 2015, the F 13
made its first flight in September 2016. As with many
complex projects, final certification took a little longer than
expected, but was finally achieved in April this year.
Passion, not profit
In the intervening time, Morszeck left Rimowa and retired.
“We’re building aeroplanes,” he says, with a glint in his
eyes, adding, “My concern now is not about profit, but
about passion.”
The changes have meant a new name – Rimowa
Aircraft Works is now Junkers Aircraft Ltd, which is
headquartered in Dübendorf, near Zurich. Morszeck
is particularly proud that he’s cooperating with Bernd
Junkers, the grandson of Hugo, who’s given consent for
the use of his family’s name.
The F 13 which we’re flying isn’t going to be the only
example. There will be more, handmade in the factory and
finished exactly to each buyer’s wishes. Morszeck believes
that the US offers the largest potential market for his
re-creation, so work is already underway to get FAA approval
of the certification already gained in Europe. The second
F 13 is already under construction and will be ready by
June 2019, while a third is scheduled for January 2020. Even
with a plan to build 20-30 aircraft, with a price tag of €2.5m
each, it’s hard to imagine that the costs will be covered.
Test pilot Oliver Bachmann, who’s been responsible for
the F 13 replica’s flight-test programme is sitting to my left.
It ‘d be fair to say we feel a bit like we’re carriage-drivers
rather than pilots, up front here in the open, behind our
small windscreens. The beautifully upholstered seats look
like aviation armchairs. They’re comfortable, but low,
which means that you’re well protected from the wind,
however, your visibility – especially forwards – is limited.
A sliding window separates us from from the spacious
cabin, and my companion on today’s trip, Christina
Schunemann is first passenger ever to fly back there –
previously, it’s just been flight-test ballast. The cabin’s lined
with fine, cognac-coloured leather, and offers panoramic
views through large windows. There’s only one potential
drawback, there’s no heating, but that isn’t significant today.
Enough of cruising in level flight – I gently roll the F 13
into a right turn, and suddenly the view couldn’t be better, as
the landscape appears above the leather trim of the cockpit’s
edge. The F 13 is a solid, stable machine but somewhat
sluggish through the turns, as you’d expect of a passenger
aircraft. The controls are heavy but not unpleasantly so.
Only when you go beyond 25º bank do you start to need
rudder, but when you do, be prepared to use plenty.
“It handles a bit like a big glider,” says Bachmann,
“Wear your big boots, not fine ltalian shoes.”
Personally, it reminds me of the time I flew a Stearman
and, oddly, Lufthansa’s full-motion 747-400 simulator.
“For a hundred-year-old design, it flies great,” notes
Bachmann. “It’s forgiving at low speeds, and isn’t the least
bit twitchy.”
Over 25 hours were spent flight-testing the F 13.
“The stall shows no break to either side, unlike so many
older designs,” he continues, “There’s plenty of buffet and
high sink, then she just drops the nose and picks up speed.”
He still didn’t let me try…
04/06/2018 12:02
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 33
 Turbine Maule
Grumman Widgeon
M-7-420AC
Top The crew sits low, each seat
has its own windscreen, and plenty
of fresh air
Above Ride in style – a sumptuously-
upholstered cabin for four
passengers with big windows
Left The grin which shows that
Dieter Morszeck is righly proud of
his project. He hopes that others
will join him in owning an F 13
Below The 1919-style rudder
pedals now have toe-brakes,
for modern ease of operation
Christina Scheunemann
34 | FLYER | Summer 2018
“The F 13 feels
like it could be a
Christina Scheunemann
practical, usable
aircraft today”
Our take-off had been equally uneventful. Lock the
tailwheel, throttle fully forward. The tail lifts quickly, keep
a little back-pressure passing 50kt and rotate. You’re off in
just under 250m at ISA conditions, then climb out at 60kt.
Levelling out into the cruise, I have to wind a fair few turns
on the elevator trim wheel which is located between the
seats. A comfortable cruise is 80kt, with the Pratt &
Whitney burning 86 litres per hour. The two tanks hold
400 litres, but its payload isn’t the largest, at 444kg, so if
you’re taking your friends, just plan on a fuel stop – after
all, the F 13 is about arriving in style, so enjoy it. Original,
late-variant F 13s operated up to 2,318kg, but a maximum
gross weight limit of 2,000kg for the modern re-creation has
made it much easier to obtain a ‘Historic’ class approval.
“The Swiss aviation authority, FOCA, was a strong
supporter and always helpful,” says Morszeck.
Practical, usable
Perhaps the thing which surprises me the most is that such
an old design feels like it could be a practical, usable aircraft
today. I can easily imagine that a private owner could roll
this out of the hangar for an afternoon flight, as vintage
enthusiasts might do a with a Stearman or Bücker. But, of
course, this is no accident. After all, the modernised F 13 has
been carefully modified in this respect, which hasn’t stopped
a few critics getting riled up about the lack of originality.
Why not an inline engine? Well, the BMW IIIa or Jumo L
5 found in original F 13s can now only be seen in museums.
During the twenties, the F 13 was available in the US with a
Pratt & Whitney, albeit the now rare Hornet. “I like the shape
of the nose so much better,” said Morszeck. More importantly,
the R-985 Wasp Junior is common and easy to operate and
support – just check out most Beavers, and many a Stearman.
Components for the main landing-gear come from the
North American T-6 and the undercarriage’s appearance is
different to the original. Rubber suspension has given way
 Junkers F 13

TECH SPECS

Junkers F 13
1919 style, 2018 practicality
In the beginning, the F 13 had
an inline engine and triangular fin

Above The cockpit makes pilots feel akin to carriage-drivers.

The F 13 is easy to fly, if a little slow on the controls, and more
importantly, is practical for the modern world

to hydraulic damping and, unlike the original, there are Performance Spec
now wheel brakes, operated with your toes at the top of the Max speed (Vne) 122kt (226kph) Airframe Aluminium
rudder pedals. A tailwheel patterned after that fitted to the Max cruise (Vno) 97kt (180kph) Engine Pratt & Whitney
Stall speed 51kt (95kph) R-985-AN-14B
Junkers W33 now sits at the rear – the F 13’s tailskid having Fuel burn 19gph (86lph) Max power 450hp
been deemed impractical for modern airport operation. Take-off distance 250m Prop Two-blade, fixed-pitch
Theese changes mean the new F 13 can easily be operated Hamilton Standard aluminium
on both tarmac and grass without any problems. However, Weights & loading Undercarriage Fixed, tailwheel
critics fail to understand Morszeck’s ultimate intentions. Seats Two (cockpit) & four (cabin)
“It should just be an everyday aircraft in which it’s safe Max take-off 4,409lb (2,000kg) Manufacturer
Empty 3,430lb (1,556kg) Junkers Aircraft Ltd
and easy to fly,” he explains. “We plan to go touring with it
Fuel capacity 88gal (400l) Überlandstrasse 255
this summer, flying around Germany and further into 8600 Dübendorf
Europe. I want people to see this plane in the air.”
The result of these minor changes is an aircraft that really
Dimensions Switzerland
www.junkers-f13.com
Wingspan 48ft 9in (14.85m)
is fun, not a museum piece which needs a multi-member Wing area 450sq ft (41.8sqm)
ground crew to fly every few months, and they haven’t Length 31ft 6in (9.6m) Price
diminished the magic of flying this aviation pioneer one bit. Height 10ft 2in (3.11m) €2.5m
The wind has picked up, and I can sense that Oliver
Bachmann is a little nervous: “She takes a bit of handling in a
crosswind.” On Dübendorf’s grass R29 we’ve a 10kt wind
80º from the left. Not being one who wants to risk this
machine, I hand control back to Oliver. We approach at
65kt, there are no flaps. The approach and landing is perfect,
but Oliver’s arms and feet are busy. Morszeck is smiling as
we roll his baby back onto the apron. The Pratt rumbles to a
stop. Yes, this is definitely a machine that’s about the pleasure
of travel and the style in which you arrive. Just make sure
your dismount from the cockpit looks confident – although
it’s easy to get out, there’s a kick-step each side, that wing-
walk is steep, and the step down from it quite large.
As soon as we’re on the ground, Morszeck delights in
pointing to details all around the airframe. He stops, resting
one hand on the aircraft: “There’s over 35,000 rivets in it, all
set by hand.” His pride in the team and the aircraft they’ve
produced, test-flown and certified is evident, and one senses Above Fly an F 13 and you’ll be sure to arrive in style, everywhere you go.
that Morszeck can’t wait for the world to see his F 13. You’ll just need €2.5m, which we reckon is a bit of a steal…

36 | FLYER | Summer 2018
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 My First Solo
John Torode
The founder of Dynon Avionics and
Vashon Aircraft finds his first spin,
from 6,000ft, to be much more
memorable than his first solo flight
Words Yayeri van Baarsen
Solo stats
John Torode thinks the $100
hamburger is too expensive
and aims to make General
Aviation much more affordable
When 30 March 1968
Where Arlington Municipal Airport,
Washington, USA
Aircraft Cessna C150
Hours at solo 10
Hours now 2,150
How did you get into aviation?
At school, when I was eight years old and
supposed to be paying attention, I was
drawing pictures of aeroplanes. I’ve always
been fascinated with aircraft, ever since I
was a little kid. Had I not needed to wear
glasses, I’d have joined the USAF, but as
I did, I went into engineering instead.
As soon as I could afford it, aged 22,
I started working towards my PPL.
How did your flight training go?
I learned to fly at Paine Field, home to the
Boeing Everett factory and back then, still a
USAF base. I was flying in the same pattern
as the Boeing 747 prototype did on its first
flight, but in a small Cessna C150. On every
landing, the tower told me my gear was down,
which was quite funny to hear in a C150.
I loved learning to fly and spent all my
spare money on it. There were no big holes in
my training, perhaps apart from those caused
by the Seattle weather – I started my lessons
during winter time.
Were you nervous before you flew
your first solo?
Yes, very nervous. I think everyone is, as it’s
a pretty big deal – you have to be ready to
perform. For my solo we flew over to
Arlington Municipal Airport, which was
quieter and had a nice big runway.
Arlington didn’t have a tower, so there
wasn’t any need to worry about radio use
which, back then, was more challenging as
we didn’t have any headsets, just a loudspeaker
“I want to leave this planet a little
better in one area: private aviation”
38 | FLYER | Summer 2018
and aircraft noise. I don’t remember much
about that flight, only that it went well.
My first spin, which happened much later
in my training, was more memorable. At the
time, I did a lot of mountain climbing, and
flying over a peak at 6,000ft, to look for the
best climbing route, I asked my instructor,
“Wouldn’t this be a good time for a spin?”
and he agreed. Seeing the ground rapidly
coming straight towards us, with the
aeroplane spinning, I thought I was going
to die. the recovery went fine, but for me it
was a pretty dramatic affair. That flight will
be imprinted in my brain forever.
Why did you found Dynon Avionics?
Having had my own aircraft since 1967, I was
astounded by how ancient the equipment was,
and in most cases still is. With my background
in physics, engineering and computer science,
I thought, “Let’s see if we can build something
that’s useful for the average pilot…”
We produced a 4in EFIS which displayed
all of the primary flight instruments and
introduced it to the market for $2,000. It really
got the attention of home-builders and caught
on in a way that even surprised me. Now, seven
per cent of the world’s planes use our avionics.
Why did you start Vashon Aircraft?
It was my goal to produce an aircraft which
would cost about the same as a fancy car,
and that’s the Ranger R7. I think cost is an
important parameter that’s keeping young
people out of GA. The price of a brand-new
basic aeroplane, like a Cessna C172, is
$400,000 – how many pilots can afford that?
Back in 1960, a brand-new aircraft would cost
you about a year’s salary, but today $400,000
is ten times as much as a fresh-out-of-college
kid earns in a year. Add in the rising costs of
training, fuel and maintenance, and it’s no
surprise that GA is dying.
Currently, only about 1,000 new factory
piston aircraft are sold a year, worldwide. In
1976, it was 17,000. That’s a shame, as flying is
such a great hobby. There’s still a lot of work to
do, but we’ll get there. A big part of it is volume
– if we sell 25 Rangers every year, we won’t
make any money, but if we sell 250, we will.
What are your hopes for the future?
With Dynon Avionics and Vashon Aircraft, I
hope that we can positively influence the future
of GA. There’s an ongoing revolution, both at
the FAA and EASA, to reduce the bureaucracy
of aviation regulations, while keeping safety at
the same high level. We fit into this shift with
our affordable aircraft and avionics, because
safety that isn’t affordable isn’t safety. When
I’m gone, I want to leave this planet a little
better in at least one area: private aviation.
What do you love most about flying?
Freedom! The aeroplane is such a freedom
machine – it does the same as the automobile,
but in three dimensions. There’s no need to
stay in your lane, just go wherever you want,
look at a mountain or land on a lake.
For my 40th birthday, my wife paid for my
floatplane rating, and two-and-a-half months
later, we’d bought one of our own. There are
few places in the world where it makes sense
to have one, but here in Washington State it’s
astoundingly convenient as we live on a lake.
Me, my wife and our dogs all hop into the
Cessna C180 for regular commutes to our
mountain cabin, which is also on a lake.
Flying a light aircraft is just so much fun!
 Electric reality?

