REPRESENTING SPORT & RECREATIONAL AVIATION IN THE SOUTHWEST www.devonstrut.co.uk

DEVON STRUT NEWS - OCTOBER 2007

Welcome to the Devon Strut: Co-ordinator’s Comments by Pete White

Our fly-in season has drawn to a close and fortunately the weather had been kinder towards the end, enabling both Belle Vue and Watchford Farm fly-ins to enjoy a healthy selection of visitors. Although my beloved mount ‘IVOR the wings’, is still hangar bound for an engine rebuild, I have been fortunate to either hitch a lift to events with friends or use the 1941 Aeronca 65CA NC33884 that I have been ‘keeping warm’ for Phil Brewer whilst he is back home in Tucson. Although my hours will be a little down on normal this year, I have the prospects of our group enjoying a ‘new’ engine soon and catching up on my IVOR time. These jobs always take longer than you hope and, if nothing else, you learn to be patient and earn brownie points that can be used at a later date.

The PFA AGM on the 1st and the NC meeting on the 15th September have helped pave the way for what will be the new, revised and reworked Association which we will all in time get used to calling the LAA. Another current issue is the return of a single rally, ideal if the finances can be nailed and a site found with lower costs. My personal preference is for the one grand meeting for all and if this is achievable within the set parameters and budget I would be ‘waving that flag’ with great enthusiasm. There is a working party on the case and we will know the findings at a later date.

With all these recent changes the Committee felt that many of our Strut members would like to put over their thoughts and suggestions so our first Autumn/Winter meeting will be devoted to you, the Strut member. Along the lines of our very successful April meeting this year, we ask you to bring along photos, film etc that can be shown using the Strut’s laptop/projector equipment. We will then hold an open forum on PFA/LAA matters between the aviation film clips. Most of your committee will be present and their knowledge gained from NC and EC meetings will help us all understand where our organisation is heading. The behind the scenes work that goes on for us, the members, filters from the PFA chairman, Roger Hopkinson down through the various committees to Strut level and if any of you have a yearning to know more about the workings then please come along and ask.

Don’t forget we are at our new venue, which was discovered by Mike King, The Ley Arms, Kenn, Exeter (see last page for directions- Ed) and one of the reasons we chose it was for the food so arrive a little earlier and treat yourselves. Normally we meet on the second Thursday of the month but this first meeting of the season will be on Friday 5th October and as you can see below all the rest of meetings will be back to the usual time slot. Listed below is our Autumn/Winter program of speakers and meetings, which have been planned to give you a variety of informative and entertaining guests; something that has become the hallmark of our Strut meetings.

Friday 5th October‘07 Strut forum and social evening with photos, films & LAA discussion. Thursday 8th November’07 Francis Donaldson. The PFA’s Chief Engineer. Thursday 13th December ’07 Kevin Lambton. SATCO, Plymouth Airport - how we can work together. Thursday 10th January ‘08 Strut AGM followed by the Derek Boyce slide show. Thursday 14th February’08 Polly Vacher. Aviatrix extraordinaire will be our valentine for the night. Thursday 13th March’08 Rob Midgely. Shell Oil’s technical expert. Thursday 10th April ’08 Bill Leary. AN2 Club. Discover this big biplane and how you could fly one!

All the best, Pete White ______1 Scillies (Part Two) by Maurice Wickstead

With the reinstatement of civil flying on January 1, 1946, a bevy of independent charter operators sprung up, one of which was Island Air Services based at St Mary’s. Using two Percival Proctors, regular trips were made to Lands End carrying fresh flowers and vegetable produce for mainland wholesale markets in addition to summer pleasure flights from both locations. Patrick Duval Aviation of Birmingham, similarly employed Proctors and an Airspeed Consul feeding outlets in the Midlands. Island Air Services’ first pilot was former wartime ATA flyer, Monique Agazarian, who later bought the company after it had decamped to Croydon. Some older readers may have been fortunate enough to enjoy a ‘spin’ in an IAS Rapide, a regular sight at Heathrow, flying incessant summer sightseeing trips over London in those leisurely 1950s days before the coming of ‘jetwash’. ‘Aggie’, as she affectionately became known, continued in light aviation, latterly with Aviation Training Services of Booker, until her death in 1992 at the age of 72. In September 1988 she renewed her links with the islands by attending an Air Day commemorating the 50th Anniversary of air services to Scilly. Representing the aircraft of the early days at the event were the Aer Lingus commemorative Dragon, ‘EI-ABI’ and a Dragon Rapide from Carlisle.

The helicopter first appeared at St Mary’s in February 1948, when a Sikorsky S-51 flown by Alan Bristow carried provisions to the keepers of Wolf Rock , marooned by bad weather. Echoing wartime days, flying-boats returned briefly to St Mary’s during the summer of 1949 when Aquila Airways undertook a series of holiday charter flights from Falmouth with civilianised Sunderlands. By this time, GW&S had been absorbed into the BEA, while operation of Land’s End was now the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation.

