When is a moth a better moth? When its made of metal…. August 3, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Royal Air Force, aircraft.Tags: ADC Aircraft, aero clubs, aircraft, Aviation, Cirrus engine, Danish register, De Havilland, DeH Gipsy I, DeH Gipsy II, Denmark, DH60, DH60 Moth, DH60M, DH60T, DH82a Tiger Moth, differential ailerons, First World War, flying schools, French, Geoffrey De Havilland, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, Major Frank Halford, Metal Moth, RAF, Renault V-8 engine, Roy Palmer, Royal Air Force, WW1
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Geoffrey de Havilland’s line of biplane sports/training aircraft, which culminated in the DH82 Tiger Moth, began with the first flight of the DH.60 Moth prototype, at the hands of De Havilland himself, in February 1925. That aircraft, G-EBKT, was powered by a rather unusual engine, built by ADC Aircraft – the Cirrus. This consisted, essentially, of one half of a surplus WW1 Renault V-8 engine, and was, therefore, incredibly cheap. The Moth quickly established itself as the prefered equipment for flying schools and aero clubs everywhere. The Moth was so ubiquitous that soon any light aircraft was refered to as a ‘Moth’.
By 1927, De Havilland had a problem; the huge ‘pile’ of WW1 Renault engines had almost run out, and a new engine for the Moth line was needed. In conjunction with Major Frank Halford, a four cylinder, 100hp engine was designed and built for the DH60; the DeH Gipsy I.
The aircraft you can see is a DH60M Moth, built in 1929. Powered by a DeH Gipsy II of 120hp, it represents the state-of-the-art in light aeroplane design for this period. Several significant changes had been made to the original DH60, including the use of a metal tube primary structure for the fuselage, as opposed to wood (hence the ‘M’ for ‘Metal Moth’). If you look closely, you can still see that De Havilland has retained his ‘differential ailerons’ on the lower wing only, and the wings and tail are in the traditional ‘any colour so long as it is silver’ factory finish (the aero club, or individual customer, chose the fuselage colour). This fine example of the breed is seen here at GVFWE 2009, at Kemble, and is now owned by Mr Roy Palmer; it was on the Danish register, prior to being recovered to Britain.
As well as examples for the civilian market, the DH60 (as the DH60T) was sold to various military customers. The Royal Air Force was not totally convinced, however, and it wasn’t until the sweep of the wings were altered, to enable pilots to bail-out easier in an emergency, and an inverted version of the Gipsy engine fitted, that it finally adopted the Moth as the DH82a Tiger Moth. The rest, as they say, is history.
CEA Jodel DR. 1050/M-1 ‘Sicile Record’ June 7, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Kemble, aircraft.Tags: aviation industry, CEA, Centre Est Aeronautique, Continental Motors Corporation, D.9 Bebe, dihedral, DR.100A, Dr.1050, Edouard Joly, EVRA propeller, French, G-BAEE, German, GVFWE, Jean Delemontez, Jodel, Jodel DR.1050/M-1 'Sicile Record', Kemble, Luftwaffe, O-200 engine, outer wing panels, Pierre Robin, plywood, Round Sicily Rally, Second World War
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- CEA Jodel DR.1050/M-1 ‘Sicile Record’
Following the Second World War, much of French aviation industry was either bombed flat, or still producing German designs, continuing on from Luftwaffe contracts. Edouard Joly, who ran an aviation repair business, and his son-in-law, Jean Delemontez, designed and built a light single-seat aircraft, the D.9 Bebe. This little plywood gem, with distinctive dihedral outer wing panels, first flew in 1948, and a whole series of developments and varients of what became the Jodel family of aircraft flowed from this, and were were either built by licencees or home-built.
The feisty Fennec – a fiercer fox March 24, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in 'warbird', Aviation, England, France, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, United States, aircraft.Tags: 'iron' bombs, 'Little Rascal', 'warbird', .50 calibre machinegun, 51-7545, 7/72 'Fennec', 87mm rockets, air exercise 'Carte Blanche', Air Show, Algeria, Algerian civil war, Armee de L'Air, armour protection, Aviation, Browning, close-support aircraft, COIN, Dassault, Dassault Mirage IIIC, Delaware, desert fox, Duxford, EALA, England, Escadrilles d'Aviation Legere d'Appui, European, Fennec, France, French, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, Haiti, Haitian Air Force, hardpoints, Hullavington, Hurricane, Imperial War Museum, light strike unit, Metropolitan France, Mirage IIIC, Museums, napalm containers, North Africa, North American, North American Nomad, nose art, observer, Pac-Aero, primary trainers, R-1300, R-1300 Cyclone engine, R-1820-76B, Radial Revelation Inc, radio gear, SNEB rockets, St. Nazaire, Sud-Aviation, T-28A, T-28S, T-6G, T-6G Texan, The Aircraft Restoration Company, Trojan, underwing gun pods, USAF, Wilmington, Wright R-1820 engine
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North American T-28S Fennec
In the late 1950s, with war raging in Algeria, French forces needed a close-support aircraft urgently. Their light strike aircraft being used in North Africa (in what would now be called a COIN role) included large numbers of the T-6G Texan. This aircraft had been upgraded, fitted with underwing gun pods and thrown into the fray. Standard French operating procedure was to use a pilot and an observer in the Texan on missions. This left the aircraft slow, underarmed and very vulnerable.
