The D'havilland Heron Story
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Remember the Radar Training well, on one occasion given "you have it " and then pilot feathered the right hand engine learnt a lot about asymetric in a short moment. Pilot then called Exercise "" simulated engine fail for the trainee. We didn't spend long scooting round the area on one ! ( No 6 Cadet course) .
So Morton's no longer existed by September 1970. According to rzjets, G-ASUZ (a Mk 2D as built) was de-registered as such on 14/11/68. In case it helps, on 1/9/68 I was P2 on UZ during pleasure flights at Lydd. The a/c would probably have been still in Morton livery. Captain was N MacIndoe.
Psychophysiological entity
Tommy Gun was chief pilot of Mortons when I was there. He'd been given a lovely cigarette case with an inscribed picture of a Dove. It was in appreciation of landing wheels up with minimum damage.
That was about the time the new airport was being completed. At night, one could walk about in the passenger terminal in total solitude.
Memories again. But a DC3. Drove over the fallen wire fence and parked near the aircraft. There was a man asleep in a van, guarding it. It was full of newly printed money. Arriving at Basel we were met with soldiers and tanks.
That was about the time the new airport was being completed. At night, one could walk about in the passenger terminal in total solitude.
Memories again. But a DC3. Drove over the fallen wire fence and parked near the aircraft. There was a man asleep in a van, guarding it. It was full of newly printed money. Arriving at Basel we were met with soldiers and tanks.
It occurs to me that, just as some airlines have operated a/c at reduced MTOWs to reduce landing fees, it might have been possible to do that with the Heron to enable single-pilot ops. But it wouldn't have been practicable if you wanted to carry 15 passengers more than a short hop.
Memories again. Two crew and we were headed back from Billund IIRC. I handed over to my young mate and settled into a snooze. I remember shouting, turn left onto one seven zero! as I commenced shut-down of number one.
Uuuuug! The engines couldn't be feathered, so the fuel pumps had to be lubricated by leaving the fuel on. Something like that. Can't quite remember. [...]
Uuuuug! The engines couldn't be feathered, so the fuel pumps had to be lubricated by leaving the fuel on. Something like that. Can't quite remember. [...]
For the non-cognoscenti: the only mark of Heron to have fully-feathering props from manufacture was the 2D. To re-cap, the Mk 1B (fixed undercarriage) and Mk 2 (retractable U/C) had a feature known as "positive coarse pitch", which reduced the drag somewhat with the power at idle. As someone else mentioned previously on this thread, a (perhaps unusual?) feature of the Gypsy Queen 30 constant-speed propellor system was that there was no separate RPM lever. I think the power lever (we called it a throttle, but that was a misnoma) must have had a detent at the idle position and some kind of latch which, when released, enabled the pilot to retard it further to the positive-coarse-pitch position.
The windmilling prop turning the engine must have continued to create some drag, which presumably explains why only the Mk 2D was compliant with the requirements of Performance-A, as we called it in those days.
The last (nearly) airworthy Heron is up for sale. The group which owned and operated it has gone into liquidation and the receivers have put it up for sale. It is clearly visible from the main road where it has sat since it’s arrival from Coventry a year or more ago with the flaps blown fully down. See the article below
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2...res-some-work/
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2...res-some-work/
Psychophysiological entity
7-7-75 G-ANXA For three days Manchester and on to Dounreay, left hand circuit of UK and then to Reims.
Peter's Aviation NWI had above and G-ANSZ G-APKW G-ANXB G-AXFH All were very basic and could be flown single crew.
Tabs Taberaham ran the show with me freelancing and trying hard to persuade them to expand with modern equipment since they had an AOC and a huge hangar. The UK needed that oil out of the sea, and Air Anglia and Peters were there in the early days. BA and DAN turned up at Aberdeen but it was the likes of Loganair that got to destination time and time again. I rode up front one day with Allen ? Famous for his situational awareness. Many on here will have known him. He made a turn and lo and behold, in seconds the coast appeared spot on. 'It's an eddy just at that point.' It was an eye-opener.
I was on DAKs then and found that if I never went up into cloud, there was no need to come back down through it. I'm bright like that. It was another fact that the air up in those latitudes was often crystal clear under the stratus. If I could see Fair Isle way to the left, I was in good shape to get the bizarrely off-set lead in lights on Sumbrough. VFR and a split-ar$ed turn around the Sumbrough Head Hotel and there was the 'long' runway.
Now here's something I've not said before - out loud - I asked the ministry of air bloke if there was any reason I shouldn't take what was a public transport flight at very low level. He was not in the best of moods. 'No use asking me, ?? has told me to back off'. ?? was a man in a suit who wanted the oil out of the sea.
There's much more to this story, but getting way off thread.
My goodness, there it is.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-dr...ip%3d0%26pl%3d
Peter's Aviation NWI had above and G-ANSZ G-APKW G-ANXB G-AXFH All were very basic and could be flown single crew.
Tabs Taberaham ran the show with me freelancing and trying hard to persuade them to expand with modern equipment since they had an AOC and a huge hangar. The UK needed that oil out of the sea, and Air Anglia and Peters were there in the early days. BA and DAN turned up at Aberdeen but it was the likes of Loganair that got to destination time and time again. I rode up front one day with Allen ? Famous for his situational awareness. Many on here will have known him. He made a turn and lo and behold, in seconds the coast appeared spot on. 'It's an eddy just at that point.' It was an eye-opener.