At St Mary’s a new control tower was erected in August 1949, together with a basic passenger waiting room and facilities for emergency vehicles. Poor visibility was often a feature around Lands End and lacking any sophisticated landing aids, a sort of chequerboard approach was adopted, reminiscent of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport. Turning ESE over Brisons Rock and Cape , a descent was made below the ceiling along the Cot Valley to Kelynack Farm, where after crossing the St Just-Sennen road and spotting two telegraph poles painted with bold red and white strips, a sharp right turn was made to re-cross the road and drop onto the aerodrome. The short hop to St Mary’s proved exceptionally popular with 36,000 passengers carried in 1953 alone, often amounting to a shuttle service with up to 20 daily round trips at high season. Apart from brief incursions by Murray Chown Aviation of Staverton flying via Cardiff and (St Mawgan/Perranporth) with Proctors, Melba Airways from Manchester and the returning Olley Air Service from Croydon via Bristol and Exeter, all for a single season in 1951, the 28-mile crossing remained the sole domain of BEA until March 1961, when Mayflower Air Services arrived on the scene.

2 Formed by Capt Philip Cleife, Plymouth Aero Club’s former CFI, services began midway through June 1961 with a single Rapide, operating Plymouth-St Mary’s. Over the next couple of years, with a second Rapide, Newquay, Bristol and Cardiff were added, together with a licence for Plymouth-London (Gatwick) for which it was planned to acquire Herons or Twin Pioneers. Sadly the brave venture came to an end on 20th July 1963, when Rapide ‘HLM crashed on take-off at St Mary’s following a tyre burst. Although there were no fatalities, Capt Cleife was seriously injured, putting paid to his flying career. Mayflower was taken over by Scillonian Air Services, which operated intermittently until May 1964 when it passed to British Westpoint, who continued the Scillies routes for a couple of years, linked to London by Dakota via Exeter. Meanwhile, in March 1962, Capt Morris ‘Skipper’ Hearn MBE, BEA’s long-serving Senior Pilot at Lands End retired after 21 years of continuous service, during which time he had completed a staggering 15,000 hours and 31,650 flights and over the route.

When BEA commissioned two Sikorsky S-61N helicopters to operate from a new dedicated base at Eastern Green, in the spring of 1964, it signalled almost the end of the Rapide era. The type’s swansong on the route began midway through 1966, when Scillonia Airways, formed by ex-BOAC pilot Capt KB Neely, took to the skies with three Rapides flying out of St Just. The operation lasted for two more summers until May 1970 when Scillonia was forced out of business.

A year later, another former BOAC man, Capt Howard Fry, fetched up in the area with his Westward Airways, flying a single Islander between Gatwick and Newquay via Plymouth. A second aircraft late in the summer allowed an extension to the St Mary’s, but disaster struck in February 1970, when G-AXXJ was seriously damaged, having overrun and buried its nose in the stone wall at the end of 10/28. Westward was forced to rely on costly lease-ins to maintain the service, which ceased at the end of the season when the airline succumbed to financial problems.

Another aircraft which fell victim to a boundary wall a couple of months later was Executive Air’s Airedale G-ARYZ, which had the misfortune to arrive in the circuit just after Auster G-AKXP had failed to get airborne forcing the Beagle to alight on the slippery crosswind runway. The Westward name resurfaced again almost immediately with the formation in 1970 of Westward Airways (Lands End), founded by ‘Viv’ Bellamy, notable aviation personality and principal of the Hampshire Aero Club. Bellamy twice tried unsuccessfully to start an Islander (G-AXXJ) service to the Scillies, but his licence applications always fell foul of objections from BEA. Instead he developed the company as an engineering, restoration and replica building facility par excellence, together with the local flying club and pleasure flying, the latter with Rapide G-AIYR; family management continued for many years in the hands of Viv’s son, Rod. Apart from the numerous historical aircraft rebuilds and replicas that passed through Viv’s hands, one particular machine was the sole surviving British DH86B, G-ACZP, which appeared on Scilly in 1958, but was sadly damaged irreparably later that year when airport authorities at Madrid roughly bundled it off the runway following a tyre burst on landing.

