In this month’s edition:

• Down on the farm 90 last month 5/26 – Tony Palmer
• Ultimate High Safety Forum at Goodwood Aerodrome – Richard Griffiths
• Did you know that a Valiant bomber crashed in Southwick in 1956?
• Paraglider hit by Cessna 172 video
• Not just the Red Arrows having procurement problems

Down on the farm 90 last month 5/26

Prentice G-APPL VR189

We went down to Deltair and retrieved our dismantled Prentice prop as we have struck lucky and have acquired another correct propeller which has been rebuilt and had been on G-APPL previously. Unfortunately Sue Saggers who I bought the Prentice and Beagle from, had a fall at home and fractured her left hip and broke her left wrist. They have repaired and she has left the Conquest hospital and is now in a nursing home in Maidstone and we don’t know if she is up to going home yet.

Beagle Terrier G-ATDN TW- 641

The Terrier is coming on well and I hope to get the wings bolted on this week so that I can sort out the controls as the cable were cut when I took the wings off as I had a crew waiting to lift the wings off and being slow was not an option. Once they are in position I can plan the connections, i.e. the control cables, fuel pipes, pitot, electrical connections etc

One of my missing items were the clear plastic covers over the wing navigation lights, the ones that came with the plane were broken and did not fit correctly. Tim Harrison (Peter’s son) who came to the last strut evening has sold me two pattern undrilled covers and an original left cover, so I can move on and not waste time making moulds.

The project has reached a big milestone in that I have put the wings back on, I had planned to do it without lots of strong men, so I dreamt up a method to lift the wing and manipulate it so that I could be done with minimal lifting. On Friday afternoon Steve and Rosie Brookes came over to help me hang the wings which went fairly smoothly, thank you very much the both of you!!

Trip to Aeroexpro Friedrichshafen

Farry and I got up very early on the Wednesday morning (I had not recovered from my Sun and Fun trip, as I got home about Monday lunchtime) and caught the first Eastjet flight from Gatwick to Zurich, picked up a Peugeot 208GTI hybrid and drove to Lake Constance, caught the ferry and ended up in a remote Aeroexpro car-park where we had to wait a while for the bendy bus to take us to the show.

The show grows bigger each year. The pictures only represent a tiny fraction of what is available to see. We met many people there including Jon, Ben and Miti from the LAA and Paul Reilly and new lady friend.

Next club night June 3rd 2026 at the Longshore by the airport roundabout

Dates for your calender: 1.7.26 talk by Paul Smiddy who wrote MOONLIGHT CRUSADERS, Tangmere was the base for many of these flights.

This engrossing history explores the creation, development and actions of the Special Duties squadrons, which carried spies, political figures and much more.

Tony Palmer

Ultimate High Safety Forum at Goodwood Aerodrome

I managed to get a ticket for this free event on 17th May, run by Ultimate High, the flight training organisation based at Goodwood. There were 120 attendees, of which almost half were flight instructors. I came away believing that I couldn’t have spent a better Sunday.

There were twelve presentations from: UH, the AAIB, IGAO, RAF Coningsby, Lycoming, Nicholson McLaren and CAA Airprox Board. All information packed and seasoned with practical experience. There were also pertinent and motivating contributions from the audience; pilots who had experienced that bad day. The whole thing steered by Mark Greenfield (Greeners) to encourage open discussion and leave the attendees with powerful information that would make a difference to their flying.

Here are some key points taken from different presentations:

Greeners intro: Pilots make mistakes. Loss of control is the biggest killer, even of experienced pilots. Accidents are the result of multiple small things. What is required is disciplined thinking – recognise earlier.

From the AAIB: The data on accidents is noisy, but the UK is worse than the USA. Electronic conspicuity has reduced mid-airs. The spring is the worst time of year for accidents. Partial power loss and loss of control are the main factors in accidents.