Two North American Nomads (civilianized versions of the T-28A) were purchased by the French for test purposes, quickly followed by 146 ex-USAF T-28A Trojans. These primary trainers were handed over to Sud Aviation at St. Nazaire, who oversaw the rebuilding of the machines; this included fitting standard French radio gear, armour protection for the engine and crew, and additional underwing hardpoints. The aircraft lost their 800hp R-1300 Cyclone engines, and were upgraded with a Wright R-1820-76B putting out 1425hp (these were sourced through Pac-Aero, who had produced the Nomad conversions). The aircraft was named Fennec, after the swift, cunning desert fox of North Africa, and the designation changed to T-28S; first flight took place on 10 March 1960, with each aircraft conversion taking approximately two months.
The war in Algeria was being fought over rugged mountain terrain, as well as in urban settings, and the Fennec suited the task. As well as being faster, more powerful, with extra armour protecting the engine and crew, the armament fit included a mix of .50 calibre Browning machine pods, SNEB rocket packs, 87mm rockets, napalm containers and ‘iron’ bombs.
The Fennec seen here is based at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, and is one of only two T-28 aircraft in the country. It was originally built by North American in 1951 (51-7545) as a T-28A, but was converted as the 119th Fennec. It carries the markings of one of the French light strike units (Escadrilles d’Aviation Legere d’Appui) EALA 7/72 ‘Fennec’ of the Armee de L’Air. Eventually, this example was disposed of to the Haitian Air Force, where it served until 1978. After a time on the US civil register, it was bought by Radial Revelation Inc, of Wilmington Delaware, and shipped to the UK, under management of The Aircraft Restoration Company.
This aircraft carries nose art, as ‘Little Rascal’, and the badge of 7/72, appropriately a fennec under the moon, under the cockpit. This feisty fox has been described as ‘a poor man’s Hurricane’; indeed, when the Fennecs were withdrawn to Metropolitan France after the Algerian War was over in 1962, they were issued to training and secondline defence units, and it is a matter of record that a Fennec claimed a ‘kill’ on an ‘opposing’ Dassault Mirage IIIC during air exercise ‘Carte Blanche’ in 1963!
‘Little Rascal’ is a fine performer on the European air show scene, and is shown here parked in the warbirds section at the GVFWE, Hullavington. A splendid conversion of an already successful type.
Leopoldoff Colibri – romantic, obscure, and very French (or is that, Russian?) March 16, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, British Isles, England, France, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: Abingdon, aircraft, Aviation, Aviation Federation of Morocco, biplane, Bolshevik Revolution, British, British register, coelcanthe, Continental Motors Corporation A65-8S engine, D'Arcy Aviation, diamond, Dr Saugnes, drawings, E.T.S.Leopoldoff, emigres, England, F-PCZX, First World War, fishermen, France, French, French register, G-AYKS, General Juin, genus, German, gold, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, hummingbird, Imperial Court, Imperial Russia, interplane struts, L'Amicale Jean Baptiste Salis, L.3, L.7 Colibri, La Ferte-Alais, Latimeria chalumnae, Leopoldoff, lower wing, M.J. Rousseau, Malagasy, Morocco, navigation instruments, nets, Paris, post-war, Prince Moulay Hassan, prototype, Rabat, Resident General de la France au Maroc, Russian, Russian aristocracy, salesmen, Salmson, Salmson 9Adb radial engine, Second World War, Sensenich W72CK, sesquiplane, shopkeepers, Societe des Avions Leopoldoff, Societe des Constructions Aeronautiques du Maroc, taxi driver, upper wing, William Cooper, wing dihedral, wooden propeller, WW1 markings
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- Leopoldoff L.7 Colibri
Sometimes you find something that surprises you – immensely. It is rather like panning for gold, and coming up with a huge, rough diamond. At Abingdon, during an early phase of the GVFWE event, I came across this pretty aircraft; it was rather like some Malagasy fishermen hauling up their nets and finding a coelcanthe (Latimeria chalumnae).
