Devon Strut News, August 2006
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
REPRESENTING SPORT & RECREATIONAL AVIATION IN THE SOUTHWEST www.devonstrut.co.uk DEVON STRUT NEWS, AUGUST 2006. CO-ORDINATOR’S COMMENTS by Christopher Howell The very hot month of July is speeding by. It is amazing how many heads have been off this month. So many people I have spoken to have been headless. I am referring to cylinder heads! This has lead me to ponder again the merits or not of using mogas. With the price of avgas shooting through the stratosphere is there some money to be saved by using garage forecourt petrol?? Well yes, 20p per litre, but then the debate is about what those cunning dogs put in forecourt fuel. We know it changes from winter to summer but do they fiddle about with it during other parts of the year?? Many prefer to stick with avgas as the mixture and standard, in theory, should remain high!! Then there begs the question of oil. Many use the posh semi-synthetics whilst others use straight mineral oil, at a considerable saving, as much as half the price of semi-synthetic. There is much to ponder on for a pilot who has more than enough to worry about. I struggle to dodge and swerve past the domestic wasp with the usual cooing as I pretend to be out of earshot. I didn’t hear Tesco, Waitrose, make sure your back by 4pm and your cooking dinner tonight!! Hey ho, happy days! There is a strong leaning towards the World Cup footy having affected some of our fly-ins as numbers were considerably down. The Bodmin Hangar Dance went off very well, thanks to all the hard work of Pete White and many members of the Cornwall Flying Club. Thanks also go to Richard and Ingrid Hulls for their event at Manstage. The Lundy Island fly-in was a stunning success this year with a record sixty nine visiting aircraft. Well done to Pete White and Reg McComish who headed up the organising group and flew out to Lundy on the Saturday to be ready first thing on Sunday. Thanks also to all the other Strut members who helped out. The Strut membership continues to grow and we now have 160 members. I receive many more phone calls these days from all over the country as people seem to think we are the authority on what happens in the West of England. I have to say that this all comes from our website and my thanks must go to Mike Mold for all his hard work in this direction. He has totally transformed the website in the last year and The Devon Strut is beaming out all over the world. Jim Gale has been working really hard with PFA HQ and we all look forward to visiting Kemble this year and looking at the PFA 60th Anniversary Historical Homebuilt Aircraft Display. Branscombe Air Day is this Sunday, 30th July. Joe Thomas is pulling all the stops out for this one. Aeronca UK kick off on Saturday 29th holding their Annual Branscombe Bash. They will then camp over for the Air Day on the Sunday. Full details can be found on www.sky4aviation.co.uk Happy Flying, Chris Howell. ___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Eggesford Fly-In, 17th June 2006 Photos by Maurice Wickstead Despite wanting a low-profile fly-in because of complaints from a neighbour, Nigel Skinner hosted a well attended event on 17th June, attracting pilots who appreciate the welcoming, friendly environment at Eggesford. Ian Quinn escaped his commercial duties with Cathay Pacific to bring his Cessna 180 Skywagon from Franklin’s Field near Wells. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Halwell Fly-In, 25th June by Derek Boyce The South Hams Microlight Club once again paid host to a Strut fly-in at their South Devon airstrip. Keith Wingate and the team worked hard all day to ensure everyone had a good time and were well looked after. Keith also took the time to fly his son, no doubt to make sure he has someone to fly him in the future as the years start to take their toll! Club members are in the process of building individual hangars at Halwell and we were able to see the progress being made. As part of the Club’s fund raising efforts Mary Aston was busy selling raffle tickets for a flight in PIGI, the Eurostar. The draw was made at a subsequent Club meeting and Strut member Peter Gristwood was declared the winner. A total of 43 aircraft flew in, with 9 of those arriving the day before to make a weekend of it. Amongst the visitors was a rarely seen Rans S4 from Torquay, Vans RV4 and RV6, whilst the longest distance travelled was a Banbi making a regular flight to one of our fly-ins from Derbyshire. Strut Members flying in included Chris Pidler (Fournier RF4), Pete Gibbs (Kitfox), John Hope (Jodel 1050), Roy Young (Europa), Mike Mold & Russell Marshall (both Jodel D112s), Steve Waddy (Aeronca Chief) and new member Richard Skinner with his new Eurostar from Belle Vue. 2 Thanks to Keith Wingate and fellow South Hams Microlight Club members for their hospitality and to Martin Pengelly for doing the marshalling. