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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0967.PDF
113 Aviation Traders, Ltd., have bought 150 Prentices from the Ministry of Supply and are converting them at Southend to four-seat private aircraft. The first machine so treated is now undergoing certification trials for a normal category C. of A. It is finished in ivory and black. PRENTICES for TOURING A Civil Conversion by Aviation Traders, Ltd. A VISIT to bustling Southend Municipal airport recently•**• showed just what can be done to make a military trainer into a useful, cheap and comfortable civil aircraft. Flight's repre-sentative spent a pleasant 40 minutes flying the first civilian example of the 150-odd Prentices which Aviation Traders, Ltd.,are preparing to convert into four-seater club aircraft. Already, almost the whole batch has been ferried down fromHigh Ercall to Southend and Stanated, and the process of obtain- ing a full normal C. of A. is under way. The machine flown,G-AOKT, has been inspected and repainted in pleasant civil livery of ivory with black trim and has a three months' permitto fly for test purposes, but is otherwise hardly altered from military standard. A further machine is in the Aviation Tradersworkshops being extensively modified to the final civil configuration. Some details of layout still remain to be settled and A.R.B. areasking for several small modifications so that the aircraft shall meet the 1952 B.C.A.Rs. These last require some modificationsto the fire-wall arrangement, the provision of a water drain in the lowest part of the fuel system, a method of inspecting the oil tanklevel and the moving of fuse boxes to a point within reach of the pilot in flight. Aviation Traders' own alterations are designed to make thePrentice a really capacious and comfortable four-seater. When military equipment and crash pylon are removed there is plentyof room in the rear part of the cabin for a really comfortable two- place bench seat. The port throttle and flap lever quadrant areto be removed, leaving the more convenient central pedestal con- trol; the canopy is being radically altered to include a "swing-up"lid running the whole length of each side of the cabin; the brake trigger on the spade grip of the stick is being altered to allow left-handed operation with the thumb, while simultaneously using the radio transmitting switch, leaving the right hand free towork the central throttle; and the turned-up wing-tips, of doubtful effectiveness, are being replaced by plain tip fairings, accom-modating navigation lights. The standard two-stage amber screens, as integrally fitted to the military machine, could beretained if the aircraft were required for instrument training. Normally these are removed, though the tinted canopy panels areretained and prove helpful in eliminating sun-glar* Major advantages of the Prentice as a civil aircraft are that itis all-metal and can be parked in the open; it has a constant-speed airscrew and a cabin hot air supply; complete engine instru-ments give really thorough indication of engine behaviour; there is plenty of room for four people or a considerable load withone pilot; the cruising speed, at 105kt, is very useful; the endur- ance is 2.5 hours and a ventral tank giving an extra hour maybe offered. Having been designed as a military basic trainer, the Prentice is easy and docile to fly and visibility from the cockpitis excellent. Take-off, landing and taxying are absolutely straight- forward, notwithstanding the fairly high-powered engine. Emptyand maximum weights are respectively 3,200 lb and 4,200 lb. The Prentice was never noted for sprightliness of performance duringits Service life, but its limousine-like qualities render it a very useful machine for cross-country flying. As a civil aircraftit will not be classed as aerobatic unless a customer specifically requests it. Among the Prentice spares also taken over by Aviation Tradersare a number of engines which would be available for replace- ment purposes. Methods of preparing engines for civil use arenow being worked out. The first completely modified aircraft should be completed in the near future and certification trials canthen go ahead. The price of civil Prentices has not yet been finalized, but it is hoped to fix it in the region of £1,000. Before and after. Some of the ready-to-be-converted Prentices ([eft) awaiting their "beauty-treatment" and (right) the first partly modified aircraft in its handsome new livery, "Flight" photographs
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