In this month’s edition:
- Down on the farm 94 last month 9/26 – Tony Palmer
- Meet Robert Maddox AKA CrazyRocketman
- LAA Rally at Lecester Airport: Photos
- Shoreham Vintage Fly-in: Smell the Coffee
- New Fire Fighting Aircraft
- With Avgas price rising, who needs an engine…. The flying bicycle
- Aviation Safety Improvement Graphic
Down on the farm 94 last month 9/26
We flew the Klemm last Wednesday to test the plane prior to the Shoreham Airport Vintage Fly-in. David Hulme had been to the Auster fly-in at Popham last Sunday and had a precautionary landing at Palmersfarm with low cloud. I had driven him back to Old Hay in Kent the same day. He got a cab from there on Wednesday to Palmersfarm to pickup G-ARUG. We had flown 3 flights, so when he was leaving to go back to Old Hay I suggested that he take some air to air pics of the Klemm. We took off and flew down the Cuckmere valley and then turned East to Beachy Head. The pics were OK but we could not get the chalk cliffs in the background. Another time maybe with a better camera and a separate pilot and photographer.
See below pics I took on the last flight
Goodwood Revival
The weather was great and the racing was enjoyable but the last race did not do my ears much good, my hearing was duff all evening and into the next day but had got better by Tuesday thank goodness.
Beagle Terrier G-ATDN TW- 641
I am getting on well with the Terrier, the paperwork has not equalled the plane weight yet, so more is required. The transition from the CAA to the LAA is a long drawn out process and is not for the faint hearted
I purchased a radio electrical harness for the Funke radio from GPS Mendelssohn in Scotland. It was for an later radio than I had purchased at last years LAA rally bring-and-buy. The transponder wouldn’t work at first, but that was because the plug that feeds it has the encoder built in; I didn’t receive it when I brought the two units.
Xmas dinner 2026
I had positive feedback about last years Christmas dinner so have repeated the process; I have booked the White Horse in Steyning for 7.30 on the 2nd of December at 7.30 pm menu to follow
Tony Palmer
Meet Robert Maddox AKA CrazyRocketman
If you haven’t come across this guy before check his videos out. His obsession with pulse jets is interesting, and could even be inspiring (unless you value your life).
LAA Rally at Lecester Airport: Photos
Some random pictures of stuff that took my fancy—and look out for Alan Caldecourt with his Taylor Monoplane G-BYAV, celebrating his unbroken record of attending Rallies.
Shoreham Vintage Fly-in: Smell the Coffee
During the fly-in on Sunday 27th September, the new flying club at Shoreham, Star Flight Training, have made a nice offer: “free coffees / tea / hot chocolate to you and any LAA member pilots & crew on the day (or whenever after too) at the STAR Flight Training clubhouse located on the edge of the car parks immediately to the east of the main terminal.”
For information, here is what Shoreham are saying about the organisation of the fly-in:
We are pleased to announce our vintage aircraft fly-in taking place on the 27th September, marking a return of fly-in events at the airport. Expect to see a beautiful range of aircraft designed before 1960, some as old as the Terminal Building itself! Our friends at Shipping and Airlines Co. will be bringing several of their fleet to Shoreham as well as many private owners with some very special aircraft. Airside access will be limited to Pilots and Aircrew only with general public viewing from areas such as Cafe No.8 and the Hummingbird restaurant.
New Fire Fighting Aircraft
The American company Game Aerospace have produced a fire fighting aircraft designed specifically for the task. Check out the specification here: game.aero/gb2 It’s impressive! What do you think are the chances of West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service ordering one?
With Avgas price rising, who needs an engine….
Here’s a splendid video from the 1960’s of the first pedal powered aircraft. Love the pilot’s warm-up exercises.
Aviation Safety Improvement Graphic
This graphic has been doing the rounds on social media recently. It is worth a detailed look. It illustrates the phenomenal improvements in safety of commercial flying since 1970. It was produced by avgeek graphic designer Julie Peasley. Click on her link to see a bigger version.
Events
For a full list of events go to the website Events page.
Next Strut ‘Club Night’: Wednesday 7th October 2026, 7:30 pm at The Downs School, Hassocks. A talk by Sheldon Holy, a young pilot who recently flew solo, via Alaska to Oshkosh and back in his homebuilt RV6. N.B. NOT at the Longshore!
