LAA Highland and Islands Strut September 2010 Newsletter

Transcription

1 LAA Highland and Islands Strut September 2010 Newsletter Please anything for the November Newsletter to: The next Strut meeting is in HAC. At on Friday 24 September The 2010 membership form is attached. Please complete and return to the treasurer. 1. Information. 2. From the Chair Alan Reedie. 3. Dornoch Acknowledgements Dornoch Arrivals and Prizes Mel Mackenzie 5. Sywell Mel Mackenzie 6. EAA Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-in George Mair

2 Information The pilot of the Remos C3 who flew into Sollas, and took the photos of the beach which appeared in the July Newsletter was Chris Garrod. The aircraft is a German registered microlight. John Macleod has been asked by Ken Mitchell, who lives on Lewis and collects Military equipment, if he could help him to find a few things. Some of the Aviation related things which he is looking for to complete a Manikin are: RAF brown leather gauntlets 1940s s RAF Flying Boots 1940s - 50s RAF yellow life preserver, Mae West waistcoat type with or without rubber bladder 40s -50s Parachute harness and pack (does not need to contain parachute) Back pack, underseat, or clip on front type, 1940s s Brown leather flying helmet, goggles, oxy mask, 1940s all any condition. Ken Mitchell Gravir, Isle of Lewis or John Macleod From the Chair Alan Reedie With autumn upon us it s hard to believe that Whisky Foxtrot group have spent a whole summer (such as it was) on top overhaul.our inexperience in the pitfalls of self maintenance certainly showed up. But it s an ill wind that doesn t blow some good. I feel we are now the better for all the various engineering problems we had and are much more aware of the kind of things that can go wrong and how to diagnose them. On behalf of the group I would like to say thank you to John, our LAA Inspector, who gave us help and advice on all the technical details needed for a top overhaul and to all the Strut members who gave both advice and help with our engineering problems. Thanks also to Nigel and Bill who knew of the trials we were going through and gave us hands on help, also to Danny at Highland Aviation for use of the car park and his tools during that long summer. The problems we experienced became very frustrating at times and it was the help and advice of Strut members who tempered that frustration and kept us going. The Dornoch Fly-In this year was very good with quite a number of aircraft, though mostly local. Once again the ladies deserve a big thank you for all their good work in looking after the catering. The weather was much the same both days, sunshine and showers, with a bit of wind thrown in, so any flying was kept pretty local. Never the less quite a bit of flying was done. I had thought about going to the LAA fly-in at Sywell, but as Whisky Foxtrot still wasn t ready I didn t go. Nigel, Alistair, Mel and Billy went in their respective aircraft. I haven t heard in detail how they got on, but first reports seem to indicate it was a good weekend. No doubt they will fill us in on the details at the meeting on Friday night. Did anyone go to the BLAS Festival? I don t have the Gaelic, so I gave it a miss! As you all no doubt know, our editor George is in America flying around Colorado and beyond, the lucky blighter! George is never one to neglect his duties no matter how good a time he s having, I ve had a number of s from Grand Junction reminding me to have my newsletter contribution ready in good time as all the info has to be sent back and forth across the pond before it can be printed. So, with that in mind, I will close now and get this off to our editor in Grand Junction. See you all Friday night. Allan.

3 Thanks to ALL who did the catering at the Dornoch Fly-in And thanks to all who contributed to the Fly-in.

4 LAA Highland and Islands Strut Dornoch Fly-in July 31 August Arrivals The first arrivals at Dornoch were Allan & Linda Craig, this year with their caravan. For many years they flew up from Glasgow in all kinds of weather.

