any flyable fleas?

Three years eh? Better sooner than later 😀

I got distracted by other things, not school though. Other hobbies etc. But im back now.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, Skyboy asked a sensible question. I guess it deserves a sensible answer!

Sorry Skyboy, you’ve only got me, but I’ll do my best!

Didn’t see my post a couple of days ago then? 🙂

Roger Smith.

No. Id lost interest in aviation by that time realy. Im only just coming back to it now.

Three years eh? Better sooner than later 😀

No. Id lost interest in aviation by that time realy. Im only just coming back to it now.

When did you take that photo Newforest?

And the answer is that the photo was taken, 1st September, 2002. Is that you on the flightline? 😀

When did you take that photo Newforest?

Not my photo, common web photo! :p

When did you take that photo Newforest?

I think we should see what we are talking about! 😀

I don’t believe this Flea flew after W.W.ll.

That makes sense. I just thought it was longer ago than that.

I suspect Ollie could be related to Wozza 😀

Well I’m impressed.
We’ve finally got a real Shuttleworth expert writing on this site.
Something we’ve really not had before.
I await further insider information.
Andy

The insider information is that this Flea does not belong to Shuttleworth. It was discovered above a fish and chip shop in Southampton by the Southampton Hall of Aviation, now Solent Sky and due to lack of room to display, was lent to Shuttleworth way back. Due to loss of paperwork or provenance as it may be called, the Museum was unable to obtain the return of the Flea when the new Museum opened and Shuttleworth retained another exhibit. :p

Snapper, wot happened to ya’ post ?

I was reading that !

Not intentionaly. Maybe the odd one got on through an animal.

Did they have fleas in the Navy? :rolleyes:

That makes sense. I just thought it was longer ago than that.

I think this would be the one you saw at Old Warden – July 1997, a modern Belgian variant

Tony Andrews

There’s at least one ‘modern traditional’ Flea on the UK register, HM-293, G-AXPG which lives down in Sussex. There’s a picture of it on the CAA G-INFO website: http://www.caa.co.uk/applicationmodules/ginfo/ginfo_photo.aspx?regmark=G-AXPG&imgname=G-AXPG001&imgtype=JPG

I think that is what i remember seing flying, or something like it.

Haven’t there been some modern redesigns of the original flea? I certainly seem to recall a more modern version in my old copy of Janes All The World’s Aircraft.

Group Captain Clouston, he of Comet racer fame, flew a Flea, and was far from impressed;-

‘I climbed at 40 mph to about 600 feet, the highest I have ever known a Flea to get. The plane was treacherous to manouvre, and I decided I had better glide down for a landing as soon as possible. I eased the nose down, closed the throttle and began a gentle gliding turn.

Without the slightest warning, the Flea turned upside down and dropped like a brick towards the ground. From the way the control stick flapped floppily around, I assumed the cables had snapped.

I reached out and grabbed the trailing edge with my hand. I tilted it but nothing happened. In desperation I opened the throttle wide. The engine, which had been idling, caught instantly and the rush of slipstream hitting the tail surfaces brought the Flea upright, about 100 feet from the ground.’ {The Dangerous Skies- PAN Books }

Taking the view that this device was beyond all redemption, he sketched out an ammended design with a bigger fuselage and orthodox layout. Two were constructed and the design was dubbed ‘The Clouston Midget’ . Both suffered fatal crashes.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, Skyboy asked a sensible question. I guess it deserves a sensible answer!

I know the original HM14 design had an unfortunate propensity to develop an unrecoverable dive (if negative pitch was greater than minus 15 degrees) but did anyone ever fix the design fault and did this produce any flyable fleas? I have seen a couple of taxiable fleas in the UK but wonder if there are any (anywhere in the world) that get airborne.

Sorry Skyboy, you’ve only got me, but I’ll do my best! I’ve got a bit of an interest in the beasts as the Luton Minor I fly was effectively a post-flea design with a longer fuselage and normal wings. (Comments sure to follow on its airworthiness from TT!)

The problem, as you said, in the 1930s was that the tandem wing design developed a fatal flaw in that, at certain angles of attack, the front wing acted as a slot for the back wing, which then relatively produced a stonking amount of lift, pitching the Flea, regardless of control input, into an outside loop.

I’m not sure whether they were formally banned, but it sure as heck quashed any future popularity – and the onset of war did the rest.

Over in France though, Henri Mignet had cured the instability problem relatively quickly by moving the wings further apart and altering the way the front wing was controlled. Flea building has continued non-stop since the 1930s over there.

There’s at least one ‘modern traditional’ Flea on the UK register, HM-293, G-AXPG which lives down in Sussex. There’s a picture of it on the CAA G-INFO website: http://www.caa.co.uk/applicationmodules/ginfo/ginfo_photo.aspx?regmark=G-AXPG&imgname=G-AXPG001&imgtype=JPG

There are also at least half a dozen HM1000 Balerits on the register. These are a modern tandem-wing microlight, using the same philosophy and Ithink, designed by Mignet’s son or grandson. http://www.caa.co.uk/applicationmodules/ginfo/ginfo_photo.aspx?regmark=G-MYDZ&imgname=G-MYDZ001&imgtype=JPG

Hope that’s a help!

Im a young person, only 18. I do accept people here know alot more than me and am more than happy for them to correct me.