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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1232.PDF
60 FLIGHT International, 11 July 1963 Larger rudder and vortex generators reduce the high military singie-engined minimum speeds and windows are added in the cabin area. Air stairs are fitted to starboard ON MARK MARKSMAN in the Air. the throttles to remove any inducement to spin. The angle of attack had noticeably increased between UOkt and 90kt. Application of a considerable amount of power started the a.s.i. winding up, but produced surprisingly little trim change. After I had reached a safe lOOkt, Neale selected flaps and gear up together and we were soon cleaned-up with 130kt and back in the real flying business. I had to take a good long wind at elevator trim. I now proposed that we try singie-engined handling by reducing power on one side to a setting giving drag equivalent to a feathered propeller, leaving the engine ready for immediate urge if the need arose. But Neale offered to feather properly and duly cut the right engine at 160kt. We were at lowish power, so the yaw was not pronounced. The big propeller looked mighty impressive when stopped. Rudder trim was applied by a small winding handle on the shelf between the seats, and I was very surprised to find how high- geared and precise it was. Half a turn relieved all foot loads at this stage. The reserve of power was quite surprising. At cruising settings, one engine will pull the Marksman along at a cool 190kt and only 26in and 2,200 r.p.m. kept us in level flight at above 7,000ft. To reduce speed I climbed to 8,000ft and Neale steadily increased power until, at 130kt, we had the maximum available 1,700 h.p. at 2,400 r.p.m. and 40in. I pulled speed back to lllkt, the VMC, and found that I had all but a fraction of rudder travel applied. Full trim was just cancelling out all foot loads and I was having to use a little aileron to hold the wings level or slightly banked into the good engine. I imagined that the full wet power at sea level would take a great deal more holding at VMC, but Neale said he had tried it successfully on several occasions. Having got this far, I let the nose down to increase speed while Neale and Fink set about unleashing the second engine. It took some manipulation to get it all warmed-up and worked into harness, during which time I wove my arm between four others to readjust the trimmers as power returned. We now called Gatwick and began homing to Mayfield while I set about losing height to below-airways level—a difficult problem until I was told to descend at 240kt. Nothing else seemed to work. From 3,000ft I was told to apply 15° of flap at 200kt and that dragged off the final 1,000ft to the required 2,000ft. While we were all discussing, tuning, setting altimeters, making approach checks and generally doing aeronautical housework, the On Mark's hands-off characteristics came in pretty handy. At 240kt, vertical movements happen quickly enough and a weather eye on the altimeter would be vital in anything less stable. An autopilot, too, can be very helpful in these circumstances. I apologize to the pilot on instrument-rating practice who was told to make another holding pattern over Mayfield while radar brought us straight up to the ILS centreline at six miles. The 1LS needles began to centre and I worked the Marksman round on to the localizer, dropping the gear and increasing to 20° of flap at the same time. During the approach at 130kt the aircraft remained both extremely steady and very responsive to aileron, although the speed very easily slipped past the gear-down limit. I always envy the airline men their rock-like aircraft and three-armed co-pilots. At such a speed, too, the ILS is fairly quickly completed, and drift angles are proportionately small. An ILS at 70kt in bumpy weather rather over-prolongs the agony. At the middle marker, as I was just getting my eyes above the coaming, Neale took over. He made a very smooth touch-down, followed by reverse pitch and braking, leaving the runway at the first high-speed turn-off. The roof hatches were swung open and I was told to taxi, taking care not to over-control. Since nosewheel steering had practically no feel and a delayed response, the aircraft could be wound up into a sharp turn unexpectedly. Regular stabs of toe-brake were also needed to keep speed within reason without throttling the engines back into plug-oiling r.p.m. range. Back at the take-off point we went through the lengthy checks again and I was told to make a dry take-off, holding the nose down until lOOkt and then working to get the aircraft off at lllkt. This duly happened without difficulty, the llkt lead being just long enough to achieve rotation. Once airborne, and with a not un restricted view over the long nose, I held the Marksman level carefully. The a.s.i. progressed rapidly round the dial and the arms interwove once again as Neale and Fink together accom plished all the cleaning-up and power setting. Hardly had we settled into the climb at 150kt and 2,000ft/min than we were instructed to turn left on to the downwind leg, where a mere 2,400 r.p.m. and 28in sufficed to hold 130kt with gear and 25° of flap extended. This approach was a repetition of the first except that I rather overshot the ILS localizer while joining it only about four miles from the runway. I bled the speed off to HOkt and held the aircraft low over the threshold. Once on the runway, you have to make up your mind to stop the Marksman and concentrate on doing so. I was a bit slow, did not have full flap extended, closed the throttles rather late, floated a long way, dropped it a bit firmly on to th^ mam wheels, was not given reverse thrust or anti-skid braking and ended up using the entire length of Gatwick runway getting down to taxying speed. Neale had not applied full flap because I had crossed the threshold rather low. Without the considerable extra drag, the aircraft floated a long way, especially with the trickle of power I inadver tently left applied. A little practice would have fixed this easily, but I now understand why the Marksman likes to have 1,400yd of concrete from which to operate. Altogether I thoroughly enjoyed the aircraft. It is very agile and fast, remains precisely manoeuvrable and responsive down to its rather high minimum speeds and has the equipment and stability of a full-sized airliner. But it must be admitted that nowadays the same gross weight can be pushed along at comparable speeds with much lower approach, stalling and singie-engined safety speeds. This is the inevitable result of more than a decade of progress in design. There is a wide choice of five-passenger business aircraft but few will romp along at 270kt for 1,600 n.m., with such a low first cost. The Marksman may not be as docile as the latest thing in executive transports, but it still offers unusual performance at a proportionately reasonable initial cost. Personally I hope to see at least some of these handsome aircraft in business for a long time to come.
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