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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0745.PDF
FLIGHT, 1 June 1961 755 full house: the fourth suit- case about to be stowed in the JggaSe compartment by ian.rsrt; Stuart Cassy pre- par g to supervise boarding pas -Angers. Note Storch in left background 12Okt after 100 n.m. A US Army Otter flies past on reciprocalbelow me. Overall groundspeed is now better. Pass Poitiers, trymg unsuccessfully to hear the marker. Three-quarters of lefttank used in 80min, means tank should be empty in Ihr 45min. Following Poitiers 225° From radial steering 220°. Flown 160 n.m.in 79min, 122kt overall; measure 78 n.m. in 36min, making pre- sent groundspeed 130kt at 4,500ft. Almost home and dry and busy with final slide-ruling when theengine cuts dead—the left tank is empty. I switch to the right and wait hopefully as the nose goes very slowly down. The enginepicks up again and we level off. The autopilot has not been disen- gaged since Toussus. Tank ran dry in lhr 38min instead of lhr45min, making 14.1 Imp gal/hr including take-off and taxying. I see Cognac bomber base and then the Gironde looms up. Trackin on Bordeaux VOR, call on 119.7 Mc/s at 30 miles and make straight-in approach. Tower asks "What type of aircraft is that ?"as soon as I touch down. Nobody knows the Comanche in France. It feels good to taxy onto the apron with the prop just whispering. Total flight time, 2hr lOmin and fresh as a daisy. Block speed,120kt and total fuel consumption 13.4 Imp gal/hr. Leg Kidlington GatwickToussus Bordeaux Toulouse Issoire Bourges Toussus Lympne Fairoaks Kidlington Distance n.m. 70183 260 120 151 100 100 172 74 60 STAGES Flighttime hr min 00 4501 30 02 10 01 00 01 10 00 50 00 50 01 20 00 35 00.30 AND TIMES Speed kt 94122 120 120 129 120 120 129 127 120 Fuel added to fill tanks imp gal 724 30 11.6 18 11.6 22 Engine running time .501.35 2.15 1.15 115 .50 .55 1.25 .40 .35 Imp. gal/hr 8.415.1 13.4 9.3 \ 8.6 ! 12.7 \ 8.2 Bordeaux to Toulouse (120 n.m.) A desperately routine flightin fine weather along the Garonne from Bordeaux VOR to Tou- louse VOR. Local rain-storm soaks Comanche while I wait at theend of the runway for clearance to be sorted out, but not a drop gets into the cabin. Take-off, set 75 per cent power and engageautopilot at 300ft in climb. Say "Good day" and tune VOR. At 75 per cent power and 125 m.p.h. I reach 5,000ft in 3min, triminto cruise at 6,000ft and set a new power, 2,200 r.p.m. and full throttle. This is lower r.p.m. than before and full throttle givesless than 75 per cent, but i.a.s. is still 165 m.p.h. I also weaken until the r.p.m. drop. Groundspeed measured at 136kt and then 138kt.Suddenly spot the Pyrenees, snow-capped, floating above a haze- top to the south—like Japanese prints. Disengage autopilot inincreasing turbulence and then let down to Toulouse and land in 20kt wind, slightly cross. Overall speed, 120kt and fuel consump-tion a remarkable 9.3 Imp gal/hr. This is what Pipers claim. Obviously one must use lower r.p.m. and ruthlessly weakenedmixture, plus high cruising altitudes. Toulouse to Issoire (151 n.m. along track) A difficult flight instrong wind and often severe turbulence, flying towards the Massif Central in unfamiliar scenery—and without VOR. Toulouse VORis off and nothing helps me find Issoire, so climb the sloping ground and follow railways and valleys. Visibility from the Comanche isnot adequate to make such map-reading at all comfortable and I work quite hard, often reducing speed in the rougher air. Finally,I pass over two snow-topped summits at 9,700ft, the Comanche sailing along happily. Open d.v. window at 148 m.p.h. i.a.s. totake photographs. Using 2,300 r.p.m. and full throttle giving 21in in weak mixture. Outside temperature 36°F and cabin heater on.Descend cautiously to Issoire's little grass field and touch down smoothly. Block speed 129kt, but measured 160kt groundspeedfor first 91 n.m. at 7,500ft. Issoire to Bourges (100 n.m.) Did not refuel. Another routine tap, though still no VOR and no track drawn on map. Trying to get clear of severe turbulence I climb to 7,000ft, but it is no use for the first half hour. Again set 2,200 r.p.m., full throttle and weakmixture, but