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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2242.PDF
-LIGHT International, 13 August (964 MASCARET in the Air . . . 261 all accounts and on its paper specification, the resulting aircraft [ certainly seemed as though it would be a very good trainer with a [plausible aerobatic capability coupled with the highest cruising ; speed and the longest range of any 100 h.p. aircraft in its class, and I indeed better than some aircraft of considerably more power. Approaching the aircraft for the first time and regarding it as a | development of the Ambassadeur, the important changes are per- haps not immediately apparent; but the overall impression—result- ing from the changes—is one of sturdy compactness. The new, elegant fin and rudder and the beautifully simple colour scheme are most impressive. The basic colour for all options is white, with black lettering and trim, plus a choice of colour for the flash—it is dark red on G-ASPG, the Rollason demonstrator used primarily by the Tiger Club for touring. Basically, the Mascaret (the name comes from a tidal bore which rushes up a Normandy river) has the same kind of highly service- able and easy-to-repair spruce and birch-ply airframe as previous Jodels. The fuselage is 9in shorter—partly accounted for ahead of the wing mainspar by seating the occupants fractionally further back relative to the wing. The shortening was also made possible by doing away with the 12.5gal front-fuselage-mounted fuel tank and substituting two swept-forward wing-root leading-edge tanks of 8.8gal capacity each. The rear-fuselage 12.5gal tank, greatly increased in size—to 23.5gal—almost completely occupies the rear compartment below the coaming, leaving a convenient 3ft-square shelf for luggage. The enormous combined fuel capacity of 41 gal— sufficient at best-range speed for non-stop flights of over 800 miles with reserves—is one of the outstanding new features of the aircraft. The other important advantage of the front fuselage arrangement is that it has allowed the instrument panel to be moved forward and made deeper, because it no longer comes over the control column arc, thus making enough room on the panel and behind for full blind-flying instrumentation and radio equipment. Taking advantage of the lower resulting gross weight of a two- seater, even with the enormous fuel load in mind, the wing for the Mascaret was reduced in span by some 2ft. To overcome the Ambassadeur tendency to float interminably after a too-fast approach, a narrow-chord trailing-edge plain flap has been fitted in place of the small underwing air brakes of the earlier design. Around the empennage everything is different. Apart from the gorgeous fin, the horizontal surface—slightly bigger—is of the single-piece all-moving variety with a full-span anti-balance trailing-edge tab which is also connected, independently, to a lever in the cockpit for pitch trim. A revised two-piece, quickly detachable glass-fibre cowling, and longer-flow twin exhaust pipes lessen drag, make for better engine cooling, and reduce noise. Inside, the furnishings are well up to American standards of quality and comfort without being fussy or trying to create the impression that one is in anything but an aircraft. The various controls, such as the friction-free centrally pivoted dual sticks (the one on the passenger side is quickly removable), the light spring- loaded-down flap lever, and the positive twist-to-fly-off hand brake, are functional, robustly engineered and work well. Lack of any "Flight International" photograph Extra equipment fitted to the Tiger Club's Mascaret includes blind- flying instruments, a 12-channel Radiostal VHF transmitter-receiver, and night lighting, adding about £850 to the basic price adjustment for the seating position, rudder pedals and stick did not worry the writer but might be inconvenient for differently proportioned pilots. Also, with the right-hand seat unoccupied, the uncompressed, soft spongy seat prevented full back and side- to-side stick movement, so one must remember to remove the spare stick before solo aerobatics. With the Mascaret's potential for ultra-long-distance touring, with an endurance of around 8hr, a careful assessment of interior noise-level, comfort, and cruising speed was uppermost on the list of things to check during a few relatively brief flights in the aircraft. During starting, taxying, take-off and climb the Mascaret is undoubtedly quiet, smooth, pleasant and better than the average for its size. Levelling off at the top of the climb, and maintaining power to build up speed (because it is a long way to go from the 80 m.p.h. or so best gradient speed to the 130 m.p.h.-plus cruising speed range), things really feel to be happening. The nearest equivalent sensation is a speedboat getting on to its step. As speed, builds up the nose needs to be forced right down to keep the sensitive v.s.i. needle on zero, while noise-level rises in sympathy. Flat out, the Mascaret was distinctly noisy, even though the propeller kept the engine speed below the continuously rated red- line limit of 2,750 r.p.m. in level flight. There was a noticeable amount of mechanically induced vibration from around the lower part of the firewall, while quite a lot of high-pitched aerodynamic rushing noise left one in no doubt that the aircraft was really bombing along. A lot of the rushing (which seemed to come mostly from the little extractor at the back of the cabin) could be cut down by closing the cabin cooling air intake, but even in English- type hot weather this was really needed wide open for comfort. Reducing the engine r.p.m. to around 2,600 (about 85 per cent power) did not materially reduce the noise-level but the tiring, vibration did disappear. At about 2,400 r.p.m. (65 per cent power) Long-distance runner: even with its enormous fuel tanks filled to the brim and two I3st occupants, the Mascarei can still carry over 301b of luggage or optional equipment 'flight International" Photograph
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