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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2243.PDF
262 FLIGHT International, 13 August 1964 "Flight international" photograph If not the Mascaret's most elegant angle, certainly a view to emphasize the aircraft's compactness and manoeuvrability MASCARET in the Air ... the noise-level was appropriate to the Mascaret's endurance. A check on level speeds led to a conclusion similar to that of the noise question: better than most, but not quite so good as expected, or as claimed by the makers. The full reason could not be deter- mined, but at all power settings G-ASPG was left-wing heavy and required some Jin of aileron trailing-edge deflection to counteract the effect, or, hands-off and using the rudder, about half-a-ball of slip (the fixed tabs were fully deflected in a corrective sense and the disposable load was symmetrically ranged). The resulting trim drag could have accounted for a few m.p.h. at least. At full throttle the indicated speed was 136 m.p.h. when, according to the engine manual, fuel consumption is around 8.1 Imp gal/hr. Engine r.p.m. of 2,600 and 2,400 gave indicated speeds of 129 m.p.h. and 120 m.p.h., corresponding to book consumptions of 6.25 Imp gal/hr and 5.2 Imp gal/hr respectively. Apart from the debatable question of noise, the physical comfort of riding in the Mascaret was first-class. The superb all-round view, the more spacious atmosphere with the instrument panel moved forward, and the soft, well-shaped upholstery gave a distinct sense of well-being. What is it like to fly ? And how well does it work ? Taxying was easy—the aircraft could be turned about a mainwheel, thanks to the spring-interconnected tailwheel and rudder and the differential wheelbrakes. The view could hardly be better. The brakes easily held full power, and the fly-off" handbrake was good for snappy take-offs. For best obstacle-clearance take-off" performance, the flight manual recommends 20° of flap and an unstick of 70 m.p.h. indicated. In fact, flying solo and with 21gal of fuel on board (total weight about 1,2501b), the aircraft invariably flew off" at 60 m.p.h. after travelling some 200yd through longish grass into a 5kt wind without any particular effort at a short run. Though aerobatics would have been an obvious thing to try for really finding out how good a trainer the Mascaret really is, G-ASPG had only lap straps (an attachment for shoulder harnesses is built in). Designed at 1,5881b gross weight to the French "normal" air- worthiness category, the Mascaret is a +3.8g and —1.5g structure, but at 1,4451b it comes into the "utility" category and is good for +4.4g and — 1.76g. With mass-balancing of the flying controls— a Mascaret feature new to Jodels—the never-exceed speed in the latter category is 175 m.p.h. Spinning is authorized with the rear tank empty and, according to the flight manual, entry and recovery are normal but rotation is fast if opposite aileron to the direction of iatended rotation is used upon entry. A limit of two turns is recommended to avoid high speed upon recovery. There seems no reason to doubt that the Mascaret could be used to teach the basic aerobatic manoeuvres. A quick check of low-speed handling did not reveal any tricks. At all speeds the ailerons are very pleasant, with no sign of adverse yaw, though only powerful enough for a moderate rate of rol! and—probably a good thing—fairly heavy above 100 m.p.h Approaching the stall flaps-up power-off, a warning buzzer sounded at 55 m.p.h., then there was a shudder and a shake and an immediate pitch-down with the slight sign of a left wing-drop at 50 m.p.h. Lowering the full 50° of flap movement at the limiting speed o* 93 m.p.h. required remarkably little effort and produced only a mild nose-down pitch, with the speed stabilizing around 80 m.p.h Approaching the power-off stall in this condition brought the buzze: at 48 m.p.h., and the shudder, shake and pitch-down more or les^ together at 46 m.p.h. with a bit more port wing-drop. Recovery was quite straightforward in all cases. Stalling in a right turn produceu a roll-out to the horizontal; and the same stunt to the left produced: not unexpectedly, a vertical bank. Whenever throttling back in the air, the pilot's notes recommern: the use of intake heat—an operation fraught with the risk o: cutting off the fuel supply because the control knob is identical! shaped and right next to the mixture control (albeit of different colour). Approaching to land can be made quite steeply with full flap, giving a good view over the nose. Trimmed power-off at 6^ m.p.h. gave a vertical descent of 700ft/min and seemed a good approach speed with ample elevator to round out. Overshooting in this configuration (even with full aft-trim, though not needed on the approach) required very little forward effort on the stick an i the rate of climb was over 500ft/min (or about 300ft/min if you forget to push in the carburettor heat). Allowing the approach speed to reach 75 or 80 m.p.h. considerably reduced the steepness cf the Mascaret glide path even with full flaps. The touchdown w£5 no trouble and braking could be used without raising the tail.
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