40 | FLYER | Summer 2018
 Training

Ever wondered what’s involved in becoming

a Class Rating Instructor? David Kelly did,
and before he knew it, he’d taken the plunge…

Becoming a
Class Rating
Instructor

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 41
 Fly your own
Training
F
ollowing delayed boarding at
Shannon Airport, darkness and
rain descended as we lined up on
R27 – I may never have been so
apprehensive about a commercial
flight. The throttles were opened,
the runway lights blurred in the
drizzle and we were shoved into the murky skies.
We were committed to the flight, as I was to the
upcoming week, ready or not…
The flight was heading for Stansted but my final
destination was to be Andrewsfield Aviation, just a few
miles down the road at Saling Airfield, where I was
signed up for the Class Rating Instructor (CRI) course.
We pilots are largely a self-assured bunch but as I
thumbed through the notes that Andrewsfield had sent
me weeks earlier, I really wasn’t sure that I’d done enough
prep work. There were technical revision questions,
briefing notes, learning theory and ‘patter’ notes to be
read. At home, I’d prepared my first long briefing on
tailwheel operations as best I could. But, really, what
did I know about briefings? As for my flying, I had the
required 300 hours but what seemed to have been the
longest winter ever and life’s general exertions meant
that I really wasn’t as sharp as I should’ve been.
I’d first heard of the CRI rating on the FLYER Forums
many years earlier, long before I was eligible to take the
course. The CRI isn’t a common qualification in Ireland
so I went off and did a bit of research, finding it an
interesting rating, in that it’s significantly less costly and
time-consuming than the Flight Instructor (FI) course, but
it does have limited privileges. The greatest of those is you
can’t teach ab initio students but, surprisingly, that still
leaves quite a bit you can use the rating for – SEP training
and revalidations by experience, and tailwheel and complex
sign-offs can all be done by a CRI. With suitable training
and approvals, a CRI can also provide aerobatic training.
Above My CRI instructor, Bob Gardner (left), and fellow student, Alex, enjoying one of my “hilarious” jokes
42 | FLYER | Summer 2018
To the Millibar!
Safely in Essex, to my relief, the previous night’s drizzle had
given way to a crisp, bright Monday morning. Although
most of the CRI course is classroom-based, it includes three
hours of flying and the weather looked like it’d cooperate for
the rest of the week. Having carefully negotiated five days
away from our toddler with the Head of Domestic Ops,
I didn’t want to have to return to Andrewsfield at a later
date because weather had stopped play.
My instructor and classmate were already getting to
know each other as I breezed into Andrewsfield’s bright
Millibar lounge. Bob Gardner, my instructor for the week,
is highly experienced, with a range of knowledge which I
hadn’t come across before. He’s flown for the airlines, been a
training captain for a large corporate flight department, has
piloted Gulfstreams in the US and now, when he isn’t
instructing, tours and aerobats his Citabria around Europe.
As an instructor, nothing escapes Bob and he’s a mine of
wisdom. My classmate, Alex, was a local lad with a Piper
Arrow who had significantly more time in his logbook than
I did – that would be evident throughout the week.
Andrewsfield likes to run its CRI course with two
students, where possible, and I think it’s an excellent idea.
Having someone else in the classroom is great as it
promotes discussion and aids learning – for instance, it’s
really useful to have an another person participating and
critiquing your briefings. It also means that each student
gets an opportunity to act as observer on the other’s
training flights, again maximising the learning
opportunities, and I learned quite a lot from watching
Alex at work in the front.
With the introductions over, there was just enough time
for me to order a coffee and head to the classroom. On
paper it seemed like a short course but there’s a lot to get
through and so there would be very little time for loitering
and nattering in the Millibar. One FLYER Forum user

Above Andrewsfield, home to the B-26 Marauders of the
USAAF Ninth Air Force during WWII and my berth for the week
mentioned being stood in front of the classroom whiteboard
within an hour of his arrival, and he wasn’t far off the mark.
Bob started out with a general discussion of the CRI and
our likely roles and responsibilities, then it was straight into
how to brief a lesson. Before we knew it, we were up front
and delivering briefings ourselves. I’d always expected that
the course would be an intensive few days but those first
hours in the classroom really opened my eyes to the work
which every instructor goes through to earn the right to
teach, whether be they be a CRI or an FI. Completing the
CRI successfully would require a lot of focus on my part.
Our first flying sortie was to look at the teaching of
stalling but we started to learn before a key was even put in
the ignition. Bob ran through the checklist meticulously,
narrating or ‘pattering’ through each item carefully, calling
out not just the check but what exactly we were checking
for. One of the ideas that came through very strongly, early
on in the course, is that CRIs are role models so we should
strive to be exemplary in our approach to flying safely, from
our use of checklists to maintaining an excellent lookout.
Above Definitely not on holiday! This was my evening, bedtime and breakfast reading for the week…
Training
“SEP revalidations
by experience,
and tailwheel and
complex sign-offs
can all be done
by a CRI…”
For most pilots, three hours of regular flying isn’t much
but on the CRI course, you’re learning during every minute
of each flight. The most attention is given to manoeuvres
which pilots may not have recently practised but have the
greatest influence on safe handling. We spent much of the
course looking at stalling, steep turns, PFLs, power loss on
take-off and also reviewing circuit work. The CRI course
doesn’t cover the entire PPL flight syllabus so emphasis is
given to those key flight areas. However, during the CRI
training you’re certainly developing the teaching skills to be
able to address other parts of the PPL syllabus, as required.
Armchair flying
Back on the ground after the airborne session, I had lunch
and then it was back to the classroom for more briefings,
theory and discussion. We typically finished around
1700-1800 but for me, at that point, the day was far from
over. I’d head for nearby Braintree, for dinner and to make
some phone calls home, then return to the airfield and hit
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 43
 Training
“I struggled with the
patter and flying the
aeroplane, and after
two or three circuits
it became very
apparent that I
simply wasn’t able to
get ahead of myself”
the books – revising the day’s materials, preparing briefs
and ‘armchair flying’ the various flight manoeuvres.
I was staying in Andrewsfield’s new mobile home
and being on the airfield all of the time really helped
to keep my mind on the course, although I’m sure
that Millibar’s punters were a little bemused to see
an Irishman walking circuit patterns in the dark,
mumbling his patter to imaginary students.
The format of the each day was largely the same
– classroom, airborne detail and then back to the
whiteboard in the afternoon, for more discussion and
briefings. Despite the greater proportion of the course
being theoretical instruction it’s in no way ‘dry’ and the
whole thing is a very practical and engaging experience.
Right My early attempts at briefing
a PFL exercise
44 | FLYER | Summer 2018
If your memories of classrooms are of nodding off in stuffy
lecture halls or doodling to pass the time, you’ll find none
of that on the CRI course. Discussion and active
participation by everyone in the room means that by
1800 you’ll find yourself wondering where the day went.
The course was going well and I was thoroughly
enjoying being immersed in an environment I love, that
is until I appeared to hit a wall on the Wednesday
morning. We climbed into the Warrior, to do some
circuit instruction, and everything quickly unravelled for
me. I struggled with the patter and flying the aeroplane,
and after two or three circuits it became very apparent
that I simply wasn’t able to get ahead of myself.
Bob and I agreed it that it was probably best for Alex
and I to swap seats, to allow me to regroup. Sitting in the
back as Alex ‘instructed’ Bob around the circuit I found
myself fighting massive self-doubt; questioning my very
abilities as a pilot. The brain is funny thing – I think my
subconscious desire to do well and pass the course was
fuelling my self-doubt but it was the same motivation
which allowed me to remain PIC of my own head and
to come up with a plan.
The ever-patient Bob agreed that a bit of circuit work,
just spending time with the aeroplane, would be a good
idea, and after another session in the classroom that’s
exactly what we did. That afternoon, we got back into
Mike Golf for some circuits. With the departure briefing
complete, I lined up on R27 left and advanced the
throttle. Switching into my old PPL student mode, I
focused on my attitude flying, as Bob suggested, and
just narrated my way around the circuit as I used to
with my old FI. By the time I was climbing away from
my first touch-and-go I was feeling much, much happier.
When we’d reached the second downwind leg, Bob was
asking why I hadn’t just done exactly the same thing in
the morning. Even my old student narration was just the
 Training

Above Every minute in the air during the course was utilised – here Alex (right) is demontrating to ‘Student Bob’ (left) how to
make a nice stabilised approach

right amount of patter. With the ‘real’ David back in the

right seat, we continued flying the morning’s training and
when we finally shut down down for the day I was feeling
much more confident.
I spent that evening preparing as best I could. Using
the last bit of the sunset, I climbed aboard the resting
Warrior, imagined myself at 3,500ft and then pattered my
way through lessons on steep turns and stalling. Talking
through the exercises in the slowly shadowing cabin, I
made note of the importance of having a clear picture of
the lesson sequence to maintain a logical flow, not just for
the student’s benefit but also to make my workload easier.
The dew was forming as I patted Mike Golf goodnight
and headed back to the mobile home, to practise and
polish my long briefing.

The big day dawns

I was up bright and early on the day of the test, had
breakfast and took a short stroll around the airfield,
and it was back to the books for some more study before
my final classroom session with Bob and Alex. We spent
the morning delivering our long briefs – mine was titled
Introduction to Tailwheel Operations and Alex’s Factors
Affecting Student Learning.
Before we knew it, lunchtime arrived, making it almost
exam time. Alex, who lived just up the road, was scheduled
to take it the following week – oh, how happily I’d have
swapped. We had a bit of lunch together, wished each
other good luck and farewell, and then it was time.
My examiner was Andrewsfield’s renowned CFI & Head
of Training, Carol Cooper. Having given over 20,000
hours of instruction, all in light aircraft, there isn’t much
that needs to be said about Carol’s talents except that she’s
a most convincing actor. With the CAA examination
formalities dealt with, Carol easily slipped in to the role
of a rusty, less-than-confident PPL who was apprehensive
of steep turns. And so the scene was set…
I started by giving a lesson brief on steep turns, one
that had been delivered by Alex earlier in the week,
Above Carol Cooper, Andrewsfield Aviation’s CFI & Head
of Training, who also possesses some fine acting skills!
which I duly channeled. Briefing complete, it was out to
my new best friend, Mike Golf, then Carol slowly but
conscientiously went through the start-up checks. I’d been
very attentive to Bob during the week and it paid off as I
gently picked up Carol’s deliberate omissions.
Carol stayed ‘in character’ all the way to the local flying
area – she was being ever so slightly slow, as a rusty pilot
might be. It was a little unsettling how well she played the
part but at the same time it made the flight test easier for
me as it allowed me to relax fully into the role of CRI,
without feeling the pressure of assessment. I really shouldn’t
have been at all surprised, given Carol’s experience, but
the flight test itself truly was a masterclass. ‘Student Carol’
made good progress through the steep turns and so we
moved on to other portions of the test, including various
stalling exercise, a practice forced landing and engine
failure on take-off.
I could hear Bob’s voice in my head quite a bit, especially
when I tried to explain something to Student Carol while

