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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0087.PDF
FLIGHT International, 19 January 1967 87 Left—the end of an ex- periment (see letter from Mr G. A. Chamberlain) Right, the Scheibe SF-27M powered sailplane referred to by Mr D. J. Stevenson LETTERS... Echoes of the Baynes Story SIR,—The unhappy story of the Baynes "hoodoo" in your December 22 issue would appear to warrant the following postscript. I think it must have been about 15 years ago when I discovered that Bob Swinn had acquired the Villiers- engined Scud sailplane and was operating it at Lasham. I understood from the new owner that he had re- engined the machine with a 350 c.c. engine in lieu of the original 250 c.c. installation. Having persuaded Swinn to demonstrate its capabil- ities I managed to secure the enclosed snapshots [one of which is reproduced above—<Ed] of its subsequent take- off and (so far as I know, last) flight. The engine was not giving its best on that occasion with the result that the take-off became very prolonged and the altitude so limited that Swinn had to stay within the airfield boundary and turn downwind. Inevitably the aircraft stalled, dropped a wing, and struck the ground, performing a complete cartwheel and finishing up with a resounding crunch as it struck a runway sideways on. I was the first to arrive on the scene and found Swinn sitting dazed in his shattered cockpit, the instrument panel adrift on his knees and the whole aircraft gyrating wildly on the deck, with the poor little Villiers scream- ing its head off. I cut the ignition and helped the unfortunate owner to disinter himself from the splintered mess. The Baynes "hoodoo" would appear to have persisted, and I am quite sure that the unfortunate Mr Swinn took a very dim view of my having been instrumental in the demise of his unique possession. Ashford, G. A. CHAMBERLAIN, Middx (S. Davall & Sons Ltd) SIR,—Jeffrey ("Baron") Baynes' story "The Hoodoo" was read most appreciatively, especially since we seem to be retracing his steps 30 years later, although so far .without his unfortunate ill-luck. At the Stevenson-Bbentheuer Company we are de- signing a light twin similar to the Carden-Baynes Bee. As in the Bee, converted automobile engines (Volks- wagen) are being used for economy. In our design, the Tiny Twin, the engines are mounted in a stub wing above and behind the low main wing, and drive tractor airscrews. As in the Bee, this arrangement should pro- vide convenient cabin access and low fuselage and wing drag. In addition, we expect to obtain favourable low speed and stalling characteristics and to avoid the engine cooling problems associated with pusher installations. The principle technological innovations in 30 years will be the laminar wing and tail sections, tricycle under- carriage, and use of glass-fibre in the structure. We have also been involved recently in the design of the SF-27M powered sailplane at Scheibe Flugzeugbau GmbH. This will be only the second single-seater sail- plane with retractable engine to go into production, the first being the Carden-iBaynes* Auxiliary of 1935. Al- though the SF-27M, with its Wortmann laminar wing section and all-moving tail, may have a somewhat greater lift-to-drag ratio than the Auxiliary, it is very clear to us that Mr Baynes was far ahead of his time. Dachau, DAVID J. STEVENSON, West Germany Stevenson-Ebentheuer Company Vicissitudes of a Veteran SIR,—I was interested to note Mr Leslie Hunt's letter (November 15) referring to the Hanriot biplane formerly kept at Old Warden. This machine was acquired by the late Richard Shuttle- worth before the war, and was flown by him from Brussels via Lympne to Old Warden. We used it occasionally to commute to and from Old Warden to Brooklands, and on its final journey a tyre was punc- tured. A willing helper repaired the tyre, but unfor- tunately omitted to replace the axle splitpin, and the wheel fell away on take-off. Old Warden was alerted by telephone but, despite frenzied signals, waving of spare wheels in the air, etc, etc, an impeccable landing was made on one wheel, tail- skid, and, finally, the top wing. After an interchange of views the wings were sent back to Brooklands for repair. However, the war supervened and rumour has it that they were burned by the Home Guard in the very cold winter of 1940. After the war the Le Rhone engine was co-opted when our Avro 504K was being restored, and for various reasons—mainly money and time—it was not possible to restore the Hanriot. The remains were sold to our good friend Marvin K. Hand in the USA, and he hopes to have the aircraft in the air some time in 1967. It is interesting to note that he has been helped in the res- toration work by the famous World War One fighter pilot the Chevalier Willy Coppens, who flew some of these machines in anger in 1916. Biggleswade, L. A. JACKSON, Beds Sqn Ldr DIARY Jan 19 RAeS Bristol Branch joint lecture with IERE and IEE: "Auto- mation in North Atlantic Air Traffic Control," by H. Cherry; Main Lecture Theatre, University Engineering Laboratories, University Walk, Bristol, 7 p.m. Jan 19 RAeS Halton Branch: "Phantom Aloft," by Col J. A. Shannon. Jan 23 Kronfeld Club: "Radio Navigation and Approach Aids," by David Campbell; 74 Eccleston Square, London SWI, 8 p.m. Jan 23 RAeS Historical Group: "History of Supermarine," by A. N. Clifton; 4 Hamilton Place, London Wl, 7 p.m. Jan 24 RAeS Graduates' and Students' Section: "Sales of British Aircraft in the USA," by D. J. Lambert; 4 Hamilton Place, London Wl, 7.30 p.m. Jan 27 Helicopter Club of Great Britain: Annual dinner; Chanticleer Restaurant, London. Jan 30 Kronfeld Club: "Aerobatics," by A. Haig-Thomas (and film); 74 Eccleston Square, London SWI, 8 p.m.
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