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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1040.PDF
142 FLIGHT, 3 August 1961 A private-enterprise postscript to the Royal Aero Club contest was the short-take-off wager involving the Piper Super Cub and the Helio Super Courier. Right, Murray clears the I Oft tape from 75yd in the Super Cub Comanche Wins at Kidlington "FLIGHT" PHOTOGRAPHS FROM the trim cabin of the Mooney Mk 21 we glanced towardsPhilip Mayne at the wingtip, his starter's flag raised. Directlyahead of us the red-and-white Helio Super Courier had taken off and was climbing steadily, setting course for Seething in Norfolk.With the green flag down we, too, were accelerating across the Kidlington grass. Once airborne, the healthy "clunk" as the gear-retraction lever was pushed smartly down to the floor seemed to mark the real start of the Royal Aero Club's 1961 Business andTouring Aircraft Competition. The 625-mile course flown on the first day of the contest (Friday,July 28) gave competitors a variety of impressions of England— King's College Chapel, Cambridge, in the morning sun; airfieldafter airfield along the first leg to East Anglia. A Midlands accent coming from Rearsby Tower, the first refuelling stop; the vastredbrick sprawl of Wolverhampton as we approached the next turning-point. From the dark, calm dignity of the Herefordshire hills aroundShobdon, we flew the long leg of the course to the saucy sea-fresh- ness of the south coast. A girl's voice from Shoreham towerenquired seductively whether we had seen the grass cutter in the middle of the field. At Shoreham, we again refuelled, both aircraftand crew this time, before the exhilarating offshore beat to Beachy Head, where the head lighthousekeeper was turning-point observer. On over an oast-house-sprinkled countryside to Rochester andthe smoky, cluttered tangle of the Thames estuary. Then Hertford- shire, a bird's-eye view of the Blue Streak test tower at Hatfield,and Panshanger, our final turning-point before the home straight to Kidlington, well-marked from afar by its neighbouring cement-factory chimney. An indicated in last week's issue, the formula on which pointswere calculated was based on the product of air miles per gallon, block speed, and number of seats. Although the maximum numberof points on formula was 1,500, only two aircraft—the Comanche 250 and the Mooney 21—managed to exceed 1,000. Ron Flock- Also from 75 yd, Turner has the Super Courier all taped hart's Bellanca Crusair Senior did well to obtain 900 pts, more thanmost of its more-modern rivals. The single-engined machines could refuel at Rearsby and/or Shoreham, while the twins had to go roundin one. On the second day of the contest a 600yd strip was marked outon the airport, with lOft-high barrier tapes at each end. Pilots had to declare a take-off distance to 10ft, clear the barrier from thatdistance, and then carry out a circuit and land over the downwind barrier in as short a distance as possible. In each case a maximumof 300 marks was available, with one mark subtracted for every 2yd of take-off or landing run. Far left, overall winner Ian Forbes with the Comanche 250 entered by Vigors Aviation. Left, overall runner-up and Class 3 winner Kenneth Bum// (Aero Commander 560F entered by Field Aircraft Services)
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