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 45
 Training
Above she was flying, which is a teaching no-no. As Bob had
Having a explained, if you want to teach your student a point, you
quiet word
fly the aeroplane, thus giving them back some brain
with my first
PA-28 steed, capacity to process what you’re saying. So I did. I took
Mike Golf, on back the aeroplane from Student Carol with the necessary
the morning “I have control” and explained the point again. In any
of the test assessment situation, it’s always better to acknowledge an
Above right
error and rectify it than hope an examiner didn’t notice.
I passed! All
that was Routing back to the circuit, I asked Student Carol how
left was to she was feeling after the exercise, mindful that she’d spoken
navigate the earlier about a lack of confidence, rather than a lack of
Irish Aviation
knowledge. It’s a question I would naturally have asked
Authority’s
paperwork but Carol’s approach to role-playing the student meant
that she elicits the very best from you as test candidate.
More training options like this…
There are a number of excellent locations
around the country offering CRI training but
if giving instruction isn’t for you there are
plenty of other ways to develop your skills.
The Night Rating is a popular post-PPL
rating which allows you to explore the
magic of flying after dark. It builds on
what you’ve learned on the PPL course
and if you’re thinking of turning pro, the
Night Rating is a mandatory requirement.
I think that every pilot should try at least one
aerobatic lesson and if you like it, take some more and work
towards your EASA Aerobatic Rating. There’s nothing like
looking upwards, above your head, and seeing the ground!
Should you encounter more challenging weather conditions
when flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), the IR(R) Rating,
which is commonly referred to as the ‘IMC Rating’, allows you
to continue your flight and land.
While there are now a number of places offering ‘Advanced
PPL’ courses, don’t forget, you don’t have to wait until your
revalidation flight to book a session with your local instructor.
The chances are that your original FI still has lessons which
will benefit you and much wisdom to impart. As my granny
used to say, “Education is never a waste”!
46 | FLYER | Summer 2018
Next, Student Carol asked me to demonstrate a circuit
to her and then had me patter her around it. One last
circuit, and a less-than-perfect flapless approach from me,
and we were back on the ground. After one hour and thirty
minutes of flying, I was still a good bit away from finding
out whether I was good enough.
The debrief…
Back in the briefing room, Student Carol and I discussed
and debriefed the lesson – by the way, she was feeling
much more confident about steep turns.
Next up was my long briefing, which was indeed a
little lengthy and so I just spoke quickly – something
which comes easy for an Irishman!
The various oral exam theory questions included
asking me to explain that old chestnut the Standard
Overhead Join. I have to admit I fumbled the details a
little but it clearly wasn’t a disaster because, after all the
study, the walking around in circles talking to myself
and my horrendous performance the previous morning,
Examiner Carol informed me that I’d passed! I was so
relieved, incredulous, proud and humbled, all in one,
and produced a sighing smile.
I certainly didn’t give a perfect performance and
Examiner Carol chided me for missing some of her
Student errors while being ‘red hot’ at spotting other
omissions. During her test debrief, Carol’s learning
points and feedback were well made – along with the
observations made by Bob during the week, they’re
already being incorporated into my flying.
It had been a demanding few days and I definitely
could’ve been more prepared before starting but the
CRI course is one of the most rewarding things I’ve
done as a pilot, and to develop my flying skills, even
if I never actually get to train a student.
My flight back to Shannon that Friday evening was
so very different to my outbound trip. Exhausted but
satisfied, my notes stayed in my bag and I just drank in
the sunlight and cloud-foam scrolling past my window.
Craning to catch the last heat of the West Clare sunset
during our final approach, I realised that, apart from
when departing on our honeymoon, I’d never felt so
proud while boarding a commercial flight.
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 Safety Accident Analysis
State of control
Just what does it mean to be in control? Joe Fournier reasons that,
when you’re talking about being in control during an emergency,
it’s more a state of mind, one from which pilots must try to look
past any distractions and manage an aircraft at the most basic level
P
ermit me to go a little Jedi
Master on you. We usually
think of control or being
in control, as a measure of
an aircraft parameter such as pitch,
roll, yaw, airspeed, position. When
those get out of limits, we say that
we’ve lost control. But take it deeper,
be a little more Jedi Master and
‘control’ becomes a state of mind,
one which puts aside all other
distractions and focuses on what’s
most important. This mindset
encompasses an understanding that,
in most conceivable circumstances,
you need to look past the distractions
and manage the flight of the aircraft
at the most basic level before you
address anything else.
Accident 1
The instrument-rated commercial pilot
departed from an airport next to the Gulf
of Mexico with IFR clearance for a
cross-country in night VMC. The pilot
continued south-southwesterly, climbing
to about 900ft over the Gulf, then entered
a steep right turn. The aircraft then
descended at a steep rate and hit the water
in a nose-low attitude. Post-accident
examination of the recovered wreckage,
including flight controls, engines and
propellers, revealed no evidence of
pre-impact failure or malfunction.
Although the outlet fuel line from the
left auxiliary fuel pump was found to be
separated and there was evidence that the
B-nut was loose and had been only
secured by the first two threads, recorded
data from the engine monitor revealed no
loss of power from either powerplant.
“Look past the distractions and
manage the flight of the
aircraft at the most basic level”
48 | FLYER | Summer 2018
Therefore, the final separation likely
occurred during the impact.
Although the pilot was instrument-
rated and had recently completed
instrument currency training, the night
conditions present at the time of the
accident, combined with a further lack of
visual references due to the aeroplane’s
location, over a large body of water,
presented a situation conducive to the
development of spatial disorientation.
ATC had issued instructions to turn
southwest after take-off. However, the
pilot continued past the intended course,
and the steep bank angle and excessive
rate of descent are consistent with a loss
of control due to spatial disorientation.
Accident 2
On the day of the accident, a line service
technician had disconnected the aircraft
from a battery charger. Then, as he
always did, the technician left the right
access door open, which provided a path
to the fuel control unit, fuses, fuel line, oil
line, and battery charging port. He then
towed the aeroplane from the storage
hangar and parked it in front of the
airport’s terminal building.
The three passengers turned up first,
and about thirty minutes later the pilot
arrived. He uploaded his navigational
charts and did a pre-flight check, “which
was normal”, as were the engine start, taxi
and engine run-up. The wing flaps were set
to 10°. After lift-off, the pilot “retracted the
landing-gear” and continued to climb.
Shortly thereafter, the right cowl door
partially opened, and started “flopping” up
and down by 3-4 inches, in both directions.
The pilot reduced the torque, to try and
prevent the right cowl door from coming
completely open. However, when he turned
on the left crosswind leg, to return to the
runway, the right cowl door opened
completely, and the aeroplane wouldn’t
maintain altitude even with full power, so
he “put the nose back down”. The aircraft
struck trees, then pancaked and slid
sideways, coming to rest in the front yard
of an abandoned house.
The private pilot and one of the
passengers suffered minor injuries. Two
passengers received serious injuries, with
one of them being found out of her seat,
unconscious, on the floor of the aeroplane,
shortly after the accident – she died about
six months later. During the investigation,
it couldn’t be determined if that passenger
had properly used the restraint system, as
it was found unlatched, with the seatbelt
portion of the assembly extended.
Examination of the wreckage revealed
no evidence of any pre-impact failures or
malfunctions of the aeroplane or its
engine which would have precluded
normal operation. However, it was
discovered that the right access door
hadn’t been closed and latched by the
pilot before take-off. Examination of the
right access door’s latches and clevis
keepers found them to be functional.
There was no indication of overstress or
deformation, which would have been
present if the access door had been forced
open due to air loads in-flight, or during
the impact sequence. Further examination
also revealed that the battery-charging
port cover, which was inside the
compartment that the right access door
allowed entry to, hadn’t been placed and
secured, indicating that the pre-flight
inspection wasn’t properly completed.
A checklist which was supplied by a
simulator training provider was found
by the pilot’s seat station. Examination
of the checklist revealed that under the
section titled, ‘Exterior Pre-Flight’,
only one item was listed, and this stated,
‘Exterior pre-flight… complete’. Both
Mark Mitchell
sides of the checklist also stated that it
was ‘FOR SIMULATOR TRAINING
PURPOSES ONLY’. A copy of the
aeroplane manufacturer’s POH was found
in a cabinet behind the pilot’s seat, where
it wasn’t accessible from the pilot’s station.
A review of the POH revealed that it
contained detailed guidance regarding
the aircraft’s pre-flight check procedure.
Additionally, it was discovered that the
landing-gear was in the ‘down and locked’
position, which would’ve produced excess
drag, degrading the aeroplane’s ability
to accelerate and climb. The findings
indicated that the pilot hadn’t retracted
the landing-gear, as he’d thought that
he did, as the handle was still in the
down position.
A review of recorded data from the
aeroplane’s avionics system also indicated
that it had roughly followed the runway
heading while climbing, until it reached
the end of the runway. The pilot had then
entered a left turn and allowed the bank
angle to rise to about 45°, and angle of
attack to increase to about 8°, which
caused the airspeed to decrease below the
stalling speed, which would’ve been
around twenty per cent higher than
normal due to the increased load factor
from the steep turn.
The aeroplane then entered an
aerodynamic stall, indicating that the
pilot had allowed himself to become
distracted by the open access door, rather
than concentrating on maintaining
control of the aircraft.
Accident 3
The private pilot was departing on a
cross-country flight when, shortly before
rotating for lift-off near midfield, the
forward baggage compartment door
opened. The pilot continued the take-off
on the runway heading to about 100ft
AGL before entering a left turn. The
aircraft continued to turn left until it was
on a downwind heading, and then entered
an aerodynamic stall/spin and descended
nose-down, hitting the ground.
Flight track data revealed that the
aeroplane’s ground speed had decreased
from 84kt to 1kt during the final four
seconds of the flight, which was consistent
with it entering an aerodynamic stall/spin.
None of the witnesses reported hearing
any engine anomalies during the flight.
The post-accident investigation
determined that the forward baggage
compartment door had separated during
the aeroplane’s impact. The door
mechanism was found unlatched and
unlocked. No anomalies were found with
the forward baggage door’s latch
mechanism, key-lock or frame’s catch/
receptacle which would’ve precluded it
from being properly secured before the
“The pilot had allowed
himself to become distracted
by the open access door”
flight. Based on witness descriptions and the open baggage door during the flight
physical evidence, it’s likely that the pilot and, as a result, didn’t maintain adequate
failed to ensure that the forward baggage airspeed while on the downwind leg, which
compartment door was closed, latched and resulted in the aeroplane exceeding its
secured during his pre-flight inspection. critical angle of attack and then going into
The pilot likely became distracted by an aerodynamic stall at a low altitude.
Fournier’s analysis
With all of these accidents, if the pilot could have looked past the distractions, they would
have realised that each aircraft was still capable of safely completing its flight. That’s why
you might think of control as a state of mind, but for it to be so, you have to know exactly
what you want from the aircraft and the inputs required to get the desired results.
Developing this type of clarity will mean that, if there’s any deviation from your
intended path, you’ll be able to spot it. Taking the concept further, when you aren’t
meeting your targets, more time must be spent on maintaining control and less on
everything else. Follow that to its logical conclusion and if you’re struggling for control,
you drop every task which isn’t related to maintaining it, so no radio transmissions,
troubleshooting or making rushed manoeuvres to facilitate a quick return to the runway.
Conversely, if things are going normally, you’ll be able to devote a fair bit of your
time to tasks which aren’t related to maintaining control. However, when things do
start coming apart, remember there’s no future in worrying about problems which are
sixty seconds ahead of you when there are issues to be tackled immediately.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on these accidents’ prevention angle, but we aren’t
going to dig too deeply into the concept as it deserves its own treatment, another time.
The causes of all three of them are entirely foreseeable or preventable.
Night take-off over dark terrain/water should scream spatial disorientation risks.
Doors and hatches, although they’re probably on a checklist, need to be inspected during
your final once-over of ‘killer’ items. Of course, a problem which has never existed is the
easiest to fix, but we all make mistakes, and we have to be ready to recover from them.
Spatial disorientation is its own class of loss of control. It’s easy to say, in effect,
‘straighten up and fly right’, until the day where up seems down and your grip on
maintaining control is slipping away with every passing second. Although instrument
flying proficiency is vital for those with instrument ratings, and a basic understanding
of the subject is a good idea for all pilots, it’s interesting to consider what role automation
plays, both in helping to counter and provoke spatial disorientation.
Automation can be a factor in causing spatial disorientation when it results in something
unexpected. More often than not, this is caused by the pilot making an incorrect GPS or
autopilot input, and results in something which is unexpected but not necessarily unsafe or
out of control. The classic response is to revert to hand-flying the aircraft, which can work
but might be a tall order for a pilot who may already be struggling to maintain control.
Just as when you’re flying without automation, you have to know exactly what you want
and how to push the right buttons to get the desired result. In reality, that doubles your
training burden as you have to learn with and without the automation. However, if a pilot is
skilled and proficient with their autopilot, it can be a powerful tool to help maintain control.
For example, engaging the autopilot in heading and pitch mode for the climb would be a
powerful tool to help keep the bank in check and thus allow you the necessary time to
manage the aircraft’s systems and stay in total control.
There are many moments where quick thinking is needed but the actions required
aren’t usually so time-critical. With the two hatch-opening accidents, the final straw
was the pilots’ abrupt actions. While there may be occasions when acting quickly can
help, experience suggests it’s more likely to lead to a loss of control.
So although it may feel like you’re doing nothing in these kinds of situation, focusing
on maintaining or regaining control is actually everything.
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 49
 Safety Accident Reports
Flare factors…
Joe Fournier summarises and comments on accident reports from
around the world, and takes a look at Garmin’s inReach Mini, which
offers real-time satellite-tracking, emergency alerts and messaging
How did that happen?
Piper PA-28R-200 Cherokee Arrow
G-RACO
Manchester/Barton Airport
Injuries None
The pilot was receiving instruction as part
of a type conversion to the PA-28R, having
previously flown the Focke-Wulf P.149
and Yak-55. During the first circuit, he
configured the Cessna for landing and
maintained a small amount of throttle
once over the threshold. The pilot reported
that when he flared the aircraft he realised
he was too high and lowered the nose, as
directed by the instructor.
The PA-28R abruptly pitched nose-
down, hit the grass runway and the nose
landing-gear collapsed. The wing structure
deformed around the main landing-gear
mounts. The pilot assessed that he’d stalled
during the flare, which caused the abrupt
pitch down. However, the FI considered
that it was caused by a too pronounced
forward input, also stating it wouldn’t have
been possible to react in time to avert
the accident. Both considered that a
contributory factor to the high flare was
that most of the pilot’s experience was on
types with much higher seating positions.
Comment As with many handling
errors, this situation developed quickly,
which deprived the pilots of time to come
to a shared understanding of what was
happening and, importantly, limited the
time the FI might’ve had to respond.
Fuellish assumptions
Cessna C177RG
N8053G
Byron, California, USA
Injuries None
According to the pilot, he was flying
400nm cross-country. He reported that the
“The pilot believed his dog
accidentally hit the brackets,
opening the canopy in flight”
50 | FLYER | Summer 2018
outside air temp along the route had been
high, and so he’d “increased the mixture to
cool the engine down multiple times”.
As he approached his destination, the
engine began “coughing for three-to-four
minutes” before stopping. The pilot
intended to land at his destination airport
but was unable to reach it, and so made a
forced landing in a mud-filled drainage
channel about half a mile north.
An inspector examined the Cessna’s
fuel system at the crash site and reported
that both fuel tanks were found empty,
with about half a cup at the bottom of the
left tank, after removing the sump drain.
The pilot said that the accident could have
been prevented by the use of dipstick “for
better measurement of fuel quantity”.
NTSB Probable Cause Improper
pre-flight fuel-planning, resulting in a loss
of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Comment Fuel-planning is just a series
of assumptions. From quantity to caps, to
rate of consumption and everything in
between. Even with the best of equipment,
we make assumptions, and it goes
downhill from there. Testing and
cross-checking assumptions is vital to
ensure that a false one doesn’t bite you.
Bad dog!
Lancair Legacy
N145JG
Friday Harbor, Washington, USA
Injuries Minor
The pilot reported that, before a local
flight, he placed the aeroplane’s wing and
canopy covers, and his small dog, in the
baggage compartment. During the initial
climb, after retracting the landing-gear,
the cockpit canopy, which tips forward for
entry, came unlatched and opened to
about a 45° angle. He attempted to close
and re-latch the canopy to no avail and
decided to return to his departure airport.
After extending the landing-gear on
final, the Lancair lost speed, and the
descent rate increased. He applied full
power, but landed hard and short of the
runway, and the landing-gear collapsed.
The pilot reported that the Lancair
had an aftermarket, drop-down step kit
which had been removed – however, the
brackets which extended into the baggage
compartment had been overlooked. Those
were attached to the canopy latching
mechanism, and he believed his dog
accidentally hit the protruding brackets,
inadvertently opening the canopy in flight.
NTSB Probable Cause The pilot’s
inability to maintain the landing flare
resulted in a hard landing, short of the
runway. The cockpit canopy opening in
flight contributed to the accident.
Comment It doesn’t take a bad dog to
make a flight more interesting than it
needs to be. Take a critical look around a
typical cabin and a baggage compartment,
and it isn’t difficult to spot unsecured items
which could pose a hazard.
Hats off
CGS Hawk Ultralight
N618ER
St Mary’s, Kansas, USA
Injuries Two serious
The pilot and passenger planned a short
flight around the traffic pattern. Shortly
after take-off, as the pilot turned
downwind, he heard a “crack” and the
engine started to vibrate then lose power.
He applied power, but it didn’t respond.
He turned sharply left and then tried to
stop the turn and descend, but the Hawk
continued down until it hit the ground.
A witness saw two objects fall from
the Hawk just after the engine sound
“stopped” and both were subsequently
retrieved. The first was the passenger’s
knitted hat, the top of which was “chewed
up” and had a line burnt/melted into it,
while the other was one of the prop blades.
NTSB Probable Cause The loss of
engine power due to a prop failure when
the passenger’s hat left the cockpit and hit
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 Safety Accident Reports
the three-bladed pusher propeller,
separating one of the propeller blades.
Comment Classic flying helmets and the
like may seem a bit over the top, but
accidents such as this illustrate the point
that appropriate flying gear has a purpose.
Just pull the breaker…
Cessna T210M
N1215M
Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, USA
Injuries None
The pilot reported that, before the
accident flight, the Cessna had been
experiencing intermittent landing-gear
problems and its purpose was to take the
aeroplane to a maintenance facility for
examination. He added that, before the
flight, the landing-gear circuit breaker
was pulled out, “in order to keep the gear
in the down position and eliminate the
gear warning horn” for the flight.
While landing, the pilot noticed that
the left wing dropped slightly after
touchdown, and corrected with aileron
to maintain the runway centreline.
Shortly thereafter, the pilot could feel
the right main landing-gear (MLG)
slowly collapse. He was unable to keep
the Cessna on the centreline and it left
the runway, coming to rest upright with
the right MLG collapsed, and a bent
right horizontal stabiliser.
During a post-accident examination,
the landing-gear was retracted and
extended many times. Each retraction
proved normal but repeated gear extension
cycles resulted in the left MLG and nose
landing-gear extending and locking, and
the right MLG extending with no
movement from the downlock actuator.
The latter was removed for examination,
which proved difficult After removal, the
actuator released, and its internal spring
mechanism freely moved the actuator.
The actuator was disassembled and no
internal problems were noted.
According to the Pilot’s Operating
Handbook, Section 3, ‘Emergency
Procedures, Landing Gear Malfunction
Procedures’, the landing-gear pump
circuit breaker was to be positioned to the
‘in’ position for all malfunction scenarios.
NTSB Probable Cause Malfunction of
the right main landing-gear actuator, for
reasons which couldn’t be determined
because post-accident examination
revealed no mechanical anomalies that
would’ve precluded normal operation.
Contributing to the accident was the
improper decision to disengage the
landing-gear system circuit breaker before
the flight, which was contrary to the
manufacturer-recommended procedures.
52 | FLYER | Summer 2018
“The first object was the
passenger’s knitted hat, the
top of which was ‘chewed up’”
Comment Going off script, especially Post-accident examination didn’t find
when dealing with system malfunctions any anomalies which would’ve precluded
and procedures, needs to be done very normal operation. The wreckage
cautiously. The unintended consequences distribution and impact damage indicated
of pulling breakers and disabling systems that the C23 collided with the trees in a
can catch us out when we least expect it. nose-low attitude consistent with a loss of
control. Damage to the wings precluded an
accurate measurement of the fuel onboard
Full-flap take-off but some was found in the carb bowl and
Beechcraft C23 fuel pump, and the damage to several tree
N20087 branches was consistent with the engine
Osage Beach, Missouri, USA still operating when it hit the trees.
Injuries Two fatal The flaps were found fully extended,
The commercial pilot was flying his which is the proper setting for landing.
newly-purchased C23 home, cross- For take-off, the flaps should have been
country. After a flight of about 560nm, fully retracted, consequently, that would
which would’ve taken about 5hr and have added a significant amount
consumed at least 51 of the 58.8 usable of drag and degraded the C23’s climb
gallons of fuel, an airport employee performance. It’s likely that the pilot
heard him on the CTAF, announcing forgot to retract the flaps after landing
his intention to land. The Beech landed and took off with them extended.
but didn’t taxi to the ramp. The employee NTSB Probable Cause The pilot’s
tried to communicate with the pilot over loss of control while manoeuvring,
the CTAF, but the return transmissions shortly after take-off. The pilot’s attempt
were garbled. The Beech then departed to climb with the flaps fully extended
on R04, and the employee heard no contributed to the loss of control.
further transmissions from the pilot. Comment Although properly
No witnesses to the subsequent configuring for take-off is on the list of
accident were identified. The wreckage ‘killer’ items that need to be checked,
was discovered in a heavily wooded area making this error doesn’t have to end
about 1,000ft east of the departure end of in a loss of control. Treat it as you would
R04, a location consistent with the pilot a low altitude go-around with full flap,
turning right during initial climb before managing your airspeed at all costs and
the Beech descended and hit the ground. carefully retracting the flaps.
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devices, sending an SOS at the push of a button,
providing an electronic breadcrumb trail and allowing
two-way text messaging. The inReach Mini is an
evolution of Garmin’s line which, at roughly half the size
of its predecessors, eschews the larger map-friendly
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It’s good to see Garmin contining to refine its offerings.
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 Day
Stripper
FLYING ADVENTURE