5 Prize List Dornoch Fly-in 2010 Among those receiving a Cockburn s World Champion Haggis, were Jim & Angus Anderson For braving the elements from their strip at Hatton Thomson Wilson & Mike Cowe Who had to file a flight plan to get out of Aberdeen in their C172 Richard Arkle/Ian Donnelly Weekend s widest wingspan 18 metres - Grob Allan & Linda Craig From Prestwick by Camper, and for determination. Klaas Koster & Marnix Vermaas Best landing of the weekend in an N reg a/c. Ross Blackhall&Richard Sutherland Shortest flights. (from Tain Flying Club) Jim McTaggart Outstanding effort to come from N.Berwick by Cub in atrocious weather May & Ken Fenwick For persistent attendance Ian Grant For dedication and skill at the barbecue Tommy Sinclair Best homebuilt, and for bringing two different aircraft on two different days, both of which he had built Dave Palmer For making the 350-mile round trip from his strip near Fetterangus, by road in his Isuzu

6 LAA Rally at Sywell, 3 rd -5 th Sept 2010 Mel Mackenzie Four Highland and Islands Strut aeroplanes managed to make the trip to Northampton in time for the 2010 LAA rally. Nigel Campbell in RV4 G-INTS was first on the scene, later joined by Mel Mackenzie and Billy Grant in the Cub G-BKET, Alister Sutherland in his FRED, G-ORAS, and finally Paul Gibbs in the Nipper G-NIPR. All arrived on Thursday afternoon, thanks to the glorious weather over the whole country, and were able to park and camp together. It s much better to be early, and avoid the potential melee on the official days. The Cub positioned to Fearn on Wednesday afternoon so that it could be loaded with all the requirements of the two occupants, 2 tents, 3 sleeping bags, 2 spare batteries, spare radio, tools, tie-downs, suitcase, provisions, kilts plural, lifejackets, several assorted {up to date) maps, rulers and flight guide. A trifle concerned by the Cof G, the pilot arranged for the front seat to be moved closer towards its forward stop, and for some padding to be placed on the rear seat-back, to make a small concession to the amount of trim required. With a good forecast, straight out from Fearn on Thursday just after 8am, via Findhorn and Aboyne, where it got very murky down as far as Leuchars, and landed at Fife an hour and three quarters later. Refuelled, cup of tea and a 15 landing fee!, and off again at 11 via Berwick Law and down the coast avoiding any controlled airspace, until Teeside (now called Durham since I was last there) and eventually latched onto the A19 and into Bagby, after 1hr50. Lovely grass airstrip, no landing fee with fuel uplift, more tea and a roll, and a call to Topcliffe to negotiate tracking down the straight railway into York, taking us through all the MATZ, to which they said Ok. No sooner airborne and established on track, literally, than they told us to get off and keep well to the East. We did so, now lost, and nearly got swiped by a Tucano making lots of knots. Near Elvington there is a massive field, given over to the York Maze, and this year being the Battle of Britain anniversary, it s in the shape of a Spitfire, very impressive. In a corner of the airfield itself, we noticed a Comet, a Victor bomber, a Dakota, and a Gloster Javelin. Managed to find the entrance to the River Trent, what a wonderful navaid, and followed it to Newark and could see on our track, miles ahead, the Melton Mowbray mast, must surely be one of the biggest structures in the country, 1050ft tall reaching to 1500ft asl, and from there it was railway again past Rutland water, through Corby, Kettering, and Sywell was dead ahead. The controllers were so relaxed, no fuss, taking everything in their stride, including a