then try the chart value of 2,400 r.p.m. and full throttle to get the full 75 per cent power. Groundspeed measuredas 157kt. Slow down several times in really rough bumps: 80 n.m. in 37min makes 130kt, the turbulence beginning to tell. TheComanche wanders and snakes in this really rough stuff, but the autopilot seems perfectly able to cope when I briefly turn it on.Block speed to Bourges is 120kt. Refuelling shows a highly satisfac- tory consumption of only 8.6 Imp gal/hr for two flights, mainly dueto repeated slowing down, high altitudes and generally low r.p.m. Bourges to Toussus (100 n.m. along track) I want a leisurely flight,but each time I am in a tearing hurry. Glad 1 flight-planned on assumption of 75 per cent all the way. Shortly after take-off, Irealise my great ambition to set the autopilot, climb into the back seats and take photograph of unoccupied pilot's seat and instru-ments (reproduced here). I trim slightly forward to allow for aft e.g. movement and fire away with camera for several minutes.For some reason I get concert music through the loudspeaker. My luxury is complete. But Delta Lima is obviously a little unstablewith well-fed journalist in back and only "George" holding the fort, so I get back to business and tune Orly VOR at 60 n.m. rangefrom 5,000ft. Plan to find Toussus by radio only, so fly till west of Orly VOR, turn right to intercept 150° From radial of Pope andthen track down this radial to Toussus. Nothing to it! Block speed 120kt, but fuel consumption up to 12.7 Imp gal/hr becauseI used 75 per cent at lower altitudes. Toussus to Lympne (172 n.m. along track) This is a full-housetrip, with Stuart, self and two other passengers, the luggage com- partment full of suitcases, parcels shelf crammed with hats, pack-ages and odds and ends, tanks full and Delta Lima a little down by the tail. Take-off feels as if I were flying solo. Nervous femalepassenger adusts ventilators and settles down nicely, small girl falls asleep, peace reigns. Only Stewart and 1 are working likefiends in front, identifying every VOR in Europe and then some! There is a mild front across our track and we cross Pope VOR andclimb above a layer of cloud to 4,500ft. No ground in sight after lOmin. We fly Pope 350° From radial and cross-plot on CambraiTVOR. Put away half-million maps and use only Aerad EUR.6 radio chart—the new one, which is a honey. With pen and rulerI plot cross-bearings as we track up the unseen coast from Dieppe towards Le Touquet, which we have to call. Communications bad,but we pick up a QTE of 060° and continue following the coast with VORs. Now getting Dover, still above cloud, and plan to letdown from 4,000ft westwards along the Dover coast, keeping clear of airways. Letting down thiough a dense haze, the first thing we see isDover harbour after an hour above cloud. Who would fly without navaids? Passengers still blissfully content in back, despite con-stant VOR idents we keep pushing through the loudspeaker so that we can both hear them. If only we had crystal-controlled VOR wecould dispense with this, but the Omnigator needs constant identi- fying as cross-bearings are taken. We follow Dover and Lyddradials to pin-point Lympne in the haze and land. England is "strength five" with a frustratingly dilatory Customs clearance.One man working a twelve-hour day must reasonably go away for meals, but why must a half-hour tea break intervene 30sec afterwe touch down ? It is not his fault. Time from Paris, lhr 20min, 129kt. We do not refuel.Lympne to Fairoaks (74 n.m. along track) Knowing the Coman- che and Omnigator we set off without a qualm in weather whichwould otherwise worry us. Mist is dense and the sun low and straight ahead. But we track onto Lydd 290° From radial, skirtthe Gatwick zone using cross-bearings from London VOR, turn north to intercept the appropriate London radial and up comesFairoaks on the nose. No need to look out of the side-windows, it's right there in front. Fairoaks to Kidlington (60 miles along track) The short triphome to Vigors Aviation, taking a visiting German girl for the ride. There is plenty of endurance left without refuelling and the (Concluded on page 778)
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