So .. after my last little off – too fast and part wing lift to then leave the runway .. I went to fly again this weekend as we finally got a lovely cool sunny relatively calm morning
My youngest, Sam, was very keen to come down and have a catch up fly so I popped down early to get it setup and ready
As I crawled under the starboard wind I spotted that the outer aileron hinge mount was scraped ..on checking it looked like it had shaved off about 5mm of the lower love of the bracket
I decided that this effectively grounded the aircraft until I had removed the aileron to check further
Sam and I removed the lower aileron in about 5 minutes and could then see both the wing mounted hinge bracket and the aileron mounted end bracket had both been shaved down a little thereby reducing the tolerance of the hinge at the bolt center point
I sent Paul at TLAC a copy of the pics and we agreed it would need two new parts .. Ivor emailed me next day – parts were in the post and should be here (Jersey) in around 36 hours ! Great service guys
I reckon it will take around 2-3 hours to repair .. careful slit of the Oratex underside of the aileron and drill out the rivets … need to sweat the aileron central shaft off the Loctite 246 fixed end plate
Great day flying today … very calm start but low cloud so delayed until after lunch to get airborne
Temp much warmer than last time so started at the touch of a button and ran very smoothly
Did a load of close bad weather circuits with lovely variations of touch and go’s … got high on one approach so tried the old Stampe crossed controls and side slipped off the excess ..
Then a couple of normal (15 min circuits) followed by a head off for ‘round the island
Heading off to the South East (training) area I climbed to just over 1,400’ and then did some nice steep turns and figure of eights and some stalls and dives ..
Back along the top of the island and then back into the circuit with some great landing practices slotting in between the commercial traffic
Eventually .. and mainly because even my 4 layers weren’t keeping me warm enough – certainly in the foot area ! .. anyway .. decided to land .. 1 hour 30 and around 8 landings in
Fuelled up and went to put her away and thought no .. fire up again … good to practice hot start technique on the jabiru 2200 … no choke … and slight open throttle .. fired at the first touch and ticked over beautifully
Then out again for a couple of close circuits … reduced to one as an Embraer from Flybe was on 8 mile final … so made a normal and touch and go off that and then into what I callled as my last circuit
Doh ….
Maybe I was distracted .. maybe the cross wind had got up a smidgen … but I def rounded out too fast ….
Touchdown was fine and smooth but it was obvious I was too fast and I should have gone around
Trying to get the tail down the port wing lifted – into the now slightly stronger cross wind, right wing went down ,. Scrape … at this point you are a passenger and can only steer a bit with your feet.
Left the runway onto the grass .. pulled the throttle right back and stopped the engine .. stick full back … and came to a calm standstill .. just short of the PAPI s
Tower calmly asked if I needed assistance … started first touch and my nice big tyres let me drive her around and off and back onto the runway .. quite a step up to it .. so took it very steadily …
Was accompanied back by the fire crew ! Inspected runway and only a green scrape mark .. brushed the bottom of the aileron and left a smooth mark of about 3” diameter …
lesson learned … get your speed down on round out !
A very good friend of mine once said ..”It’s not over until it’s back in the hanger with the covers on”
Been hoping that better weather arrives soon .. have managed a couple of short local nips around the island and, best of all, have established a ‘usual starter’ of 2-3 bad weather circuits to start off with each time.
This means that I can get a take off and landing inside about 3 minutes ! Better than the usual 15-20 with the odd ‘position behind the A320 Airbus, recommended distance 5 miles’ which sort of elongates the touch and go’s somewhat
Still Jersey ATC are brilliant and very accommodating and so my now usual very close circuits (inside the airfield perimeter) mean I keep my landing training levels high .. already done around 78 landings since start
Finally .. with Spring allegedly approaching .. I managed to get her airborne before work .. a pull out of the hanger just after 7 and then started first touch in the cold cold morning.
Had planned about 60 mins but had to curtail when the radio went offline downwind ! I’ve had this once before and narrowed it down to a bad crimp … have commented earlier on this .. guess what .. found another similar bad crimp .. may re do the whole panel in the summer !
Duly located, photographed for evidence and sharing my slip up ! And then man handled the loom and couldn’t get it to go offline again
Graham, my (real) engineer cohort reminded me that pretty much every commercially built light aircraft has a radio master override .. ie battery to switch to fuse to radio … have a switch and just ordered another 5A fuse from LAS so will fit that as ultimate fallback
Its been a long long wait since November … mostly weather a little bit of Christmas and some work have prevented any flying at all ….
