Classic Flight open day + Rapide Flight

Hopefully KRP will get the rebuild she deserves this time;)

Hi Roger, certainly enjoyed my flight – i’ve been reading a lot about mid-war aviation in the UK, particularly the civilian side of things which is interesting me more and more, so was great to be able to fly in a 1930’s airliner, as well as see two others. Thanks for the information about G-AKRP, be good to see another Rapide in the skies, and will be interesting to see what colours she comes out in

I was there volunteering today (and tomorrow) – hope you enjoyed your flight Rob.
I was mainly escorting persons into the other side of the hangar but one group stopped for quite a while looking at G-AKRP in pieces. One chap (who had just flown in ‘IDL) seemed to find it hard to believe the wooden bits and pieces he was looking at – the same as the bits and pieces of the aircraft he had flown in – weren’t metal!!
Later the Chief Engineer gave me (and some interested visitors) some information on the restoration of ‘KRP. The three, linked, steel tubes that form a main spar running under the fuselage and through the inboard lower wings are having to be replaced with newly manufactured items. The original spec/size of tube is no longer available and a special 500m run would have cost £10,000 (I think he said). Luckily one steel supplier had a guy who had returned to employment after retiring and his contacts were able to suppy enough tube of the required size and to an equivalent specification that the CAA are happy with.
The reason the original is not fit for flight anymore? The original design had two parallel flanges for a pair of bracing wires to bolt to. There is a gap between to two flanges and a gap in the tube were they are welded to it that allows rainwater to ingress into the tube, then no way for it to get out. After all these years it’s got rusty and no good for flight anymore.
Thought I would share this fascinating mini-lecture with you.

Roger Smith.