Septic,

You asked for it, so here’s my flight report from the two flights I carried out in the Replica Fury (It’ll be interesting to see how the tables come out in the final print!):

Summary Report on Flights carried out on Fury Replica G-BKBB
Data:

Date: 4 Oct 01
Airfield: Old Warden, 110ft amsl
Weather: 210-220/10-15 kts, nil sig cloud, nil weather, temp ~16degC, QNH1010
Aircraft weight at start: 3541.4 lb
Aircraft C of G at start: 4.72 ins fwd of datum (based on pilot weight of 205 lbs)
Profile: Ground run, and 2 flights.

Times (local):

Ground Run Flight 1 Flight 2
Engine Run 1403-1414 (11 mins) 1409-1434 (25 mins) 1615-1655 (40 mins)
Taxi to Stop – 1413-1433 (20 mins) 1617-1655 (38 mins)
Take off to Land – 1416-1429 (13 mins) 1622-1652 (30 mins)

Ground Run:

Start, warm up, gentle handling, two high power runs, mag checks, idle stability, shutdown.

Flight 1:

Take off, climb, stalling, steady heading side slips at medium and low speed with medium and low throttle settings, idle glides, circuit and landing.

Flight 2:

Take off, performance climb, High speed run level and in dive, general handling including stability assessment, 2 circuits: go-around and glide landing.

Summary of Engine Data:

Phase of Flight RPM Boost
(psi) Oil Pres
(psi) Oil Temp
(deg C) Coolant Temp
(deg C) Fuel Press
(psi) Remarks
Gnd run 1,000 – 75 18 25 1 start
1,200 – 70 26 60 1.25 rad flaps open
2,000 – 70 40 80 – mag drop ~ 80 on each, smooth
2,500 6 75 40 80 1.25 2xfull throttle runs, both satis
2,200 1.5 75 40 80 1.25 throttle at gate
idle – 45 40 90 1 shutdown

Flight 1 1,000 – 65 42 50 1 start
1,500 – – – – – mag check, ~20 rpm drop, smooth and satis
2,300 1.5 60 55 80 1.2 Take off
2,555 0 60 58 60 1.5 145 mph, 2000ft level run about 5 mins into flight
1,000 – 40 59 75 0.9 shutdown

Flight 2 – – 0 55 65 – pre-start
1,000 – 60 50 58 0.7 start
2,100 0 70 51 62 1.1 static boost, mag drop, 50 each, smoooooth.
? 1.5 55 60 90 1.1 climb aborted
2,700 1.5 155 mph, 5500 ft, level hi-speed run
2,700 about -4(?) 200 mph in dive, about one third to half throttle
2,000 – 35 70 70 – level flight 3000ft
2,400 0 45 68 70 – 20 mins into flight, 120 mph, 2700ft
1,800 -5 35 68 70
idle – 25 60 75 – after landing

Handling Comments:

– Engine starts well, particularly when hot. Primer stiff to operate, impossible to tell when charged, However, number of pumps was taken from uncharged state and worked well.
– Engine coolant tends to overheat on ground and in the air at higher powers.
– Aircraft moves off with about 1200 rpm set.
– Tail skid was effective brake, hi-power required for taxi.
– Wheel brakes good for taxi, but hoops on rudder bar interfere with pilot’s ankles when operating brakes.
– Take off was brisk, trim set to neutral, 1.5 psi boost, little tendency to swing, tail comes up (very) quickly, risk of prop strike.
– Engine vibration noted in flight at prop rpm.
– Cockpit environment in flight very windy, knee pad papers must be secure, helmet tends to lift off head.
– Stall has little pre-warning and occurs at 58 – 60 mph indicated.
– Aircraft appears to have adequate flight stability, sideslips are normal.
– Aircraft was flown without incident with load factors between about 0.5 to about 2.5 G.
– High speed run was limited to 200 mph as control cables were assessed as slack before flight. During run, excessive vibration was noted on two lift wires, the aileron control cables and one landing wire.
– Except for a propensity to overheat at high power, the engine was satis, behaviour was similar to Hind in sideslip and at idle – e.g., a little ‘lumpy’ at low speed, no hint of failure in sideslip, and slow, but sure pick up from prolonged idle. All throttle movements were slow and progressive, no slams were (or should be) carried out (damage may result to weak accessory drive shaft in Kestrel engine, accessories include supercharger, etc). Oil pressure was initially high at 70 – 75 psi, but fell progressively through flights to a steady 45 – 50 psi at medium rpm.
– Engine overheated in climb after 1.5 minutes, see table at end of this section.
– Given high stall speed, first landing approach was made at 75 mph, min 70 over hedge. Glide approach was carried out at 80 – 90 mph. The glide angle was steep and the extra speed was necessary to provide enough energy for the flare. The aircraft sat down well in the three point attitude, using about 100 – 150 yards of runway for decel to touchdown followed by an an un-braked ground roll of less than 100 yards – good tail skid.
– On taxi in, tail wheel/skid assembly activated in both directions, satis.
– Engine breather outlet is at tail, therefore drip tray should be placed at rear rather than front of aircraft (?).