A new lease of life for fixed-wing air services came with the arrival of Brymon Airways, originally formed as a charter outfit at Fairoaks by motor racing personalities, Bill Bryce and Chris Amon. After a season of pleasure flying and hauling crayfish from Brittany to Lands End with an Islander (G-AXXJ again!), in June 1972, Brymon opened a scheduled service from Newquay to St Mary’s and later added Exeter, carrying 2,500 passengers in its first season. Brymon eventually set up shop at Plymouth and in April 1974, became UK launch customer for the Twin Otter. A year earlier, Prime Minister Harold Wilson, a frequent holiday visitor to the islands, opened the brand-new purpose-built £170,000 terminal at St Mary’s. By the early 1980s, BA Helicopters, now with a second route to Tresco, had carried well over one million passengers in perfect safety, but this admirable record was tragically dashed midway through July 1981 when S-61 G-BEON flew into the sea in poor visibility just two miles off St Mary’s; despite a swift rescue effort by the island’s lifeboat only six of the 26 souls aboard survived. 3

A potential competitor emerged in July 1984 when the Steamship Company proposed a daily Land’s End-St Mary’s service carrying both passengers and freight with a Short Skyvan. After several years of wrangling with BAH and the island’s council, during which time it was restricted mainly to freight charter work, Isles of Scilly Skybus was finally able to commence scheduled services on April1, 1987. Since then, the small airline has become a firm fixture in the region, presently operating three Islanders and two Twin Otters to Lands End, Newquay, Exeter, Bristol and Southampton, carrying over 40,000 passengers annually with over 40 trips a day from Lands End alone, especially at peak periods or when a particularly rare bird has been spotted in the islands. The withdrawal of the last Twin Otter in March 1991 marked the end of Brymon services to Scilly and two years later it disappeared into British Airways, though a distant successor remains at Plymouth in the shape of Air Southwest.

In preparation for their Blue Riband transatlantic record attempt in Virgin Atlantic Challenger between New York and Bishop Rock, Richard Branson and Chay Blyth flew to St Mary’s in a Skybus Islander. Meanwhile a Virgin Atlantic B747 carrying a party of journalists had already ramped up the publicity in February 1985 by making very low passes of both Hugh Town and St Just. Scilly buzzed with air traffic in mid-August in eager anticipation of Challenger’s imminent arrival, but two hours out from Bishop Rock the boat was holed and sank, though a second attempt a year later was ultimately successful. Perhaps just as well that the island’s new NDB had become fully operational just two months previously. Another dramatic rescue occurred late in July 1986, when a Grob G-WAVE motor-glider was forced to ditch five miles east of Scilly while returning to the mainland. Attended by a Skybus islander, BAH helicopter and an RAF Wessex, the occupant was safely picked up, while the hapless aircraft was towed to Porth Mellon and beached, before eventually being restored to full flying condition. Other interesting visitors of the period were four Danish light aircraft on a tour of southern Britain and an American Grumman Widgeon amphibian. St Mary’s eventually received a new hard surface runway (15/33) in 1991, some five years after CAA inspectors had expressed misgivings at the state of the grass surfaces.

Earlier, in September 1986 BAH adopted its current title, British International Helicopters, after sale to infamous newspaper proprietor, Robert Maxwell. The company changed hands again in 2000, after a management buy- out from the then owners, Canadian Helicopter Corp. In addition to passenger operations BIH undertakes a number of military contracts including the Falkland Islands and also police support operations at Cardiff.

For its diminutive size, St Mary’s handles a surprising amount of traffic, averaging a passenger throughput of 134,000 and aircraft movements of around 14,000 annually. Although the landing and service fees are relatively high, the islands are well worth a visit; you can easily enjoy the charms of St Mary’s in single a day on foot – or hire a bike, while if time permits, a short boat ride to Tresco’s Abbey Gardens is definitely not to be missed. ______

Press Release: The Popular Flying Association – a New Name and a New Offering

At its Annual General Meeting on September 1st, the Popular Flying Association voted to change its name. Agreeing to a proposal from the Executive Committee, the Association chose its new name: the Light Aircraft Association (LAA). This decision will take effect from January 1st 2008.

Last year, the PFA celebrated its 60th birthday. From its earliest days until 1952, the PFA was actually called the Ultra Light Aircraft Association. The Executive Committee believed that the PFA was not presenting a compelling case for joining the Association. The old name did not clearly identify the nature or activities of the association, and many members became convinced that its current brand image was limited, confusing and outdated. In the new EASA era, the association must position itself to take maximum advantage of the new regime - both to benefit current members and attract new recruits. The Light Aircraft Association is:

4 • A straightforward, inclusive name which distinguishes us from other UK recreational flying associations concerned with gliders etc. • Well aligned with the new EASA terminology, such as European Light Aircraft and Light Aircraft Pilots License. • Perhaps most importantly, a name which clearly describes what we are about, both to aviation folk and the general public.

The Light Aircraft Association, with an enhanced offering to members, will appeal to many potential new members, including many pilots who are currently almost unrepresented, within the lighter end of GA.

The new name is just the first step. Re-branding gives the association a genuine opportunity to re-define itself and become a more effective organisation providing a higher quality service. In the next few months, the Association will re-examine its offering to all sectors of its existing membership and identify what more we can provide. The LAA will also offer potential new recruits the services and support that will make them keen to join.

