SimonHThanks Simon, no disrespect, but I’m looking for something a little more vintage than a Kitfox. So far have driven about 700 miles looking at Taylorcrafts and things, haven’t quite found the right one for me….yet 🙂
Ah, I wasn’t suggesting you go for the Kitfox, I was just defending it as did wysiwyg 😉 Good value flying but certainly not vintage!
Beware of Taylorcrafts if you venture East though. I looked at one a few months ago and ….hmmm 🙁
Funnily enough, the chap I am building my plane with used to be part of a group that owned gasmantle. Small world innit! 🙂
SimonHI know of a Kitfox for sale at the moment for £9.500, reduced from about £13K. It seems an excellent price for what it is. Comes complete with trailer, fuel rig, tool kit etc, etc… uses something like 12ltrs per hour, has two seats and you can keep it in your garage! Sounds like a bargin to me.
SimonHInteresting topic. If I have not flown for a while, I tend to be extra careful in everything I do whether it be the flying or the pre flight inspection. I cover everything twice, check and double check and constantly remind myself that I’m rusty. I also tend to go for a local flight and keep things simple rather than launch off into the great blue yonder. Thats not to say that I dont usually prepare thoroughly for a flight, but if I am not current I AM aware of the problems that can bring.
With that in mind, would I be better or worse off than someone who is very current but has become complacent? The ones that are so current that their preparation consists of a quick glance at a map and kicking the tyres……….and then they take off with the pitot cover on!
I dont think lack of currency is such an issue if one is aware of its dangers and treats it accordingly. Some say familiarity breeds complacency, so its all swings and roundabouts.
Ultimately its all about attitude. An uncurrent pilot who prepares thoroughly and has a sensible approach is probably safer than a complacent current pilot.
SimonHNot sure, pic of wreckage was of a mostly Black plane with Red stars and yellow bits on the tail.
SimonHTotally agree with Moggy re the spin training. When I was sent on my first solo I had been taught how to “avoid” stalls in all the various configurations, but it wasn’t until just before the test that I did spin recovery. Would I have recovered from a spin at circuit height during my early solo’s? Very doubtful.
It also made me consider the training I had at the early stages. The ‘stalling’ lessons I had basically consisted of recovering “at the first sign of the stall”, so as the stall warner went off it was stick forward, power on and build up airspeed. This training would have left me totally unprepared should I have found myself in a fully developed stall/incipient spin. When the CFI took over my training due to my previous instructor being unavailable, I got a real shock when I found myself recovering from the incipient spin stage with the aircraft near inverted!
The point here is that there is a big difference between being taught stall/spin avoidance and stall/spin recovery. Speaking to other pilots I got the impression that avoidance is what is being taught to a large number of trainee’s. That’s fine until they are unlucky enough to find themselves in a fully developed stall or spin.
I firmly believe that there is very good reason to reintroduce spinning as part of the PPL syllabus and it would be wise to ensure that a student pilot is capable of recovering from an incipient spin or full spin before being sent solo.
I have no idea of what caused the accident this thread refers to and wouldn’t want to speculate but it did make me think back to what training I had that would help me in such a situation. As a result I think I will go up with an instructor for an hour and redo some spin training on my next flight.
SimonHthere’s one opposite the guardroom practically.
(sigh) Yes, you are correct, which is a completely different proposition to one on the threshold :rolleyes:
Y’know, its funny. This same subject was raised on a well known forum for PILOTS and almost to a man, everyone stood up and voiced their concerns and most registered an objection on the planning site. It seems that quite a few of the ‘spotting’ community couldn’t care less :rolleyes:
If plans like this dont get squashed in the early stages, there is a real danger that they could happen. No point whinging in 10 years when you can only take pics of static planes and Mr Grey has taken his toys home to Switzerland. Like Moggy said, act now and kill it before it becomes a reality.
SimonHwith respect, cambridge airport has petrol stations pretty close the the threshholds at both ends of its runways, and manages to stay open.
“Pretty close” (e.g Newmarket Road petrol station – doesn’t even get over flown in the circuit!) is a whole lot different to one at the END of the runway. I wouldn’t want to fly my plane over that lot on final or immediately after take off and considering the number of planes that have come down in that very field, I doubt the Duxford pilots would either.
Another thing to consider is that Duxfords runways are owned by South Cambs Council…..the same people who would approve/deny any planning application. Funny how that works eh??
SimonHi love the way you’re all getting upset!….i can’t see anything on there saying it will alter anything to do with the airfield at duxford. talk about 2 +2 = 5 and jumping to conclusions!
With the greatest of respect, you obviously know little about the rules and regulations of operating aircraft. Petrol station on threshold = closed airfield.
SimonHIT WILL FLY WHEN IT’S BLOODY WELL FINISHED end of
Nice to see the ‘Fighter Collection school for diplomacy and self importance’ is still alive and well.
SimonHCan someone clear up something that has puzzled me for a long time. Has ‘No Guts No Glory’ got complete guns fitted in the wings or just barrel Protrusions.
The reason I ask is that I have always thought the barrels on the l/h wing appear to be angled slightly downwards compared with those on the right. If complete guns were in the bays any variation would presumably be small, but if they are only short stumps then a variation could be possible.
May just be a optical illusion but the picture attached to the thread shows what I mean.
They are just fake guns. I fitted them when the plane first arrived at Duxford and remember thinking they looked a bit wonky then so you could be right. Just 4 tubes welded to a bit of angle iron which is bolted into the wing.
The plane was painted by the previously mentioned Mr Marshall and Pete Webster. Pretty sure John Romain had nothing to do with it. The name on the side was painted by Jon Cooper and the kill marks were painted by me.
SimonHYou might consider learning in the US…
Thats a long way to go every weekend??!! 😉
SimonHRemember a similar incident many years ago when Mark Hanna was flying their first P40E over somewhere like Switzerland/Austria and the canopy came off in flight. He made a landing at the nearest airport and was staggered when the next day, a local farmer bought the canopy over to the airport!
It had landed on the side of a large hill/mountain and was completely intact, not a mark on it!! It had landed upright on the side of the hill and slid down the grassy slope to the bottom where the farmer found it. It was refitted to the plane without problems, although the release latch was secured with (breakable) locking wire on its return to the UK.
SimonHIf you haven’t seen it, its worth checking out the thread on the Flyer forums on this subject. It is currently up to 6 pages but stick with it. The owner made several posts along with a JP, a magistrate and a very highly respected aviation lawyer. It swung my opinion in favour of the owner, I dont condone what he did as such (although do understand it) but there is little doubt he got well and truely shafted to put it bluntly.
SimonHJohn, this is what happens when you use a public discussion board as a means of free advertising for your/their business venture. People WILL discuss it and will not always say positive things about it. If you cant hack the critisisim, dont post it on public boards.
….I strongly advise that you curtail your defamatory comments.
I am not quite sure what you mean by the line quoted above but it sounds like some sort of veiled threat? I was reading this thread with interest but your posts led me to believe that you are in some way involved with this project. Purely from your posting style and what appeared to be veiled threats, I formed the opinion that you are someone I would not want to do business with. Maybe you should either rethink your posting style or your approach to advertising your project. Your posts are only doing it harm.
Oh, and Janie has a good point. Either you are using misleading pictures or you are building stairs without stair rails.
SimonHI seem to remember being told that the Tug was originally used on an RN aircraft carrier as it had large concrete blocks slung underneath to weight it down. It was painted Blue when I used drive it though. Hope that gives the Tug spotters a bit more to go on?
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