Greeners on startle: Effect of startle: Not able to process information; Attention changes (narrows); Reaction time changes – the gap between surprise and effective action is several seconds; Unexpected events will startle. Here is a nice video from UH vividly demonstrating startle. Action recommended by UH: Push – Roll – Power – Stabilise

From Paul “Wam” Wharmby (UH Head of Training): In incidents of loss of control, 80% are recoverable. Here are significant factors that will influence the outcome. Those of particular significance for PPL’s are indicated by *, those for FI’s by ^†:

Human factors:

• Competence: training, experience*, currency and recency*^†
• Disorientation: weather, fitness
• Distraction: captaincy*^†, complexity
• Approach: preparation^†, routine
• Confidence & Pressure: comfort zone, pressure

Environmental:

• Weather: cloud*, turbulence, icing
• Wildlife: timing, operating area^†
• Other users: avoidance, wake turbulence
• Day/Night: buildings
• Commercial: equipment^†, training*, recency*^†

Technical:

• Maintenance: go/no-go
• System Knowledge: mode, envelope, characteristics*
• Emergency: handling

Biggest Threat: distraction, competence*, commercial^†

From Chris Kingswood (IAGO Head of Training): Teaching should be evidence based rather than (as in the past) manoeuvrer based. Landing accounts for the majority of accidents, >80%. An audience member suggested: do oval circuits! Mid-airs in the UK are four times that of the USA. The stabilised approach: Decision height should be 500-300ft. Lined up – Configured – On speed

From Sqn Ldr James Sainty, (Flt Cdr at Coningsby): Military aircraft are most often below 2,000 ft and above 5,000 ft. Norfolk is highly congested. Only strips with >5 movements per week are shown on chart. Military aircraft at low level in vicinity can be contacted on 130.490 kHz, also Guard. Biggest surprise was that military aircraft do not have direct EC in. Targets may appear on one display, but pilot may not notice. The are using ‘see and avoid’ at high speed.

From Steve “Jos” Johnson (UH): Of accidents, 30% had engine failure. Mindset is important. Have a plan ‘B’ – Be aware of wind direction – Maintain airspeed – Go for the Least Shit Option (LSO).

From Daniel Carvalho (Lycoming): To maximise your engine life, trends to monitor: Compression PSI, Metal fatigue. Engine warning signs: Oil; Temperature; Vibration. Ask yourself: what are you ignoring today?

Stuart Rawlinson (UH): Dealing with EFATOs and partial power failures. EFATO’s are caused by: fuel related ~27%, Ignition/plug fowling ~18%, Carb ice ~14%, Mechanical ~11%, Unknown/undetected ~30%.

Threats: False hope; Lack of briefing; Lack of height; Lack of speed.

Briefing should be: Short and simple; Positive information (Pitch forward – Speed – Kick the ball – Give it beans – Clear ground). Avoid the amygdala hijack (chimp at the controls).

And finally UH’s Flight Safety Five:

• Protect margins: speed, altitude, fuel, etc.
• Expect startle
• Fly the aircraft first: push – roll – power – stabilise
• Decide early
• Learn always

Richard Griffiths

Did you know that a Valiant bomber crashed in Southwick in 1956?

Apparently kept quiet for years. Seventy years on the crew have a memorial in Southwick Park (very near to Shoreham). Read about it here: sussexexpress.co.uk/the-men-who-died-in-valiant-bomber-crash-in-southwick-remembered

Paraglider hit by Cessna 172 video

This has now been all over social media and TV, but in case you haven’t seen it, put down your coffee before watching this video: instagram.com/p/DYtmlD-svEl

Not just the Red Arrows having procurement problems

The Canadian Snowbirds are in danger of having their performances suspended for an indefinite period. See AvBrief article here: avbrief.com/opposition-grows-to-snowbirds-suspension/

Events

Put these in your diary:

• Chilsfold Farm fly-in 20^th June
• Palmersfarm fly-in 1^st August

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

Next Strut ‘Club Night’: Wednesday 3rd June 2026, 7:30 pm at The Longshore, Shoreham