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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1851.PDF
974 FLIGHT The Otter, in cruis- ing flight, is very pleasant to handle and gets along at a comfortable 130 m.p.h. plus. Such features as double slotted flaps and ailerons, large doors and hefty undercarriage mark the Otter as a bush flyer. TRYING OUT THE D.H.C. OTTER . . . I climbed into the Otter at Hatfield with Derek Taylor, D.H.test pilot, after flying as passenger in the starboard seat. Although the control column is centrally mounted and can, at any time, beswung over to port or starboard for either pilot, there are no rudder pedals and no seat adjustment to starboard, and flap hand-pumplever, selector and trim wheel are all positioned for the first pilot. Throttle, pitch and mixture levers (with individual friction nuts)and engine instruments are mounted centrally; primer, carburettor- heat control, fresh air control, fuel and oil emergency shut-off,arc below them. A small knurled wheel at the base of the control column applies aileron bias by offsetting the neutral position of asmall bungee. An ashtray is mounted next to it. Electrical, fuel, fire-extinguishing and engine-starting controls are each groupedon separate panels conveniently distributed around the main instruments. Seat height and rudder pedals are adjustable, andcontrols come easily to hand. A three-position switch takes care of tailwheel control. Withthe switch central, the tailwheel is fully free. If it is pressed to the right, the wheel is locked fore and aft, and if pressed to theleft, an electric motor turns the tailwheel to a position equivalent to that of the rudder pedals. Thus, take-off and taxying in strongcross-winds benefit from a wide variety of means of control which, when used in combination, make light work of an often difficultprocess. Visibility over the nose is good, both on the ground and in theair, because the engine cowling is very short. The closeness of the engine to the cockpit, however, does result in a high cabinnoise level, though one fancies a bush flyer would not be exces- sively concerned thereby. In the air, with everything up and in, the Otter is very pleasantto fly. All controls are light and positive, and the stability charac- teristics excellent. The aircraft can really be left to drive itselfacross the sky at a comfortable 130 m.p.h. For take-off, we carried out the normal sequence of checks, and set the tailplane for theestimated e.g. which, in this instance (three people, about two- thirds fuel load and some ballast aft) was just forward of neutral.We pumped down what seemed to be an inordinate amount of flap and aileron droop. There are three indicated positions,"climb," "take-off" and "landing." I locked the tailwheel central, and applied power gently. At low altitudes, it is possible toexceed the permissible boost limit of 36.5in, and care must be taken in this respect; but the feature is deliberate, since it allowsthe attainment of maximum permissible boost on airfields con- siderably above sea level. When I applied power, the Otter rolled forward with a slighttendency to swing to port which could be easily held on the rudder. Very soon, the tail rose firmly, and almost immediately the aircraftcould be flown off to climb away steeply at 700 ft/min with, it appeared, the nose still pointing at the ground. While the tendencyis normally to pull the nose well up above the horizon, in the Otter it has to be held firmly down. This is the first evidenceof a pronounced nose-down attitude when flaps and ailerons are drooped. The climb away is otherwise normal; and, because of theattitude, the visibility is excellent. . Stick forces are light. I pumped the flaps up by stages, re-trimmed each rime and settledcomfortably into the cruise. The Otter is very smooth, both when being thrown about and when allowed to fly hands off. Iwas shown the stalls by Derek Taylor, and saw that they were com- pletely viceless. In fact, the main indication of the stall is thelighting up of the stall-warning indicator and a gentle mushing descent at about 500 ft/min. Neither wing nor nose appearedto drop. On the downwind leg flap can be lowered as soon as the speeddrops below 100 m.p.h. I had been warned of the attitude change which would result and, though the out-of-trim stick forcesremain quite reasonable, it is advisable to trim them out. As I pumped, the nose went lower on the horizon, and Still the stickhad to be pushed forward to maintain speed. By the time we reached finals, I was looking at the touch-down point throughthe top of the windscreen, with the result that the whole of the approach area was easily visible. Control was good; in fact,everything was normal except that the after end of die cabin floor seemed to be some way above the level of the pilot's head. Inthis attitude we began the round-out which, as can be imagined, was quite a considerable manoeuvre. It was, however, accom-plished very easily, and the judgment of height and attitude became perfectly normal as soon as the Otter reached an evenkeel. As the touch-down speed was reached, I held the control wheel right back against my stomach, and the Otter settled on tothe ground with a hardly perceptible bump. The undercarriage shock absorption is, in fact, superb, and the ground run, with orwithout brake, seems to be negligible. The whole landing process might sound somewhat fraught, butit is amusing rather than difficult. The considerable change of attitude can be accomplished during the float without any signof stalling or mushing and the aircraft appears to be completely happy. The landing speed is in any case so low that there isample time in which to ensure a three-point touch-down. One is tempted to do a "wheeler," but nothing is to be gained by it, andit could only lead to a time-wasting bounce. After one take-off and landing, I wanted nothing more than a quiet hour of circuitsand bumps in which to perfect the technique and to produce some of the ultra-short landings which those who know their Otteiinvariably make. O.M.C. Otter Leading Data.—Span, 58ft; length, 41ft 10in; height, 13ft; cabin size, 16ft by 5ft by 5ft, 345 cu ft; disposable load, 3,242 Ib; empty weight, 4,358 Ib; gross weight, 7,600 Ib; maximum speed at 5,000ft, 160 m.p.h.; cruising speed at 5,000ft, 139 m.p.h.; service ceiling, 19,000ft; stalling speed, 45 m.p.h.; take-off run, full load, no wind, 600ft; take-off run, full load, 20 m.p.h. wind, 360ft; landing run, 480ft; fuel capacity, 178 Imp. gal; maximum range at 5,000ft (no allowances), 1,068 miles; maximum endurance at 5,000ft 10.3 hr; payload for 200 miles still-air range, 2,550 Ib; dittg for 500 miles, 2,310 Ib.
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