Performance Climb Data:

Time
(mins) Altitude
(ft) Airspeed
(mias) Oil T
(degC) Oil P
(psi) Rad T
(degC) Fuel P
(psi)
0:00 1,300 100
0:30 2,700 100
1:00 4,000 100
1:30 5,000 100 60 55 90 1.1

Unserviceabilities and Unacceptables:

– Rudder bar hoops too small.
– Fuel gauge inop. on second flight.
– Pilot’s harness buckle unacceptable – opens on one action only, no positive lock.
– Limitation placard in cockpit not accurate.
– Cockpit placards required on: 2 times starter engage levers, primer pump, cockpit light switch, start (?) CB, Skid Pump Handle,
– Starter engage light required.
– Start master required.
– Radio Inop.
– Airframe vibration noted in flight at prop rpm.
– A/H cannot be uncaged.
– Electrical system indicators required – I’m not sure as to the nature of the system, so cannot recommend a fix.
– At high speed, the following wires vibrated: right front lift wire ~ 130 mph+, and at a higher speed: rear right landing wire, left front lift wire, aileron control cables.
– Cof G Schedule: the value of aircraft weight times moment arm does not does not equate to the value of moment given. Promulgated weight and moment used for CofG calc, arm assumed to be in error – should be 7.95 and not 7.9 as stated.
-The C of G range is too small for useful flight operations.

Recommendations:

The flight test form has been completed as far as was possible. I recommend that the aircraft be retested after the above anomalies have been rectified.

The C of G range is small, a heavy pilot or a light pilot with kit will take the machine beyond it’s aft limit. The aircraft is stable. A test program to increase the Cof G limits should be considered.

I believe the current status of the aircraft is non-aerobatic. The good handling characteristics and high excess performance beg that the aerobatic status be reinstated. An appropriate test program is desirable. It would enhance the sales potential.

The overheating in the climb is of concern. Given that the climb rate is high, and the only reason to demonstrate a climb is to create a datum for future comparison, I would suggest that the climb boost be reduced to, say zero. This would reduce the overheating and also allow a full five minute climb to be carried out below 10,000 ft agl.

I’ll see how this comes out on the thread, then I’ll give you a few thoughts on test flying.

Spitfire T Mk VIII, G-AIDN, in the Kings Cup Air Race at Baginton (now Coventry AIrport) in the 50’s – 1958 I think. She took off last to do 4 laps of the course as the slowest aircraft had half finished it’s last lap – a Tipsy Nipper, and if I remember right, the eventual winner. ‘DN appeared to be about 12th as she turned in at the start of the final straight, crossed the line 4th and was in the lead about 100yds later – magic stuff for an 8 year old – me, not the Spit!

Met24,

You’ll need to talk to us if you want to fly in on the 11th – there’s an aeromodelling event on all weekend and the airfield will be closed until 1430 approx on Saturday and from 0900 until 1700 on Sunday. ALso, the show may over-run, and departure Saturday evening cannot be counted on – although we do offer a discount on accommodation for those aircrew stuck overnight.

VBW
A

I know it’s not on the front line and also that it’s already been put forward, but the Boscombe Harvard must be one of the oldest working military aircraft – it still does, I believe, a useful job as a photo chase aircraft.

There’s one in the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, currently in colours of an aircraft during delivery to the middle east. There’s a picture on the Collection website.

What do you want ’em for, interest or modelling data – I’ve got several suitable for both somewhere in my archive.

A

I’ll put out a PA reminder for a 1300 meet at the Beer Hut, then – would you remind me, please MOTF, I’m bound to forget……….

Is anyone turning up for the Proms on Saturday, and/or the August evening show on the 21st. The latter starts at 1730, rather than the normal 1830; sunset draws ever closer as autumn approaches. If you need an RV call on the PA, please let me know.

All else being equal, see you all on Sep 5th,

A

Right, but A Harrier might do it too.

That reminds me of the most idiotic thing I heard this year:

A Sea Harrier FA2 was doing its display, and an “enthusiast” bragged in front of his apparently totally ignorant chap that the Harrier used an Olympus engine, the same as on Concorde. Yeah right !

I have to say, it’s not such a stupid comment. The first Pegasus engine in the Harrier (P1127 to be exact) was made up from the Orpheus for the core and the first two stages of the Olympus for the fan. A third stage was added to the fan later, but the Orpheus core has remained very much the same as it was in the beginning. The first two stages of the fan in the FA2 are not all that different from the original Olympus fan, either!