Bickmarsh - 29th August 2013

Bickmarsh airfield is located just south of Bidford-on-Avon in Warickshire - I had only been here once before and that was back in 2002.

Brand new and still under final construction was Vans RV-8 G-XRVB - the owner was working on his aircraft and told me that he hoped to make the first flight within the next month or two - he's been working on this project for 9 years. There are currently 59 examples of the RV-8 registered in the UK.

Long term resident is Piper Pa-25-235 Pawnee G-BVYP - this is operated by the Bidford Gliding Club. This Pawnee was built in 1965 but didn't arrive in the UK until 1995 - since then it's always been based at Bickmarsh tugging gliders. By the end of 2012 this aircraft had flown over 4800 flight hours.

Older than the Pawnee is Luscombe 8E Silvaire Deluxe G-LUST - this example was built in 1947 ( 66 years ago ) . This classic aircraft came to the UK in 1989 from the USA and had previously flown as N2065B. The Luscombe 8 series is very popular here with 72 examples currently registered in the UK.

G-ATOI is an example of an early Piper Pa-28-140 Cherokee dating from 1966. It was imported new by CSE Aircraft Sales at Oxford-Kidlington and since then has operated with more than ten owners and has clocked up over 8100 flight hours. With over 140 Piper Pa-28-140 Cherokee currently on the UK register this example is perhaps the 5th oldest.



Steve

Sywell - LAA Rally - Friday 30th August 2013

I managed to attend the first day of this years LAA Rally at Sywell held over 30.8 - 1.9.  The weather was good with a strong breeze.

Lots of aircraft flew in and many pilots set up their overnight tents alongside their aircraft.

Arriving just for Friday was the excellent Travel Air Type R "Mystery Ship" replica G-TATR. This aircraft was built by Aero Antiques and arrived from Boscombe Down mid morning. Travel Air originally built 5 Type R air racers in the USA in the late 1920s. This replica is powered by a Lycoming R-680 engine. Not an easy aircraft for the pilot to taxy!

 
Link to more info about the Travel Air Type R



Another great aircraft at Sywell was the French built mini Mosquito F-PMOZ - the aircraft is a 3/4 scale replica and first flew in April 2011 after a 17 year build period by RRAA. The aircraft looks and sounds very good and is a fantastic example of a homebuilt project. F-PMOZ arrived in the UK for the first time in mid August at Humberside airport before departing on to RAF Cranwell. This Mosquito is painted to represent Mosquito FB VI PZ460 of 143 sqd coded "NE-K". This aircraft operated with the Banff Strike Wing in Scotland. PZ460 was lost in action on 15th January 1945 during an attack on shipping off the coast of Norway killing the French pilot Wing Commander Max Guedj and navigator Flight Lieutenant J F Langley. This replica is an excellent memorial to those men.

Link to official F-PMOZ website


Link to discussion and video about Mosquito replica F-PMOZ


Another interesting replica at the LAA Rally was the Bonsall Mustang replica G-BDWM. This aircraft was built in the late 1980s and was painted in a green and brown camo to represent RAF Mustang serial FB226 coded "MT-A". The aircraft appeared at the PFA Rally at Wroughton in July 1991. In March 1992 it suffered a loss of engine power shortly after take of from Netherthorpe airfield and made and emergency landing in a nearby field and nosed over. The aircraft was repainted in 2010 into a silver USAAF P-51 colour scheme with side code "LH-I"  - by 2011 the serial 414673 had been applied to the tail too.

Bonsall Mustang replica G-BDWM is now named "Rosie" although in 2011 it was named "Galloping Ghost". The CAA website shows the aircraft had flown 70 flight hours by 12.10.

Posing as a USMC with rockets this O-1E Bird Dog ( Cessna model 305 ) is registered as N134TT. This example was built in 1957 with Cessna construction number 24541 and delivered new directly to the French Army operating in Algeria. The aircraft was used for observation, liaison, and forward air control. By the mid 1980s the French had withdrawn this type from service ( some of the last French Army Bird Dogs operated from Baden-Baden in West Germany ) and this aircraft was sold onto the civil market as F-GFVE.  In 2004 it was registered as N134TT based in the UK.

Photo link to F-GFVE in 1990 in basic original French Army olive colours

Photo link to F-GFVE in 2003 in white/red USMC warbird scheme in the UK

Another former French military aircraft was Nord 3202B G-BIZK still painted in its former French Air Force colours as serial number 78. This tandem trainer was built in 1962 and came onto the UK civil aircraft register in 1990. The aircraft is powered by a POTEZ 4D34D engine.





Steve

Hinton in the Hedges - 1st June 2013

I arrived here on a beautiful evening with plenty of activity still going on. Around the field were an interesting mix of types including ZK-JQK a long way from home in New Zealand.

ZK-JQK is a Pacific Aerospace 750XL c/n 118, a large single engine aircraft - this example was built in 2005 and has operated with Hinton Sky Diving in the UK for several summers. The aircraft is powered by a 750HP Pratt&Whitney PT6A-34 turboprop. This aircraft is currently listed "for sale" on the Pacific Aerospace website with approx 3,300 flight hours.

Link to Pacific Aerospace website

Looking very smart was Swiss registered Cessna 177B Cardinal HB-CWC, this machine was built in 1972 with some 4,100 flight hours. This aircraft was recently imported into the UK and had actually been registered as G-ZION a week earlier on 23.5.13 but as can be seen had yet to adopted its new registration letters. Currently 29 Cardinals registered in the UK of which six are 177B versions like this machine.

Also dating from 1972 is this WSK Antonov An-2 HA-ANG c/n 1G132-53 - this aircraft has had this registration since delivered new 41 years ago. It first arrived in the UK in 1998. HA-ANG departed back to Hungary three days after this photo was taken.