FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1975
1975 - 1374.PDF
Private [FtLOiKnr at speed is better than that of a Standard Cirrus, even with the out riggers attached. Starting the engine in the air is easier than on the ground. The procedure is to release the engine brake, wind the engine out (an air- strut counterbalances its weight), turn the fuel and the ignition on, and touch the starter, whereupon the propeller windmills and the engine quickly fires. In practice it is possible to stay up for 5hr on 4min engine time, at a cost of 25p. Petrol consumption is 221it /hr at full power, or about 121it/hr at cruise setting. The tank holds 301it of 25:1 two-stroke mixture. Cylinder- head temperature is about 180°C, a reading which falls with altitude. Car burettor icing has not been experienced: if it happens I shall retract the engine into its box for a few minutes. There is normally enough heat in the engine to melt all the ice; I can then wind it out and start again. The aircraft flies in cloud quite nicely but does not appreciate being coated with ice. At low circling speeds it tends to mush, probably as the wing- root fairing is inadequate. This causes the total energy compensation on the variometer some perplexity. Provided the readings are ignored when the wings are not cutting the air correctly no harm will result. The lift-to-drag ratio, cleaned up, is about 35:1 and the still-air range is probably about 150 n.m. at 55kt with the engine running continuously. The alternative arrangement of climbing at full bore, then gliding, then again climbing, may be more efficient but can result in a highly inconvenient forced landing if the restart fails. In general this machine seems to be an excellent solution to the prob lem of cheap power flying and gliding. The position of the engine makes inspection and maintenance quite easy, and since the engine is a cheap industrial unit costing about £70, replacement is cheaper than repair. Flight to the law courts? On July 17, Mr Michael Devyea, a private pilot, flew a Piper Cherokee 180 between the two levels of London's Tower Bridge, continued up the Thames at low level and then flew under an arch of Waterloo Bridge. He had departed from Biggin Hill with one passenger. The UK Civil Aviation Authority is to investigate the incident fully. ', Progress made on VAT I Simon Ames, of the British Light Aviation Centre, is confident that negotiations with HM Customs and Excise will result in the reduction of Value Added Tax on flying training in the United Kingdom. The object is to restore to eight per cent, rather than the current 25 per cent, the tax on the solo elements of contracted train ing courses for PPLs and ratings. Non-training solo flying is classed with such things as television licences and will have to remain at 25 per cent. Work continues on the rationalisation of VAT on aircraft parts and acces sories. The tax on avionic items has already been reduced from 25 to eight per cent. The BLAG has been working on VAT continuously since April 15, and is now preparing to brief members of the House of Lords before the Finance Bill reaches the Upper House. Powder Puff victor The 29th Powder Puff Derby—the ladies 2,900-mile air race from River side, Calif, to Boyne Falls in Michigan, USA—was won by Trina Adela Jarish, an avionics service manager with the Collins Radio Group. She headed the field of 102 competitors in the Collins' Bonanza demonstrator, which was comprehensively equipped with the recently announced Micro-line light- aircraft Navcom system (see Flight for April 3, page 569). For Bartolph, read Botolph Flight's report on Notam 380 (June 19, page 966), which defines the new cross-channel route, should have quoted the landmark as "Botolph's Bridge." While this does not appear on aeronautical charts, a reader tells us that it is possible to find it on certain Ordnance Survey Maps. The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (Gapan), in conjunction with Lydd ATC, has produced its own briefing booklet (written in simpler language) on the new cross-channel route, and Flight understands that the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) is to re-issue the Notam in a more understandable form. End of an era The last Gipsy piston engines to be overhauled in the Rolls-Royce Leaves- den factory, which previously belonged to de Havilland (the original design and manufacturing company), have recently been despatched. As was fitting, one of the last two engines was a four-cylinder Gipsy Major for use in an RAF Chipmunk, which is still operational with the Force's Air-Experience Flights. This engine is a direct descendant of the original four-cylinder Gipsy, which was built at the Stag Lane factory in 1927. The original engine had a displace ment of 5-231it and developed 135 b.h.p.; it was installed—with the cylinder heads upright—in a small single-seat racing monoplane, the DH.71. This was the first Tiger Moth and set up a world record for the 100km closed circuit in August 1927 n.TwrTT -imerntmsricT, JJ ]uTy 1975 at 186-5 m.p.h. ' Subsequently, this engine was derated to 100 h.p. and, as the Gipsy 1, provided the power for many of the early DH.60 Gipsy Moth-series aircraft. There followed the Gipsy 2, which developed 120 b.h.p. and which was subsequently inverted to improve the pilot's view and also to give increased propeller ground clearance. This en gine, the Gipsy 3, was a direct predeces sor of the Gipsy Major series, of which over 17,000 were built. Most of the Gipsy Majors were installed in DH.82 Tiger Moths, which were built both before and during the war in the UK, Australia and Canada, and on which almost all wartime-trained RAF pilots made their first solos. The Gipsy range was subsequently increased from the original four- cylinder units: the first variation was the V8 Ghost, which was installed in the DH.75 Hawk Moth in 1927. This was followed ten years later by the VI2 Gipsy King, which powered both the DH.91 Albatross and the DH.93 Don. It was, however, the six-cylinder Gipsies which did more to pioneer air transport than any other engine— from the early sixes which were in stalled in Rapides and the four- engined Express Airliner, to the super charged Queen 70-series engines which were introduced immediately after the war in the Dove and its military counterpart, the Devon. In the 37 years from the first Gipsy engine being produced in 1927 to the last pro duction engine which was built in 1964, a total of just under 28,000 piston engines left the factories— many of these engines have, of course, completed a number of overhaul lives and returned to the factory for re conditioning. Rolls-Royce has had to move the Gipsies from Leavesden to make way for production of its gas-turbine engines. Overhaul, repair, spare parts and all support pertaining to the Gipsy engine has been transferred to the Piston Engine Division of Hants and Sussex Aviation, No 1 Factory, Portsmouth Airport. This company has been overhauling Gipsy engines for the past 25 years and now also handles Continental, Lycoming and Pratt & Whitney piston engines, as well as Allison 250, PT6 and Dart turboprops.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