These proposed new benefits will be additional to the current PFA membership benefits. There is no intention of moving the Association away from its core operations – making possible the economical building and flying of light aircraft including the many microlights owned by members of the Association. ______

Build a Plane Project Two. G-SPDY Update by Jim Gale

Well, the summer holidays are over and it’s back to school/college, so routines are taking effect and life begins to settle down again. Now we can start planning for the next stage of construction.

During the holidays Tim and I got the aeroplane back to Tim’s workshop at Thorverton from Branscombe following our abortive event and after lengthy checks to see that the entire rear fuselage was complete and that all the nuts and bolts were torqued-up, our lead inspector John Skinner finally got to Tim’s and gave the aircraft a thorough inspection. With only a couple of items needing attention, the fuselage has now been passed fit for covering. Well done to everybody in doing a fine job!

Consequently, the next stages for the youngsters to work on at Thorverton were fitting the fuselage fabric, the rear cabin fabric, refitting the fin, rudder and elevators and trim cables. With Tim being away on holiday, he asked me to co-ordinate these next stages and hopefully complete them before his return in early October. To that end the four section leaders each selected 2 youngsters that could attend Tim’s workshop on any agreed evening during the week and/or a Saturday morning during September. However, to meet UK specifications (which includes a slightly smaller fuel tank) several additional components were required from the kit agent but were outstanding and holding up progress.

In addition, and I think most importantly for the youngsters, the Strut will be holding a Young Aviators’ day at Dunkeswell on Saturday 29th Sept 2007. It is our intention, as a token of appreciation to the Scouts and Cadets involved, that they each get a flight in a Strut member’s aircraft. The arrangements for the day were to meet in the Air Centre Café at 10.00hrs for a safety brief and pre-flight detail. Each student would then be taken out to an aircraft to do a pre-flight check and receive further safety instruction. Once airborne we would expect to demonstrate the effects of controls and each student should be able to handle the aircraft whilst it is flying. Any members with 2 seater (or more) a/c who would like to be involved, please give me a call on 01363-773767 or drop me a line to jmgale “at” btinternet.com

Let’s get the wagon (aeroplane) on the road (runway) again! Regards, Jim. ______

August Bank Holiday at Henstridge, 25th August by Maurice Wickstead

After a flying season decimated by rain, a window of fine weather attracted around 80 visiting aircraft to the August Bank Holiday Vintage & Classic Fly-in at Henstridge on 25th August. The day started unpromisingly with much of the region blanketed with very low cloud and heavy mist – although driving over Haldon Hill en-route at around 800 ft conditions were ‘VFR on top’ in bright sunshine! By mid morning the weather was breaking up over Henstridge and despite the earlier inhospitable conditions, Tiger Moth G-AFWI from

5 Brown Shutters Farm near Bath had apparently made it down through the fog an hour earlier – in true 1930s flying style! As the morning progressed, a wide variety of vintage types began arriving steadily – a trio of Chipmunks from Sywell and Halton, a similar contingent of Austers including Aiglet Trainer ‘MZT from Booker flown by John Havers’ old CAA colleague John Saull and co-owner David Hyde, together with an assortment of early Cessnas, Luscombes and Pipers.

Other unusual arrivals included Saab Safir ‘HRLK from Brimpton, Rutan Varieze G-VEZE from Biggin Hill, Vega Gull ‘EZJ and John Hopkins with the Watchford BA Swallow, while Peter Gristwood, John Kempton and others put in an appearance to represent the Strut. During the afternoon we were treated to a fine aerobatic display by John Beatty in the Provost from nearby Yeovilton, rounded off by Will Graham giving a superb demonstration of his RC model jet fighter, which in scale, rivalled anything seen at Farnborough! There we no shortage of takers with £25 to spare for a local helicopter ride in a Twin Squirrel, culminating in a fast low pass across the airfield. A fine selection of vintage vehicles ranging from Alvis and Bentley to Buick and Chevrolet were also on hand to complement a well-attended and memorable day. ______

Aeronca Club French Aerotour 2007 by Pete White

The annual Aeronca Club meander around France always starts with a rendezvous of participants at a coastal aerodrome to amass and form up for the forthcoming mission. This year we chose the excellent Headcorn/Lashenden, a busy airfield with the delights of the Tiger Club in residence and beneath the recent veneer, can be found evidence of its wartime history as a fighter ALG.

Our squadron this year consisted of a high proportion of Devon Strut members flying 4 Aeroncas, a Jabiru and a Eurostar, the last two assuming ‘Aeronca identities’ for the purpose of the trip. Another Strut member, Nigel Nicholson in his Eurostar had made a day trip to Headcorn and bade us farewell as we headed for France.

