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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0216.PDF
16 January 1959 95 Type Tipsy Nipper ... Piel C.P.301Emeraude ... Jodel D.117A ... Jodel D.120 ... Jodel D.140 ... Span ft in 19 8 26 0 27 0 27 0 33 6 Length ft in 14 9 20 9 20 10 20 10 25 10 Height ft in 5 3 7 4 6 8 6 8 7 1 Powerplant and t-o. Power Hepu-VW (38 h.p.) Continental C.90-14F (90 h.p.) Continental C.90-14F (90 h.p.) Continental C.90-12F (90 h.p.) Lyccming O360A (180 h.p.) ... Gro» Wt Ib 660 1,445 1,357 1,430 2,400 OUp. Load Ib 300 629 600 605 1,220 Seats 1 2 2 2 4/5 Dur. hr 3i H 6 6 6 Max. Range miles 300 625 720 720 806 Max. Speed m.p.h. 95 128 128 128 161 Cruise Speed m.p.h. 85 115 115 115 144 Stall Speed m.p.h. 30 40 31 31 41 Wing Ldg. Ib/sq ft 7.5 12.3 9.9 10.5 12.3 Take- off ft 330 450 394 394 688 C.P. 301 from which it will inevitably stem is familiar to Britisheyes following the September flights of the Scanor Emeraude F-BIRA and the Garland-Bianchi Linnet. Under the directionof M. Gueninchault, the Scanor company is producing a series of Emeraudes, and is also overhauling a few D.H.82a TigerMoths. An interesting occupant of the large factory area by the banks of the Somme is Claude Piel's personal single-seater, astandard C.P.301A airframe with narrow fuselage and the steel- framed sliding canopy which distinguishes the pro-built fromamateur-constructed Piel designs. Though few airframes were passing through the Abbeville shops, the facilities are there forproduction in quantity, and the quality of workmanship on the wings and fuselages awaiting completion was beyond reproach. The Scanor company's Emeraude was described in Flight ofSeptember 5, 1958. This company is only one of the several "small-series" Emeraude production centres, and has yet to getinto its stride. It has been estimated that, with additional pro- duction by Coopavia and by Rousseau at Dinard, C.P.301Emeraude delivery should soon reach the figure of 18 per month. This steady flow of series-production types is also expected tobring the number of lightplanes in France well above 3,200 in 1959. An analysis of the 2,964 aircraft operated by clubs and in-dividuals in 1957 gave the lead to Stampe (503) and Jodel two- seaters (426) and Piper Cub (221). It can be readily understoodhow 1,380 of those aircraft were flying on American engines. And therein lies the clue to French success in promoting the65 h.p. and 90 h.p. field. For 1,058 of the U.S.-powered types used the Continental flat-fours with their unique virtues ofeconomy, lightness and cheapness. These engines have lifted the French movement to its enviable present leadership, and the pro-fessionally made Jodels and Emeraudes provide new mounts with which to train the constant flow of air enthusiasts. In the same figures from which the above extracts have beentaken, there is also a most significant total of 123 Volkswagen- powered single-seaters, or approximately 4 per cent of the totalmovement. These in the main are the Jodel Bebe and Druine Turbulents with which we generally associate the term "home-built," and it seems a great pity that their numbers are not expected to swell greatly. The trend to two-seaters has been influenced bythe power-unit problem and though the Ardem, Stark, Hepu and other modified aviation Volkswagens are becoming available tomeet the power and airworthiness requirements of a 40 b.h.p. unit, the pattern in France has, in my impression, changed just asmuch as has Henri Mignet's individual swerve over the years from 20 to 90 horses.In Belgium, however, the single-seater has always rested in Ernest Oscar Tips' mind as the means to get the impecuniousenthusiast into the air, and in his 66th design, the Nipper, he has combined practical simplicity with a performance and a price thatshould meet the demand. The problem is going to be to raise the demand, for no matter how attractive this Joujou de Vair will befrom so many points of view, the cost of getting a private pilot's licence still remains the main stumbling block for those withoutService training or similar facility to short-cut the expensive training hours.Four years of serious study preceeded the first flight of OO-NIP, the Nipper prototype, and the six airframes passing through theassembly shop at Avions Fairey at Gosselies are the subject of what is probably the most intensive technical examination evermade on an ultra-light. All are to be registered in the NI series and No. 2, the first to have the enlarged