In this month’s edition:

• Down on the farm 69 last month 9/24 – Tony Palmer
• Can your aircraft use unleaded fuel – check the AOPA database
• Looking to upgrade your headset? – Here’s an option worth looking at – Richard Griffiths
• Aviation Archaeology
• Would you take an electric air taxi? Would you invest in the business?

Down on the farm 69 last month 9/24

Klemm L25C G-ACXE

She has now been to two more flyins namely Deanland and Kittyhawk, coved below. A pair of long journeys ????

Deanland Flyin

The weather forecast for the event promised to be stunning i.e. sun and low winds, and it was.

We arranged to meet at about 9.00 at the farm. We got the all the planes out and then popped the NG5 back in barn. We prepped the Klemm as it had a 10.15 slot as it was non-radio and had it away by 9.45 so that Jim and Tony Berryman could have long journey there? TB tells me there had been some very early arrivals before he got there. TB then jumped into his Remos and flew back to me and we got the Tiger away and into Deanland.

The food and infrastructure was great and thank you to all involved in the running of it and providing the good weather. £4,230.34 was raised towards the running of Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance, a great day to remember.

Kittyhawk Flyin

The weather forecast right up to the day was terrible but on the day it turned out OK at Kittyhawk apart from a very few spots, but others parts got huge downpours; it was very localised. I am not sure of the number of arrivals but it was very good. Food and everything else were provided and it turned out to be an enjoyable day meeting friends and the David the new owner of Kittyhawk (I expect as the last piece of paper was due to be signed the following Tuesday).

Collection of 2^nd Percival Prentice (or is it the 4^th)

We had been offered the remains of another Prentice for spares, so last Wednesday Jim, David Bird and 2 others drove up to an undisclosed location to pick it up.

We trailered it home and it stayed at Palmersfarm until the Saturday until we could unload it at Davids place.

Tony Palmer

Can your aircraft use unleaded fuel – check the AOPA database

As a prompt to encourage the take-up of unleaded fuel, the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA) UK have researched the CAA’s G-INFO database to list individual aircraft that can use it. Is your aircraft there and is the information correct? Check it here: aopa.co.uk/can-your-aircraft-engine-run-on-unleaded-fuel

Looking to upgrade your headset? – Here’s an option worth looking at

I recently got myself an active noise reduction (ANR) headset from a newish British company. Talking to Tony Batchelar about them, he suggested putting a note here as they are a very cost effective alternative to the usual ANR products.

The background: I’ve managed quite well so far with my trusty DC H10-13.4’s – and I have to admit I like the ubiquity of them in movies and TV shows; the are the ‘proper’ headsets! However, recently starting flying my SD-1 SSDR with Hirth F-23 two-stroke, I discovered their limitations; the engine is so bloody noisy that I couldn’t hear the radio!

I was loath to ditch them having fitted them in a DC ‘Flight Deck Helmet’ (cloth cap with front and rear bump pads). I’m basically flying in an orange-crate with a big lawnmower engine on the front, and in a nasty event, I’d like my head to remain the same shape. So my first thought was to get them upgraded to ANR, a service provided by Mr Anrman. Well, no – he is not doing them any more as the parts have become too expensive and difficult to import from Texas. I did find another company, Flackwell Electronics who will do it for £320, but being a thrifty (tight) sort, I thought I’d try the second-hand market first. There was an advert on AFORS for an ‘as new’ Aerotion Aviation AS2 ANR set, for £275; cheaper than a conversion and I’d still have the DC H10-13.4, win win! The question was, is it any good?

The set looks a bit different, the shells and part of the frame being made of carbon-fibre, for lightness. Would they fit the DC helmet? Actually looking at the range of headsets on the market, most look like DC knock-offs, with exactly the same dimensions – as does the Aerotion set, so I was pretty sure they’d fit. The reviews of the set that I found gave glowing praise – not quite Bose, but pretty near and at the manufacturer price of £379.75, considerably cheaper. So I gave the guy on AFORS a call.

I had an interesting conversation. He was disposing of the assets of a flying club that he owned. A member had been killed doing aerobatics. As well as having personally to inform the next of kin and dealing with the AAIB, the police investigated him as a murder suspect! You may understand why he was giving it up. Anyway I sent him the dosh and the set arrived courtesy of Parcel Force.

The quality of the manufacture is excellent and the fine leather covered ear seals are certainly nicer than the DC gel ones. Switching them on in the aeroplane was a revelation; they completely suppress low frequencies with a very acceptably attenuated higher-frequency residual ambient sound – and I like to hear something from the engine. The radio is as clear as a bell. Plus, the ‘music in’ socket, to which I’ve attached a Bluetooth receiver allows SkyDemon to give me warnings. I’m very happy.

Anyone want to buy a used DC H10-13.4?

Richard Griffiths

Aviation Archaeology

Prompted by the memory of our recent visit to the Wings Museum, this article on a recent archaeological dig may interest you. It reports on a B-17 bomber crew uncovered in Suffolk after 80 years: the-past.com/news/evidence-of-missing-b-17-bomber-crew-uncovered-in-suffolk

Would you take an electric air taxi? Would you invest in the business?

The Royal Aeronautical Society has an interesting article about eVTOL on its website by Bill Sweetman. Don’t invest until you’ve read this! aerosociety.com/news/bursting-the-evtol-bubble/

Events

Next club night will be at the Longshore and will be a social evening, Wednesday 2nd October, 7:30 pm.

For a full list of events go to the website Events page.