Paul Kiddell and a fellow member of his

EuroStar syndicate prove that you can have a lot
of fun visiting some Scottish strips on a sunny day

54 | FLYER | Summer 2018
S ometimes the UK’s weather surprises
you, with a forecast that isn’t only flyable but is also
positively outstanding. After a very wet winter, a period
of settled high pressure resulted in much chin-rubbing
among pilots – where to go and what to do? Faced by a
forecast of light winds and horizon-to-horizon sunshine,
it’s easy to fly the well-trodden path to your favourite
lunch destination, but for me, it’s an opportunity to be
adventurous and explore pastures new.
The second week of May has been wonderful, and after
discussing options with my flying partner, Steve Biglands,
we settle on a day of stripping in northeast Scotland. Steve
and I are part of a four-man syndicate with a 2007 EV-97
EuroStar, G-CEVS, based at Eshott in Northumberland.
He’s a former RAF QFI who’s well-known for his role as a
Victor Captain in Operation Black Buck, the bombing of
Port Stanley on Falkland Islands, by Vulcan XM607 on
1 May 1982. The 6,800nm mission was then the longest
bombing raid in history and required eleven Victor
air-to-air refuelling tankers. Steve was programmed as
the long-slot tanker but while refuelling amid a powerful
electrical storm over the South Atlantic, the tip of his
refuelling probe snapped off in extreme turbulence. Steve
and his crew had to give their fuel away to another Victor
and returned to Ascension Island with very little reserve.
After eight years on Victors, Steve instructed on Jet
Provosts, and then Strikemasters and PC-9s in Saudi
Arabia, before finishing his career on Grob Tutors at
Leuchars. And that would have probably been that for
Steve’s flying, until he discovered the highly affordable
and somewhat wacky world of microlighting, which has
seen him add such new experiences as beach and small-
strip landings to his extensive aviation repertoire.
At Eshott, G-CEVS is soon pre-flighted and fuelled
from jerry cans with standard garage forecourt unleaded,
our 80hp Rotax 912 preferring UL-91 or Mogas. It’ll take
100LL but prolonged use does cause issues with lead
fouling and, as result, reduced service intervals.
Strip-flying requires careful planning and prior contact
with owners is absolutely essential. We’re briefed on slope,
the latest ground conditions, grass length, livestock and
noise-sensitive properties. Some of our targets are in the
VFR flight guides but others aren’t – happily, northern
and Scottish flyers are a pretty tight-knit community and
contacts are easily made.

