XP 502
 

This little darling was the last Gnat I flew in the 75 course aeros. comp.
the gear didn't come up at the first retraction attempt but on recycling all was well. The date :- 08.11.73. My logbook records my victory.

PINS?
 

The Folland seat had none. Simply one one safe/ arm gizmo. What is this, ground school apres the event? I loved the first item on the check list.
BUNG IN. One gave it a good thump with a left fist.

The cuddle question.
 

Come on Beagle, cuddling, no but a handshake and man hug followed by a glass or three of Aussi red and the telling of stories, both true and embellished (never let the truth spoil a good story) would be good fun.

Oh The Memories.
 

I know what you mean. Lightnings on QRA at Leuchars getting airborne in steam was a joy to behold. I now enjoy watching the Spits at Duxford every year.
When Ray Hanna was once asked which type he liked best, his F Mk 9 or the Gnat his answer was "Both". God bless his cotton socks.

Joyce?
 

Now I am confused. is this taking the p1ss or an attempt at flattery. Tried reading Ulysses three times and failed. I shall stick to my bible,Catch 22 by Heller.

your Powers of Deduction
 

Well done. (80% correct). Happy hour? Yes. Not sad at all. Just very happy memories. We were very lucky to be able to do what we did.

They're an evil lot here Dave.

Thanks
 

No worries HB. I have always shot true to the best of my belief.
Were you an armourer? (dealing with all those frightful bang thingiies}
The Martin Baker Mk 4 seat had a lot of pins. Was it four or five?
The poor bastards in the back of a Victor only had chutes and as we say in
Aus. only had two chances. "Buckley's and none". Buckley got lost in the outback looking for the inland sea and died of thirst.

Mind Reading.
 

This is interesting. You picked James Joyce, what an honour. I have three books on the coffee table now.
1. Biographies of James Joyce
2. The Compulsive Spike Milligan
3. Round the Bend by Neville shute

How on earth did you work out Joyce and Milligan.
I am interested. Do tell.

The Evil Lot Here
 

This is a walk in the park compared to my current job. Bring it on but watch your six (low). Love a good chat.

puckoon
 

Fantome
"Caw " said the crow. "Balls" said the Milligan.
The opening line of a very funny book.

humble apology
 

Davey, once again, heartfelt apologies. We are sometimes plagued here by bull****ters and Walter Mitty characters, and the prose style of your original post was a little confusing to some of us. You are clearly the 'real deal', and I offer you my salute.

I was a spotty boy rigger on 4FTS Gnats 1973-78, when I was elevated to the Sgt's Mess (age 23yrs, not bad going for an oik) and posted to St Mawgan. Clearly, this was an easy way to get rid of me. I really enjoyed my Gnat years, and I still have a soft spot for the pocket rocket jet. In later years, I returned to 4FTS as a tech instructor in the Ground School (Exercise Hawkeye memories, anyone?).

I'm sure that many here would like to hear more of your career in aviation - would you perhaps grace us with same?

Best regards,

HB

To HB et al.
 

I thank you for your kind words. I return your sal.....ute at five paces. I liked signing the 700 and getting out of ops to find my "Pocket Rocket". No saluting on the flight line, just good honest work.
Sgt. at 23. Well done and then Nimrods at St. Mawgan. I recall the surf being fun down the road at Newquay.
OK folks, ..Quiz time.
1. Who knows the fastest way to solve a wet start problem with the little Gnat?
A hint- we still sat strapped in and the A/C was quite light and very well balanced by Petter (Canberra, Lightning and Gnat designer).
2. Where was the LOX bottle located?
3. Did anyone ever truly ever understand unlocking the elevators given a HYD. failure. Scary ****.

As to the rest of my fun in the service it was down hill.
If I am brave enough I may relate the story later.

Everyone take care and keep yourselves safe.

Davey Mussen

Per Ardua Ad Astra et al.

Yes, but the original design left the tail in a less-than ideal position. Hence Mod 11?9 which allowed electrical motoring to the ideal sector.

Easy.

Slightly OT, perhaps, but a good fix for a wet start on a Wessex was a bucket of water down the intakes.

I recall a demonstration of a "Hangar Start" (to be done when wind was >55kt, IIRC) in the Gaydon Hangar (?), when the beast failed to start. The crewman caused some consternation amongst the assembled "wheels" when he threw a fire bucket of water into the engine.

Job done; all burning and turning in 3 minutes!!

Never did get to fly the Gnat; legs too long!:{

The Green Sector.
 

I recall the green sector well. Flying the machine using a rocker switch was not much fun.
Did you ever try an overshoot in this mode and select the gear up?
I can only say I am thankful for the Gnat's power to weight ratio. Mona was the location and I can only imagine that the tourists may have thought one was showing off.
Massive pitch up with my instructor laughing and the stick on the panel. My little Irish brain said gear down and lock in the back end
in that order and then go home for a cuppa and hot buttered toast with strawberry jam. Yum Yum..

I am glad of all your responses. This gig has evoked many happy thoughts.
Come on chaps. Spill the odd bean. Tis good for you.

Stay safe,

D

Per Aurdua ad Astra and where is the Cab Sav?

1. Remain strapped in whilst the groundcrew tip the tail down by lifting the nose. Although I never recall having had a wet Orpheus start -

2. No 'LOX bottle', it had a LOX pack. Somewhere on the RHS, if memory serves - or was that in the Bucc?

3. Yes - piece of pi$$ if you followed the STUPRECCC drill correctly. To unlock the elevators, you pulled the 'unlock' handle, counted 2 clicks, observed the white band and checked that the ELEV caption had illuminated. The full STUPRECCC drill was rather more complicated, Speed below 400/M0.85, Feel Trim to the 'ideal' sector, Unlock the elevators ('click, click, white band, ELEV), Power cock OFF, Raise the Standby Trim switch cover, Exhaust the aileron and tailplane accumulators (1½-2½° n-u TPI), Check control column response, Check Standby Trim response, operate the Changeover using the Mod 399 switches, which transferred Standby trim to the control column feel trim switches .....

You knew when your QFI had faith in you when you were allowed to fly a night Manual roller....at Mona :eek:

You did NOT select the gear up in Manual; without operative datum shift, control would have been rather difficult.

I flew the Gnat a couple of years after you did, dmussen. By then training was a lot safer and Manual certainly held no fears for me, provided it was carefully respected.

If I recall correctly, it was the fitting of the Feel Trim Position Indicator which sorted out many of the Manual issues. You had to get the TPI (not the FTPI) to the required position before hydraulics were lost as the Standby Trim could only motor the tailplane up from the failure value and if you didn't get it right you wouldn't be able to land. Elevator (not tailplane) response was very slow in Manual, so the trick was to keep the control column 'load-free / central', using Standby Trim as the primary pitch method, with the control column fine tuning the attitude with unlocked elevators. On final you selected the appropriate TPI value and pushed against it with the elevators, so that as you relaxed the pressure at touchdown you could still flare the aircraft.

Hunter and Hawk were such toys to fly, compared with the delightful G-nat!

Right, I'll shut up then.

Well. You know when I was going though pilot training I kept thinking that one day I would understand what QFIs were talking about. Not yet, Courtney. Not yet.

Oh, Q Cam, K gear.