Engineers and pilots favourite and least favourite aeroplanes
The 146 also suffered from throttle freeze, I believe caused by water running down the pylons and freezing. On starting descent, one engine would remain at cruise setting. When it was no longer sensible to control it with differential power or rudder trim, shut it down and land on three.
It may be ancient, maybe it was unfashionable, but looking back in retirement I think the Avro Anson was one of the nicest aircraft I flew. I was very lucky to do more than 1000 hours on type and will value that time with fondness.
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[QUOTE=Krystal n chips;11194056]
"The Gnat..a joy to take to pieces, you could say it was modular in fact...re-assembly, not so..."
I've never worked on the live beast but we did plenty on it during training.
Our team was tasked with a canopy removal/refit,
for such a tiny flea of a machine, it's canopy is bloody huge and is probably only second in component weight to the engine.
During the refit, the guy responsible for slinging, propping and supporting made a mess of it and it came down very hard on the cockpit rails. My other pal's task was to insert the hinge bolt(s).
He got his body out of the way before he got chopped in two, but remained trapped between canopy and rail by a fold in his overalls, smack bang in line with the gentleman's weekend sports equipment.
An inch or two closer and he would not have four grown up kids today.
It is also the only time I have seen a Scotsman too shocked to utter a meaningful string of swear words.
"The Gnat..a joy to take to pieces, you could say it was modular in fact...re-assembly, not so..."
I've never worked on the live beast but we did plenty on it during training.
Our team was tasked with a canopy removal/refit,
for such a tiny flea of a machine, it's canopy is bloody huge and is probably only second in component weight to the engine.
During the refit, the guy responsible for slinging, propping and supporting made a mess of it and it came down very hard on the cockpit rails. My other pal's task was to insert the hinge bolt(s).
He got his body out of the way before he got chopped in two, but remained trapped between canopy and rail by a fold in his overalls, smack bang in line with the gentleman's weekend sports equipment.
An inch or two closer and he would not have four grown up kids today.
It is also the only time I have seen a Scotsman too shocked to utter a meaningful string of swear words.
Done the fast jets, big jets and single piston and jet trainers and enjoyed them all, but have to confess that my favourite was the Skyvan in Oman (maybe it was the operating area, but just great!!)
Bill
Bill
Design
Battery changes !Worst I came across,the Hastings.Second the Shackelton.Boiling batteries on the Hunters (middle east) resulting in stripping out the radios etc and washing down with bicarb/water!
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[QUOTE=TLDNMCL;11197409]
"The Gnat..a joy to take to pieces, you could say it was modular in fact...re-assembly, not so..."
I've never worked on the live beast but we did plenty on it during training.
Our team was tasked with a canopy removal/refit,
for such a tiny flea of a machine, it's canopy is bloody huge and is probably only second in component weight to the engine.
During the refit, the guy responsible for slinging, propping and supporting made a mess of it and it came down very hard on the cockpit rails. My other pal's task was to insert the hinge bolt(s).
He got his body out of the way before he got chopped in two, but remained trapped between canopy and rail by a fold in his overalls, smack bang in line with the gentleman's weekend sports equipment.
An inch or two closer and he would not have four grown up kids today.
It is also the only time I have seen a Scotsman too shocked to utter a meaningful string of swear words.
Ah, the canopy ! yep, definitely had some weight (understatement !) but you'll forgive me for saying I'm amused by your reference to slinging etc,.
Given this would be at the RAF's country spa retreat, this comes as no surprise, however, at Valley, the technique was "slightly different " as you can imagine. Four people were ideal, two to lift from the stand, one in the cockpit stood on the seat, and, the lucky "volunteer", at the rear straddling the spine. Alas, sometimes four was a luxury and two were thus employed. The technique was to lift off the stand, gently place the rear of the canopy on the wing, on a mat, with man A holding the front, whilst man B hopped on to the wing..grabbed to the rear and, in a finely honed operation, would lift whilst man A did the same ....and entered the cockpit. Thereafter, wiggle, jiggle and "clunk ! " Gnat cockpit access steps were quite good bits of ergonomic kit really
The canopy had another "fun" aspect. It used to craze..no surprise you'll agree, and thus "many happy hours " could be spent blending the crazing out. Enter the "Heath Robinson " device for measuring the depth left after the polishing...it would be fair to say some of the numerical values recorded may have not been entirely accurate.
"The Gnat..a joy to take to pieces, you could say it was modular in fact...re-assembly, not so..."
I've never worked on the live beast but we did plenty on it during training.
Our team was tasked with a canopy removal/refit,
for such a tiny flea of a machine, it's canopy is bloody huge and is probably only second in component weight to the engine.
During the refit, the guy responsible for slinging, propping and supporting made a mess of it and it came down very hard on the cockpit rails. My other pal's task was to insert the hinge bolt(s).
He got his body out of the way before he got chopped in two, but remained trapped between canopy and rail by a fold in his overalls, smack bang in line with the gentleman's weekend sports equipment.
An inch or two closer and he would not have four grown up kids today.
It is also the only time I have seen a Scotsman too shocked to utter a meaningful string of swear words.
