Flight Testing Gliders
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Flight Testing Gliders
Introduction to Gliding
From memoirs.
One of the flights in March 1955 was my introduction to gliding. ETPS had firmly established that gliding experience for test pilots was fundamental to their extended appreciation of the atmosphere and the effects of the atmosphere on aircraft handling and performance. This became very obvious as some gliding experience was accumulated.
For those who had not flown gliders previously it was necessary that one of the instructors conduct a brief conversion. A two seater side by side open cockpit Sedburg served this purpose. So it was on the 31 March that a gliding session was arranged at a small grass airfield not far from Farnborough.
I had a good look over the Sedburg with the assistance of the instructor Flt Lt Hindle and we were soon lined up behind a Chipmunk and attached by a nylon rope about 200 ft long. The rope had a metal ring on each end attached to manual release units. The intention was to be towed to about 2500 ft in a low tow position, release from the tow and take advantage of any thermals which we might find.
Just after take off, we climbed up over a line of trees adjacent to the airfield and I was soon interested in peering over the left side of the cockpit at the houses which filled the local area. The instructor wanted to demonstrate something and not having intercom he meant to get my attention by tapping my right thigh with his gloved left hand. As he reached across to do this he inadvertently had his fingers pick up on a wire cable attached to a ball like knob close to my right knee. This was the tow cable release. I felt the tow cable release at the same time as he prodded my thigh, quickly looked down at his hand and looked at him incredulously as the extent of our predicament was realised.
All previous training insisted that we force-land close to straight ahead. But all there was ahead were more and more back yards of houses. Hindle lost no time in converting excess airspeed into some extra height as we wheeled around in a turn back manoeuvre. As we straightened out at about 200 feet above ground it didn't take long to sense that our descent angle was going to put us into the trees along the edge of the airfield.
I pulled my straps tight and selected a spot on the coaming to support my head just before the impending crash. Of course I was watching Hindle's handling of the situation very closely and doing a continual reassessment of the situation.
As we approached close to and still slightly above those treetops reaching up for us Hindle eased the nose down as though to dive into a backyard garden. The tree tops rose above us and my thoughts were,"What a way to go!".
Just short of the trees now towering above us, Hindle eased up the nose. The top branches clutched loudly at the wheels and rear fuselage as we stalled, descending rapidly to thump hard on the ground on the very edge of the airfield.
That was my conversion to gliders. I refused to fly any more glider flights with an instructor.
-----------------------
Can anyone name the likely airfield close to Farnborough where the above occurred and is it still active?
My only memories are that it was small, overall grass, not quite level, edged with menacing trees and in the midst of housing.
From memoirs.
One of the flights in March 1955 was my introduction to gliding. ETPS had firmly established that gliding experience for test pilots was fundamental to their extended appreciation of the atmosphere and the effects of the atmosphere on aircraft handling and performance. This became very obvious as some gliding experience was accumulated.
For those who had not flown gliders previously it was necessary that one of the instructors conduct a brief conversion. A two seater side by side open cockpit Sedburg served this purpose. So it was on the 31 March that a gliding session was arranged at a small grass airfield not far from Farnborough.
I had a good look over the Sedburg with the assistance of the instructor Flt Lt Hindle and we were soon lined up behind a Chipmunk and attached by a nylon rope about 200 ft long. The rope had a metal ring on each end attached to manual release units. The intention was to be towed to about 2500 ft in a low tow position, release from the tow and take advantage of any thermals which we might find.
Just after take off, we climbed up over a line of trees adjacent to the airfield and I was soon interested in peering over the left side of the cockpit at the houses which filled the local area. The instructor wanted to demonstrate something and not having intercom he meant to get my attention by tapping my right thigh with his gloved left hand. As he reached across to do this he inadvertently had his fingers pick up on a wire cable attached to a ball like knob close to my right knee. This was the tow cable release. I felt the tow cable release at the same time as he prodded my thigh, quickly looked down at his hand and looked at him incredulously as the extent of our predicament was realised.
All previous training insisted that we force-land close to straight ahead. But all there was ahead were more and more back yards of houses. Hindle lost no time in converting excess airspeed into some extra height as we wheeled around in a turn back manoeuvre. As we straightened out at about 200 feet above ground it didn't take long to sense that our descent angle was going to put us into the trees along the edge of the airfield.