A gin-clear day
Steve flies the first leg as we set off for Hatton, a farm strip
south of Peterhead on the Scotland’s northeast coast. It’s a
gin-clear day and we climb to 2,000ft as we head up the
glorious Northumberland coast at 95mph, burning a measly
ten litres per hour. We fly over 1,000 or so Atlantic grey

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 55
 Flying Adventure

Previous page Insch

Above Dunnottar
Castle, south of
Stonehaven
Left Berwick-
upon-Tweed
Right Hatton airstrip
Bottom left Penan
Below right Bass Rock
Bottom right Steve
at Boyndie

56 | FLYER | Summer 2018

seals basking on the sandbars in Holy Island Bay, which is a
good indicator that northeast fish stocks are healthy as each
one consumes about 25lb per day.
England’s most northerly town, Berwick-upon-Tweed, is
looking good as we pursue an East Coast Main Line train
that’s going over the magnificent Royal Border Bridge of
1850, with its 28 arches, each of which spans some 60ft.
The flying is very smooth as we talk to our friendly
controller, Paul Aspin at Scottish Information. The
procedure at Scottish Info is a very relaxed affair and
certainly a far cry from the exceptionally busy London
Information which, to be honest, I’ve only ever used to open
a flight-plan. Paul knows many of his regular customers well
and we exchange pleasantries as he updates us on danger
area activity, weather and known traffic on frequency.
At North Berwick we climb to 3,500ft to cross the
nine miles of the Firth of Forth and switch to Leuchars,
which can offer a LARS. We pass Bass Rock, a small
volcanic island which extends to some 351ft above the
water. Now uninhabited, it was once a 6th century
hermitage, then a medieval castle which was used as a
gaol for King James I’s many political enemies and,
more recently, a lighthouse. Bass Rock is now home to
the world’s biggest colony of gannets and a large proportion
of its 150,000 resident birds seem to be doing circuits today.
I wouldn’t recommend a low pass!
Leuchars has a flight calibrator DA-42 in the circuit
so we’re asked to pass over the MATZ at 3,000 ft.
Despite Leuchars being handed over to the Army in
March 2015, it remains an active military airfield and
we spy several Tucanos on the pan as we pass over this
historic former fighter base.
After passing over the Royal Marines’ D604 firing
range on the north side of the Tay, we descend to 1,000ft
for coastal sight-seeing. The coast from Arbroath to
Aberdeen is very scenic, with rugged cliffs punctuated
by small fishing villages, all framed by the Grampians to
the west. The land is very fertile with many horticultural
polytunnels growing berries and other soft fruits which
end up on the shelves of your local supermarket.
Just south of Stonehaven, we come across the impressive
ruins of the 13th century Dunnottar Castle. Perched on an
isolated headland, Dunnottar is another Scottish fortification
with a bloody history. William Wallace captured the castle
from the English in 1297 and reputedly set fire to the church
where the entire sassenach garrison of 4,000 had taken
refuge, burning them all alive. We’re certainly hoping for a
somewhat better reception as we continue north…
By now we’re talking to Aberdeen Approach, as the
Aberdeen CTA extends to just south of Stonehaven, from
1,500ft to FL115. Aberdeen, the centre of the North Sea oil
industry since the mid-seventies, remains very busy and the
cheery controller was working hard with multiple North
Sea helicopter arrivals and departures, mixed in with
regional airliners. Aberdeen has well-established GA
coastal transit corridors, running north-south through its
CTR, with the northbound Stonehaven corridor taking
traffic just off-shore and the southbound Peterhead corridor
routing traffic shore-side, over the city.
Flying Adventure
“We’re surprised
to discover three
large hares on the
edge of the strip”
Cleared to route northbound offshore, not above
2,000ft, we pass over a large number of brightly-coloured
North Sea supply vessels, which are sitting off the coast
like a modern day D-Day invasion fleet.
A hare-ey landing
After two hours of relaxed flying, we approach Hatton, just
inland from the exceptionally beautiful Cruden Bay, home
to one of Britain’s most scenic golf courses. The 650m strip
is owned by enthusiastic flying farmer Jim Anderson, who
currently pilots a 1976 Robin DR400/140. Today, Jim and
pilot son, Angus, are away at a Flying Farmers event in the
Channel Islands but we’re fully briefed and Steve does a
clearing pass for wildlife before setting up for R07. Two
small local wind generators tell us it’s an easterly, which
works well as R07 has a two per cent upslope.
We’re soon down, and avoid the bottom of the slope
where water may congregate. However, as we go over the
brow of the slope, we’re surprised to discover three large
hares on the edge of the strip. They all decide to make a
run for it across our path until the third one decides to
stop mid-strip and reverse his route. Both hares and crew
are relieved when he makes it to safety.
With Jim away, we don’t hang around and I take off
downhill with a bit of a tailwind. As always in strip flying,
there are decisions to be made when balancing the slope,
approach and departure paths against the prevailing
wind direction and strength. Some decisions may initially
seem to be against conventional wisdom, coming from a
traditional airfield environment, but it makes for an exciting
challenge. At 650m the strip is large and we’re off in no
time and head north, to pick up the Moray coast at
Fraserburgh for a 25-minute flight to Banff.
The waters of the Moray Firth are crystal clear as we fly
low-level along the jagged coast. The picturesque village of
Pennan looks fabulous. It’s famous as the fictitious Furness
in the 1983 film, Local Hero, and still attracts many tourists.
I launch into Mark Knopfler’s classic theme, Going Home,
which is still played at Newcastle United home fixtures.
Steve shows his appreciation for my musical talents by
turning his headset volume down.
Our next strip, Boyndie, the former RAF Banff, will
potentially be the most challenging of the day as it’s now
home to a large windfarm. From September 1944 to the
end of WWII, RAF Banff was home to the Banff Strike
Wing, which consisted of six squadrons of Mosquitos and
Beaufighters. They combined with the Beaufighters of
Summer 2018 | FLYER | 57
 the nearby RAF Dallachy Strike Wing to launch mass,
ultra-low-level attacks on U-Boats and German shipping
in the North Sea and Norwegian fjords, using cannon and
salvos of three-inch rockets. They enjoyed spectacular
success and made a significant contribution to the defeat of
Nazi Germany by limiting U-Boat operations and denying
Hitler’s industry such vital raw materials as iron ore.
RAF Banff closed at the end of WWII, though there
was a small revival in the seventies, when the Banff Flying
Club was formed. To mark the re-opening, in June 1976,
the late, great Neil Williams flew Mosquito RS712 in from
the Sir William Roberts Strathallan Collection. A video
of the day shows a typically spirited low-level display by
Williams. Interestingly, flying with him was a certain
Dick Richardson, then chief engineer at Strathallan, who
went on to manage wonderful Popham for some 26 years.
Today, RS712 is owned by Kermit Weeks, and for the past
few years has been in the EAA Museum at Oshkosh.
Sadly, Banff Flying Club had disbanded by the
early-eighties. In 2006, a windfarm of nine turbines was
installed on the airfield and flying at the site seemed to be
finished forever. However, in 2015, Nigel Smith, a Jet2 pilot
who flies a rather smart, self-built Murphy Elite, powered
by a diesel Wilksch WAM-120, and his friend, Jimmy,
established a grass field on the south side of the disused
R10/28, cutting and rolling to make a smooth 320m x 18m
strip, although the TORA/LDA is actually 590m.
Clearly, the wind turbines need respect. Positioning
overhead shows that we’re lucky today as the easterly wind is
moderate and, importantly, the rotor turbulence from the
windmills to the south of the strip is being carried well away,
out to the west. One turbine is on the extended centreline
for R10, around 700m short of the threshold. In addition,
there’s an uphill gradient of 1.79 on R28. As a result, I opt
for the clearer approach on R28, downwind but uphill.
A clearing pass shows that there are no sheep grazing
and also allows us to see the two cones marking both ends
of the smoother surface. We can also judge the grass length
on the cones, which is a little long but perfectly do-able. I fly
Below Easterton a STOL 55mph approach, instead of at the usual 60mph, to
58 | FLYER | Summer 2018
lower our groundspeed. With a tailwind and holding off the
nosewheel, the longer grass and gentle slope stops us in less
than 200m without the need for brakes.
After taking some pictures, we’re keen to get on and
Steve takes off into wind on R10, passing the turbines a
few hundred metres to the south. To be honest, the turbines
are imposing but with calm winds or a favourable wind
direction they aren’t really a drama, if you have a suitable
STOL aircraft and make sensible decisions. They do,
however, provide some great pictures to support tall flying
stories in the bar! Huge credit to Nigel and Jimmy for
keeping flying alive at this historic base.
Old comrades
The next leg of our journey takes us further along the
Moray coast, to Shempston Farm, which is located over
the fence from RAF Lossiemouth, just short of its R03
threshold. The strip is centred on a former Lossiemouth
WWII dispersal hangar and, naturally, operations require
close co-ordination with Lossie ATC, though today the
RAF station is having a ground-training day and the
circuit is quiet. RAF Lossiemouth is also home to the
Northern Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) force, which has
two live-armed Typhoons that are ready to launch at a
few minutes’ notice, to react to Russian Air Force activity
and potential airborne terrorist threats. As a result, we’re
prepared to be waved off at any time and have plenty of
diversion fuel.
The wind is strengthening and Lossiemouth reports a
10kt crosswind as Steve positions for Shempston’s uphill
northerly runway. As expected, we encounter some
roll-over turbulence from the trees to the east of the strip
but land without drama. We receive a fantastic welcome
from our pals, resident flyers John Farquhar and Steve
Ludman, who’ve prepared a wonderful spread for lunch.
Like many strip-based flyers, the Shempston group
has endured a long, hard winter, with its two resident
Aeronca Champs being firmly grounded for several
months. But that seems a distant memory as we enjoy
sandwiches, tea and cake in the sun, protected from
the easterly wind by dense trees.
All too soon it’s time to leave our generous hosts, who
kindly supply us with twenty litres of unleaded to get us
home without further refuelling. We have two-way radio
with Lossie on the ground, who report a 14kt easterly.
Taking off downhill, I’m prepared for the strong wind to
hit us as we leave the sanctuary of the tree screen and I’m
not disappointed. But we’re safely off and enjoy a short
low-level flight to Easterton, just ten miles to the south.
Easterton is home to the Highland Gliding Club, the
UK’s most northerly. I’ve PPR’d with its chairman, Robert
Tait, who it transpires also flies a Europa from the site. We
aren’t expecting gliding today but calling on 130.1, are
informed that a classic Pietenpol Air Camper and Fournier
RF-5 are airborne in the local area. We land near the
threshold of the expansive 950m R08 and find that the
strip has recovered really well after the wet winter.
Popping open the EuroStar’s canopy, a chap with a
handheld radio immediately recognises Steve and asks,
Flying Adventure

Top left lunch at

Shempston
Above Iain McDonald’s
1946 Cessna C120
at Easterton
Left Climbing out
of Boyndie
Below middle left
Toni Hauser’s Fournier
at Easterton
Below Pietenpol Air
Camper at Easterton
Bottom left Approach
to Shempston Farm
Bottom At Shempston
Farm – left to right,
Steve Ludman,
Steve Biglands
and John Farquhar