Given this would be at the RAF's country spa retreat, this comes as no surprise, however, at Valley, the technique was "slightly different " as you can imagine. Four people were ideal, two to lift from the stand, one in the cockpit stood on the seat, and, the lucky "volunteer", at the rear straddling the spine. Alas, sometimes four was a luxury and two were thus employed. The technique was to lift off the stand, gently place the rear of the canopy on the wing, on a mat, with man A holding the front, whilst man B hopped on to the wing..grabbed to the rear and, in a finely honed operation, would lift whilst man A did the same ....and entered the cockpit. Thereafter, wiggle, jiggle and "clunk ! " Gnat cockpit access steps were quite good bits of ergonomic kit really
The canopy had another "fun" aspect. It used to craze..no surprise you'll agree, and thus "many happy hours " could be spent blending the crazing out. Enter the "Heath Robinson " device for measuring the depth left after the polishing...it would be fair to say some of the numerical values recorded may have not been entirely accurate.
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I can’t think of an easier canopy to fit than that of the Jaguar. Was that bit from the British or French design team?
Early in the Jags service life there was a mod to replace the fuel bag tanks just behind the cockpit. The very expensive components arrived at 60 MU in their bespoke wooden crates with ample packing. Only trouble was … the component card had been stapled to the rubberised tank!
Early in the Jags service life there was a mod to replace the fuel bag tanks just behind the cockpit. The very expensive components arrived at 60 MU in their bespoke wooden crates with ample packing. Only trouble was … the component card had been stapled to the rubberised tank!
Early Harriers from a pilot's point of view
Although the early Harrier was an exhilarating machine to fly ( I managed nearly 2000hrs on it without crashing!), there were many problems. First of all the tiny cockpit was always an ergonomic slum.
The stick was an abortion, with switches and buttons stuck on in awkward positions. The early HUDs were almost unusable for I/F, the picture suffering from excessive electronic noise, and they were prone to random failures in the event of IN problems, which were common. In addition, the 1 to 5 pitch ratio of the horizon bars made it difficult to estimate pitch rates. The HUD combining glass was very large for such a small cockpit, severely compromising forward view during demanding Low Level flight, especially in poor weather. We used to do a lot of that.
As back-up the Head Down instruments were distributed at random, leading to an awkward Instrument scan pattern.
The first-generation Moving Map display ,(35mm film projected map with a large exit lens), was almost impossible to read in bright sunlight, The position given was pretty random because of frequent inaccuracies of the IN. A wise Harrier pilot did not trust the moving map.
In VSTOL flight the handling was generally fine, as long as you kept away from high AOA situations combined with yaw, which would lead to uncontrollable departure in roll, giving you just a fraction of a second to eject before the aircraft became inverted. The machine also had a nasty habit of rolling out of control during a VTO.
In conventional flight the machine was noisy, buffeting and yawing about as speed increased. High wing loading led to poor turn performance. Because of the huge elephant’s ears intakes the machine would quickly run out of steam at about 550kt IAS
Night flying was a nightmare, no part of the lighting system having been properly designed for night flying. The cockpit was poorly lit and there were no formation lights. We still had to do night formation . As an example, the IFF code lights were all individually lit by separate bulbs for each digit. If just one bulb was U/S, then you could not put in the correct code, other than by guesswork. This was a major drawback in wartime operations.
The throttle and nozzle controls were easy to use. The VSTOL trick was very handy for wartime operations.
The stick was an abortion, with switches and buttons stuck on in awkward positions. The early HUDs were almost unusable for I/F, the picture suffering from excessive electronic noise, and they were prone to random failures in the event of IN problems, which were common. In addition, the 1 to 5 pitch ratio of the horizon bars made it difficult to estimate pitch rates. The HUD combining glass was very large for such a small cockpit, severely compromising forward view during demanding Low Level flight, especially in poor weather. We used to do a lot of that.
As back-up the Head Down instruments were distributed at random, leading to an awkward Instrument scan pattern.
The first-generation Moving Map display ,(35mm film projected map with a large exit lens), was almost impossible to read in bright sunlight, The position given was pretty random because of frequent inaccuracies of the IN. A wise Harrier pilot did not trust the moving map.
In VSTOL flight the handling was generally fine, as long as you kept away from high AOA situations combined with yaw, which would lead to uncontrollable departure in roll, giving you just a fraction of a second to eject before the aircraft became inverted. The machine also had a nasty habit of rolling out of control during a VTO.
In conventional flight the machine was noisy, buffeting and yawing about as speed increased. High wing loading led to poor turn performance. Because of the huge elephant’s ears intakes the machine would quickly run out of steam at about 550kt IAS
Night flying was a nightmare, no part of the lighting system having been properly designed for night flying. The cockpit was poorly lit and there were no formation lights. We still had to do night formation . As an example, the IFF code lights were all individually lit by separate bulbs for each digit. If just one bulb was U/S, then you could not put in the correct code, other than by guesswork. This was a major drawback in wartime operations.
The throttle and nozzle controls were easy to use. The VSTOL trick was very handy for wartime operations.
Aye but ‘‘twas great fun! 😊
Engine change in the field/onboard was rather less fun.
1. Jack the aircraft and retract the wheels.
2. Lower the fuselage onto the cradle.
3. Undo the Jesus bolts and lift the wing off.
4. Undo the myriad connections (fuel, oil, controls etc).
5. Lift out engine and place on cradle.
6. Repeat in reverse with new donk.
It always filled me with admiration watching the chaps do it. Post engine-change air test from the ship was a bit of a bum-tightener though!
Mog
Engine change in the field/onboard was rather less fun.
1. Jack the aircraft and retract the wheels.
2. Lower the fuselage onto the cradle.
3. Undo the Jesus bolts and lift the wing off.
4. Undo the myriad connections (fuel, oil, controls etc).
5. Lift out engine and place on cradle.
6. Repeat in reverse with new donk.
It always filled me with admiration watching the chaps do it. Post engine-change air test from the ship was a bit of a bum-tightener though!
Mog