Reg and Pete before departure from Halwell Aeronca assemblage at Saint-Omer The gaggle transited through an almost deserted Calais en route to our first night stop at St Omer. We have always found this base very friendly and happy to accept nomadic Aeroncas and friends.

After dismounting and setting up camp, we all walked to the town for our evening meal and reflected on those many young souls from both World Wars and opposing sides, that had trod the same path before us.

Saturday and the weather looked grim as we cooked egg and bacon on our petrol stoves for the hungry team. After discussion we decided to make a break for Le Touquet when a decent clear spell arrived, so we could return to the UK if necessary. A phone call from Paris and a glimpse of the blue stuff had the squadron on an aerodrome bound bus after our leisurely walk on the beach and around the seaside town of Le Touquet.

The formation flew along the well-trodden route to Le Plessis and we were delighted to see an improvement in the skies the nearer we got to Paris. It was great to be back again amongst old friends at this historic aerodrome, one of our regular and favourite night stops in France. 6

Sharing the airfield with us were about forty plus young people, the cream of the future French flyers, who had recently completed the ‘Tour de France’ aviation style. This enthusiastic bunch of guys and gals invited our squadron to their evening entertainment and barbeque. We had a ball!

It was a delight to converse with the young aviators, discovering that two of the girls flew Airbuses and another lass was flying a Dornier 228 on fishery patrols in the Atlantic. Other lads and lasses were flying in either the French Air Force or Navy and some were still undergoing training.

The dancing and merriment went on well into the night and of our party Reg and myself stayed with them until 04.00 or thereabouts purely to further Anglo French relations!

Next day, after petit dejeuner, our young French hosts were treated to local flights in vintage Aeroncas and being so very different to their normal flying mounts, they were fascinated and some were surprised we had flown them all the way from the UK. I was pleased to fly the locally based 1941 Aeronca 65TAC, looking resplendent in wartime desert camouflage and wishing I had a little extra cash available as it is for sale.

After fond farewells to all, the squadron took off for our next stop at St Quentin and enjoying the countryside less and less as the visibility became worse. The pit stop at the charming grass aerodrome of St Q was good even though a visiting German pilot insisted his towel was down on the runway well before we arrived. Ce la vie.

The next leg of our journey was over some of the WW1 battlefields of the Somme and the memorials and brilliant white headstones marking the last resting places of so many young people, reminded us all of the great waste of life caused by the futility of war. It still goes on!

The visibility had deteriated considerably at this stage and I had a vision of a 19 year old RFC pilot fresh out from in say 1917 and with perhaps 25 hours under his belt, and trying to find his base in France. Not easy! Anyway, I digress, forward 90 years to 2007 and the squadron were joyous to now be enjoying clearer skies as we travelled further east towards our next stop at Berck Sur Mere. Berck was a pre WW2 airport for the region with visitors such as the enormous HP 42 airliner and is now the home to club flying with a based Chipmunk and Bulldog both in RAF colours amongst the indigenous designs. After our evening meal in the town some of us enjoyed the fairground ride on the seafront before our return to camp.

7 An early start on the bank holiday Monday and then onward via a customs and a fuel stop at Le Touquet to Lydd. When we returned to the UK we discovered too late that Le T does not charge landing fees for old aircraft…won’t forget next time! After lunch - English style, we all said our farewells and disappeared to the various bases from where we came, having had another wonderful adventure meandering around France. Our Welsh contingent, Alan, chose to fly non-stop from Le Tourquet to Cardiff as a personal challenge in his Aeronca Chief, ---- Oooh! I wish I still had a bladder like that! The Squadron for ’07 was: G-BRCW Aeronca 11BC Super Chief Reg McComish and Pete White G-BRWR Aeronca 11AC Chief Alan Crutcher G-BPFM Aeronca 7AC Champion Derek Boyce G-AKUO Aeronca 11AC Chief Les Richardson G-BZLV Jabiru 450 UL Geoff and Jenny Dalton G-CCAC Team Eurostar John Holden ______

Dunkfest Saturday, 1st September by Maurice Wickstead

Whilst some Strut members were at the PFA AGM and others were enjoying the delights of Saint-Omer, our friends at the Devon & Somerset Microlight Club were hosting their Dunkfest Microlight fly-in at Dunkeswell. After a slow start, by early lunchtime aircraft began arriving in significant numbers and by mid-afternoon had reached some thirty-odd microlights and light aircraft. A strong local contingent backed up the longer distance arrivals with a bevy of machines from Dunkeswell, Exeter, Watchford and Weston Zoyland, together with others from the further reaches of Devon and Cornwall. From farther afield came Rans Coyote G-BUEW hailing from Shobdon, Sky ranger ‘CCNR from Hereford, Kitfox ‘EYAS from Ely (now owned by new Strut member Robin Hughes) and Pegasus Quantum ‘MZKD from Macclesfield.