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 59
 Flying Adventure
“We pass over many more
of the fifty or so distilleries
located amid the beautiful
rolling hills of Speyside”
“Biggles, what are you doing here?!” It turns out that
Rick Phillips is a former RAF Buccaneer pilot who also
finished his career flying Grobs from Leuchars with
Steve. The old comrades enjoy a catch-up while I wander
around and chat to other enthusiastic local flyers. There’s
a wonderful mix of gliding and powered machines at
Easterton, including Iain McDonald’s brightly-coloured
1946 Cessna C120 taildragger. I meet David Kelly, who
has a Wittman Tailwind and is standing by to chock his
group’s C90-powered Pietenpol, G-VALS, which arrives
in the hands of Iain Bright. G-VALS is owned by six
members and is perhaps the most active Air Camper in
the UK, having already flown 35 hours this year, despite
the wet winter. Bernard Pietenpol originally published
plans for the Air Camper as a four-part serial in the
Flying and Glider Manual of 1932-33 and his timeless
design is still being built by enthusiasts some ninety
years after its first flight, which took place in 1928.
As we chat, Toni Hausler lands in another aviation
classic, the Fournier RF-5B motor-glider, G-KCIG.
Toni and its co-owner, John Bisset, talk me through the
features of the 1976 Fournier, including the spoilers and
Below The Auchroisk the Limbach 1700 engine, which was based on the
distillery, with the ubiquitous air-cooled VW flat-four. Toni plans to do her
bonded warehouse CPL and find work in flying while building experience,
of Chivas Brothers at
Mulben in the distance
not only in the Fournier and the Club Robin glider tug
Below right Coleburn but also in the second Aeronca Champ at Shempston,
Distillery, Speyside which she again co-owns with John Bisset.
60 | FLYER | Summer 2018
After even more tea in great company, we depart in the
bright sunshine and head for Insch, 35 miles to the southeast.
An Insch of whisky
Shortly after take-off, we come across the Coleburn
Distillery. Its kilns are topped by the familiar ‘pagodas’
which are synonymous with Scottish distilleries and are
actually called the Doig ventilator. Named after Victorian
inventor Charles Doig, their function is to efficiently draw
smoke up through the kiln chimney from the fire that was
drying out the malt (barley) below. Today, only a handful
of the 126 licensed Scotch whisky distilleries boast
operational kilns but the pagodas have been retained as
a picturesque nod to the industry’s past.
We pass over many more of the fifty or so distilleries
located amid the beautiful rolling hills of Speyside, before
coming across the huge Chivas Brothers bonded warehouse
site at Mulben. To qualify as a Scotch whisky, the spirit
must mature in Scotland, for at least three years, in an
oak cask. According to the Scotch Whisky Association,
there are currently twenty million whisky casks maturing
in bonded warehouses, with around 1.25 million in the 56
warehouses at Mulben. It’s no wonder that Scotch Whisky
accounted for some twenty per cent of all UK food and
drink exports in 2017.
After an aerial whisky trail, we spot Insch in a gentle
valley about 2nm southwest of the town. Steve joins left base
for R13, to avoid the nearby village of Leslie. The grass
strip looks magnificent but as we touch down, a gentle
rumble reveals the runway’s hidden secret. In 2017, after
many wet years, airfield owner Ken Wood took the plunge
and invested heavily in a tiled runway reinforcement
system, CellPave AP from Groundtrax UK. With the grass
having grown back through the tiles, the resulting runway
is very impressive and exceptionally smooth.
The airfield is quiet today, but as we’re parking,
Ken pulls up and opens the modern clubhouse. A three-
time Scottish rally car champion – in classic eighties
Triumph TR7 V8, Rover SD1 and MG Metro 6R4 – he
established the airfield in 1984. In 1994 Lottery funding
 Flying Adventure
helped finance the magnificent clubhouse, which is home to
members of the Grampian Microlight and Flying Club.
Insch’s hangars are full of around twenty interesting
aeroplanes, ranging from a Pitts and a Luscombe to
flexwing microlights. A keen pilot, Ken has owned a Jodel
DR1050 for many years and clearly takes enormous pride
in this hotbed of sport aviation. He explains that the
runway reinforcement was put in during November 2017,
to counter the soft ground, and that a small roller was used,
which took enormous patience. Of course, even the success
of the reinforcement doesn’t make it bomb-proof and there
are strict operating restrictions during wet periods, to
maintain the outstanding surface for the benefit of all.
We really enjoy Ken’s many interesting and highly
amusing tales of starting, developing and operating a
small grass airfield, and resolve to visit again soon. With
a day of tea drinking taking its toll, I visit the little boy’s
room before I fly us home. Insch is just west of the Aberdeen
CTA so we again call busy Aberdeen as we head south,
over the hills and under its 3,000ft base.
Challenging and varied
Below returning home With the late-afternoon thermals settling down, we enjoy
over the River Tweed a smooth, 1.8hr ride home and arrive back at Eshott at
62 | FLYER | Summer 2018
1830, having enjoyed a wonderful day of stripping with
nearly six hours of challenging and varied flying, meeting
old friends while making new ones.
My good friend, John Stubbs, who’s just visited his
500th different field in his Dynamic, and I estimate that
there are perhaps 1,500 fixed-wing landing sites in the
UK. Many are in the AFE and Pooleys VFR flight
guides, Lockyears’ UK ‘Farm’ Strips Guide (though the
latest, sixth edition is now somewhat dated), the internet
and, of course, on SkyDemon but many aren’t. Local
knowledge pays dividends.
With a bit of imagination and some research, there
are lots of new and exciting flying adventures which can
be had close to home. Of course, some strips require a
suitable STOL aircraft or microlight but many are
appropriate for your average club machine.
Be honest about your current capabilities and your
aircraft’s performance, practise your short-field
techniques, and if you lack strip-flying experience,
consider finding a suitable instructor to help you to
develop your skills. Very importantly, speak to the
strip operator, get a detailed brief and adhere to it,
which will not only keep you safe but also ensure that
you receive a warm welcome. Have fun stripping!
Route highlights
4 3
5
6 2
1 Eshott 3 Boyndie 5 Easterton
2 Hatton 4 Shempston 6 Insch
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 Top Gear The latest aviation kit, impartially tested and evaluated

OSEI Crystal Mic

HHHHH £199 (plus cost of headphones) | www.amazon.co.uk

01 You start with

your choice of
ANR headphones,
and the OSEI
microphone kit
02 The microphone
boom is attached
using strong
magnets which
simply stick on
03 Plug the mic
lead into the audio
connection on the
headphones, and
make sure they’re
01 02 fully charged
04 Go flying! This
is a good way to
repurpose
consumer
headphones if you
already own a pair.
We wonder how
robust the set-up
would prove in
the long-term, as
unlike a dedicated
aviation headset, it
wasn’t specifically
designed for use
in an aircraft

03 04

F
rom time to time, we
see FLYER Forum chat
about using the type of
ANR headphones you’d
typically find plugged
into an iPod or a phone in a GA
cockpit. These conversions have
been popular with airline pilots,
but I haven’t encountered anyone
using a set in the GA community.
With several conversion kits on the
market, we went online and picked up
the cheapest one we could find, the
Crystal Mic from OSEI. The company
recommends Sennheiser HD 4.50 ANR
headphones as a combination of best
value and quality, and we picked up a
pair from Amazon for £139. Searching
around, you can find unbranded units
for £30, but OSEI told us that it’s tested
some in this price bracket and found
that the noise-cancelling tech was
overwhelmed by loud GA cockpits.
Assembly was simply a case of
plugging the various components
together, and attaching the microphone
boom to an earcup by sticking on a
strong disk magnet, which is also a clever
way of providing adjustment. Using a
mirror, I figured the best position for
this before permanently fixing it.
Apart from charging the phones (ours
promise a 19hr battery life with the ANR
operating), it’s a case of plug in and use,
just like a regular headset. The
Sennheisers just about fitted over my ears
and did a good job of passively sealing
out noise. I don’t think my ears are any
bigger than the ICAO standard, it may
be that aviation headsets are more
generously-sized. Over-ear is definitely
preferable to on-ear, otherwise I can
imagine problems with ambient noise
leakage. The Sennheisers were comfy,
but the narrow headband felt like it might
be a source of pain on longer flights.
With the ANR turned on, the
headphones were effective at reducing
the in-flight noise level. However, the
microphone was prone to rotating on
its own a little too much for my liking
– OSEI told me there’s a hexagonal
magnet in the works to fix this – but
gave clear audio, and as long as I had
the volume turned up most of the way,
comms were easy to hear.
This set-up is definitely a bargain
way to get low-cost ANR, particularly
if you already have over-the-ear
consumer headphones which you use
for an iPod or phone, and there’s no
question, it can work for GA. They
won’t be for everyone though, and I
know some pilots for whom magnetic
booms and plug-together connections
may not be robust enough in the long
term. That said, OSEI offers a five-year
warranty, which covers the replacement
of up to three units. Ed Hicks

64 | FLYER | Summer 2018
Grypmat Trio Pack
HHHHH £117 | www.airpart.co.uk

W
here do you put aren’t cheap but then good tools never
your tools when usually are. Alternative solutions, such
you’re working on as an old towel or random piece of
your aircraft in the cardboard might get you by, but they
hangar? It’s great to don’t look too professional. If there’s one
be able to take them right to the job, else obvious benefit, it’s that Grypmat helps
you’re forever wandering back and forth keep tools and hardware accessible,
to the toolbox. You can risk putting them secure and as visible as possible. In a
down on some part of the aircraft that’s world where a lost tool can have serious
near to the task, but there’s always the consequences, I’ll happily spend a few
danger of marking or damaging surfaces. extra quid for that alone. Ed Hicks
Plus, unless you own a Zenair 701, there’s
Top Grypmat is
never usually anywhere flat enough to made of flexible
prevent tools from sliding away. polymer-silicone
Dreamt up by US Air Force and conforms and
Engineer, Grypmat is one of those grips to surfaces
at up to 70°. Put
products which gets a universal response items in the tray,
of “Why didn’t I think of that?” The and they stay
mats are made from a flexible polymer- there, too
silicone rubber which doesn’t scratch Above right
The high-quality
paint and holds onto surfaces at up to a mouldings are
70º angle, while keeping tools and chemically-
hardware firmly in place. We twisted, resistant and
rolled, stretched and pulled ours with no washable
Right Three sizes
signs of distress, and if they get dusty or
of Grypmat are
grubby, just throw them under the tap currently available.
and wash with soap and water.
They come in three sizes, from
15 x 30cm to up to 56 x 30cm, and

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 65
 Top Gear
SEHT SH 40-10 Headset
HHHHH £199 | www.seht.co.uk

C
arbon-fibre is a strong, Right To some,
lightweight wonder carbon-fibre may
look like a gimmick
material, but is there really
but here it’s not
any benefit in making a and makes for an
headset out of it? SEHT extremely light
obviously pondered that and with the headset
Below Shiny!
new SH 40-10, proved there actually is.
Hopefully, that
Apart from the headband’s steel top, glossy carbon
pretty much everything’s carbon-fibre, won’t mark too
and there’s a smaller microphone on a much in use.
thinner boom. All that helps the SH Only the upper
headband uses a
40-10 tip the scales at 300g, around sixty steel part, while a
per cent the weight of comparable plastic smaller mic sits on
and steel units. Picking a pair up for the a slimmer boom
first time, you’ll expect them to be Below right
The headset is
heavier and really notice the reduced
well-constructed,
mass when you move your head. The and its synthetic
synthetic leather ear seals feel great and leather ear seals
are comfy – I’d have liked it to be used on are comfortable
the headpad, which although it does does
an adequate job, just doesn’t look or feel
as nice to the touch. Well, I suspect you
can’t have it all when something’s built to
this price point. Although they’re only
passive-attenuating, the noise reduction is
rated at 22db, typical for a non-ANR
unit, and the audio quality was good
when making and receiving calls.
The headset certainly feels like it’ll
last, though how good that shiny finish
will look after a few hundred hours will
depend on how careful you are. Would
I buy a pair? If I only had £200 to
spend, definitely. They’re easily worth
the extra £50-60 over the most
common low-cost passive units. EH

RunwayMap Auster
Free | www.runwaymap.com £39.95 | www.air-britain.co.uk

O G
ne thing which is obvious
from social media outlets,
is that GA pilots like
sharing their flights
online. RunwayMap is a
new mobile app and community which
promises info on over 20,000 airports
worldwide, and also gives pilots a place
to share photos and videos, specific to
trips and locations, along with ways to
pool data about things like places to eat,
car rental and hotels. There are also
links to aviation weather, 3D images of
the airport surroundings, webcams and
more. Even better, it’s free to download
for iPhone, iPad and Android. EH
etting straight to the point,
should you have any
interest in the Auster and
its history, then buy Tom
Wenham, Rod Simpson
and Malcolm Fillmore’s book, which is
subtitled the Company and the Aircraft.
Having once had a share in a J1N
(the one illustrated on the cover) I thought
I knew a bit about Austers. Well, it turns
out I didn’t, and that all sorts of weird
and wonderful variants were either built,
designed or dreamed of before Auster’s
absorption into Beagle Aircraft in 1960.
Fascinating story, fascinating
aeroplane, fascinating book. IS

