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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0969.PDF
FLIGHT, 19 July 1957 68-69 On its first major public appearance, the four-seat Jackaroo (left) was flown in the Goodyear and King's Cup races. (Centre) Aresti's Jungmeister in a very low inverted fly-past. (Right) The C.F.S. Provost aerobatic team in typically immaculate box formation. Kendall SK-1, was scratched at the last moment because of an engine failure. During a three-hour session on Friday evening each competitor spent ten minutes in the air, five of them demonstrat- ing, and six pilots were chosen to go forward to the finals the next afternoon. The final winner was the Czech pilot V. Krysta, in an Akrobat, Leon Biancotto (Stampe SR-7), last year's winner, com- ing second. None of the six British pilots made the final. The aircraft were divided into two groups, with maximum weights above and below 3,858 lb. Actually, only the Spitfire Trainer, flown by Israeli H. Marom, was in the heavier category; and its pilot therefore automatically won the £50 prize for the best pre-final performance in this weight class. Each pilot could gain a total of 100 points, 25 each for scope, accuracy, artistry and posi- tioning, and originality. The six finalists won prizes respectively of £300, £250, £200, £150, £100 and £50, the winner also receiving the silver trophy and a replica, all by the generosity of the Lock- heed Hydraulic Brake Company. Each pilot had to include in his repertoire a slow roll from level flight, an inside loop and a half roll off an inside loop. He was allowed four minutes to position himself and green and white Very lights respectively marked the start and finish of each five-minute demonstration. If the pilot exceeded his time, showed bad airmanship, or came below 328ft, he lost marks. In the event, the timing went very well in both heats and no one exceeded his allowance, though some were caught in the middle of a final manoeuvre. The strong wind troubled most competitors. The judges' panel consisted of Maj. Oliver Stewart (chief judge), Capt. H. S. Broad, Lt-Cdr. Jeffrey Quill, S/L. C. K. Turner-Hughes, Geoffrey Tyson and A.Cdre. A. H. Wheeler—as good a gathering of pilots and connoisseurs as one could wish for. The competitors, in order of flying in the eliminating heat, were: — D. W. Phillips (Tiger Moth, U.K.), J. Ederer (Jungmeister, Germany),F. S. Symondson (Tiger Moth, U.K.), J. Blaha (Akrobat, entered by Czech Aero Club), A. Jannssens (Stampe SV-4, Royal Belgian AirForce), L. Biancotto (Stampe SR-7, France), P. J. Langstone (Tiger Moth, U.K.), H. Marom (Spitfire Trainer, Israel), K. Krenc (Akrobat,Czech Aero Club), Le Chevalier d'Orgeix (Stampe SV-4, France), C. Nepean Bishop (Tiger Moth, U.K.), V. Krysta (Akrobat, Czech AeroClub), C. Boddington (Tiger Moth, U.K.), M. Prikryl (Akrobat, Czech Aero Club), J. L. Aresti (Jungmeister, Spain), Maj. F. Liardon (Jung-meister, Switzerland) and D. M. Hartas (Tiger Moth, U.K.). The eliminating heat showed one thing clearly—namely, that the Tiger, even with the inverted carburetter and regardless of the pilot's skill, lacks the necessary urge and performance to compete with specially-built aerobatic machines like the Jungmeister and Akrobat. The Stampe, too, out-performs it very comfortably. The smallness of the Jungmeister, which makes it a superb aircraft for flick manoeuvres, admittedly detracts from its presentability. Both Ederer and Liardon put up very fine performances in this type, but Aresti was the only one to fly it in the finals. Jannssens was very good in his Stampe, but d'Orgeix flew his in the finals. On Friday evening Biancotto was so smooth in his Stampe SR-7 monoplane that we feared for him in the face of the whirling and roaring Czechs; but he sailed most gracefully into second place (he won last year) with a superb demonstration. The Czechs were obviously destined for the finals from the start. Though the Akrobat is a rather ugly aircraft, it has plenty of power and direct injection makes long inverted flights possible. We thought Krenc would make the finals rather than Blaha. The finalists were in fact Aresti (Jungmeister), Biancotto (Stampe SR-7), Blaha (Akrobat), d'Orgeix (Stampe SV-4), Krysta (Akrobat) and Prikryl (Akrobat) flying in that order. In describing their evolutions one is considerably cramped by a lack of termin- ology to fit many of the complex variations on standard aerobatic themes. Biancotto took the difficult first performnce and concen- trated mainly on vertical manoeuvres. His placing and sequence were excellent; he made several inverted figures of eight and ended with the prettiest rolling 360-deg turn we have seen. Positioning and smoothness were his great qualities. D'Orgeix spun finely off a stall turn, flicked and performed a very slow roll indeed. He also executed an eight-point roll and made a rolling 360-deg turn. Blaha, who followed, seemed to suffer a little from a hesitant engine, but made a fine flick from a 45-deg bank to one side into a 45-deg bank to the other. He also displayed a vertical eight, outside loops with rolls interspersed, and a good eight-point roll. He was just caught by the white Very. Aresti, flying fourth, started with an inverted spin well upwind, and included a tail slide (the only one), several flick rolls, a four- and an eight-point roll and a rolling 360 deg turn. Krysta, the eventual winner, was undoubtedly the most varied and original with outside and inside vertical and horizontal figure eights laced with flick and fast rolls. He also made two turns of an inverted spin off a backward hammer stall. Prikryl was a little too close overhead and perhaps too repetitive with his rolls during loops. He alone made two consecutive upward flick rolls and an inverted spin off an outside loop. He ended a few seconds before the Very light. Altogether, the aerobatic contest showed what can be done, safely and skilfully, with any good aircraft. British competitors will have to try to obtain more suitable machines, and polish up on some exhibition aerobatics which, during years of practice and training, have become familiar to Continental pilots. Certainly, advanced training in aerobatics as an art is almost completely neglected in Britain while it forms a major part of advanced flying training abroad. Final placings were Krysta, Biancotto, Orgeix, Blaha, Prikryl and Aresti. Krenc was runner-up in the light class. (Continued on page 96) V. Krysta, winner of the Lockheed aerobatic championship, and his Z.226 Akrobat single-seater—one 0/ three flown by four Czech pilots.
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