Text 21289, 91 rader
Skriven 2007-10-13 10:31:02 av HAP NEWSOM (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: TRIP 215  71012
=======================
Hey Glen!
-> 
-> Thanks, good to be back.
-> 
We did miss you! We need to hear more from Greg too!Kevin as well...but
he's self imposed his exile and I don't expect he'll ever do more than lurk
again!
 
->  -> helmet and goggles, I climbed carefully into the front cockpit of
the
->  -> 70 year old Tiger Moth biplane, the pilot gave one pull on the
->  -> propellor, and the engine burst into life.
-> 
-> Etc.
-> 
->  HN> Now that sounds SO cool! I love flying in biplanes! My first
->  HN> experience was in 1961 in France. The Areo club on the base at
->  HN> Chateauroux had found nd restored a spad newport from post WW1, it
was
-> 
-> Now that would really be something!!  A Spad!  Was that the model with
-> a Gnome et Rhone rotary engine, where the crankshaft stayed still and
-> the cylinders whizzed around, exhausting direct into the atmosphere?
-> Thinking about it, 1961 was a few years ago, and a post WW1 Spad would
-> then have been only be 43 years old, at the most, but aircraft design
-> and performance advanced enormously between the wars.
-> 
It was a post ww1 spad built with two cockpits, and frankly I could not
tell you what kind of engine it was! I was 12 at the time and I never paid
any attention to it...it ran, and that was amazing and sufficient for me at
the time!

->  HN> a thrill ride every time it went up and all the jet jockies loved
to
->  HN> have a chance to fly her. My first trip in her was exciting...when
I
-> 
-> Open cockpit flying is far more "real" than being stuck inside a
-> pressurised aluminium tube, looking out through a window.
-> 
It certainly is very very "real"!

->  HN> climbed into the rear cockpit the pilot warned me to make sure my
->  HN> seatbelt was as tight as I could get it...I verified that it was in
->  HN> fact so tight I was hardly able to move at all. We took off and
climbed
->  HN> to altitude and the pilot let me know we were going to commence
with
->  HN> some areobatics...First was a vertical stall which was VERY
exciting!
->  HN> Upon pulling up from the vertical dive resulting from the stall we
did
->  HN> an immelman roll, and then went on to a maneuver called the
"English
->  HN> bunt"...which is basically half an outside loop so you end up
flying
->  HN> inverted in the opposite direction. However you are exposed to
-> 
-> Just as well that plane was in good condition, to withstand those
-> aerobatic stresses.  Very heart-stopping, and possibly stomach moving.
-> 
->  HN> incredible G forces trying to push you out of the cockpit...it was
at
->  HN> this point in the flight that I found that my belt was not as tight
as
->  HN> I had claimed it was...it felt like there were at least 10 inches
->  HN> between my bum and the seat of the plane! Have you ever tried to
->  HN> tighten a seatbelt while being pressed against it with great force?
I
->  HN> know I sure tried!! When we did a half roll and went back to
"normal"
->  HN> flight I made sure I tugged that belt as snug as I could possibly
get
->  HN> it! The next time I had the opportunity to go aloft in that plane
they
->  HN> had installed a flight harness as opposed to a lap belt.......I was
->  HN> very happy that they had done that!
-> 
-> I should think so!  The Tiger I was in had 4 separate straps, each with
-> several holes, and they were brought over thighs and shoulders to slip
-> over a central pin, and held by a spring clip which could be pulled to
-> release all, allowing the passenger to leap out and parachute to the
-> ground - if he had a parachute, which I didn't.
-> 
Sounds quite similar to the set up they put into the spad, called a 5 point
harness I think with one additional strap coming up from between your
thighs.
chat with you soon
ha
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