A significant body of enthusiasts were also in evidence by road and on foot, all no doubt doubly attracted by the prospect of an excellent free barbecue and refreshments. Thanks to the enthusiastic and friendly lads and lassies of Devon & Somerset Microlights for a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable day. ______

Members’ News

Congratulations to three members:

Luke Roberts on securing a place with Cabair at Bournemouth to do his ATPL ground school, starting in November. Now he has to sell his 2 gliders and do the JAA theory exams to convert from his NPPL. (But he’s keeping his Jodel D9! – picture right)

To Steve Robson for being awarded the President’s Joystick at the PFA AGM for Services to the Association (in his role as Chairman of the EC sub committee on Events, Activities & Education, including the co-ordination of the 2007 regional rallies).

And to Chris Bailey on going solo after less than 7 hours dual at Dunkeswell.

Phil Foden has bought a share in Richard Walker’s Jodel D120 G-BHXS based at Plymouth

8 Jim Gale has regressed and bought Aeronca Champ G-AJON from VAC chairman and PFA EC member John Broad. Rumour has it, he’s been having so much fun doing things he’d never have dreamt of doing in his Jodel!

Welcome to New Members

Robin Hughes of Lyme Regis is doing his NPPL at Dunkeswell in his Kitfox G-EYAS (pictured above right)

David Hayman at Branscombe Airfield has a Socata Tobago N1FD and is in the process of getting a Cirrus! ______

Circling the Patch by Chris Howell

Bolt Head There are ghostly goings on at Bolt Head. During a recent tour of the old bunker at Bolt Head we heard the tale of the fighter pilot from the 1939–1945 war who walks around the airfield. According to Trevor Furness, he was stationed there when he served in the RAF in the mid 1950’s. At this time RAF Bolt Head had closed as a forward fighter aircraft base and was being developed as a radar station to combat the threat from The Cold War. During WW2 a radar station had been set up very close to the bunker that is seen now, which worked in conjunction with another dish set up close to what is now The Port Light Hotel over at Bolberry Down. These sites were developed by Jack Nissental serving in the RAF as a technician. He famously went on a raid to Dieppe to recover German Radar equipment to help the Allies understand and develop their own equipment.

Anyway I digress. One night when all RAF personnel were accounted for, Trevor was grabbing some shut- eye in the battery room of the bunker when he heard footsteps climbing the steps to the main bunker doors, whereupon he heard the gates rattle and then foot steps returning back down. These footsteps were accompanied by the distinct flapping made from pilots walking in flying boots. When he recounted what he experienced to his colleagues they were quite blasé, and related that this was a very common occurrence! It was well known that it was one of Polish pilots who lost his life flying into the cliffs after returning from operations in bad weather! Local ghost historian Paul O’Dwyer will be carrying out further investigations and I will report back with any future developments.

Bodmin Tony Moore, founder member of Iron Maiden and of Cutting Crew fame, recently acquired his pilot’s license and embarked on a UK tour to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The tour has been in his Cessna 172, carrying his electronic keyboards, amplifier and guitar. airfield was one of his venues (followed by Dunkeswell) and he really played some very entertaining and enjoyable music on a sunny afternoon in late August. Tony has kindly agreed to fly to our Plymouth fly-in next April and perform songs from his latest album. [See Tony’s website http://www.tony-moore.com and his MySpace blog of the tour http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=207993816 –Ed]

9 Also at Bodmin, G-IVOR is undergoing a complete engine re-build, Tug Wilson has got his Pietenpol airworthy again following a very long winter of general maintenance, looking very resplendent with new tyres replacing the old slick variety. G-BRER the Aeronca Champ is still languishing at the rear of the hangar looking very un-loved. Duncan Healy (Is he a strut member?) has taken delivery of his new RV. Congratulations to Matt Culverhouse (Deputy Airfield Manager) who has now qualified with a frozen ATPL & IR (i.e. done the exams but not yet got the 1,500 hrs) and is looking for gainful employment as a commercial pilot. If you know of any vacancies please contact Matt at the Cornwall Flying Club.

Halwell The new hangars have now been completed and landscaping is nearing a conclusion. Rumour has it that Tony Keen has been flying his Luscombe 8A and it is shortly to take up residence in its new home at Halwell. Former club Chairman Keith Wingate recently visited the Reno Air Races in America. I was sad to hear that three competing pilots lost their lives there this year. There has also been the tragic news of the disappearance of world famous aviator Steve Fossett whilst on a short flight in a Bellanca Decathlon from a private airstrip in Nevada on September 3rd. Since then there have been massive searches but no trace of him or his aircraft have been found. His family has now presumed he perished in a serious crash. It’s not a great time for that part of the USA.