66 | FLYER | Summer 2018
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 By Association Looking after General Aviation The UK’s flying associations at work
AOPA Better regulation
Recently, the national press has been
awash with the UK-EU argument over
our future relationship with Galileo,
Europe’s GPS system. Indeed, the UK
has even proposed that building its own
system may be the answer, but where
would the money come from, given the
current concerns over NHS funding
and police and defence budgets?
The Cabinet Office is (or was) responsible
for the maintenance of ‘Better Regulation’,
which means that the Government amends or
publishes its intentions with regards to rules.
Firstly, the available options are examined
BMAA Positive engagement
The BMAA 2018 AGM was held on a
very flyable day during the Popham
Microlight Trade Fair and Fly-in.
Both proved a great success, with the
AGM drawing over seventy members
into a very warm marquee which had
been made available by Popham (our
gratitude to Mike Pearson) and free
BBQ tickets for the first fifty attendees,
sponsored by CFS Rotax (huge thanks
to Jon Freedman and his team).
An AGM is an opportunity to hear what
a governing board has been doing for an
organisation’s members, and it gives the latter
LAA Endangered species
A recent TV series, The Secret Life of Owls,
demonstrated that our airfields are
important assets, in terms of wildlife
preservation. It was filmed at Stow
Maries in Essex, which is home to a
small community of dedicated pilots
as well as the tawny, little and barn
owls featured in the programme.
In the face of ever-increasing planning
threats, perhaps it’s time to make a stronger
case for UK airfields’ role as ‘open green
spaces’. Nature and environmental surveys
have demonstrated that they’re very important
as a low-insecticide, low-herbicide, sanctuary
Aviation associations Got something to say? You’re welcome to contribute to this page, email editor@seager.aero
68 | FLYER | Summer 2018
and Regulatory Impact Assessments produced.
Ironically, Brexit is likely to have the biggest
impact on UK aviation but, currently, we
have no clear idea how the Government is
approaching this major change.
A recent UK Government communication
sets out the legal position for March 2019,
should no firm post-Brexit agreement be in
place. Effectively, the UK Government is
saying, ‘Aviation is too important, there will
be a solution – trust us’ and I really dislike
that approach. I fear that we’ll see UK
and the European Union blame each other
over the eventual outcome.
an opportunity to question and suggest changes
and receive guidance. Our AGM proved no
different, which isn’t a complaint – it was good
that this year saw some positive engagement,
after several years of passive acceptance.
Meanwhile, it was lovely outside and aircraft
flew all weekend with very few problems.
There’s no ATC during the Fair, just a radio
service and mostly very aware and sensible
pilots. I don’t have the final figures to hand, but
I believe there were several hundred aircraft in
attendance on the Saturday and a good number
the following day. The weather always plays a
significant part in Popham’s success and this
for plants, insects and associated wildlife.
The land surrounding an airfield, although
appearing green, often consists of one or two
intensively-farmed crop species which are
ground-sprayed with a cocktail of fertilisers
and insecticides. In contrast, it isn’t in an
airfield owner’s interest to add artificial
fertilisers to make the grass grow faster. An
airfield with grass runways has a mixture of
longer grass meadowland and shorter mown
runways, which is about perfect for wildlife.
Almost all of us will have heard skylarks in
the summer, seemingly unaware of the sound
of aircraft around them. Others will have seen
It’s appalling that businesses cannot plan
ahead without any degree of certainty. UK
politicians need to begin to put this country
first, rather then their own ambitions.
With the country still split on the question
of Europe, in my honest opinion, no party
can hope for a majority in Parliament unless
it puts ‘the good of the country’ first!
Martin Robinson
Aircraft Owners and
Pilots Association
www.aopa.co.uk
year was one of the really good ones. I’m hoping
that we have equally excellent weather for our
SSDR Rally at Enstone over the weekend of
13-15 July. The event is open to all, but features
the Single-Seat Deregulated (hence SSDR)
aircraft which now are booming in popularity,
partly as a result of more relaxed licensing
requirements. If you’d like to find out more,
just visit our website. Geoff Weighell
British Microlight
Aircraft Association
www.bmaa.org
hares break cover when disturbed by a taxying
aircraft. Even if there are tarmac runways, the
longer grass around them provides nesting
cover for such birds as larks and lapwings, as
well as mice, voles, and butterflies, bees and
moths. They, in turn, create an eco-system,
and such protected species as sparrowhawks
and owls take advantage of the food chain.
Let’s get the message out there, our airfields
are now the endangered species! Steve Slater
Light Aircraft Association
www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk
December 2016 | FLYER | 71
LONDON NOW
Friday 2-Saturday 3 TWO
November 2018 DAYS!
Sofitel London Heathrow
Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport

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 That Worst Day
Twin trap
Having been checked out on a friend’s classic,
hipster-fashionable twin, and armed with an
iPhone full of flight-planning tech, Pilot X
has a long day of flying ahead of him…
Words Nathan Barley
T
his was a good day – it had
certainly been a busy one and
was proving to be pretty long
too… That morning, when his
alarm went off, Pilot X had
rolled over and picked up his iPhone to check
the weather. He’d looked at the TAFs and
metars, and used a new app he’d discovered
to check out some Skew-Ts, to get a rough
idea where he’d find the cloud tops. It was
looking perfect, and so X filed his first
flight-plan of what was to be a multi-leg day,
requesting an emailed briefing pack as part
of the process. And he’d achieved all of that
without even leaving the comfort of his bed.
Over his first coffee, X marvelled at the
software tools which pilots now had at
their disposal. Not that long ago, what
he’d just done in minutes would have
involved multiple phone calls, fax messages
(remember them?) and, of course, whole
stacks of paper. Times were good…
X’s friend had been letting him fly his
Cessna C340 for a couple of months, and
despite the ‘burnt orange’ velour interior
and an instrument panel which was bang on
trend if you were a vintage-craving hipster,
he loved it – the airstairs, the pressurised
cabin and the performance. He wasn’t quite
so keen on the cost of filling up, nor the
complexities of the fuel system, “But, hey,”
he thought, “nothing’s perfect.”
Although X had a couple of dozen
hours on the aeroplane, all but three of
those had been with the aircraft’s owner
sitting alongside. He liked the company
and enjoyed the mentoring, but X really
loved flying alone, and today he’d be the
only pilot on all of the legs.
X felt on top of his game. His pre-flight
had been meticulous, the first short hop to
the local ‘big airfield’ resulted in probably
his best-ever landing, his radio work when
picking up airways clearance had been
slick and the he’d felt way ahead of the
aeroplane the whole time.
He began the longest flight of the day
feeling very good indeed. Climbing out
at 120kt, he was up at FL200 in less than
half an hour, where he trued out at just
over 200kt, burning 140lph. The C340’s
fuel system was starting to become second
70 | FLYER | Summer 2018
nature and, in the cruise, he even found
time to have a bit of a play with its ancient
weather radar. Life was good, and it only
got better when he pulled off two equally
top-notch landings at the ends of the next
legs. So that was three landings and every
one a peach…
With just the last flight to go X was on a
roll. Thanks to the GPS he knew exactly
where the airfield was, but nonetheless it
was good to see it emerging from the milky,
high-pressure haze, even if it was a little
sooner than he’d expected. Realising that
he was both a bit high and a mite fast, X
brought the power back smoothly, if a little
quicker than he would’ve liked – descending
and slowing at the same time is always a bit
“Realising he was both a bit high
and a mite fast, X brought the
power back smoothly…”
of a challenge in a big piston type, if you
leave it a bit late and want to be kind to the
engines at the same time. X had a quiet
word with himself before getting on with
the last approach and landing of the day.
He reasoned, at that time of night the
airfield would probably be deserted, there’d
be no students in the circuit and the A/G
operator would be at home with her feet up.
Consequently, he expected his blind calls to
go unanswered and so was a bit surprised
when someone announced that they were
crosswind, a location X knew meant many
things to many people. As he searched for
the traffic, X instinctively slowed a bit more,
the radio crackled and the traffic announced
Questions
1 What caused the yaw when X added power?
2 Why did one engine fail?
3 What’s the red line?
Answers on page 82
downwind ‘abeam the village’ for a touch-
and-go. This new bit of information would
hopefully make the traffic easier to spot.
X turned downwind, a mile or so farther
out than where he’d expected the traffic to
be, but there was no sign of it ahead. He
dropped the gear and some flap, but still
couldn’t see the traffic. He thought about
climbing away to the south and coming back
for another go, but with the other aircraft
staying in the circuit that mightn’t help.
Running out of ideas, he decided to drop
down to 500ft, in the hope that the circuit
traffic would be silhouetted and easier to see.
Eureka! There it was, late downwind,
turning a tight base and no factor at all.
Having found the traffic, X wasn’t going to
let it out of his sight, and only when he saw it
climbing away did he turn all of his attention
to what he hoped would be another greaser.
X extended downwind a bit, to give
himself time for his pre-landing checks.
When he turned onto final he checked the
reds, blues and greens before going to full
flap. Thanks to his traffic-spotting tactics,
he was flying a low, flat approach and needed
to add some power, but that just resulted in
yaw and no decrease in descent rate, and
applying more brought increased yaw and
roll. The needle was the wrong side of the
red line so X brought the throttles to idle,
braced and landed in the undershoot, wiping
off two of the three gear legs as he did so.
Mark Mitchell
NORTH
Saturday 7 July 2018
Concorde Conference Centre
Manchester Airport

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 Free Landings
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quiet Yorkshire countryside, where you can PPR 01964 544994
relax, meet friends and enjoy the fun of flying. Radio 123.050
Qualified pilots, aviation enthusiasts and those
who just pass by are all welcome. Avgas 100LL
and mogas available during operating hours. A
M

Overnight parking available.

City Airport, Barton

Free Landing
Valid 15 July to 14 August 2018

0161 789 1362 | EGCB | www.cityairportandheliport.com

City Airport (licensed as Manchester Barton) is a Nearby attractions Just five miles
BARTON

busy grass airfield and encourages all forms of from Manchester City Centre,
business and GA, including microlights. It offers close to the Intu Trafford Shopping
an efficient and friendly service, including avgas Centre, AJ Bell Stadium, EventCity
100LL and UL91, and Jet A1. FIS, callsign ‘Barton and MediaCity.
Information’, is on 120.250. Non-radio aircraft PPR 0161 789 1362 or via website
welcome, PPR by telephone or website. In Radio 120.250
summer, it’s open seven days a week, from 0815
until sunset or 2000, whichever is earlier. The A
UL

Runway 26 cafe-bar is open daily, 1000-1900.

M
A
UL
While you’re there
When you visit these six airfields, why
Radio PPR Refreshments Microlights Fuel not show your support by enjoying a
Accepts Prior permission Including are welcome Aviation fuel available
meal in the cafe or filling up with fuel?
non-radio light is required restaurants A avgas, UL UL91,
aircraft, but PPR and cafes etc M mogas It’s good to support GA in the UK.

72 | FLYER | Summer 2018
 Free Landings

Fishburn

Free Landing
Valid 15 July to 14 August 2018
07747 795447 | www.facebook.com/fishburnair
Fishburn is a pretty, unlicensed airfield with an Nearby attractions The picturesque

FISHBURN
800m grass runway, four miles north of the village of Sedgefield, Hardwick Hall
boundary of Teesside CTA, and is convenient Country Park and Durham city itself.
for access to Durham city and the university. PPR 07747 795447
Visiting pilots should join the circuit from the Radio 118.280
north – there’s no deadside. Visitors welcome at
any time, with avgas available throughout the
week. Refreshments can be bought at the
Aviator Cafe seven days per week. Hangarage A

subject to availability. Microlights welcome.

Holmbeck

Free Landing
A

Valid 15 July to 14 August 2018

01296 681816 | www.facebook.com/HolmbeckFarmAirfield

HOLMBECK
Holmbeck Airfield, opened 1985, is a 500m Nearby attractions Ascott House
grass farm strip in Buckinghamshire, 1nm NNE and gardens, the Three Locks
of the disused Wing Aerodrome and 2.6nm Golf Course, Aylesbury and
west of Leighton Buzzard. Owners Bob and Leighton Buzzard.
Rita Perkins live on-site so a warm welcome PPR 01296 681816 / 681925
and a cuppa is usually available. Tie-down Radio 129.825
spaces available, microlights welcome. PPR by
phone. Wing village is a short walk away and
has two popular pubs. There’s also a self- A

service tea cabin with toilet facilities for visitors.

Sandown

Free Landing
Valid 15 July to 14 August 2018
01983 716926 | EGHN | www.eghn.org.uk
Sandown Airport is on the Isle of Wight, Nearby attractions The beautiful

SANDOWN
a mile from the town itself, and is operated Sandown Bay and town are very
by its owners, Sandown Airfield Ltd. near, with their golf course, pier
The Air/Ground radio frequency has a and sandy beaches.
radius of 10nm and a max altitude of PPR 01983 716926
3,000ft. If the station isn’t manned, Radio 119.275
please make blind calls on that frequency.
For PPR, contact the cafe on 01983 716926
or Dan on 07900 894044. A

Walton Wood

Free Landing
Valid 15 July to 14 August 2018
01977 620631 | www.amltd.co.uk

WALTON WOOD
Walton Wood Airfield, operated by Aero Nearby attractions include the
Maintenance Ltd, is probably one of the UK’s market town of Bawtry, Yorkshire
best-situated private fields. Competitively- Wildlife Park and Doncaster
priced Jet A1 and avgas 100LL available. PPR Racecourse, the home of the St Leger.
required for all visitors and you can have either PPR 01977 620631
a ‘Splash ’n Dash’, rotors-running visit or shut Radio 129.700
down and relax in our lounge while we do the
rest. Limited hangarage available on request.
There’s a choice of local hotels – details on the A

website. Note: This offer is for helicopters only.

