Well, this year I actually managed to fly to Popham from Ince Blundell (Liverpool) with my brother Tim in his Medway EclipseR, and in due course the story of the flight will appear, but first - what was Popham all about this year?
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Flight Designs CT
Ikarus C42
Dyn' Aero Ban-Bi
EV-97 Eurostar
Jabiru
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Well, it all seemed to be about new, shiny 450Kg 3-axis machinery - and there was quite a selection on display. Pegasus were demonstrating the CT, and very nicely it went too - but then so it should for a price tag of forty thousand pounds.
More reasonably! priced at £24,000 plus VAT was the Ikarus C42 on offer from the strangely named Fly Buy Ultralights. This is of aluminium tube construction covered in something called lattice cloth foil or GT-foil, which certainly gives a very nice finish. Engine cowling, and other fairings are in grp.
Lyndhurst Touchdown Services had their own Dyn' Aero Ban-Bi on display. This is a beautiful little aircraft, and you can see more details on the LTS website. It's fast and slippery, but is it a microlight?
The EV-97 Eurostar was the most attractive aircraft at Popham. This is an all-metal low-wing semi-monocoque two seater, displayed here unpainted - to save weight? It may need to slim down to get through Section S. Agents are Cosmik Aviation (same address as Skydrive!) and the kit costs £25,000 plus VAT.
First to market though is ST's Jabiru, with lots under construction by people who are used to flying trikes from short runways, this is the aircraft that will test the mettle of the converts. I just hope that the increased weights, speeds and cockpit workload don't damage our sport's excellent safety record.
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So - what was happening on the trike front? Not a lot . . . and the normally cheery Chris Draper, CEO of Medway Microlights, was in pessimistic mood. He believes that there is a move away from trikes in this country now. "Who will pay twenty grand for a trike when they can get a real aircraft for five grand more," he said. Chris is also worried that the public have lost faith in Medway aircraft because of the teething problems and rumours with the EclipseR . | |
The normally cheery
Chris Draper . . . . |
The EclipseR at Shobden on
the way to Popham | | This is unfortunate if true, as all problems seem to be solved now; ST have finalised the airscoop design and a larger battery means cold starting is no longer a problem. Tim and I flew down in his EclipseR 2-up (fat bastards both) with tent, sleeping bags etc. at 55-60mph in company with a Blade 912. All temperatures remained nominal in spite of the oil radiator being choked with mud from a very swampy departure, and fuel burn at 13 litres per hour was 1 litre an hour more than the Blade - probably due to my inefficient flying.
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Maybe Chris's gloom was unnecessary though - two other Eclipsers and one of the new Rebels (with the 3-cylinder 2SI engine) flew in, plus a flock of lesser Ravens.
Camped next to us was John Hunt, who had flown his BMW-powered Huntwing down. The engine installation was looking a little eccentric as John is still trying different airscoop and duct configurations to optimise the cooling. The port side scoop looks fairly conventional, and its performance is used as a control. The starboard side had a smaller horizontally mounted scoop and a larger scoop which took air from underneath the trike and fed it up through a long vertical duct to the cylinder head.
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John reckoned this underscoop was the most efficient system he had found yet - although he pointed out that he had run the engine for 80 hours without a breakdown. However, he warned potential builders that he still regards the design as experimental, and thinks they might be better waitng until he himself is totally satisfied.
| | Brian Milton, triking circumnavigator and winner of this year's Britannia Trophy, the most prestigious trophy of the Royal Aero Club, was also camped nearby and took advantage of my photo opportunity. |
Another record-setter, Colin Bodil, is preparing to race a helicopter round the world in the solo challenge, and his Blade 912S has been fitted with an instrument panel that makes Dave the Blade's look positively spartan. On the Pegasus flexwing front all was quiet, and the HKS seems to have disappeared. |
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Colin's Flight Deck |
And now a moan - why on earth were there no facilities on the field at night? Again? It seems inconcievable that only the balloonists can organise a piss-up in a big tent. And why no food? Even the Little Chef had run out this year, because no-one had warned them that this was going to happen. Come on Airbourne Aviation - surely you can do better than this.
| | Luckily Chris 'How To Fly To Wigan' Murphy came down from Scouseland on his BMW and scoured the local countryside for copious supplies of Stella. This he served from his panniers and topbox while entertaining us to videos of last year's Popham, including the notorious 'ninefingers' mooning episode . . . |
But let's face it, not all campers can be this lucky. Maybe another club prepared to put more effort in could put in a bid for next year's show - and maybe it could be nearer the middle of the country. It's certainly a long way from Aberdeen.
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