I pulled my straps tight and selected a spot on the coaming to support my head just before the impending crash. Of course I was watching Hindle's handling of the situation very closely and doing a continual reassessment of the situation.
As we approached close to and still slightly above those treetops reaching up for us Hindle eased the nose down as though to dive into a backyard garden. The tree tops rose above us and my thoughts were,"What a way to go!".
Just short of the trees now towering above us, Hindle eased up the nose. The top branches clutched loudly at the wheels and rear fuselage as we stalled, descending rapidly to thump hard on the ground on the very edge of the airfield.
That was my conversion to gliders. I refused to fly any more glider flights with an instructor.
-----------------------
Can anyone name the likely airfield close to Farnborough where the above occurred and is it still active?
My only memories are that it was small, overall grass, not quite level, edged with menacing trees and in the midst of housing.
No, but they were still doing it (at Upavon) after ETPS moved to Boscombe in the 1960's.
For a glider pilot the sight of three very experienced pilots, none of whom had any gliding experience whatsoever, climbing into a Chipmunk (1) and Sedburgh (2 & 3) and then performing an aerotow was cabaret style entertainment. I never saw them break anything, although many of the manouevres were not in the book.
I was told the priciple was that, as they would eventually have to fly an aerodyne of some variety where nobody had previous experience, and handling might be 'interesting', then they might as well get an equivalent experience in something low-cost.
For a glider pilot the sight of three very experienced pilots, none of whom had any gliding experience whatsoever, climbing into a Chipmunk (1) and Sedburgh (2 & 3) and then performing an aerotow was cabaret style entertainment. I never saw them break anything, although many of the manouevres were not in the book.
I was told the priciple was that, as they would eventually have to fly an aerodyne of some variety where nobody had previous experience, and handling might be 'interesting', then they might as well get an equivalent experience in something low-cost.
Fitter 2
Indeed we do run ETPS courses at an annual 3 day event from Upavon where the future test pilots & engineers can put modern gliders through their paces -they fly with the most senior & experienced instructors who are there to act more as talking ballast than as instructors (I consider that all those future test pilots that I have been priveliged to fly with over the years are far better pilots than I could ever hope to be).
Look forward to flying you next year God willing
R2
Indeed we do run ETPS courses at an annual 3 day event from Upavon where the future test pilots & engineers can put modern gliders through their paces -they fly with the most senior & experienced instructors who are there to act more as talking ballast than as instructors (I consider that all those future test pilots that I have been priveliged to fly with over the years are far better pilots than I could ever hope to be).
Look forward to flying you next year God willing
R2
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How about the 'gliding' done in 2 deadstick P1127 / Harrier landings by the late Hugh Merewether, Frank Bullen wheels-up with one one aileron hung up in a Hunter, or John Farley , Art Nalls and others who deliberately shut off the engine of the AV-8B at altitude ...
I stand to be corrected as usual, but I believe the Harrier 2 needs 4,000 ' at one mile from threshold for a deadstick, which made a Pitts flyer I knew to remark " Christ !" - to investigate surge problems, and the pilots of the Me 163 ?!
There was also the story from the African glider pilot who reckoned a circling Vulture had landed on his wing, but I found that a bit doubtfull, though we are only just beginning to learn from the birds... look how vertical fins decline, while large authority horizontal tail surfaces become the norm.
I stand to be corrected as usual, but I believe the Harrier 2 needs 4,000 ' at one mile from threshold for a deadstick, which made a Pitts flyer I knew to remark " Christ !" - to investigate surge problems, and the pilots of the Me 163 ?!
There was also the story from the African glider pilot who reckoned a circling Vulture had landed on his wing, but I found that a bit doubtfull, though we are only just beginning to learn from the birds... look how vertical fins decline, while large authority horizontal tail surfaces become the norm.
Last edited by Double Zero; 29th Aug 2008 at 22:25.
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The ETPS Sedburg Glider didn't quit. It had me squarely in its sights!
More from memoires.
One Saturday afternoon at Farnborough I found myself sitting in the right seat of the Sedburg glider with Bill Bedford, the Harrier test pilot, in the left. Bill was an enthusiastic glider pilot and at the time held several British gliding records for height and distance. We released from an aero tow somewhere near Guildford under a growing cumulus cloud and were soon rapidly gaining height in the cloud. The air temperature kept reducing with increasing altitude and we began to wonder how much colder we could become before leaving the cloud.