7 last minute offer to use the grass runway. Half past four, job done, re-fuelled, tents up shortly after, and later a short walk to the Horseshoe pub in the village for sustenance. Dave Faulkner-Bryant pitched up and camped in his shooting-brake, all the way from Skye, and regaled us the week-end long with tales of derring-do and past endeavours. And don t think he s given up on his flying and building ambitions, I personally saw him part with money (an event in itself) for two tins of glue, and a long considered project, he assures us, will shortly be taking shape at Ardmore. And the week-end was not without success. At the prizegiving on Saturday night, Alister came away with not one, but TWO awards. One for meritorious flight, in getting the FRED to the Rally from the far reaches of Fearn, and another for the best plans-built aircraft! As an example to anyone who thinks that building an aircraft is a matter of sending wads of dollars to a kit supplier, it is surely one of the purest forms of the PFA s original tenets, of building and flying for fun, and as cheaply as possible, to purchase a set of plans, and acquire and assemble the necessary materials and skills. In Alister s case, the standard of work surely caught the judges eye, and for all the right reasons, the award is rightly his, I know he s as proud as punch, and why not? What does FRED stand for? I ve heard more than a few explanations, but I m told the designer Eric Clutton s idea was for a Fun Runabout Experimental Design. Alister was presented with his awards by Steve Noujaim, who himself had made a meritous flight, by beating the London-Capetown-London record in an RV7, in a little over 3 days, 10 hours. He finished his epic on Friday and brought his machine to the Rally next day. As for the return trip, for the Cub it was almost a reversal of the downward leg, except we called in at Breighton for fuel this time, again no landing fee, but Fife still hammered us again for the half hour on the ground getting fuel. We left Sywell on Sunday morning, as the weather didn t look too good for the next day, and good job too, as having parked overnight at Fearn, it was impossible to get out again until Thursday due to the gale-force winds. Time in the air from Fearn was 6hrs 10 down, from 8am to 4.30pm, 5hrs exactly on the way back, from 9.15 to And all at just over 4galls/hr and most of it non-radio, in fact, if I d wanted, the whole trip could have been done non-radio, even the stops, and all without ever entering any controlled airspace. It is still possible, without a transponder, without a GPS, and without speaking, except a few phone calls. The controller at Humberside asked us if we had a transponder, and I was obliged to tell him that as the aeroplane was built in 1952, and the pilot in 1945, we didn t understand all that modern stuff, to which he replied How nice to speak to a proper aeroplane!

8 I have to admit though, that my navigation skills were being monitored all the way by my buddy Billy in the back with his GPS! The FRED had to make more fuel stops than the rest of us on the way back, and the sightseeing tour that Alister took, made his return journey just a day or two longer! Old acquaintances rekindled, new friendships made, a chance to see and talk to our Association s movers and shakers, Nigel realizing that he could find his way beyond the Scottish border, and was able to master the modified seine knot at rib-stitching class, all-youcould-eat breakfasts in the motel for 6 quid a skull. The charming (but short, her words) lady who won a prize for her J3 Cub, allowing me to rummage through her case of undergarments, so that I could verify the two rolls of lead flashings she carried in the back seat as ballast, to allow her to fly solo from the front, and therefore see out! Gibbsy coming alongside us in the Nipper at Dalwhinnie on the way home, and then the Cub being asked to climb to 4000ft over Inverness to avoid a going-around Easyjet, man, I got dizzy up there! About 800 aeroplanes had been counted in by Saturday night, many homebuilts, some of the workmanship of the very highest standards, a joy to see. In the control office at Sywell there is a notice which states Anyone found wearing a yellow hi-viz jacket on this airfield, will be subject to an on-the-spot fine of 20. Because none of us had the brains to take a camera, all the photos at Sywell are courtesy of Nigel Hitchman, who until recently compiled the Project News section of the LAA mag, has a Cub and an RV6, pilot, engineer, PFA man through and through, and a photographer of renown.

9 Colorado Sport International Air Show & EAA Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-in Tickets were available online, cutting out the queues, but I had no printer to print them out. In fact, although there was a huge crowd, the only queues were for those paying by card. Several ticket sellers, well away from the gate, were taking cash. The organisation was impressive.. The airshow and the warbirds present were well worth the $20 day entry, which included free parking,a, program, a concert after the displays ended, and an after dark air show. Access to the aircraft was excellent. There were also a number of forums available.

10 Crowd control was provided by the Civil Air Patrol, most of them Cadets, although a lady Deputy Sheriff was cycling around, if needed. Camouflage uniforms appeared to be an acceptable alternative to Hi-Vis vests. I went to the Saturday only of this event. I thought that most fly-in pilots would be there by late Saturday. However I was disappointed in the number of fly-in planes, and especially homebuilts, considering the population of the area, and the good weather. There were no more than Dornoch attracts in reasonable weather. There were also fewer Aviation Trade stands than I had expected, although there were several Light Sport manufacturers, including Piper and Cessna. Some Light Sport instrument panels are shown below.

11 A surprise was a march past by the Colorado Scottish Military Society, whose members are Scots who have served in the U.S.Forces