Finally .. a Saturday … F2 .. I’ve never flown it in anything less than 10 knots …
This was easily my best most favourite flying session … Jersey ATC kindly let me do bad weather really close circuits .. so I could do a circuit in around 2 mins vs 15 min of the normal ‘cross country’ …
You also get to do so the ‘Ranger’ style nice curving approach .. just kicking it straight as we rounded out … well nearly 😊
It’s been so busy at work with lots of meetings and business trips away to London and Luxembourg so good flying opportunities but .. in the middle of all this I managed to get a secondary radio head unit for the Trig ordered and a secondary alternative style RPM gauge for the front P2 cockpit
The front cockpit had been pre wired with spare cables BUT only from the firewall backwards NOT from the rear (radio) forward
I had fitted the Trig Radio and Transponder just behind the pilot seat on a bracket secured to the tubular body framework .. hoping this would be reasonably accessible post build
It turns out – it was ! Easy to get at … TLAC kindly loaned me the super expensive radio pin crimpers again and I added the 4 or 5 additional pins required – should have done this at the start ! But hey .. best laid plans
The additional wires were added and labeled and small handshake tags added and then a new small 4 wire harness was made and run up the starboard side longeron
I added a new power bus bar in the front for the radio and New Rev counter but realised I didn’t need power for the secondary head as it takes 2 POWER feeds from the base radio box .. one power and one ‘power up’
The ‘power up’ connection means you can turn the radio on in the rear (P1) and the front (P2) lights up ! Neat 😉
Having connected it all up and triple checked power and earth I flicked the master on and turned the radio on and bingo ! First time .. I love this Trig kit 😉
Front RPM – MGL
I added a new small 2.25 inch MGL gauge called a Vega RPM
Wondeful instrument and .. mounting it on the front panel on the right hand side .. means I could see it hopefully even when a passenger was in !
Again – wired up and full colour at the touch of a button .. have wired it through a switch on the rear panel
Had a bit of a worry when checking through the engine documentation and it noted that the tappets should have been checked and re checked at early intervals
Its sounding very sweet and settled but I printed off the detail and took off the rocket box cover from one cylinder head to check exactly what I needed to do.
I haven’t done tappets for simply ages – not since I rebuilt the head of my 1967 MGB Roadster when I was about 20 !
So I was a bit perplexed when I couldn’t see the adjuster nuts on the pushrod heads ?
I contacted my good engineer Danny Baker who kindly put my mind at rest …
“At the base of the pushrods there are cylinders with springs in, when the oil pressure hits them they expand to a certain pressure which maintains the correct gap, very simple but works great”
So … the week arrived … and in came the crap weather ! Loads of wind .. interspersed with rain and very squally showers
The pilot briefing pack had been sent off weeks before but could this all be a waste of time ..
Jersey Flying Control Committee (FCC) insist – quite rightly – that you MUST qualify flying on the Wednesday if you are to fly in the display on the Thursday
Wednesday awoke to 23 gusting 30+ wind !!
The committee, comprising 3 vastly experienced largely ex RAF pilots looked quite daunting BUT they turned out to be genuinely nice blokes … straight talking and to the point but very supportive and helpful to new rookies like me as well as seasoned display pilots alike. Mike Stanway – Gulf Tornado and HQ Air Safety Group, Phill O’Dell (Rolls Royce Chief Test pilot), Neil Airey… all Squadron Leaders
The briefing was delivered by Les Garside-Beattie (ex Group Captain) again to the point and friendly but you were left in no doubt about what was expected of you and others.
All were advised that the airport remained operational and open to civil air traffic throughout so take off, navigation to the holding areas and entry and exit from the display area were KEY and deviation from this would not be tolerated HOWEVER .. there was a clear message that with so many old, different, new aircraft around …if, as pilot, you had an emergency you were to take appropriate safety actions and ATC would do everything in the power to assist …
WEDENESDAY 13th – PRE TEST DAY
Winds were horrible… constant squalls most of the morning and in the squalls you got huge downpours associated with winds up to 32+ not always down the runway.