Eggesford On a recent visit to Eggesford I was staggered to see a jet turbine engine mounted on what looked like a Mini Moke. I was even more surprised to hear the whistle of the jet turbine as it fired up from the direction of the runway. Needless to say I moved from its line of attack to finish eating my sandwich, (pictures to follow soon – of the jet, not the sandwich – Ed)

Roger Benson was hard at work on his Cub Coupe, studying how his wing went back together. I do admire the tenacity of folk who embark on a solo restoration or total re-build. Both Chipmunks are now airworthy, a feat not achieved for many a year. The rear hangar is full of Austers in various stages of building with several suspended in the roof space. Zac Rockey has the engine from his yellow Auster in bits and was scratching his head as to where all the parts came from and where they might return! You will never be bored on a visit to Eggesford; a great tonic whatever the weather!

Plymouth City Airport I have to say I find the crowd at Plymouth more than helpful. The former naval hangar has now become available for rent and many of the premium customers from the old Gamma hangar have now moved there, leaving more space available all round. Avgas is for sale a very reasonable rate of £1 plus VAT and if you’re flying to foreign parts you can even knock off the tax!! There is often much talk of the motives of Sutton Harbour Holdings who run the airport but Plymouth City Council own it, so let’s use until we lose it and make the most of all the facilities.

Branscombe As you all know Joe Thomas has finally sold up and moved back to Kent. Joe will be sorely missed. I for one, found him supportive with a never ending supply of helpful technical advice and extremely generous with his time. The support he gave me when I first moved there was unparalleled. I would like to thank him from the bottom of my heart for all the advice he gave me without which, life with an aircraft would have been darn near impossible.

David Hayman is the new owner of Branscombe. [David is seeking a certificate of lawful use for Branscombe (from demonstration of use for over 10 years) and has asked us to publicise his request to all pilots who have visited the strip in the past to send him their log book entries, either photocopies or as electronic text. David’s contact details are in the New Members’ section – Ed].

Mike King’s Sky4Aviation, continues to expand with aircraft engineer Ron Graham joining the business. Mike’s son Robin has recently taken on a new paint spraying lad and daughter-in-law Sarah King has a

10 separate business producing her excellent aircraft covers. Somebody better have a word with Mike. This all started out as a retirement project to keep him out of trouble on rainy days! ______

Dick Stratton RIP. It is with great sadness that we report that Dick Stratton passed away peacefully on Thursday 20th September at 3 pm. He will be sorely missed by all his friends and colleagues throughout the gliding community. He had hoped to be one of the guest speakers at our winter evening Strut meetings but he asked us to postpone the commitment until he felt better following treatment for cancer. Sadly he succumbed. Dick spent so much of his long life successfully leading, supporting and encouraging people in all forms of aviation and in particular gliding. In 1981, he was awarded the RAeC Silver Medal for outstanding achievement in aviation. ______

Aeroletters

From Nigel Nicholson Dear Mike, With the end of the season approaching I took advantage of the recent high pressure system to go a bit further from home than usual. As Cromer (aka Northrepps Aerodrome, 14 nm North of Norwich) had a favourable write-up in a Pilot magazine, I took the opportunity to head there. I stopped at Peterborough- Conington for fuel. What a friendly bunch they were, everyone wore a smile, etc.

At Cromer, Chris Gurney, the proprietor, was very helpful and is always pleased to have visitors and arranged a taxi (only £3.50 into town for my overnight stay) and would have organised Mogas fuel upon request. He asked me if I would pass on news of the airfield closing and a new airfield facility opening just a couple of fields away. He is having a fly-in 22/23 September to mark the end of 39 years at the present location. Camping is available at the field. Full details: http://www.northreppsaerodrome.co.uk. Cromer is a quaint seaside town with the usual abundance of pubs and restaurants. On the route home the following day, I needed fuel so landed at Great Oakley (6 miles SW of Felixstowe) and was met by the proprietor Tim Spurge. I’d really like to give his airfield a ‘plug’ as it was really a pleasant surprise to fly in there. The runways are well maintained and generous in length, and the 14 metre high runway numbers stood out from miles away! 100LL is available on site, and there is a well fitted guest area with lounge seating and large wall mounted flat screen TV and light snacks available. Tim now also takes credit cards for the pilot preserving his cash. Further details Pooley’s 2007 page 279 or www.greatoakleyairfield.co.uk

Please can you please include my “Wanted” advert for a partner to share a new aircraft? Thanks, Nigel. ______

From Richard Havers (son of Strut member John), this is a piece of unashamed self promotion...

My friend Chris Tiffney and I have this book out and the publisher is struggling to promote it so I wanted to ask for your help. Having said that, it's already had a reprint! All of you know people who need a book to read on a plane - this one's perfect. Some of you work in the airline industry. Some of you may be going on holiday. Others just need a laugh....

