Planko: Believe me, I would dearly have
loved to have done my PPL on the 47 .. wow!
Re: wipers, not just G-TALY but the Towers Ranger too (the Long Ranger beloning to Alton Towers .. also flown by PPRuNer Paco) which was similarly fitted with wipers.
The wipers were a novelty. I used them a couple times on TALY during moderate precipitation, but they were unnecessary.
On the Towers Ranger (G-JLBI) their use was strictly 'verboten' by my godfather .. exactly because they scratched the perspex. I think his instructions were something along the lines of .. "If I see you even touch the wiper switch .. you will remember it!".
Having been 'assaulted' for a 'lax comment' during a night time sortie and literally left standing at Dublin Airport when flying then Prime Minister Charlie Haughey .. because my shoes were 'not shiny enough' .. I can assure you .. the wiper switch was never touched, lol!
Alton Towers LongRanger G-JLBI at Brooklands c. early 1982 (wipers and their motors can be seen half way up the windshield)
Edited to add: While the wipers were a novelty in practice, in principal they were added (to the best of my knowledge) as part of the 'IFR package' .. as both TALY and the Towers Ranger were IFR capable.
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