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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1511.PDF
26 October 1956 667 Superb visibility, excellent handling, simplicity and all- round utility are fea- tures of the E.P.9. trimmed attitudeand started a second very faint oscilla-tion. Such a shallow oscillation was mostpleasing since the cloud base was bythen down to 500ft. I tried throttlingback firmly. The nose fell if not res-trained; and when I held it up theforce increased smoothly andgently and the speed fell backslowly. Conversely, when I opened thethrottle to full power, there wasno immediate change of trim, andthe nose had to be held down only inrelation to the in- crease in speed, asopposed to increase in power. In eithercase the final stick forces were most pleasantly light. The trim control was in bothcases very effective and positive in relieving what forces there were.From this series of tests I opened up to full power and let the speed build up. It was still increasing smartly at 125 m.p.h.I.A.S., but the feel of the aircraft was virtually unchanged and the stick forces were almost the same. The total trim changebetween 95 m.p.h. and 125 m.p.h. did not require immediate trimming and could be held perfectly comfortably. The visibilitywas now down to about three quarters of a mile and it had started to rain a little so I soon slowed down as I did not knowthe area and could not afford even momentarily to lose sight of the stream which was my only landmark. For navigation theE.P.9 carries an E.2A compass. I went through the full cycle of flap extension and retraction.Application of 10 deg gave a slight nose-up trim change. When this was increased to 30 deg, the nose came firmly up, but thefinal setting caused no further trim change at all—a most useful feature for short final approaches in bad weather when a trimchange close to touch-down can be annoying. I found sufficient trim range available to cope with all settings. At 500ft, as it now was, the ceiling was obviously too low tocontemplate stalling trials; but at 700ft during our flight together, Mr. Perciyal had shown me a gentle stall. The nose had notdropped violently, nor had a wing gone down. With two people up and the ballast load, the speed had been about 35 to 40 m.p.h.The stall was heralded by gentle buffeting. My first circuit for landing I made at 400ft, staying just outsidethe airfield boundary on the downwind leg. I applied 30 deg of flap, trimmed, and picked out a clump of trees as my final turningpoint, since the airfield was out of sight when I got to the end of the downwind leg. On base leg I lowered full flap andthrottled gently back. The rate of descent increased smoothly as the throttle was closed and I headed in for the touchdown.Since the engine is mounted so unusually far below eye-level I got the impression that I was aiming for the beginning of therunway. I was rather annoyed then to glide into the middle of the field without touching down and have to go round again. ThisI did, being once again greatly impressed by the E.P.9's excellent behaviour during large variations in power. The very low nose gives the impression of a steep approachwhen the actual rate of descent is not excessive. Side-slipping is very effective, but the usual straight-in approach is not morethan normally steep. I was somewhat hampered by weather now. The visibility in the air was down to little over half amile in slight rain, and the cloud base was right down to 400ft. I made another circuit, picking a turning-in point slightly furtherout, and arrived on three points with lots of elevator control in hand on the edge of the field. The approach speed was justunder 60 m.p.h., though about 50 m.p.h. apparently gives a "Flight" photograph slightly higher rate of descent. The undercarriage absorbs shocksextremely well, though one can feel that the suspension is bungy and not hydraulic. At maximum weight it is reported to beextremely effective. The stick does not have to be held hard against the stomach. In fact, at no point did I find any partof me getting in the way of a stick movement. I took off again since I wanted to confirm my opinion of thecircuit. But the weather conditions were by then so unfavour- able, that I made haste to get back on to the ground and starteda final bad weather circuit. I could just see the airfield from the base leg and, had the E.P.9's windscreen not afforded suchexcellent visibility, I should have had much more trouble than I in fact did. Rain had partly obscured the central portion of it,but the deeply curved sides extending well below the pilot's knee level, were completely clear. The landing was again mostpleasant and simple. My main impression of the E.P.9 is that it has classic handlingqualities. It is absolutely straightforward to fly and not in the least tiring. Its cruising speed is creditable and useful, and_ yetits behaviour at the lowest speeds leaves nothing to be desired. It is very simole, having no systems worth worrying about. Isuggested to Mr. Percival that, to make ground handling as com- fortable as flying, some form of tailwheel steering might be anadvantage, but it is not necessary. I was, and still am, most grateful for the E.P.9's excellent qualities in view of the weatherat the time of my flight. Principal data for the E.P.9, with normal category figures in brackets, are: span, 43ft Sen; length, 29ft 6in; height, 8ft 9in; gross weight, 4.140 1b (3.5501b); empty weight, 1,9501b (1,9501b); useful load, 2,1901b (1,6001b); top speed, full power, 144 m.p.h. (146 m.p.h.); cruising speed, 126 m.p.h. (128 m.p.h.); rate of climb, 800ft/min (1,120ft/min): take-off in 5 m.p.h. wind. 175 yd (105 yd); landing speed, light, 37 m.p.h. Wing loading, at 3,550 Ib, is 15.6 Ib. SWISS EQUIPMENT 'THE second prototype of Switzerland's F.F.A. P-16 (nowA designated P-16-02) has been flying since May this year and achieved supersonic flight in a shallow dive on its seventeenthflight. Mid-1957 should see the delivery of four more P-16s with a more powerful turbojet than the present model of ArmstrongSiddeley Sapphire. The P-16 is a single-seat fighter/bomber with exceptionally good take-off and landing characteristics,designed specifically for operation from Swiss terrain. Present strength of the Swiss Air Force is 175 Vampire F.B.6s(75 British-built, 100 constructed in Switzerland with British Goblins), and 250 Venom F.B.ls and F.B.4s, all built in Switzer-land. The Ghosts for the Venoms are also Swiss-built, and deliveries are still in progress. Mustangs and the Morane-UkeD-3801s are now used for training.
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