fuselage with canopy, andthe two-piece wing, is registered OO-NIX. At the time of my visit it was fitted with a single-ignition Hepu-Volkswagen of38 b.h.p. and the instrumentation for temperature and other checks served to show how serious is M. Tips' intention to marketa thoroughly tested machine. Wool tufts covered the centre- section and aileron areas, a selection of propellers was rangedupon the hangar wall, and temporary metal fairings and control surface extensions gave NIX a truly professional prototypeappearance. Simplicity has been the keynote. Manufactured to a standardof performance at an attractively economic price, the car-engined single-seater may yet become the popular flyabout M. Tips hassought so often to provide. The kit, which includes finished steel- tube fuselage frame, nosewheel undercarriage with specially madelightweight wheels and disc brakes, all other metal parts fabricated, adequately prepared wooden parts for the flying surfaces, and apacking crate that also serves for assembly jigs, is to cost £375 ex Gosselies. This leaves the choice of engine, instruments and propeller tothe constructor, but M. Tips' advice will be readily given, and whether single- or dual-ignition Volkswagen engines are chosen,performance tests from factory machines will provide information to help the enthusiast in his choice. Next in the development pro-gramme is a test of the self-starter equipped dual-ignition Stark- Stamo Volkswagen for which 45 b.h.p. is claimed, and the ItalianMV Augusta unit is another two-cylinder engine meeting the installed weight limitation of 125 Ib. The completely finished air-craft, fitted with the 40 h.p. Hepu, will sell at £1,000 ex Gosselies. Such is the enthusiasm of this Belgian factory for its diminutiveflame-red and pristine-white Nipper that I was not permitted to leave the works without two remarkable demonstrations of itsabilities. Firstly, works manager Martin Tips taxied around the small area between hangars with a degree of ground manoeuvr-ability that would out-turn a jeep, and on a mere flutter of revs. Clearly those propeller tests have taught them something in thrustand, even more obviously, the elementary disc brakes coupled with steerable nose gear and 1 lin independent rear-leg travel offera roadworthiness rarely associated with aircraft. Next came a flying demonstration by Bernard Neefs, AvionsFairey's chief test pilot, who managed to insert a few minutes of ultra-light between Hunter 6 and F-84F checks. The put-put of aVolkswagen is a fine sound and in smooth passes, with moderate turns (Belgian C.A.B. men were also watching) the Nippercavorted delightfully. No pump-handling fugoids on the fast level runs, no wing-waggling on the steep approach as is so evident incontemporary French designs similarly blessed with generous dihedral, and a glued-to-the-deck landing run were most impres-sive features of M. Neefs' demonstration. Full rudder yaw could apparently be held in a climb, with little aileron to counter theturn, and ground-speed could be built up well beyond the normal 38 m.p.h. for a zoom take-off to present a plan view to onlookers.Neefs is a six-footer and fully occupies the depth of the Goodyear Racer style cockpit. All-up weight was in the region of 600 lbgiving about 1\ lb/sq ft wing loading and a cruising speed of 75-80 m.p.h.Maurice Tips asked my opinion of their Nipper, and as tech- nical manager of the company he was naturally interested in theonly design angle which invites criticism. Unfortunately it also coincides with his surname—if it were not for those chopped-offwingtips, the Nipper could lose its utilitarian air. The rectangular box spar which flattens off the NACA 23 series airfoil would beless obvious, the curvaceous fuselage would be better matched and, in spite of what the tunnel men tell us, a rounded glass-fibrecapping for all surfaces inspires confidence in tip flow. But this is minor criticism of what amounts to a. design in whichso many clever ideas have been incorporated, from the use of twisted copper tube to replace cable splicing to the avoidance ofrib taping by directly glueing fabric to the fin-wide rib booms, and the neat downward-vision elbow panels for the pilot in eachwing-root. With its low e.g., short nose, low aspect-ratio and shoulder wing, the Nipper is a model in more than one sense andwill, we hope, achieve the commercial success it deserves. 7/ie second Tipsy Nipper features an enclosed cockpit
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