The genesis of the Leopoldoff is shrouded in the mists of the Bolshevik Revolution. It is said that the plans of the original aircraft were drawn up prior to 1917 by E.T.S. Leopoldoff, who, when the Imperial Russian regime fell, hurriedly left the country. Like many other Russian emigres, he ended up in Paris (French had been the preferred language of the Imperial Court, and most of the Russian aristocracy). There, the Russian community scratched out a living as best they could; some were shopkeepers, some salesmen, and some, as in Leopoldoff’s case, became taxi drivers. He finally persuaded a French company to build a prototype to his drawings, which flew in September, 1933. Progress was slow, with the first production machine appearing in 1937. Minor variations gave rise to changes in designation, with the main version being the L.3. Leopoldoff had formed his own company by now (Societe des Avions Leopoldoff), which undertook to build this pretty aircraft as a two seater for club or touring purposes. Just over 30 aircraft were produced before the Second World War broke out.
The L.7 Colibri (named after a genus of hummingbird) is a post-war modification of an L.3. The original aircraft would have been fitted with a Salmson 9Adb radial engine of 45hp, leaving it rather underpowered. Instead, the L.7 now has the ubiquitous Continental Motors Corporation A65-8S engine, of 65hp, driving a wooden Sensenich W72CK propeller – a much better proposition. You can just make out that the L.7 is a sesquiplane (or unequal span biplane). Some Leopoldoff aircraft were ‘normal’ biplanes, and you can see that this has given rise to an odd appearance. The attachment points for the interplane struts on the upper wing have stayed the same, which means the struts now make an acute angle with the shorter, lower wing. Note the pronounced wing dihedral. There are echoes of WW1 aircraft in this design; indeed, one of the few examples still extant (in the collection of L’Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis, at La Ferte-Alais in France) is painted in German WW1 markings.
Post-war, six more aircraft were built in Morocco by Societe des Constructions Aeronautiques du Maroc, and one of these made a noteworthy flight on the 3rd July 1948, when it successfully completed a 600km course as part of an aviation rally organised by the Aviation Federation of Morocco. The Leopoldoff (powered by a Salmson radial) landed safely back at Rabat, where the crew of Dr Saugnes and M J Rousseau were greeted by the Resident General de la France au Maroc, General Juin and Prince Moulay Hassan. It was the smallest aircraft in the rally, and had no special navigation instruments!
This L.7 is the only one on the British register, and was owned by D’Arcy Aviation in the 1970s (it had been on the French register, at one stage, as F-PCZX). It is now in the capable hands of Mr William Cooper. Long may she grace British skies.
Air Speed Indicator – the root of it all March 9, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, aircraft.Tags: Aviation, GVFWE, Royal Air Force, De Havilland, Keevil, aircraft, Leopard Moth, French, fuselage, airliner, flaps, Henri Pitot, pitot tube, French enginer, end plate, spring wire, DH 85, DH 84, Dragon, commercial airliner, stall, never exceed speed, undercarriage, G-AIYS, electric torch, night flying equipment, Airspeed, basic six, analogue, ambient pressure, ram-air pressure, static pressure, glass cockpit, flight envelope, stalling speed, dead reckoning, stick and string aircraft, 20th century, pilot, digital sensors, back-up, altitude, atmospheric conditions, aircrew, cockpit, bulkhead, port, graduated scale, ASI, air speed indicator
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Air Speed Indicator!
Every since the first fragile ’stick and string’ aircraft staggered into the sky during the first years of the 20th century, the pilot has needed to know just how fast he is going. Not only because he uses this value to help him determine his position by ‘dead reckoning’ (time x speed = distance run), but also when he is entering dangerous areas of the ‘flight envelope’ of his aircraft. Being close to the stalling speed of the machine is lethal, but also there is a ‘never exceed speed’, above which lies structural failure. There are various other speeds which it is important to know, such as the safe speed at which flaps may be deployed, or the speed at which the undercarriage must not be extended (if retracted, of course).
