April 2022

In this month’s edition:

  • Down on the Farm 41, this month 2/22 – Tony Palmer
  • Advanced warning: you may have to give way to that drone! – Steve Hutt
  • Tricky crosswind? Feeling the pressure? Squeeze your left fist…
  • That time of year again: New CAA charts published

Down on the Farm 41, this month 3/22

With the change of Covid rules and the general reduction of the serious of the virus we are resuming our club meetings by meeting this month at the Swiss Cottage in Shoreham. Next meeting is on the 6th April and we have Umberto who is training at Shoreham at present coming along to talk about Flybox products flyboxavionics.it where his father is the main man. I met him at my farm when came across from Shoreham to check Graham Smiths Flybox Auto pilot installation installed his very early Sportcruiser (he was the importer).

Klemm L25C G-ACXE

We have painted some of the cowls and have made the sealing strips that cover the gaps between the “pieces of cheese” which are bit sections of the wing that fold out of the way, so that it is possible to fold the wings.

The air diverters between the cylinders have been installed and fit perfectly.

The most important step is the weighing of the plane to see how heavy it is compared with its pre rebuild weight in 1938/39. The C of G is also very important as one of the BA Swallows at Shobdon is very tail heavy at present.

There is some good news and some not so bad news. When we were about to paint it, many people were advocating the “Jodel” route which would have many layers of paint and fabric. But we considered that given the amount of surface area of this plane, which is huge and the weight of many layers of dope, paint, fabric we also have some original sections which clearly showed that it was not fabric covered but had pinked tape along the edges and over wooden seams.

We did a trial weighing on the Friday and then asked Phil Trangmar back on the Monday for the final weighing and witness the procedure and actual values as well as the calibration.

The results were that it is heavier than it was in 1939 by about 90 lbs but at least the extra weight seems to be spread around equally as the C of G is within the 18” to 22”.

I have asked for a completion pack from the LAA and once that arrives we can start putting the paperwork in and hope that it can get cleared to fly by the summer.

General view of the first weighing

Front end

Back end

General strut news

I will bring my bag next club night and will be collecting club subs so please bring some cash. £20 still!!

What ideas for day out, talks etc have you come up with? Have a think and let me know next week.

On Club night Umberto will give a short talk on Flybox products (made in Italy).

Tony Palmer

Advanced warning: you may have to give way to that drone!

This FAA Report could have a significant impact on the integration of drones and GA world-wide: UAS_BVLOS_ARC_FINAL_REPORT

The FAA formed an Aviation Rule-making Committee (ARC) to recommend rule changes to facilitate the integration of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights by Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) into U.S. airspace. (Note use of Uncrewed, not Unmanned, as there could be passengers even if there is no on-board pilot). ARC membership was drawn from regulators, academia and industry.

This ARC has now published its report which contains many innovations that could well impact the aviation world beyond the U.S.A..

As an example, on Right of Way, the report proposes:

“Next, the ARC recommends a series of modifications to the right of way rules in Low Altitude Shielded Areas (within 100’ of a structure or critical infrastructure as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 5195c) 2 and in Low Altitude Non-Shielded Areas (below 400’) to accommodate UA operations. Specifically, the ARC recommends several amendments to 91.113 to:

  • allow automatic means for see-and-avoid responsibility;
  • give UA right of way in Shielded Areas;
  • give UA right of way over crewed aircraft that are not equipped with ADS-B or TABS in Non-Shielded Low Altitude Areas; and
  • give crewed aircraft that are equipped with ADS-B or TABS (and broadcasting their position) right of way in Non-Shielded Low Altitude Areas.”

The ARC recommendations are not yet official rules in the U.S.A. – they are sort of the equivalent of EASA ‘Notice of Proposed Amendment’.

Steve Hutt

Tricky crosswind? Feeling the pressure? Squeeze your left fist…

Yes, this doesn’t seem like useful advice, but there is scientific backing for it! In experiments with tennis players under pressure, squeezing a ball in their left hand before taking the shot made for more consistent performance. It seems to improve performance in other sports and a wide range of activities. For an explanation of how this might work, and how to do it properly, see the article below.

A Remedy Against Choking Under Pressure

That time of year again: New CAA charts published

The half-mill VFR Southern England and Wales chart edition 48, came into force on 24th March 2022. Puzzling how to fold it? (Yes, I know; grannies and eggs, but just in case…) AOPA have produced a handy set of instructions that can be downloaded as a pdf: AOPA chart folding instructions.

Events

  • Strut Club Night this month: Wednesday 6th April, 7:30 pm at The Swiss Cottage, Shoreham. Talk about Skybox Avionics.

For the latest list of events, go to the Events page on the Strut website.