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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1488.PDF
FLIGHT, 3 August 1951 137 LIFE OF A THOROUGHBRED . Handling Characteristics NO two types of aircraft are alike and the Mew Gull can claimto be more than usually different from the remainder by virtueof its specialized nature. In what is essentially a racing and record- breaking mount one must expect to forfeit all forms of luxury, soit is not surprising that the process of clambering from ground to where the seat would be if one were fitted, is a minor gymnasticfeat. Once within, sitting, on the floor, the pilot forms virtually an integral part of the machine and it is possible to wriggle intosome semblance of comfort before juggling with the full Sutton harness provided. The entire hood hinges on the starboard sideand clamps in position with two clips of the kind found on most luggage lockers. With the lid closed, a small ventilating panel canbe opened if required. Internal equipage is sensibly presented and comparatively easyto reach. Taking stock of the cockpit from the left, first comes the lever for the manually-operated flaps and this, with its four notches,is fully forward for the "up" position; centrally mounted on the floor is the fuel selector cock with settings for off, auxiliary andmain tanks, and on the right under the coaming is the pitch control, which operates in the reverse manner to accepted practice with"fine" at the back stop. This is clearly marked in red but other- wise would, undoubtedly, prove a trap for the unwary. The arrayof movable knobs and levers, apart from the throttle and mixture controls, which are in their customary places level with the top leftlongeron, is rounded off with an elevator trim wheel mounted on the extreme right. Instruments are few but presumably sufficient; the presentcollection consists of an airspeed indicator, sensitive altimeter, cross level, clock, rev. counter, oil pressure and boost gauges, anda very large compass. Several positions are blanked off, leaving spaces for such useful extras as a directional gyro and a turn andslip indicator. The Mew Gull was built around the engine and no space wasallocated to non-essential ancillaries; consequently there is no starter and it is necessary to swing the metal airscrew by hand,for which operation the throttle should be fully closed and the pitch fine. Warming and running-up follow normal practice, butchocks are needed because the brakes (about which more later) are rather ineffective. Oil pressure settles at the fairly high figure of50 lb/sq/in and remains there except for a slight "twitch" when pitch is changed. Taxying in confined spaces is difficult, and it is advisable to havesomeone at a wingtip until well into the open. In fact, Henshaw formed the habit of walking alongside the aircraft with the hoodopen and manually heaving to change direction. However, this practice holds no appeal and it has lately been found far morepleasant to sit within and perform a generous amount of nose- weaving from side to side until the take-off point is reached. Vital actions are of the normal TTMPFFH variety, the onlyones peculiar to the Mew being the trim, which should be slightly backward of neutral, and the management of the fuel. No con-tents gauges are fitted, but as the maximum all-up weight of 1,850 lb allows up to 42 gallons, if the full quantity is on board,there should be no cause for alarm on that score. A rather tired and tatty machine, but still retaining her pleasing outline, the Mew as flown home from Lyon-Bron airfield in France. A flight made by the author from White Waltham, earlier in theyear, will be described in order to give impressions of the Mew's handling qualities. After aligning into wind, the throttle wasopened with abandon, for there is no tendency to swing; as the air- screw clearance is cut within rather fine limits, it is advisable tohold the control column (which is of spade-grip design) neutral, rather than push it forward as is safe on most types. Without anyconscious effort from the pilot the aircraft then unsticks at about 85 m.p.h. I.A.S. The grass surface at White Waltham is hardlycomparable with a bowling green and this caused some minor bumping and pitching before the Mew came off clean. Using a strip of 1,200 yd into a wind of about 10 m.p.h. I hadreached the recommended climbing speed of 140 I.A.S. on crossing the boundary; as no constant speed unit is fitted, the r.p.m. wereon the increase and, at this point, were at the 2,400 mark; I there- fore let the machine climb at that speed and setting, giving about1,500ft per minute. It was necessary to trim almost fully back, due possibly to the quantity of petrol aboard, all of which is con-tained forward of the cockpit inside the fuselage. Certain aircraft, by their appearance, give the impression thattheir low speed and stalling characteristics might be vicious, so with this in mind I took 'EXF straight up to 3,500ft to find howMews behave in this respect. Throttling back at 150 m.p.h. and holding the nose above the horizon resulted in a long and tediouswait while the speed crawled off the clock almost mile by mile. However, at 100 m.p.h. with flaps up the controls became rathersloppy and at 85 indicated the nose fell away slowly, but firmly, with no inclination to drop a wing. It is interesting to note that5 m.p.h. or so before the stall an audible warning is given in the form of a whistling of air round the cockpit. It would be quiteinexcusable to find oneself accidentally stalling under any conditions. Normal cruising at 2,100 r.p.m. in coarse pitch results in anindicated speed of about 180 m.p.h., which is considerably lower For comparison with the photograph on the preceding page, the resurrected Mew, now No. 97, is depicted atllMpN|Pt/)ts year.
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