Modern aircraft often have a ‘glass cockpit’ display which gives readouts of airspeed from digital sensors, but even these have an old-style analogue dial, as a back-up. The usual two inputs needed to produce an ASI readout are the static and ram-air pressures, one being the ambient pressure (which changes with altitude and atmospheric conditions) and the other being the pressure due to the aircraft’s movement through the air. These are usually obtained from a Pitot tube (named after the French engineer, Henri Pitot), located a little distance from the fuselage, to avoid air disturbances. The ASI became part of the ‘basic six’ instruments ,which were instantly recognizable by any Royal Air Force aircrew member from the 1930s onwards
Up until the mid-1930s there was another method – crude but adequate – used in some low-performance machines. Here we see a photograph of the air speed indicator on a DH 85 Leopard Moth , G-AIYS, parked at GVFWE, Keevil. All it consists of is a flat plate, with a few holes drilled in it, secured to a length of spring wire. As the air pressure builds up due to movement of the aircraft, the plate is forced backwards, giving a readout of the estimated speed on the graduated scale. There is even a red section, indicating when you are approaching the stall! Needless to say, this device IS crude, but it works well enough. The Leopard Moth’s bigger brother, the De Havilland DH 84 Dragon airliner has a similar indicator, and I dare say that this was the last time a commecial airliner flew with such a device. By the way, the first time I entered the cockpit of a DH 84 Dragon, I noticed an electric torch clamped to the left hand side of the bulkhead. When I asked what it was, I was told that it was an essential piece of the night-flying equipment….at night, you shone it out to port, and illuminated the graduated scale between the wings to find out your airspeed!
A Cub with a chequered past…. February 13, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Second World War, United States, aircraft.Tags: Cambrai, Civilian Training Program, Continental A65 engine, Cub, French, Grasshopper, Great Britain, J3 Cub, L-4, Lock Haven, NE-1, O-59, Pennsylvania, Piper, Second World War, SOCATA MS 880 Rallye, United States, United States Army Air Corps, US Marines, USN
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- Piper J-3C-65 Cub
This is a Cub with a chequered past – and a chequered present too! Formerly on the French register as F-BPYN, it was first registered in Britain during 1979. A little ‘digging’ reveals that it was built to a US Government contract in 1943, and would have been one of the many J-3s built with military designations such as L-4 and O-59 for the US Army Air Corps, or NE-1 for the US Navy and Marine Corps – the type was almost universally known as the Grasshopper. The Civilian Pilot Training Program, which involved the training of hundreds of thousands of pilots in the US during WW2, also used the J-3 in huge quantities. Over 19,000 civilian and military Cubs were produced by Piper at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania from 1938 to 1947, and no less than 320,000 US military pilots were trained on them.
Giovanni Guareschi December 8, 2008
Posted by shortfinals in Giovanni Guareschi, Literature.Tags: artillery, bankruptcy, BBC TV, Brian Blessed, British, cartoonist, character actor, co-production, comedian, Communist, Don Camillo, editor, family history, Fascist, Fernandel, films, financial considerations, French, Geneva Convention, German, Giovanni Guareschi, gravitas, Il Candido, Italian, Italian army, Italian/German descent, Literature, magazine, Magazine publishing, mayor, Mussolini, My Secret Diary, nemesis, officer, parish priest, Peppone, Poland, PoW, principal role, Protecting Power, radio adaptations, River Po, Second World War, Terence Hill
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Giovanni Guareschi is one of my favourite authors. A complex family history involving bankruptcy, and severely changed circumstances, meant that he was virtually forced into the world of magazine publishing and writing. He criticised Mussolini’s government during WW2, which was a very risky proposition, and only his entry into the Italian Army, as an artillery officer, saved him. On the collapse of the Fascist regime he and thousands of others were captured by German forces, and imprisoned in camps in Poland. Their condition was deplorable, as unlike other PoWs they had no Geneva Convention ‘Protecting Power’ to look after their interests. The wonderful book “My Secret Diary’ (US edition, 1958), which he wrote for his son, is based on his experiences and is incredibly moving. An accomplished cartoonist and editor, he took over the editorship of the magazine ‘Il Candido’, post-war, and began writing about his beloved valley of the River Po; according to him, just to fill in the gaps in the magazine!
Don Camillo, the turbulent parish priest, his nemesis, the Communist mayor, Peppone and a cast of warm and beautifully drawn characters filled many shorts stories, which were published to great acclaim. Four films followed in the 50s and 60s, which were joint French/Italian co-productions. Despite the involvement of the author in the casting process, I must, politely, disagree with the selection of the French comedian and actor, Fernandel. He had neither the gravitas, nor the physical size to be believable as Don Camillo; doubtless, financial considerations trumped artistic ones. (Another film, in 1983, starred Terence Hill, who is actually of Italian/German descent, as Don Camillo). There have been other TV and radio adaptations (some posthumously ), and the award for single best performance, in any of the principals roles, must go to the great British character actor, Brian Blessed, who gave a tremendous reading as Peppone, in the BBC TV series, broadcast in 1981.