I was on DAKs then and found that if I never went up into cloud, there was no need to come back down through it. I'm bright like that. It was another fact that the air up in those latitudes was often crystal clear under the stratus. If I could see Fair Isle way to the left, I was in good shape to get the bizarrely off-set lead in lights on Sumbrough. VFR and a split-ar$ed turn around the Sumbrough Head Hotel and there was the 'long' runway.
Now here's something I've not said before - out loud - I asked the ministry of air bloke if there was any reason I shouldn't take what was a public transport flight at very low level. He was not in the best of moods. 'No use asking me, ?? has told me to back off'. ?? was a man in a suit who wanted the oil out of the sea.
There's much more to this story, but getting way off thread.
My goodness, there it is.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-dr...ip%3d0%26pl%3d
The last (nearly) airworthy Heron is up for sale. The group which owned and operated it has gone into liquidation and the receivers have put it up for sale. It is clearly visible from the main road where it has sat since it’s arrival from Coventry a year or more ago with the flaps blown fully down. See the article below
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2...res-some-work/
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2...res-some-work/
https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/wo...rfix-treatment
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
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Those of a certain age will know that particular Heron well.
Delightful to 'ORG arrive overhead Duxford a few years ago, visiting Flying Legends or one of the other shows - very quiet as it let down int the circuit. I suspect that's the first time I'd seen a Heron airborne since Fairflight stopped using them. Hope she can be kept going...
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Sharing the end story of De Havilland Heron DH114 14051 G-AZSO. 14051 was bought by Saunders Aircraft Corporation of Gimli Canada from Fairflight in 1974, flown to Gimli and converted to a Saunders Aircraft ST-27 #013/14015 turboprop by Saunders Aircraft Corporation in 1975. ST-27 #013/14015 was sold to a small air operation in Thunder Bay Canada call ON AIR in 1976.
ST-27 #013/14015 catches fire during a fuel pump repair while parked on the airport apron at Dryden Canada. The mechanic'ss 110V shop light rolled off the wing and the light bulb broke in a puddle of fuel and ignited. ON AIR wanted a cash settlement from the insurer while the insurer wanted to fix ST-27 #013/14015.
Repairs were made, however the owner deemed the repairs unsatisfactory, a lawsuit followed with a settlement I believe in favour of the owner ON AIR, however ST-27 #013/14015 never returned to service and sat dissasembled at the Thunder Bay Canada airport for many years.
more photos on my Saunders Aircraft blog at saundersaircraftblogspot
and we have a Saunders Aircraft Facebook Group with ST-27 pics ....... search Facebook for Saunders Aircraft Canada
cheers - ken
having trouble getting the photos to upload
ST-27 #013/14015 catches fire during a fuel pump repair while parked on the airport apron at Dryden Canada. The mechanic'ss 110V shop light rolled off the wing and the light bulb broke in a puddle of fuel and ignited. ON AIR wanted a cash settlement from the insurer while the insurer wanted to fix ST-27 #013/14015.
Repairs were made, however the owner deemed the repairs unsatisfactory, a lawsuit followed with a settlement I believe in favour of the owner ON AIR, however ST-27 #013/14015 never returned to service and sat dissasembled at the Thunder Bay Canada airport for many years.
more photos on my Saunders Aircraft blog at saundersaircraftblogspot
and we have a Saunders Aircraft Facebook Group with ST-27 pics ....... search Facebook for Saunders Aircraft Canada
cheers - ken
having trouble getting the photos to upload
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Kenair, you need to have made 10 posts to be able to upload pics I think - any more stories? Or send me the pics and I'll upload them for you...
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Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
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Thanks Ken, herewith the pics:
Fairflight Heron
Fairflight Heron at Gimli being stripped out
ON AIR ST-27 013/14051
Apron fire
Link to story - replace ******** with the usual wording...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2763480640542919
Fairflight Heron
Fairflight Heron at Gimli being stripped out
ON AIR ST-27 013/14051
Apron fire
Link to story - replace ******** with the usual wording...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2763480640542919
Last edited by treadigraph; 5th Nov 2020 at 13:28.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Thank-you Treadigraph for posting the pics for me. Dave Saunders that started Saunders Aircraft Canada and the Saunders ST-27 passed away in April of 2020.
cheers - ken
cheers - ken
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Here's A Fiji Airways Heron at Funafuti in the mid 80s - we had problems with the elevator on approach and the local Works Dept spent the day repairing with fiberglass
apologies for the size
IIRC the Heron and Dove flying controls were fabric covered, but the rest of the airframe was metal skinned, so that would be a fibre glass patch on fabric.
I wonder where that was in the MM.
I wonder where that was in the MM.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Friends of mine lived in the Cook Islands circa 1970 and I recall a story about flying somewhere on a Heron (Fiji Airways rings a bell - but can't have been from Raratonga!) which suffered an inflight fire - someone dropped a cigarette in a waste bin - swiftly dealt with by the hostie!
Yes the Nauru Funafuti flight would run every other week in the early 80's. If the winds were bad they would only take passengers one way as the cargo & mail had priority. So you could be stuck at either end for weeks - I knew someone who spent 6 weeks in Funafuti - the only option was to go Fiji (not a daily service then) - change airports - Brisbane - Singapore - Manilla- Nauru - which would take at least a week maybe two .......
The accommodation on board was ..."rustic"
The accommodation on board was ..."rustic"