The glider had a battery driven artificial horizon and direction indicator and Bill had been doing a good job with these instruments. But without us realising it initially, the battery was going flat and the AH started to lean over. Bill followed the AH whilst I noticed that the turn/balance indicator was not making sense. Soon after we entered a steep spiral dive and speed rapidly increased. I watched in horror as the airspeed went on up over the red line speed of 92 Kts. Markings around the dial of the ASI were from 20 kts to 110 kts with a gap around the bottom 30 degrees of the dial. I watched the needle go around through the gap and continue until it was showing 25 Kts the second time around.
The airflow noise was very high and I was using both hands pulling on the air-brake handle with the feeling that if I pulled any harder I would break something. We hurtled out through the cloud base still well nose down and directly over the city of Guildford. Bill slowly brought the nose up and as the speed thankfully reduced we zoomed up to cloud base again. By now the AH was unusable and there was no way we were going to re-enter the cloud.
We recognised that we were now too low to glide upwind to Farnborough so Bill elected to try to glide downwind to the airfield at Dunsfold just visible in the distance. We hoped to be able to pick up some rising air on the way. Our gliding angle was obviously too high for us to reach Dunsfold directly so we headed off a little towards another cumulus hoping for some lift beneath it. But we were disappointed and realised that a forced landing was now most probable.
It was the time of the year when all of the wheat fields in the area were being harvested and there were bales of straw all over. We spotted a green field beyond a small forest and decided that this was to be our place to land. Having committed ourselves to this green field, there was then nowhere else to go. Alas we soon began to see that it was a wheat-field ready for harvesting.
I tightened my harness as much as possible expecting a sudden stop and that was just as well. Bill levelled off the glider just above the wheat and it brushed us loudly underneath. Eventually stalling we sank down into the wheat until our sight line was below the wheat. Suddenly the wings sank into the wheat and we stopped immediately with very rapid deceleration. The last foot or two was a vertical drop on to the ground with a teeth jarring crunch.
Suddenly all was silence except that in the distance we could hear a few people yelling to each other. We had disappeared from anyone's view and local observers all believed from the noise generated by our arrestment that we had severely crashed.
Bill and I looked at each other in relief and having assured ourselves that we were alright we climbed out to find that we were just tall enough to see over the top of the wheat. We carefully made our way along the rows of wheat in the general direction of a farm house not far away with Bill explaining that it would be normal for the farmer to extract compensation for that portion of his crop knocked down.
Soon we were being treated to a cup of tea in the farmhouse whilst curious locals turned up from all directions. Someone had reported a crash to police and soon several police cars approached. Two policeman turned up on bicycles. Then came an ambulance and Bill was able to talk the ambulance crew into giving him a few swigs of medicinal brandy. The policemen were eager to help so we used them to help manhandle the wings off the glider and move them and the fuselage into the farmer's barn ready for retrieval next day.
All that remained was the completion of an incident report and a structural inspection of the glider for overstress. It was pronounced airworthy. I often wondered about its continued structural integrity.
A year later it was a Valiant that had taken over from the Sedburg in trying to do me in. One of the Valiant's wing's main spar came apart and fortunately the rest of the wing structure took the load.
More from memoires.
One Saturday afternoon at Farnborough I found myself sitting in the right seat of the Sedburg glider with Bill Bedford, the Harrier test pilot, in the left. Bill was an enthusiastic glider pilot and at the time held several British gliding records for height and distance. We released from an aero tow somewhere near Guildford under a growing cumulus cloud and were soon rapidly gaining height in the cloud. The air temperature kept reducing with increasing altitude and we began to wonder how much colder we could become before leaving the cloud.
The glider had a battery driven artificial horizon and direction indicator and Bill had been doing a good job with these instruments. But without us realising it initially, the battery was going flat and the AH started to lean over. Bill followed the AH whilst I noticed that the turn/balance indicator was not making sense. Soon after we entered a steep spiral dive and speed rapidly increased. I watched in horror as the airspeed went on up over the red line speed of 92 Kts. Markings around the dial of the ASI were from 20 kts to 110 kts with a gap around the bottom 30 degrees of the dial. I watched the needle go around through the gap and continue until it was showing 25 Kts the second time around.
The airflow noise was very high and I was using both hands pulling on the air-brake handle with the feeling that if I pulled any harder I would break something. We hurtled out through the cloud base still well nose down and directly over the city of Guildford. Bill slowly brought the nose up and as the speed thankfully reduced we zoomed up to cloud base again. By now the AH was unusable and there was no way we were going to re-enter the cloud.
