Bass
1st October 2007, 10:49
Had some friends from the Naki staying for the weekend. They came up to see "War of the Worlds".
We have had a common interest in aviation for years (including the ladies) and since Saturday was fine, we nipped out to Ardmore to see what was happening around the Warbirds hanger.
Typical fine Saturday and the airfield was pretty busy. I have always found people out there to be pretty approachable and happy to talk aircraft.
The first thing that I learned was that you can go for a ride in the Cessna Dragonfly but it will cost you about $1500. I am seriously thinking about finding the money. The Dragonfly was used as a ground attack aircraft in Vietnam and so the engines are full military spec. This means about 5 minutes to Hamilton and $800 worth of fuel in about 20 minutes.
Anyway, we had no particular expectation and so were delighted to discover that Avtech had rolled out their latest restoration project and were planning to test fly it.
It is a Mark five Spitfire.
It last flew in about 1945.
The mark five is particularly rare with only a handful of complete examples worldwide and I don't know if any of the others are in flying condition. Keith Skilling was the test pilot and those of you who follow vintage aircraft will know that he also displays the Alpine Fighter Collection Corsair.
The workmanship was nothing short of superb.
Looking along the top of the wing, one sees thousands of flush fitting screws. The blade slots were all aligned FFS. The attention to detail was awesome.
The engine was ground run several times and started easily. There was a small problem with an oil leak from a supercharger seal but it was not enough to prevent the test flight which went ahead at around 4 p.m. Nothing compares with the sound of 27 litres of Merlin in full cry.
The right hand undercarriage leg failed to retract completely and so the flight was limited to a couple of circuits and a landing on the grass strip. The gear extended again just fine. The most likely cause of the problem is air in the hydraulic system. It is hard to eliminate it completely from a total stripdown because the engine (and so the hydraulic pump) cannot be run and the gear cycled with the aircraft on the ground.
The next flight is scheduled for this morning. I was very tempted to pull a "sicky"
It is owned from the USA and so sadly will be heading Stateside as soon as testing is complete. The owner has invested about $US 3.5 million in this restoration.
IMHO it is a real tribute to NZ skills and abilities that the work was done here.
We have had a common interest in aviation for years (including the ladies) and since Saturday was fine, we nipped out to Ardmore to see what was happening around the Warbirds hanger.
Typical fine Saturday and the airfield was pretty busy. I have always found people out there to be pretty approachable and happy to talk aircraft.
The first thing that I learned was that you can go for a ride in the Cessna Dragonfly but it will cost you about $1500. I am seriously thinking about finding the money. The Dragonfly was used as a ground attack aircraft in Vietnam and so the engines are full military spec. This means about 5 minutes to Hamilton and $800 worth of fuel in about 20 minutes.
Anyway, we had no particular expectation and so were delighted to discover that Avtech had rolled out their latest restoration project and were planning to test fly it.
It is a Mark five Spitfire.
It last flew in about 1945.
The mark five is particularly rare with only a handful of complete examples worldwide and I don't know if any of the others are in flying condition. Keith Skilling was the test pilot and those of you who follow vintage aircraft will know that he also displays the Alpine Fighter Collection Corsair.
The workmanship was nothing short of superb.
Looking along the top of the wing, one sees thousands of flush fitting screws. The blade slots were all aligned FFS. The attention to detail was awesome.
The engine was ground run several times and started easily. There was a small problem with an oil leak from a supercharger seal but it was not enough to prevent the test flight which went ahead at around 4 p.m. Nothing compares with the sound of 27 litres of Merlin in full cry.
The right hand undercarriage leg failed to retract completely and so the flight was limited to a couple of circuits and a landing on the grass strip. The gear extended again just fine. The most likely cause of the problem is air in the hydraulic system. It is hard to eliminate it completely from a total stripdown because the engine (and so the hydraulic pump) cannot be run and the gear cycled with the aircraft on the ground.
The next flight is scheduled for this morning. I was very tempted to pull a "sicky"
It is owned from the USA and so sadly will be heading Stateside as soon as testing is complete. The owner has invested about $US 3.5 million in this restoration.
IMHO it is a real tribute to NZ skills and abilities that the work was done here.