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Bodmin Hangar Dance, 1 July by Steve Robson To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the PFA Pete White and his team from the Strut and the Cornwall Flying Club organised a combined fly-in and 1940’s theme hangar dance at Bodmin on Sat 1 July. Although the number of fly-in visitors was small, well over 100 people attended the hangar dance, most in 1940’s dress, which added to the flavour of the evening. A tremendous amount of preparation had gone into making the hangar into a suitable venue as well as preparing the amount of food to feed everyone. The band played a good selection of jazz and swing that soon had the dance floor crowded and an interlude of wartime sing-along favourites. Of particular note was the appearance of a small battle tank, specially designed by Geoff Dalton, on a chassis that resembled a bike! Interestingly, it attracted a large number of people who were keen to have a go. Driving a two wheeler tank in a state of ‘social confusion’ proved to be quite a challenge for some with hilarious results and photographs to prove it! Evacuees Tug and Sandra Wilson Father Pete blesses Desert Rat Geoff Dalton Many thanks to Pete and all his team for the time and effort they put in that helped to make the event so successful. [On the continuing theme of recommending places to stay, for visitors wanting to overnight at Bodmin we have no hesitation in pointing them to Roger and Hester Dell’Erba, The Stables, Welltown, Cardinham. 01208- 821316. They have two double rooms and it’s possibly one of the best B&Bs we’ve experienced. Whilst it’s only a couple of miles from the field it’s not walkable so they will also pick you up & return you to the club. – Ed]. 3 Alan (good ol’ boy) Crutcher Capturing the mood, 60 years back in time ______________________________________________________________________ Moth Rally Visit to Dunkeswell, 1st July 2006 by Maurice Wickstead The de Havilland Moth Club Vintage Weekend Tour this year started from Henlow and routed to Badminton before proceeding to Dunkeswell, where, in a complete contrast to last year’s event, when only two arrived because of the atrocious weather, the sun was beaming with a light breeze and the occasional cloud – a perfect English summer’s day to go flying in a Moth. And on the lunchtime leg no less than thirty vintage gentlemen’s aerial carriages graced the skies over Dunkeswell, representing almost the entire range of deHavilland’s classic pre-war civil production – it could have been a scene from 1936! At a little after 11.30 the first to arrive overhead was Tiger Moth G-EMSY and over the next few hours a steady stream of visitors kept the circuit, the radio man, fuel bowser and volunteer marshals busy; the tail-ender being another Tiger, G-AHIZ from Cambridge, at 14.50. In all, 17 Tigers were joined by a Puss Moth, Fox Moth, Leopard & Hornet Moths, a lone Chipmunk and a Moth Major. The oldest aircraft was Gipsy Moth, G-ABDA, first registered in July 1930 with the Redhill Flying Club. If this were not enough, Australian-built Dragon G-ECAN, splendidly decked out in Railway Air Services livery, was partnered by newly restored ‘Scottish Airways’ Dragon Rapide, G-AGJG, once to be seen buzzing round the Heathrow circuit on joy-rides with Island Air Services in the mid-1950s. The trio of twin-engined biplanes was completed by 1936-build DH89, G-AEML, Proteus, the subject of several restorations, since its first at the 4 hands of Viv’ Bellamy at Lands End in the late 1970s. Also of traditional interest were Austers ‘GXV and ‘RUI, together with 18 other assorted visitors from far and wide. A large band of enthusiastic helpers, including a crew from the Devon Strut (including Maurice, Alan Faupel and John Havers - Ed), were on hand to ensure the smooth running of proceedings. John was delighted to become re-acquainted with Hornet Moth ‘DMT, which he and a group of friends had rescued as a wreck many years before. Come the time to depart for afternoon tea at Netheravon (and subsequently Popham; thence to Wycombe Air Park and Oaksey Park on the Sunday) and the taxi-way resembled EGLL at peak time, with four Tigers, the two Austers, a Leopard Moth, Dragon and Rapide strung out along the taxiway, all patiently awaiting their departure ‘slots’.