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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1018.PDF
118 SPORT AND BUSINESS FLIGHT, 27 July 1961 MOONEY Mk2l IS HERE NOW available in Britain is the Mooney Mk 21, offering a bestcruising speed of 180 m p.h. and extreme range of 1,130miles on a Lycoming 180 h.p. engine. The price of the basic aircraft in Britain is quoted at £7,718 5s 4d and the addition offull blind-flying instruments, clock, and o.a.t. gauge brings this up to £8,084 18s 5d. Numerous "packages" of extra equipment and differ-ent radio combinations are available off the production line. The Mk 21 is in fact rather different from, and much moreattractive than, the Mk 20. The laminar-flow wing and all-moving tail, both of which were formerly wooden, are now all-metal;cabin accommodation has been improved; and the latest Lycoming engine is fitted. The first example to reach England was ferriednon-stop from Boston, Mass, to London, as reported in Flight for July 6 and 13. British distributors are R. K. Dundas, 59 St James'sStreet, London, SWI, and A. J. Whittemore (Aeradio) Ltd at Biggin Hill are providing a sales and service base for the type. Neatly fitting a quart into a.pint pot, Mooney have blended anattractive cabin of adequate size and excellent comfort with excep- tional performance and economy. There is a large baggage com-partment with a separate baggage door high up to starboard. The front seats are adjustable and recline. Instrument layout is excep-tionally good with all blind-flying dials neatly grouped in front of the pilot, radio in the middle and a good, readable set of engine in-struments to the right. Switches and contact breakers are tidily arranged in two groups. There is a retractable foot-rest to makethe step over the flaps easy and the usual complement of ventilators and ash-trays. Both flaps and undercarriage are mechanicallyoperated. Undercarriage suspension is by rubber blocks and the toe-operated brakes have external discs—all easy to inspect and toget at for servicing. The 40 Imp gal fuel load is carried in two integral tanks in the flush-riveted, laminar-flow wing. The nose-wheel is steerable. The elevator is centred by springs to provide correct feel and the whole tail unit, including the fin, are movedfrom a hand-wheel for trimming. Mark Lambert, who flew the Mk 21 from Biggin Hill recently,reports: "The aircraft was smooth and exceptionally quiet while cruising at 75 per cent power over Kent. Handling on the groundwas simple and initial climb on take-off was well over l,000ft/min with three occupants and full tanks. Operation of the manualundercarriage became easy when the knack was learnt and there was no trim change to distract the pilot. Flaps brought a firmnose-down trim change, but the tailplane would cancel out all loads down to 70 m.p.h. or less. The stall came with a slow wing-and nose-drop and ample warning at below 60 m.p.h. With every- thing down, application of full power produced only a mild nose-uptrim change and the Mk 21 climbed at 300ft/min before gear and flap were raised. A power-off approach can safely be made at justabove 70 m.p.h. "At cruising speed, stability and handling were very pleasantthough there was some control friction in this new aircraft. Aileron control remained fully adequate to the minimum speeds, but therudder was not strong enough to produce any sustained side-slip at speeds below 80 m.p.h. Such a manoeuvre is hardly necessary Mooney Mk 21 G-ARNA, the Dundas demonstrator, flying over Texas before its non-stop delivery from Boston to London in this aircraft and there was enough rudder to cancel torque inclimb and descent. Particularly impressive was the tidy and access- ible arrangement of instruments and switches and the atmospherein the cabin was very pleasant. The broad windscreen side-pillars did not interfere with visibility and I could see the ground and thesky around me very comfortably. Aileron-wheel travel was small and I could lay out maps comfortably on my knees. The Kingradio was simple and performed well with the roof-mounted loudspeaker. Ventilation was easy to adjust and ample for warmdays. There were two adjustable instrument lights in the roof. "Altogether, the Mooney is an exceptionally attractive littleaeroplane. One could travel really comfortably in it and use the airways and airports alongside the big boys. Most encouragingfor after-sales service is that Mooney are now increasing production from one to two per day." The four-seat cabin is well furnished and controls and instruments are exceptionally well arranged. Front seats slide and recline. Windscreen and side-windows are slightly tinted "Flight" photograph THE ARROW ACTIVE 2, entered in this year's King's Cup raceand illustrated below, has a particularly interesting history going back to 1930. Between 1930 and 1932 two Active aircraft weredesigned and built, the Mk 1 being of mixed wood and metal construction and the Mk 2 all-metal. The two machines werebasically the same in external appearance, except for top-wing position and variations in the shape of the fin and rudder. It was in 1958 that the Active 2 re-emerged, having been rebuiltby Rollason Aircraft and Engines Ltd of Croydon. Following a flight from Croydon to Fair Oaks, the aircraft ground-looped onlanding, damaging the lower mainplanes and main gear. This was attributed to a lack of directional control during the landing, causedby a blanketing of the fin and rudder by the fuselage (the shape of "Flight" photograph the vertical tail was long and low, and a fully free castoring tailskiddid not help ground handling). Later the same year, Mr Eric H. Smith was engaged to undertake a repair scheme for the aircraft,including the redesigning of the fin and rudder to give better rudder control, and the provision of a steerable tailskid. The redesigned fin and rudder were higher and the rudder wasof greater area than on the original aircraft. The new units were manufactured by Universal Flying Services at Fair Oaks, who alsoeffected the complete repair of the machine, and the Active became airborne again early in 1959. In that year's King's Cup race thtaircraft nosed over on take-off, because of too much throttle, am pitched over on to its back. The damage incurred on this occasionwas repaired by Rollasons with the assistance of Mr. Smith. In the 1961 King's Cup race at Coventry, earlier this monthDenis Hartas achieved an average speed of 142.5 m.p.h. in the Active 2. The structural design of the type is described by MrSmith as absolutely first-class, even applying today's standards t< the 1930 machine, although a greater tail arm would give improvesstability. Arrow Active 2 C-ABVE, pilot Hartas, on the King's Cup starting tin' at Coventry. A speed of 142.5 m.p.h. was achieved
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