For those who were not able to make it, the weekend certainly turned out to be beautiful at Sywell.......eventually! Saturday morning was very misty until close to midday, then the clag disappeared for the rest of the day. Sunday was something of a replay except for the early morning heavy rain. This cleared by late morning to be fllowed by another beautiful afternoon. The flight back just before dusk was magical as we flew into the red sunset through glassy smooth air.
I had the adventure of accidentally plugging my 12 volt ICOM hand held radio into the 24 volt source. As soon as the smoke fell out of it I guessed that I had irritated someone important because no matter how I shouted it just sat there sulking and quiet. It may not have made much in the way of noise, but it certainly made up for the lack of sound by the increase in the smell of outraged electrical bits. In any event the folks at Sywell were very pleasant about it all so it became just one more example of life's rich pageantry. I think that there were something like 35 Chipmunks on the Saturday and 23 on Sunday.
The more that I fly the Chipmunk the more I like it, particularly now that I have been able to take out about three inches from the uphostered seat cushion. I can't imagine how small the Portugese pilots were that flew with that seat, but now I am finding that on occasions I find that the runway is reasonably close to where I had hoped that it might be.
I must admit to being somewhat disappointed by the lack of fellowship from some of the Chipmunk pilots/owners/operators at Sywell. I remember that someone had previously mentioned having some kind of patch or decal for the Caledonian group. Although in the main I am not fond of bepatched suits for myself, it might be an idea to be able to have a chat with a fellow Caledonian Chipmunker. Perhaps a golf shirt with a suitably designed patch might work.....Just a thought.
One minor difficulty that occurred in my Chipmunk's life, is that the vacuum pump has self destructed. This was not at all unexpected for a pump that has been sittng virtually idle for something like twenty five years, but it was a bit of a nuisance in that I had to crawl virtually to the tail wiping oil off the belly. In fact I am not a great fan of vacuum pumps at the best of times, as when they fail they can sometimes do a very good job of pumping engine oil from the inside of the engine to the outside of the fuselage. This can have a somewhat similar affect as plugging a 12 volt radio into 24 volts, in that eventually it can result in quantities of smoke followed by a very loud silence. I like venturis for that reason. Now, my friend and Chipmunk guru Carl, reckons that early Chipmunks did indeed have venturis mounted to a panel just behind the firewall on the belly. If anyone can confirm the legality of of this I would be grateful, and would think of mounting two nine inch venturis rather than a pump . ........venturis don't fail and certainly don't throw out oil! In fact I have just fitted a venturi to power the standby instruments in the touring aeroplane that I have here. In any event I would welcome comments and information either pro or con.
Now I am back at home and must attempt to catch up with the odds and ends that have been neglected for the past few weeks before coming back November to have a bit of a play before winter hits too hard.......... I can recommend retirement!!
Regards to all, Brent
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