Post by viscount on Mar 7, 2014 23:19:29 GMT 1
DERBY AERODROME, EGGINTON, Thursday 6th March 2014
A fast trip down the M6 and A50 without traffic delays created time to call in at Egginton en route to a family funeral in Derby. Always a fascinating grass airfield and with a friendly welcome. While the flight lines and the long grass near the hangar are dominated by Cessna types, there are enough rarer types around to excite the enthusiast too:
G-ARAX PA-22 Tri-Pacer 150
G-ARFB PA-22 Caribbean 150
G-ASMS Cessna 150A, upright tail model
G-AVDV PA-22 Tri-Pacer 150, tail-wheel mod
G-AVGA PA-24 Comanche 260
G-AXJJ Beagle 121 Pup 2
G-AXSC Beagle 121 Pup 1, clearly unflown for some time
G-AYPH Cessna F.177RG, unflown for a while
G-AZCK Beagle 121 Pup 2
G-AZTF Cessna F.177RG
G-BAIK Cessna F.150L
G-BAKW Beagle 121 Pup 2
G-BBJY Cessna F.172M
G-BHAV Cessna F.152
G-BHXA Beagle 121 Bulldog 120/210, very faded camouflage colours
G-BHZS Beagle 121 Bulldog 120/210, clearly unflown for some time, also very faded camouflage colours
G-BIJD Bolkow Bo.208C Junior
G-BITH Cessna F.152 II
G-BPHP Taylorcraft BC-12-65, American style period scheme
G-BKEV Cessna F.172M
G-BNHK Cessna 152 II
G-BNKE Cessna 172N
G-BNMC Cessna 152 II, fuselage only, inside hangar – unflown for some time
G-BSTM Cessna 172L
G-BWYB PA-28 Cherokee 160
XX702/pi(G-CBCR) Beagle 121 Bulldog 120/121, retains RAF red/white training scheme
G-CFCI Cessna F.172N
G-DACF Cessna 152 II, inside hangar
G-FIJJ Cessna F.177RG, in hangar
G-KWAX Cessna 182P, fuselage only, inside hangar – unflown for some time
G-ODAC Cessna F.152 II
G-OSFS Cessna F.177RG
G-SACF Cessna 152 II, remains in the grass
G-TRAX Cessna F.172M
G-WTSN Van’s RV-8, a very recent build, inside hangar
N29566 PA-28RT Cherokee Arrow IV, outside hangar getting engine attention
C1096/3 (G-….) SE.5A Replica, dismantled in hangar, recently arrived, engineless currently – but likely to fly this summer, and be joined by a Tiger Moth and further WWI replicas
Also a few ‘half regn’ notes: eg G-BA.W? Cherokee fuselage in the grass, G-AZ.. Pup (maybe another Pup logged twice?), G-AZFM? Pup (well wrong) and G-BC.. a AA-5srs. There were a couple more wrecks in the grass, but the puddles prevented close examination. Not given the opportunity to look in the further, larger, newer hangar.
THE “BLACK MAGIC” PROJECT BULDING
The highlight of the visit was being shown around the ‘Black Magic’ project. Housed in its own long workshop (rather than in a hangar) is the project to rebuild to fly, the 1934 DH.88 Comet Racer G-ACSP. Fascinating as I first saw this on an MAS members visit, October 1979, around Colt Balloons in Shrewsbury then to Chirk and a tour around the hangars there with John Pierce. He had just commenced the rebuild of G-ACSP having recovered remains from a barn in Portugal and obtained the original 'blue print' drawings. My memory is of the new build section being little more than a wooden box on the hangar floor, little larger than a drawer. Now the project is quite substantial with fuselage finished, ready for cockpit fixtures, control runs and glazing, while the wood for the wings has been imported from the USA and the first components shaped and glued. However before the wing structure can proceed much further the workshop has to be re-organised to provide the space required for the one-piece wing. Much of the metal-work eg engine/undercarrriage mountings, fuel tanks etc are completed, as are the tailplanes, and the project has 3 engines ready once the wings are finished.
In the same workshop was a near complete Van’s RV-4 (single seater) , without registration applied. In another room, a project to restore to flight (hopefully this year) is Rollinson Turbulent G-APNZ. This project is substantially complete, although replacing the fabric final layer over the wood construction is a major job yet to be commenced. As the only aircraft the Duke of Edinburgh has flown completely solo (being a single seater) the restoration has gained a number of benefactors, including the Duke himself.
My many thanks for the Flying School secretary who donned her (fashion) boots and escorted me around the airfield’s soggy flight lines, and especially to the gentleman who showed me around the Comet workshops in great detail. He was as surprised to meet someone who had seen the project right back at the start in 1979, as I was to find it was the same Comet rebuild project as I saw then! They are eager to find photos of the project while at Chirk, as they have never seen any of the earliest days of rebuild. I’ve searched my files and have several of the Chirk Dragon Rapides, Austers and a Chipmunk – but not one with the Comet project included. Damn. Anyone else remember that visit and able to help?
The project to build DH.88 Comet G-ACSP.
The rebuild of Turbulent G-APNZ.