The briefing was held and Les showed the constantly updating test schedule for EVERY pilot. My little Sherwood (although due to display 2nd on display day) was going up and down the schedule along with Helping Wings (the PA28 due from the aero club). It turned out Les was trying to get us a slot time that avoided the worst weather which was hoped to settle later in the display slot session.
Eventually it settled at around 16:20 local. So a pensive afternoon of checking nd re-checking the aircraft a million times and watching the weather come through and the next front pile in behind it …
Eventually (albeit in the lee of the hanger) it seemed to calm a bit so I braved nosing her our to do an engine run .. be nice to get the block warm and make subsequent ‘ready state’ a little quicker if my slot came forward.
Eventually – slot time minus 30 came around so started up and sat warming up.
The wind hadn’t significantly eased and an instant forecast was 20 gusting 26 280-290′. I asked when the last gust was but they don’t hold that info.
Concerned about weather cocking as I taxied out I was using all the proper taxy techniques with full aileron into wind and full up elevator and amazingly with 21+ from the side I still managed to maintain directional stability .. good little ‘plane this !
ATC didn’t hold me too long but gave me clearance to RIGHT hand turn to NW corner for a full anticlockwise around the island to the display area. Tail up in about 2 seconds and airborne in about 6 ! and was then given LEFT turn and head for Corbiere … obviously the display area was currently clear .. I negotiated a direct (almost back on myself) to the area which saved a lot of buffeting around …
There was a bit of low cloud, probably BKN around 800′ but this was going to be OK . Switch to display frequency and told to commence run in to the display area …
First run was around 700′ and then started a second run and pushed down to the 200′ display limit .. pass at 250′ and was then advised by Display ATC to maintain VFR limits … what ?! I queried this and was advised I had to maintain 500’ ? so I did as told wondering why I was being treated differently and all went well – some nice steep turns (using the wind to either hold it and slowly bank over or turn it into a whiz downwind). Recovering to the airfield after 10 mins (my allowed test slot time) to probably one of my best landings in 18 gust 24 ! If you are really on edge I’m sure you concentrate harder for all eventualities … def learning from an earlier post I made and getting the approach speed down vs leaving it above 60 on the round out … getting it nearer 50 or less on flare was just right.
One (of the several) nice things about the Jersey air display is that they hold a reception at the Governors House for all connected ..
THURSDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER – DISPLAY DAY
Thursday arrived and weather was pretty much just as bad – clearer and less rain squalls but still there and the wind had now swung slightly so we had somewhere between 260 and 300′ not great !
My slot time was number 2 behind the aero club 2 x PA28’s so agreed with James Evans (CFI who was a rock of common sense and calm words to be throughout) that I would start up when they did .. and aim to take off right behind them as it would take me longer to get to the display area.
This turned out to be the best plan … timing wise.
ATC finally cleared me to line up but was worried about the fact that the 2 PA28’s were long gone … and my headwind speed was going to give me around 20 GS in the bay !
I lined up behind a particularly pretty landing Beech Twin 18 … but it took an age to stop its roll and vacate so I couldn’t move … AND we had landing commercial at 6 miles !
ATC did a brilliant job – as always (Jo), of informing me that I would be required to be ready to roll as soon as … and also immediate Right turn after take off.
If you look at the video I think you would agree it could NOT have been any quicker .. rolling and then opening up – Tail off in 2 and lift off in 5 seconds and right angle wing over in less than 10 …. hey who needs Harriers !!
Some shots kindly sent by a local photographer on the front .. showing off the new tail colour scheme as well as battling 30+ winds !
Not all the weather segments that day were very friendly … but you could argue they were pretty awesome !
Timing for getting into the display area is pretty tight – the organisers run a very tight ‘ship’ ! I was late taking off due to the delayed clearing of the runway but the 30+ tailwind soon got me to the edge of the display area. Curving in over the Fort Regent (a large converted for t overlooking St Helier) and it all suddenly feels very real … display instructions said not below 800′ over the fort approach then, once passed, down to 200′ minimum
Coming in over the Raddison hotel and in front of the Grand Hotel I tried a little wing waggle to say ‘Hello’ … felt so slow with what was probably around 35 on the nose … but tried a fast (ish) first pass. The wind assisted first turn downwind was pretty much knife edge and proved to be quite useful to keep the aircraft nicely in the main display arena. Later on I heard feedback that not too many aircraft had flown the full length – ie not far enough West … the problem is with mine if that I’d flown full length I could have probably only done 2 passes in the time available due to the headwind !
