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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1754.PDF
"Flight" photographs (Left) Upside down and nothing on the stick: hands off, Colin Labouchere demonstrates the Archbishop in what is almost its normal attitude. At Skegness he flew upside down for about 38 minutes before dropping oil pressure forced him to land. (Right) Two types of R.A.F. fighter . . were demonstrated at Skegness, the Hunter and this Bristol Fighter, which is in the Shuttleworth collection Sport and Business ALTHOUGH the Skegness Aero Club's air rally over the week-L end of June 5-7 lost its international flavour when four Belgian crews failed to materialize (the event clashed with a similar occa- sion at le Zoute) the all-British entry was treated to a week-end of unusual variety. The Saturday afternoon flying display, in particular, was a show for connoisseurs—well balanced, highly selective and most professionally performed. The essence of a good rally is an element of competition to spice the social gathering and, although, without much previous experience of a rally of this scale, two competitions run by the Skegness Aero Club during the week-end greatly enlivened the little Butlin's airfield of Ingoldmells; there was a navigational exer- cise on the second day and a concours d'elegance on the third. A time-of-arrival prize was also awarded. The navigation competition was an aerial treasure hunt, based on six map references all within 20 miles of Skegness; each refer- ence provided a clue to a questionnaire, which had to be completed and handed in at the end of the flight. In spite of unlimited time in which to complete the course, the clues were by no means easy to spot nor the questions to interpret; the answer to "used in school," for example, was chalk, and the clue a chalk pit. To the question "Even these would find it hard to land here" the answer was magpies, a clue to be found over the targets of a rifle range •—-if you were astute. This was all very good fun and occupied a blustery morning for six or seven competitors. After lunch came the flying display, led off with a delightful demonstration of the Bristol Fighter by "Doc" Stewart, which proved to be surprisingly manageable in a wind that the forecast threatened would become "30-40 kt." The weather led D. G. Campbell in Luton Aero Club's Chipmunk to start his aerobatic display at a neck-craning height, but he made the best of it with spins and falling leaves until he was once again at circuit level. No such considerations weighed with Colin Labouchere, who climbed the Archbishop "vertically" by pulling up steeply into the wind prior to a crisp demonstration of inverted aerobatics—beautifully positioned in a magnificent sky —that bodes well for the Archbishop's (and Colin Labouchere's) chances at Coventry. As he landed, five aircraft of Treble One Squadron swept into the aerial arena to start their characteristic close-formation quick-change display, compered from the control tower by F/L. Hardy, the squadron adjutant. It ended with the Treble One bomburst, as quickly, neatly and as impressively as it had begun. Accommodation for the rally crews was provided at Butlin's Holiday Camp, where a banquet and dance was held after the display and to which the pilots of 111 Squadron had been invited. Guest of honour was A. Cdre. Donaldson of R.A.F. Manby, and it was his duty to present the prizes. RESULTS.—Navigation Contest: A. T. Pugh (Flight) 29 points, T. Rome (Propellers Flying Group) 25 points. Concours d'elegance: D. Holmes, Proctor 5 G-AIAF. We left Skegness with Colin Labouchere in his usual place— in the Archbishop, and upside down. RECENTLY COMPLETED and now awaiting its Permit to Fly is the ultra-light single-seater G-APRT, designed and built by John Taylor, an amateur constructor. The illustration on this page is the first photograph of the completed machine to be published, and was taken earlier this month at White Waltham. Powered by a 36 h.p. J.A.P. engine, the aircraft has taken about fourteen months to build. Writing in a recent issue of the P.F.A. journal Popular Flying, the constructor defined his initial speci- fication as "Money, £100; dimensions, to suit our upstairs dining- room." An important factor before the final stressing of the design was to measure an upstairs window to ensure that the fuselage and wings could pass through. Advice and assistance in the construction of the machine was given by Douglas Bianchi. A NON-STOP FLIGHT of some 7,660 miles from Casablanca to the west coast of the U.S.A. was made by Max Conrad in a Piper Comanche on June 2-4. Flying time for the trip, which constitutes a new world distance record for light aircraft, was just over 58 hours. A few days before Conrad's Comanche flight from Casablanca, Piper Aircraft Corp. reported delivery of the 1,000th machine of this type. THE NEW CLUB-HOUSE and hangar of the Lake Gliding Club at Tebay Ghyll, Westmorland, will be opened on Saturday, August 1, by Mr. Philip Wills. Over the Bank Holiday week-end other clubs, syndicates and private owners are invited to fly from the new site and a number of competition tasks are planned. The new J.A.P.-powered single-seater designed and constructed by John Taylor, pictured last week at White Walthvm 839 FLIGHT, 19 June 1959
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