From the foreword: “During the last twenty-five years or so the air travel business has seen another revolution. More fuel-efficient engines have radically altered the cost of flying and airlines have changed. The unionized, fat dumb and happy approach of the 1960s and 70s has been replaced by the lean and mean attitude of the new entrant carriers; - like Southwest in the USA or Ryanair and EasyJet in Europe. Not that the switch from the old style industry to the new way has made things any the less interesting. There’s been no noticeable downturn in applications for the mile high club, or reduction in people behaving badly on planes.

Psychologists would no doubt be able to explain in terms that the likes of us would find difficult to understand, why it is that people and aircraft frequently don’t mix. Undoubtedly it’s got something to do with the fact that most of us are nervous about flying to varying degrees. No matter how the statistics shape up the average person can’t help thinking, “How is it those things stay up there?” As often as not, people who are travelling are tense about time. Will the flight be late, or will it get me to the next airport to make my connection? Will I make that important business meeting? All this is a recipe for conflict. At check-in people are not at their most charming, especially if told that their flight is overbooked or that it’s late - for any one 11 of a hundred seemingly bizarre reasons. This can often result in the strange phenomenon of perfectly reasonable people uttering the immortal line. “Do you know who I am?”

“If God had meant man to fly he’d have given us tickets.” Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/2mgunt ______

Dear Mike, I wonder if you would consider adding a link to our unbiased UK Airport news website (http://www.uk-airport-news.info/ - a daily updated airport news website plus a news archive) on your website links page. We have pages for each major UK airport, with smaller airport's news stories on an 'other airports' page. I hope you will agree that our website would be a useful resource for your website visitors. Many thanks, Nick Bradshaw (Webmaster). ______

Heathrow Flight Briefing Unit. Following the move of the Heathrow Flight Briefing Unit from the Old Control Tower to the New Control Tower in April this year, we are still having problems with Pilots using the old contact numbers to file Flight Plans etc. We have notified the changes through the normal channels available to us but are still having problems. Therefore, would it please be possible to file a small report in your magazine/web site, detailing changes to the contact telephone and fax numbers for the Flight Briefing Unit located at Heathrow? The new contact numbers are as follows: Heathrow Flight Briefing Unit Tel: 020 8750 2615/2616 Fax: 020 8750 2617/2618. Many thanks in advance for any help. Neil Partridge (FBU Manager) ______

Belle Vue, Saturday 8th September

After several abortive attempts to get over, under or through the fog that shrouded North Devon, 45 visitors made it to Belle Vue to enjoy the delicious burgers and buffet lunch laid on by Don and Gill Easterbrook. Generous donations were made to the Build-a-Plane 2 project.

______

th Watchford Farm, Sunday 9 September (A panoramic stitch by John Havers)

12 Eighty six visiting a/c joined the two dozen residents for Watchford’s most successful fly-in. Margaret Anning and family members collected £2,000 in landing fees, lunch and raffle income to be shared between the Devon Air Ambulance and MacMillan Nurse charities.

Amongst the stars of the day were the BA Swallows of John Hopkins and Charlie Huke. Towards the end of the afternoon Charlie’s wife Anna, flew with Martin Holloway in his Stampe to get some close formation photographs of the Swallows, capturing a scene not witnessed for many decades. ______

FOR SALE

Wanted! Pilot to Plane-Share: Due to my brother Robert moving to , our 3 year partnership in our 2004 Eurostar is ending. I am seeking a new partner and new plane, hopefully based at Branscombe. My intention is to move up from the Eurostar, into the LSA category somewhere around 550-600 kilos MTOW; something that will carry 2 pilots, full fuel for 5 hours or more and better luggage limits than the 15 kilos of the Eurostar. Price budget for a new or fairly new aircraft is around £50,000 or so, meaning a maximum of £25,000 per share. Anyone interested, please call me on 07811-845912 or 01395-577169 for a chat. Thanks, Nigel Nicholson ______

October Free Landings

Pilot: Beccles, Colemore Common, Old Buckenham, Sheffield City, Shobdon Flyer: Dunkeswell, Eaglescott, Le Touquet, Lydd Today’s Pilot: Great Oakley, Conington, Lands End, Bodmin ______

Next Meeting: Ley Arms, Kenn, Exeter. Friday 5th October 2007, 7.30 for 8.00 p.m. Social evening. Please bring your photos, anecdotes and memory stick / video clips to share. Committee members will also be available to discuss the new LAA proposals and exchange ideas about the 2008 fly-in season. The Ley Arms is reached by exiting the A38 at the Kennford junction, adjacent to the Shell petrol station and following the minor road eastwards for 1km from Kennford into Kenn village. http://tinyurl.com/2zw3dq

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