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Aviation History
1976
1976 - 0082.PDF
FLIGHT International, 17 tanuary 1976 HST Windswept Icicle The annual Icicle meeting of the British Balloon and Airship Club on the weekend of January 3 and 4 coincided with the worst storms seen in the UK since 1953. Gales ruled out all ballooning attempts on Saturday. Sunday's weather improved enough to permit about 20 balloons to fly. Because of the westerly wind the launch site was moved from Marsh Benham, near Newbury, Berks, to Savernake Forest, Wilts. Shortly after the first balloon was launched the wind increased, and the onset of rain forced some balloons to abandon launching. The overall winner of the meeting this year was Terry Adams, flying the Thunder 0-77, Isambard Kingdom Brunei. But two balloons made their maiden flights. The first was a suitably bright orange Thunder 0-56, constructed for Outspan oranges, and the second the newly announced Cameron Viva. The Viva has been designed for the first-time balloon buyer, and the present purchase-price burden of 25 per cent VAT has been very much borne in mind in its design and con struction. The Viva is offered at just under £2,000, without some of the more expensive balloon frills. It has a standard eight-gore 56,000 cu ft envelope, with a parachute rip panel. Six colour schemes are available. The prototype is finished in the Rainbow scheme, consisting of six-feet-high horizontal bands of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and magenta. The mouth of the envelope is finished in The Great Lakes biplane, which in its original form first appeared in 1929, is currently available in the USA with a Lycoming rated at either 140 h.p. or 180 h.p. The latter version has an inverted fuel and oil system for advanced aerobatics coloured, fireproof Nomex. Also in cluded in the price arc a three-place basket, a burner capable of develop ing nine million BTUs, and two aluminium fuel tanks. Details can be obtained from Cameron Balloons, 1 Gotham Park, Bristol; tel Bristol 41455. j.w. Further MATZ withdrawals Pilots based in the South of England, in particular, are advised that the Thorney Island Lower Airspace Radar Service and Military Air Traffic Zone have been discontinued. The MATZ service at West Raynham, Norfolk, will also be withdrawn from February 1. Moth Club airborne Stuart McKay's proposal for a Tiger Moth Owners Circle was mentioned in these columns on October 9, 1975. It is now forming as the de Havilland Moth Club and is aimed not only at Tiger owners and enthusiasts, but also at operators of any light DH type, from the Gipsy to the Rapidc. (The Chipmunk is excluded, but hopefully there will be a separate owners' club for the type, as mentioned in Private Flight last week.) Although there is an active Moth < k st. The newly formed DH Moth Club aims to look after the interests of all owners of Moths and other light DH types (see news item). In this formation of three increasingly rare specimens a Gipsy is followed by a Fox and Moth Minor. All are owned by Tony Haig-Thomas Club in the USA, and abundant evidence of interest in de Havilland aeroplanes in Australia and South Africa, there has hitherto been no DH club based in the UK. Member ship is now open to all Moth owners, with associate membership available to owners of other DH types. The club is intended to be international, and registrations have already been received from Holland. South Africa and the USA. The membership fee is initially £1, and copies of the newsletters which have so far been distributed are avail able, on receipt of an A4 self- addressed envelope, from "Tangmere," 16 Thatchers Drive, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 3PW. Grumman sales reach new high Grumman American's dollar sales exceeded one million for the first time during the closing months of 1975. Roy C. Garrison, senior vice-president of Light Aircraft Marketing, attributes the sales progress to Grumman's grow ing dealership, and the high per formance and increased market acceptance of its new types. These include the 180 h.p. Tiger, introduced in 1975, and the 150 h.p. Cheetah for 1976. Future plans include a new twin for 1977 and a larger production plant at Savannah, Georgia, to which the company is in the process of trans ferring all its major production. American agency for IS-29D and -28B Sprague Aviation of Lafayette, Calif, has been appointed the sole North American agent for the Romanian IS-29D 15m sailplane and the two-seater IS-28B. (See Flight for May 2, 1974, and May 22, 1975.
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