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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0798.PDF
808 FLIGHT, 8 SPORT AND BUSINESS . . . THAT ONE-EIGHTY RATING THE article on the American AOPA's "180° rating" technique for instru-ment flying, published in "Flight" for March 23, has aroused considerable interest. "Is the 180° rating a hazard, or a hazard cure?" we asked.In this contribution, a reader relates a relevant personal experience. "TJ'OLLOWING an accident to one of my company's aircraft Ir took a pilot and engineers over to Dublin in a Rapide which I had flown on numerous occasions, but only for a total timeamounting to 50hr in three years. As it was dark at 6.30 p.m. I intended leaving Dublin at 4.30; but,as usually happens, I was delayed and finally set off at 5.30 p.m., with the aircraft loaded with freight, and under a lowering ceiling. At the "boundary"—i.e., about 27 miles out—visibility was reducedto a circle of about one mile diameter and I could see only the sea directly below me. Though a private pilot with very few hours'experience, and these always in VFR conditions, at 50 years of age I was faced with no alternative but to fly on instruments. The aircraft was equipped with full blind-flying panel, VHF andBendix ADF, and I had flight-planned at 1,500ft, so I tuned the ADF on Burtonwood Range leg and flew the beam aurally. Imissed the fan marker at Point Lynas, the Anglesey coast being blotted out. Here the weather thickened and I found myself inthick cumulus with varying wind, rain and sleet; my ego, my heart and my courage were sinking rapidly in the surrounding gloom as Iconcentrated on course and height, praying that I would cross the fan marker at Wallasey (now replaced by an NDB) as my onlyhope of knowing exactly where I was. The time seemed interminable, but at last, hot under the collar,I saw the indicator blink and knew I was over Wallasey, with nothing to be seen and weather really thick. However, havingheard the Liverpool weather, which indicated fair visibility with cloudbase of 2,000ft, I asked for radar approach, expecting tobreak cloud any instant. Then it began. Apparently the area was "sprouting" with rain and hail stormsand the controller took me for a circular tour and turned me on to so many headings ("Sorry, but I'm trying to avoid the rainstorms andscreen clutter," he said) that by this time I hadn't a clue where I was and the suspense and concentration were causing such perspira-tion that the whole cockpit was steamed up. At last I heard that I was on long finals and commenced descent.At 1,000ft my course was wavering in an effort to maintain correct descent. The controller asked "Are you contact?" "Negative," Ireplied, "please check met. report." Back he came: "Checked at 2,000ft." "Well, I'm at 1,000ft and completely blind," I replied.And then I looked at my altimeter—it was winding-qff, and in desperation I heaved on the stick to the excited calling of thecontroller "You're going off course." "Roger," said I. "I'm climbing and will call you shortly." I needed a breather badly; I had begun to lose confidence inmyself, and met., and the equipment. At this point I must have crossed the airfield and before Irealized it I had climbed to 3,000ft. What exactly happened then I will never know. Suddenly I realized I was diving. I looked at thealtimeter again and it was winding back faster than I had ever seen, the engines were roaring, the tail was shuddering. I glanced at theartificial horizon; I couldn't see any horizon line, then I spied just a bit of it stuck up in the top left-hand corner. I heaved on the stickand prayed hard. The g must have been considerable, as 1 went completely light-headed, but not until I had seen the altimeter startto move the other way; so I just sat and waited for my head to clear. Then I found I had climbed again. Before I knew what washappening I was again in a steep spiral dive, but this time I pulled out quicker and so drastically that the load in the cabin fell over Baronial manoeuvres at Hucknall on Whit Monday by Boron D, Serigny, of the Paris Flying Group at Panshanger, when he g exhibition of crazy flying at the RAF A display in his Tiger Moth t 1961 •Kde •' on 3FD :ior <pit and >ck- and one of the packages caught the aerial where the com entered the socket of the VHF receiver on the back of the cc bulkhead, pulling it out, and that was all contact with C. itroj gone! I sat for a moment stunned by the violent gyratior seeming hopelessness of my situation. It was now night, the pit was steamed up inside and it was streaming with rain os and the instruments were so far from normal as to be meaningless Then I made an involuntary decision which, thanks to de K'avi]. land's designers, probably was the greatest single factor in saving my life; I decided to centralize everything—rudder, ailerons and elevators—and wait for the result. Due to the inherent stability of the Rapide, this at last brought everything back to normal. Although I still had no idea where 1 was in relation to the airfield, had no contact with ATC and was 15 min beyond my ETA, I remembered the ADF, which I now tuned to Speke beacon (then on the airfield) and prayed I might see a light- just one which I could recognize. Thus I flew to the beacon and began to descend. 1 can't remember my height at this time, but when at last 1 saw the light beacon I found myself right over the field at 400ft, so close to the control tower that in spite of having no aerial I could hear the controller shouting "Bravo, Bravo, can you see ? You are right over the airfield." Fear and panic had now left me and, in complete command of the aircraft and myself (although I had never in my life handled an aircraft at night, much less landed) I sped downwind above the runway at 400ft—for I was at the wrong end—turned as tightly as possible 100yd from the end in case I lost sight of the lead-in lights, chopped the engines, ignoring the veritable hail of pyro- technics they were shooting up from the caravan, and made a clean touchdown about half-way up the runway. I thought for a moment I should be unable to stop before plough- ing through the boundary fence; but this did not raise a tremor—I was down and stopping down, even if the fence was a brick wall. Calling at the tower to apologize, I was shown the patterns drawn in on the radar screen. I had treated them to a display which would have thrilled any flying-show audience in daylight. I went home a very sober and subdued amateur pilot. Moral: to urge the "180 scheme" or not? What would you do, chum? THREE AIRCRAFT WERE ENTERED by 654 Sqn of the ArmyAir Corps, stationed in Germany, in the Hildesheim Air Rally on May 20 and 21. The 40 competing aircraft had to rendezvous atPeine/Eddesse (points being given for landing at as many German AlP-listed airfields as possible and for covering the greatest distancein VMC); they were then given a map-reading exercise to complete before going on to Hildesheim and arriving at a stated time.Capt Taylor flew a Chipmunk and was placed second, having covered 1,784km (1,108 miles) with 36 landings; he was awarded a goldmedal. Capt Jordan and Lt Burland, both flying Austers, came fifth and tenth and received silver medals. South African Paget Bellin with his Rollason-prepared Tiger Moth G-ARMS at Redhill before attempting to establish a London - Cape record for under-1,000kg aircraft (none exists in this class). Leaving on May 14 with a passenger, Paul Catlin, he completed the flight in II days. Later he had the misfortune to crash, breaking a leg LONDON t« CAPETOWN MAyl96lf
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