Originally Posted by
POBJOY
As alluded on another thread, I had a very brief chat with Ray H at an airshow regarding the Sylt Tempests.
He had managed to 'swop' a ride in whatever he was using at the time for a 'one off' trip, which had left him with some memories.
Only the ground guys started the engines as a failed fire up could entail 48 plugs having to be cleaned !!!
Getting into the machine was a challenged due to its height and a spray oil finish everywhere.
Sitting in with engine at idle one was aware of this moving mass ahead describing a fig of 8 before increasing the revs.
There was some talk of full rudder trim and starting on one side of the runway to ensure it stayed on the runway.
After all that the flying bit was fine !!!
As well as all that, I was told by an ex Typhoon/Tempest pilot that it was unwise to raise the tail too high when taking off especially on grass; best to keep the aircraft attitude 'neutral' until a convenient bump bounced the aircraft into the air otherwise the prop tips would gouge lumps out of the ground.
This 'tail down' attitude was used years later when operating Air Cadet 'Vigilant' aircraft.