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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0080.PDF
68 JANUARY I6TH, 1947 CIVIL AVIATION NEWS making more than five hundred land-ings. At the end of that time one of the main undercarriage legs was sub-jected to performance tests and the figures, when compared with thosetaken on the unit when "new, differed by unlv o 37 p< r tent. The Bristol Way-larer a, lilted with J)owt\ liquid springs. MIXMASTER JUNIOR; The newDouglas five-seater Cloudster proto- type which has presumably beenproduced with the help of data pro- vided by experiments with the verymuch larger Mixmaster. The Cloudster is a twin-engined typein which the power is combined to drive a single c.s. airscrew in thetail. The tail " bumper " also pro- vides useful additional fin area in aplace where it is most needed. FROM THE CLUBS The Gloucester Flying Club, which is planned on entirelycommunal lines, has taken delivery of its first aircraft, and instruction has started under the C.F.I., Mr. J. Bennett, atdual and solo rates of £1 aa hour. Altogether, there are already fourteen "amateur" instructors available. A* newscries of ground instructional lessons were started o^j/January Mh. The secretary of the club is Mr. J. Spierling, 12, ArthurStreet, Gloucester. • • • A year's work at Marshalls' Flying School, Cambridge, hasproduced some quite phenomenal hourage figures, in spite of the somewhat long periods of non-flying weather. The dualand*solo flying actually done by club members has totalled 3,301 hours, a figure which has been shared between six TigerMoths, two Austers and two Proctors—and under the watchful eyes of six instructors. In addition, the School has put inmore than 1,100 hours of charter flying. Seventy-seven "A" licence flying tests were completed during the year. • * • To the layman, and possibly even to the_power pilot, theamount of time and effort expended by gliding club members seems wholly disproportionate to the flying time. Members ofihe Bristol Club, to the majority of whom the reforming of iho club has meant an introduction to a new experience, donot share this view. Since mid-September, 1946, when the absolute minimum of equipment arrived, there has beenflying every week-end (save one, when the launching vehicle's quota of pistons was reduced to three and a half) and no lack01 attenders. In the course of some twenty-five flying days, the Kirby Cadet has been launched more than five hundredand fifty times. Seven R.Ae.C. "A" certificates and two " 13s " have so far bet-n gained. The great majority of launchesduring 1946 hair iic-cn by "anto--tow," -for the adequate; reason tnat no other assistance was available. It ha? provedvery successful, however, and is to be continued for all primary work although a winch is now in use. On an airdrome suchas Lulsgate there is probably little to choose between the methods, for whereas car-launching undoubtedly saves sometime on each launch, it also seems to wear out the steel towing-cable at a perturbing rate. Besides the Cadet, the club possesses a Wilkinson Mark I—a "one-off" featherweightsailplane, grounded by glue deterioration but destined to end its days ground-sliding—and also a Grunau Baby IIB of which -...great things are expected in the coming year. This ex-enemy sailplane was purchased through the good^ 'offices of theB.G.A. Plans for 1947 are on a modest scale, the accent being on the building-up of the club and on the training programmerather than on any soaring camps or displays. It is believed ; that if effort is concentrated in this direction, the club will be ..more ready to take advantage of any form of encouragement or assistance which may be rendered to the movement in theNew Year. • • • 7 Since starting operations on June 7th last year, the Westor. .Aero Club has flown 570 hours, and at the end of the year twelve members had obtained their "A" licences. A1J, the ;members of the club are, in fact, flying members, siaf^e the ' clubhouse has not yet been reopened, but it is hope4- that theusual social amenities will be available in the early spring— when also the associated clubs at Plymouth (Roborough)and Exeter should be in action again. By arrangement with the A.B.A.C. the club has exchanged one of its Magisters fora Tiger Moth from the Lochleven Club. It is hoped that all the Straight-operated clubs will have four-seater cabin aircra41' javailable for hire during this year. * * * From a comparatively humble start at the beginning ofAugust last year, with one Auster available, the Covves Aero Club at Somerton has Ween considerably expanded. There arenow two Austers and two Proctor Vs, and two Motlt Minors should be delivered very shortly, with an AerovaVto followfor charter and joy-riding work. There are now Jfc members, and twenty of them are receiving instruction. Two privatelyowned aircraft axe maintained at Somerton as well as an Avro Cadet owned by Saunders-Roe. Full servicing facilities areavailable for visiting aircraft. The Cowes Aero Club plans to provide facilities to attract other club members as well asprivate owners during the summer, and a nominal subscription, in lieu of the first landing fee, will entitle any member of theR.Ae.C. to the enjoyment of all amenities.
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