Wayne Lofts

The other news is that we are to be joined in the Dragonflying fraternity by Wayne Lofts, with whom I have enjoyed a summer of phonecalls and texts. He is to have a red trike and a red and grey wing. Formerly Wayne had a Quik but has been inspired by Will Minns, Steve Wilson and myself to experience not merely piloting but actually pretty damn close to pure flight...and to do so at a considerable reduction in expense.

Welcome Wayne!


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Power, venting and psychology

On the very last day of a summer holiday spent grounded by winds, I finally got airborne. This day's other great significance was that it was the first take-off since I ploughed into a field of crop when my big end bearing failed on the climb-out in June.

And this time, as I took off I was clearly under-powered and naturally this alarmed me more than it might otherwise have done and, aware that I had to immediately set myself up for an emergency landing, (and not get caught out by continuing into wind as I did last time - running out of runway), I called Mayday and did a tight turn downwind and then, still high, lined up at the start of the runway (and this is the funny thing with the Dragonfly wing) couldn't dump sufficient height to get in on the first run, so had to go around, but again in a very tight circuit. Once down, the engine died at idle. I restarted and Dave Garrison (who had given way to me in the circuit) reminded me to cancel the Mayday, after which, I taxied in to work out what was wrong.

A quick call to Paul Bailey suggested the main reason:- I had flown on a tank full of fuel that had been venting since the 6th July. No wonder it had lost its potency at the top end! Also, he said, having left the fuel in the carb the jets would be (what word did he use?) coated in the residue of the old fuel and this would affect the settings. He said that running new fuel through the carb would clean the jets. Never leave fuel in a carb for more than two weeks.

Lesson learned.

Steve has mentioned this before and I had forgotten. Others say they top up with fresh fuel, but this time I drained mine off completely and filled with new stuff and that did the trick.

I flew another circuit, but again came down very quickly because my throttle was slipping, so that I couldn't fly without keeping one hand on it. Once down, I tightened it.

Dave Broom kindly took G-CFKK up and confirmed that it was now climbing well but said he too had trouble with a slipping throttle. I tightened the throttle as best I could without the right allen key, and then went to test it again but aborted when the runway vibration made the throttle slacken again.

Today I have bought some nuts and super glue for the throttle job and next time, and from now on, will be monitoring engine revs with a Tiny Tach *, a very nice little tachometer which works by induction (by wrapping a lead around the HT lead) to measure the number of sparks per second - and giving an RPM read-out. That should take the guess work out of power settings. Then all I need is a good flight to overcome the psychological block at take-off....the anxiety, which I didn't know was there, that I won't have enough power to get airborne.

*The Tiny Tach cost me £45, which includes VAT and postage. You pay by return, once the item has arrived. I thought that very reasonable. The one done by Bailey was more expensive and anyway has been discontinued by their distributor because the price has been hiked by the manufacturer by 30%!

Steve, who appears to know me rather well,
just sent me what he knows is my dream property.
He over-flew it yesterday evening.


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Richard Grace

Image from RAF Forum

I just wanted to mention, in brief, that yesterday I also met Richard Grace, son of Carolyn Grace (of the Grace Spitfire) and chatted to him for 5 minutes or so, while we refuelled the Spitfire I had just marshalled. I'd seen him in the display pilots' tent, having marshalled his Pitts, and terrible though it is to admit, knowing that he, in only his twenties, is a Spitfire display pilot made me almost sick with envy. I had been learning to fly when I heard that he had just gone solo in the family Spitfire, aged twenty-something. And shamefully I'd just assumed he'd be cocky and self-satisfied, as I am afraid I might well be in his position.

But he was charming and disarmingly modest - took my hand and shook it, like I was someone who mattered too *. He learnt to fly in a Cessna 152 "like everyone else" and did about ten hours on their Stampe and a few hundred hours on other stuff before getting near the Spitfire, making his intro to flying very conventional. It was all part of Carolyn Grace's plan to ensure that her son would not take the Spitfire for granted. Even now, Carolyn Grace does most of the displaying. Yesterday, Richard flew in a Pitts display pair.

There are Spitfire pilots around who don't smile and who walk around with an "oh, this old thing?" look about them, and they make me so cross. They are the most privileged pilots around (the envy of millions of avid enthusiasts) and they don't look like they are even enjoying it. But you cannot begrudge Richard Grace his good fortune because if anyone is going to do it, you want it to be someone who knows how lucky he is, doesn't take it for granted and clearly loves flying the Spitfire.


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*Yes, yes....I know I matter. Am not down on myself. People who are mad about flying will understand the hero worship of Spitfire pilots. And really, the point is not how I feel, but the attitude that Richard displays. He is a gentleman and a real credit to Carolyn Grace - and of course to his late father, Nick Grace. (eeek, I know that sounds patronising)

Rougham

Click any picture to increase its size

I haven't got time to do a full write-up now. Suffice it to say, for now, that today I parked a Spitfire! That is one massive prop to be powering towards you when you know that the pilot does not always have you in sight. Once he was parked I helped refuel.

Steve Wilson took some fantastic shots which I include here.

A really great day.

Depressing summer

"So, what have you got planned for the summer, Pete", all my colleagues asked.

Flying, flying and flying.

....and how much flying have I done?

Not one bloom'n* minute.






*Just in case any of my students are reading. - I could lose my job for writing the uneuphemised word I was thinking. Blinkin' PC state!

Thanks Cath Vickers - for the 8th August, two years ago!

Just got off the phone to Neill, who said that on the 8th August it'll have been two years since we started flying together. Two years!

Cath Vickers had the inspiration to book Neill to instruct me because I was hanging around, wasting time at Sywell during prime evening flying time, when all Flylight's instructors had clocked off for the day; I was camping at the airfield for the summer, but it was often too thermic to fly during the middle of the day.

I'd had a great grounding with Phil, but Neill's arrival put my training in over-drive and was the beginning of a great friendship too. Neill always said I'd miss the "the best days of your life", and he was right. After 11 months I passed my test -only needing some cross-country qualifiers to get the licence, which was issued 21st September 2009.

So we have been planning for me to go up to Sackville soon for an hour in his Quantum, and once my first year with a full licence is up I am going to do some fixed wing with him too. Neill's been saying I should fly into Sackville in the Dragonfly. I would if I could but the weather has been crap, quite frankly. Must get up in the air soon, though.

So, I have had my licence 10 months. I feel like I have forgotten so much of what I was taught, and Neill says that in a way, that is a good thing to be doing - forget the academic stuff and just fly. And that is exactly what I have been doing.

Anyway, for August the 8th, thanks very much, Cath. It was an inspired idea!



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