IN THE BEGINNING.......There was a Tipsy Nipper
Sorry I hae been away for a while. but just had to have a cataract removed and it didn't go quite as I expected. Just very slow to recover and it needs some lasering to complete the operation. However..on with the tale.
In the beginning........ there was .............a Slingsby Tipsy Nipper.
This was the first aeroplane I had an interest in, a quarter share to be precise. She was not a thing of beauty, more of an ugly duckling than a graceful swan, but she, and I suppose we have to call them she after centuries of nautical forebears did have one very redeeming feature, in that she was possessed of a tricycle undercarriage, This is indeed a blessing for those of us who have coped with tail draggers with the ever present trap of the ground loop etc.
But I digress. You can sit in this aero and litterally strap on a set of wings that are attached at shoulder height and see the main wheels through transparent plastic windows set adjcent to your shoulders. All good stuff, and in addition she is fully aerobatic, if such perils entice you.
This particulaar Nipper G-AWDA did have one bit of temerament. She was, if she felt like it difficult to start. On turning the prop over by hand, yes there was no started motor, there was little compression.
Being an engineer, in fact a Ford engine reconditioner I had the means to correct this. So I removed the cylinde heads and the barrels to find out what wa amiss. Yes, the barrels shone like mirrors, there was a slight piston ring wear lip at the top of each cylinder, and the heads needed a lot of attention.
So a good honing of the barrels with a glaze breaker, a new set of piston rings, new valves all recut and lapped in, full decoke, new gaskets and all reassembled. At least now we had some compression, and a cold start was usually OK.. Not so with a hot engine.
Right. It's a bright blue day so off we go for a jolly.
At the home base there will usually be someone to help, becasue in essence this starting proceedure is a two person job, One to set the throttle and the mag switches and another to swing the prop.
With one person it is a bit different in that you make really sure that the wheels are chocked way more than is really necessay as you are standing in front of a spinnig propellor that might just leave a very nasty taste in your mouth if the plane moves forward. Also unless the throttle is set just so you have to go back and reset it and try again.
So being youngish and immortal when I was alone I found out that if I stood behind the prop with my back touching the wing, I could reach into the cockpit and set the throttle and switches to different settings if the engine didn't start.
So I am now standing with my right hand in the cockpit and my left hand swinging the prop.
Strange as it may seem and appear dangerous in the extreme I never had a moments worry while doing it.
The eingine fires up and you set the throttle to 1000 rpm then sidle along the wing until well clear of the spinning prop.
So now you are up there and decide to do some practice stalls.
Power back, and as the speed drops away you lift the nose until............
Nothing really happens. she just nods, wings level until airspeed creates lift and thats all that there is.
Just a seies of nods and recovery. Ah but! What's this? You are dropping silently at 1000 FPM. like the proverbial brick outhouse. That was her only real vice, if you can call it that, a known vice is not a problem .
I was sorry in a way to see her go, but one has to answer the call of fresh fields and pastures new. More adventures on the horizon, whispering their siren calls. More later.