1 Beverley

Win!
2 City Airport, Barton
Here’s the chance to win a 3 Fishburn
Pooleys UK Flight Guide 4 Holmbeck
5 Sandown
6 Walton Wood
QUESTION: What’s the distance from Fishburn Airfield 3
1
to Sandown Airport, in nautical miles? 2 6
To enter, post your answer, name, address and email to
Pooleys Summer Competition, FLYER, 9 Riverside Court, 4
Lower Bristol Road, Bath BA2 3DZ, or send an email to
competitions@seager.aero The closing date is 14 July 2018. 5
The winner for June 2018 is Colin Burns from Warrington.

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 73
3 issues
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 MARKETPLACE
Shares for sale & group flying Aircraft for sale Helicopters for sale Aircraft for hire Aircraft wanted Land for sale

1941 J3 Piper Cub Ireland Supermarine Spitfire 90% Scale Bristell NG5 (2016) PA30B, 1966

J3 Piper Cub 40,000 Sterling
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Contact Adrian 00353834553003
Email: Adrianecorcoran@gmail.com
Hangared at Enstone Oxon. 0ne twelfth
share in a great friendly and very competent
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hour, 150 knts cruise so about £50 an hour
no fuel. Tail wheel experience needed.
Contact A Taylor 07855524266 or
allisont17@gmail.com to view. No time
wasters please. £30k. She’s ‘ a delight to fly’.
As featured in the May edition of Flyer.
I am offering my beautiful Bristell NG5 with
new LAA permit. 80 hoursTTSN
Full Garmin avionics with Dual G3X Touch
screens, Mode S Transponder, autopilot and
back up battery. 125kt cruise and superb
aircraft to fly. Always hangered.
Price reduced to £85,000 for quick sale
Contact Alvin Rich 07973 452682
Alvin@reallondonproperties.com
PA30B, 1966, TTAF 4660, TTSMOH L&R
engines 410, props 440. Paint/Interior 7/10.
Tip Tanks, well maintained, Gami Injectors,
Many options. EDM760, Shadin F/flow.
Garmin 430, SL40, GI-106B. Bargain at
£29,500. PX possible.  
Bill Allen: 07779 505707
billallensworld@gmail.com

Robin DR 400/140B 160HP Bristell NG5, Kemble. Speedwing £9,950

One third share in small friendly group based
at Fenland Airfield Nr Spalding, Lincs.
Robin DR 400/140B 160HP Engine hours
since complete overhall about 450hrs
Re-covered in 2005
Total airframe hours 3710hrs
Costs: £9,500 plus £150/month – covers
insurance, hanger and annual (just)
No charge for flying, but pilot covers fuel Bristell NG5, Kemble. 1/5 share £22,000. Avid Speedwing for sale. G-NANO. Possibly
Rotax 912iS, electric VP, dual Garmin G3XT, the newest Avid out there as built in 2012.
(100LL) Mode S, Garmin autopilot, Powerflarm Easy folding wings for storage or transport.
traffic. 110Kt cruise @17.5 L/hr. £40/hour Only 15 hours from new. Rotax 582 and
£122/month. Google “AFORS 39562”. ground adjustable prop. Permit to Jan 2019
Comprehensive spares package available
separately. (or if you need any avid spares,
Please contact David for further information: For further details please contact: please also get in touch)
David Peralta: 07921246172 Contact Glenn: 07801 639489
07747698468 david@theduffins.org.uk david.peralta@siemens.com. or 07960 873827

11AC £13500 Tobago TB20t Supermarine Spitfire Mk26 80% Scale Replica For Sale: Sportcruiser (2010).

Aeronca 11AC Chief
one owner and 308 hours on airframe since
total rebuild. Always hangared, A65 engine
315 hours since top overhaul. 85 hours since
new slick mags fitted.
Permit to September 2018. Based in Wiltshire.
£15000 or near offer.
Please contact John: 07590 496627
figment161@gmail.com
⅛ share in a Beautiful Tobago TB20
Aircraft £7,500 (no vat).
Engine TT 1050 Hrs, Airframe 5200 Hrs
Superb IFR Avionics including GNS430
and Century 21 autopilot
Hangered at Shoreham Airport
Friendly group with excellent availability -
£120 per month, £60 per hour dry.
Contact Stuart on 07590196372 or
stuartrturner@me.com
Supermarine Spitfire Mk26 80% Scale
Replica, 2 Seats. 30 hours from new. Fitted
with a Jabiru 8 cylinder engine. MT 3 blade
constant speed prop. Bendix King KY97A
TSO Radio. Garmin GTX320A Transponder.
Skyforce GPS. Superb aircraft to fly.
Contact Paul Fowler, current Spitfire agent
for demo 01608678204
skipper@enstoneflyingclub.co.uk
G-HAYY. Factory-built aircraft. EASA Permit
until September 2018. Blue exterior with
grey leather. Standard analogue instruments
display, GARMIN 496 GPS, mode S,
8.33 radio, BRS, ELT. Hours since new 458.
Kemble.
£48500
Please contact:
Brian Hay on 07968 753495
Peter Satchwell on 07768 600540

Groundschool Robin DR400 Major 160hp

Hangared at Peterborough Sibson Sporty 4 seat tourer

Lovingly cared for in friendly group seeking 4th member.
Flies perfectly Major engine overhaul Nov 2012.
Avionics overhaul June 2017. VOR, ADF, Narco Area Nav
£8,500 for qtr share £140/month
£70/hr wet
Contact:
Hamish: 07977 505583
Mike: 077117 20700

76 | FLYER | Summer 2018

 Advertising Sales Crew
Simon Moss: simon.moss@seager.aero Zoe Yeo: zoe.yeo@seager.aero Debbie Wylde: debbie.wylde@seager.aero
FLYER Advertising Department, 9 Riverside Court, Lower Bristol Road, Bath BA2 3DZ
Tel: 01225 481440 | www.flyer.co.uk

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Registration

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Talk to the professionals and register your aircraft on
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We offer a professional, friendly and individually tailored service to both business and private clients to suit your specific requirements & budget

2007 Seneca V Avidyne EFIS 8.33, Mode S, Traffic 1981 Beech BE76 Duchess Very well equipped 2007 Cessna T182T Turbo Skylane G1000 equipped 1978 Arrow III (the non-Turbo variant)
GBP£495,000 No VAT GBP£79,950 Plus VAT GBP£266,000 No VAT (EUR€299,950 equivalent) £49,500 No VAT
1982 Beech BE58 Baron Based in Kenya USD$180,000 1983 Piper Archer II Based in The Netherlands EUR€49,950 + VAT
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

Summer 2018 | FLYER | 77
 MARKETPLACE
For more information on getting the best from your flight training see our website www.flyer.co.uk

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78 | FLYER | Summer 2018

 Advertising Sales Crew
Simon Moss: simon.moss@seager.aero Zoe Yeo: zoe.yeo@seager.aero Debbie Wylde: debbie.wylde@seager.aero
FLYER Advertising Department, 9 Riverside Court, Lower Bristol Road, Bath BA2 3DZ
Tel: 01225 481440 | www.flyer.co.uk

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Summer 2018 | FLYER | 79
 MARKETPLACE
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BGC.FlyerAdd.AeroEx.196.5x50mm.qsd_Flyer Add 95x50mm 01/05/2018 17:17 Page 1

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80 | FLYER | Summer 2018
FLYER 60mm x 40mm classified_18.indd 1 2/26/18 11:30 AM
 Advertising
Advertising Sales
Sales Crew
Crew
Simon
Simon Moss: simon.moss@seager.aero Zoe Yeo: Moss: simon.moss@seager.aero
zoe.yeo@seager.aero Debbie Wylde:Zoe Yeo: zoe.yeo@seager.aero
debbie.wylde@seager.aero
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Summer 2018 | FLYER | 81
 QSY For the funny, the weird, the wonderful and the just plane strange…
Richard Browning, Britain’s real-life Iron Man, set
to fly at the Farnborough International Airshow
W
iltshire-
based
Richard
Browning
and his
‘Iron Man’ jet suit have come
a long way from the lopsided
take-offs and painful tumbles
of just two years ago.
This July will see Richard
give a flypast at the Farnborough
International Airshow, one of
the world’s top aerospace events,
wearing his latest self-designed
Gravity Jet Suit, which is said to
have cost £250k to develop.
Richard calls his suit
Daedalus and describes it as a
mini-Harrier aircraft, with four
small jet engines mounted to
each arm and behind his back.
The suit can produce 144kg of
thrust to achieve vertical take-off
and flight. Using his body as the
airframe, Richard’s arms control
speed, thrust and direction.
The former City of London
oil trader, entrepreneur and
Royal Marine Reservist founded
Gravity Industries in April 2017.
Since then, the company has
grown rapidly as Richard’s
refined the jet suit, which has
now reached the point where
it has commercial potential,
HERO Sacha
Dench (left)
has been
awarded
The
Britannia
Trophy by
the Royal
Aero Club
for her three-
month Flight of the
Swans expedition, from the
Russian Arctic to the UK. The
award is given for the most
meritorious flight during
the previous year. Sacha
flew 7,000km by paramotor,
in all weathers and often at
Send your QSY submissions to QSY, 9 Riverside Court, Lower Bristol Road, Bath BA2 3DZ or email qsy@seager.aero
82 | FLYER | Summer 2018
particularly among military
and special forces types.
Last November, Richard
set a Guinness World Record
for the fastest speed achieved
Heroes & villains
low level, to follow the migration
of Berwick swans.
VILLAIN John Bruce was
jailed for 26 months in May,
following the illegal dumping
and burning of 26,000 cubic
metres of hazardous materials
at Throckmorton Airfield,
Worcestershire. The airfield,
formerly RAF Pershore,
isn’t open to pilots but,
until recently, hosted
the Throckmorton
Airshow.
HERO Warrant
Officer Jenny
Olivant (right),
who finished her
Main Richard flying his
Daedalus jet suit
Inset Blimey, he looks normal!
in a body-controlled, jet
engine-powered suit.
Watch a video of his
record-setting flight at
www.tinyurl.com/IronManRecord
35-year RAF career in May with
a sponsored WingWalk in a
Breitling Stearman, which raised
more than £2,100 for Aerobility.
VILLAIN Televangelist Jess
Duplantis believes that if Jesus
were to descend from heaven
and set foot on 21st-century
Earth, he’d pass on the donkey.
Instead, “He’d be on an
aeroplane preaching the
Gospel all over the
world.” That’s why
Jesse is asking his
followers for $54m
to buy a Dassault
Falcon 7X, his
fourth private jet.
Inside a pilot’s mind…
What goes through a pilot’s
mind when they’re flying?
Anything? And is it printable?
A study being conducted
by universities in Drexel,
Pennsylvania, USA, and
Toulouse, France, is using
wireless headbands to scan
pilots’ brains while they’re
flying, to measure the oxygen
level changes in different areas
and indicate which parts are
working harder.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, pilots
who are flying for real show a lot
more activity than when they’re
on a simulator, particularly
when mistakes are made. One
possible use of this research is
to help identify when a pilot is
overloaded and may require a
rest. The study is also looking
at why pilots sometimes ignore
alarms, such as ‘gear up’, and
go on to make a landing.
Warbird wallets
Swiss company Boschung
Global and FlyingGroup has
launched a warbird investment
project, reasoning that “the
market is a very healthy one and
expanding at a promising rate”.
In addition to the fun of
owning such a beast, Boschung
points out that an excellent
future profit can be made.
www.boschungglobal.com/
aviation.html
That Worst Day
answers (from p70)
1 What caused the yaw when
X added power?
One engine had failed, but
X hadn’t noticed at the very
low power setting.
2 Why did one engine fail?
X neglected to switch back
to his main tanks for landing
and ran the auxiliaries dry.
3 What’s the red line?
VMC, the speed at which it’s
possible to maintain control
with one engine on full
power and one inoperable.
 IF IT’S GETTING SERIOUS,
IT’S TIME YOU MET THE FAMILY.

Seriously, we know you have history with your current aircraft. Maybe a lot of “firsts,” but you’ve outgrown that
relationship. You deserve a cabin class pressurized aircraft with seating for six. Great range. Retractable gear.
Garmin flight deck. Between the piston M350 and turboprop M500 and M600, you’ll find your perfect match in the
Piper M-Class family. Let us help you with your next set of “firsts.” Contact your Piper partner for a demo,
or experience The Freedom of Flight™ at piper.com.

piper.com
M-CLASS : M350 | M500 | M600 1.772.299.2403
FREEDOM OF FLIGHT