As you can see from the video footage the turns got tighter and the sun shone ! Hey, what could be better. The Cloudy shot above – we had hefty isolated downfalls that morning – gave us a dramatic sky backdrop .. this hot was taken by a friend on the front and is now a lovely big 1m poster on the wall at home.
Having completed the display, on radio silence on the display frequency, you are allowed to talk and say ‘Vacating the display area’ – I think you are supposed to say 1 minute before as well – but I simply lost track of time in all the fun …
I called and display control said that the Dornier float plane behind me was running a couple of minutes late so could I extend … quick wing over and back into the display area for 2 more passes … one fast..ish and one very slow !
Then broke away and handed off from Display control to normal tower frequency (The airport is still operating a normal commercial schedule) .. slotted in and no holding and in for a blustery approach ….as you can see its quite choppy but settles down in ground effect and down … had been cleared to vacate at the end (like 1500m !) but opted to put down in the first few metres as I didn’t want to push my luck with a 1500m taxy back and weather cocking …
Pulled off behind a Flybe Embraer jet and parked up … phew ….
I will tell the wine bottle story in another post !!!!
I flew for around an hour a week or so ago .. lots of nice friendly circuits and bumps on a very busy Saturday morning fitting in and out of loads of local traffic out enjoying the sun and an interesting 10 kt crosswind plus around 4-5 Airbus in’s and out’s .. busy with end of season holidaymakers.
When I landed I was going to try to refuel but – as we still have no self fuelling, the poor guy on ATF fuelling was running around between jets and the odd avgas request. I opted to just fold the wings and put her in the back of the hanger and fuel next time. They cant fuel inside the hanger so you have to be onsite which isn’t always easy.
Then I saw Graham around (our local engineer) working on a Saturday (again !) helping some guy on a Baron with no brake pads 🙂 Having helped push the Baron back I asked Graham that if he saw the fueller and had a spare jerry can could he try to get say 15-20 litres (Point 1). Then, seeing how busy he was, said don’t worry and then left for my other half’s promised shopping in town that morning !
So, the scene is set ….
The following Thursday, I got the door access key to the hanger as I was going to be working on the aircraft late (way after all the club guys had gone) getting a few last minute bits ready for the air show.
After fixing some permanent air dams and painting the cowl I put the top and bottom cowls back on .. it was now around 21:00 and pretty dark (Point 2).
I started to tidy up after the work and put the tools away and there, behind my ‘plane but clearly neatly lined up with some of my other bits .. two brand new big shiny red 20L Jerry cans .. which, on lifting, were clearly full … (Point 3)
I thought what a little star Graham is … (Point 4) .. and duly set about getting the ladder and funnel ready to fill. I did think it slightly odd he had left me 2 full cans .. so 40L but hey ho .. always going to be handy and will get used inside the next week.
Having put around 15L in – the tank was about 2″ from the top … any more and it simply syphon’s out in flight on the first banked turn … scary when it first happens as you get a face full of fuel .. then you learn .. don’t overfill !
I then got clear of the aircraft and texted Graham to say what a star he was and many thanks ….
The story then takes a little downturn … “..What tanks of fuel ….” says Graham !
I wont bore you with the following missives .. suffice it to say it went along the lines of OMG and what could it be .. it certainly smelt and behaved like fuel .. BUT .. there was no way I could trust it until I could pin down an owner … the OWNER whose fuel I had just ‘stolen’ !!
Luckily I was traveling for a few days – flying to Oxford, so I could widen the texts and contacts and emails to chase provenance of the contents, certainly before flying again.
I had already made my mind up to drain as it simply wasn’t worth the risk.
It then came to light that the gardeners had been working on strimming and tidying the surrounding area (presumably as part of the pre airshow prep work) and it was their fuel for the strimmers and lawnmower.
I suppose, like all ‘problems’ .. it usually isn’t simply ONE THING that bites you … I got about 4 nibbles (the 4 Points above) where assumptions, and some completely disconnected person leaving 2 cans of fuel right where I would have expected them, and WHEN I might have expected them leads you very precisely to the WRONG solution (solution being the operative word !)
Jersey Sherwood Ranger 