We recognised that we were now too low to glide upwind to Farnborough so Bill elected to try to glide downwind to the airfield at Dunsfold just visible in the distance. We hoped to be able to pick up some rising air on the way. Our gliding angle was obviously too high for us to reach Dunsfold directly so we headed off a little towards another cumulus hoping for some lift beneath it. But we were disappointed and realised that a forced landing was now most probable.
It was the time of the year when all of the wheat fields in the area were being harvested and there were bales of straw all over. We spotted a green field beyond a small forest and decided that this was to be our place to land. Having committed ourselves to this green field, there was then nowhere else to go. Alas we soon began to see that it was a wheat-field ready for harvesting.
I tightened my harness as much as possible expecting a sudden stop and that was just as well. Bill levelled off the glider just above the wheat and it brushed us loudly underneath. Eventually stalling we sank down into the wheat until our sight line was below the wheat. Suddenly the wings sank into the wheat and we stopped immediately with very rapid deceleration. The last foot or two was a vertical drop on to the ground with a teeth jarring crunch.
Suddenly all was silence except that in the distance we could hear a few people yelling to each other. We had disappeared from anyone's view and local observers all believed from the noise generated by our arrestment that we had severely crashed.
Bill and I looked at each other in relief and having assured ourselves that we were alright we climbed out to find that we were just tall enough to see over the top of the wheat. We carefully made our way along the rows of wheat in the general direction of a farm house not far away with Bill explaining that it would be normal for the farmer to extract compensation for that portion of his crop knocked down.
Soon we were being treated to a cup of tea in the farmhouse whilst curious locals turned up from all directions. Someone had reported a crash to police and soon several police cars approached. Two policeman turned up on bicycles. Then came an ambulance and Bill was able to talk the ambulance crew into giving him a few swigs of medicinal brandy. The policemen were eager to help so we used them to help manhandle the wings off the glider and move them and the fuselage into the farmer's barn ready for retrieval next day.
All that remained was the completion of an incident report and a structural inspection of the glider for overstress. It was pronounced airworthy. I often wondered about its continued structural integrity.
A year later it was a Valiant that had taken over from the Sedburg in trying to do me in. One of the Valiant's wing's main spar came apart and fortunately the rest of the wing structure took the load.
The only 'small grass airfield ' close to Farnborough in those days was Fairoaks, but that isn't in the middle of houses although it does undulate. Could it possibly have been Queen's Parade, the army polo field just south of Farnborough? Or for a long shot, maybe it was Woodley? I discount White Waltham because once again it's not surrounded by houses (mostly).
Another long shot; Bray Court just outside Maidenhead was once used as an ATC gliding school which would have had Sedburghs. I don't know much about it but it could have been surrounded by houses.
Another long shot; Bray Court just outside Maidenhead was once used as an ATC gliding school which would have had Sedburghs. I don't know much about it but it could have been surrounded by houses.
When you think about it John, there aren't/weren't many grass airfields near Farnborough; even the Army 'Beaver' strip at Hawley had a hard runway; don't know when it was laid but it's not surrounded by houses again! Next closest grass strip I suppose would be Gypsy Hollow at Longmoor Army Camp, but once again no houses.
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Thanks for relating your experiences Milt - I look forward to reading your book. The T21 is a tough old lady but I'm surprised there was no damage after your spiral dive at that speed. The 'airbrakes' are actually lift spoilers and are NOT speed limiting.
rts
rts
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Milt
A fascinating story. Interested to hear that you could only just see over the wheat - modern wheat must be much shorter, as it's been barely long enough this year to cushion our wayward model aircraft, never mind a full-size glider.
One of our flyers by the name of Ken Mills is ex-RAF and he also keeps us entertained with many stories of his flying days.
A fascinating story. Interested to hear that you could only just see over the wheat - modern wheat must be much shorter, as it's been barely long enough this year to cushion our wayward model aircraft, never mind a full-size glider.
One of our flyers by the name of Ken Mills is ex-RAF and he also keeps us entertained with many stories of his flying days.
If it's the Ken Mills I know, he was a TP at Farnborough for many years, his forte' being the Comet 4 XV814 with which he had such a rapport you NEVER saw even the slightest puff of smoke from the tyres when he landed.
