(or hit the F5 key) when on the club
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download any new page.|
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(If you want to print the newsletter) |
President: Terry Kitson
Vice President: CJ Norman.
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Tony Major: Chairman |
Alan Dobson: Secretary |
Bert Choney: Treasurer |
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Ian Kenyon:Vice Chairman |
Geoff Ward: Safety Officer |
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Keith England: P.R.O. |
Tony Fuller: Social & Membership Secretary |
It has been another difficult year for me and this is only the 2nd newsletter I've managed to get out. I have tried to ensure important news has gone out by email however, I only have addresses for about 1/3rd of the members. A good yardstick is that I sent out an email on 6th October reminding people that our winter club meetings are on Mondays at Bookham - if you didn't receive that email, I don't have your address so please email me at (k.england@virgin.net) with your email address and name so I can inform you quickly if we have a problem.
I haven't been updating the website as much as I'd like either, however it
is unusual for me not to be there on a Saturday unless I consider it unflyable.
In that case I'll check around with the other key holders and get a warning
up on the front page of the website www.edmfc.org.uk by 10:30 a.m. if we believe
it isn't worth opening the field that day. Remember to use the refresh button
(or hit the F5 key) when on the club
home page as some browser set-ups can show an old cached page and not automatically
download any new page.
13/10 - Mon: 7:50 p.m. Monthly club meeting at Bookham URC on a Monday for the winter.
25/10 - Sat: Flying returns to Downside field.
17/11 - Mon: 7:50 p.m. AGM Bookham URC.
08/12 - Mon: 7:50 p.m. Bookham URC. Chuck Gliders evening.
05/12 - Fri: Xmas Dinner.
29/12 - Mon: Slope Soaring day.
Directions to Bookham ChurchBookham United Reformed Church |
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This will be held at 7.50 sharp. Please try to be there.
Very Important
As reported this time last year, Tony Major wishes to step down as Chairman
for 2009. We need a new Chairman so please think very carefully about this.
It is time that more people put a little back into the club or it is going to
slowly wither and die. Many of the other committee members would be happy to
hand over or change jobs so why not talk to any of the committee and find out
just what is involved? It isn't onerous!
Club Christmas Meal 7pm for 7:30 - Surbiton Golf Club, £19 per person. All members and their family are welcome so please give your name and a deposit of £10 per person to Tony Fuller ASAP but no later than the AGM if coming.
Well, actually, from Valletta as well.
For a couple of years now the Canadian company Harbourair have been running a seaplane service from Valletta Harbour, Malta to Mgarr Harbour, Gozo. However they also do a 30-minute scenic flight around the whole of Malta and Gozo - It's not often you can fly around a whole country in 30 minutes!
I've never flown in a seaplane and Harbourair offer a 'Premium seat' - which is actually the co-pilot's seat as there is only one crew. So, despite my wife's strongly stated "I don't do small 'planes or small boats" I managed to convince her and my daughter to go!
The Otter in Valletta Harbour
We boarded a DeHavilland DHC-3 Single Otter. I was disappointed that the dual controls were missing from the right hand seat but the view was, good, I had headphones to listen to the radio and could see the instruments. Taking off from Valletta with the bastions towering above you was quite something.
Take Off
It was interesting also to see a turboprop in operation; taxiing was at 50% RPM but the whole flight seemed to be with the turbine running at 95% RPM regardless of power setting. I did also wonder at first what the pilot was pumping with a big lever beneath his seat before take off (I thought it might have been a bilge pump for the floats!) but I watched more carefully during the landing approach and realised the flaps were manual hydraulic - took about 5-6 pumps to get them all the way down. I was also quite surprised at the low maximum speed (pilots refer to that as VNE - Velocity Never Exceed) only about 133 MPH, yet the airspeed indicator (ASI) went a lot higher than that. I asked the pilot if it was due to the floats but he said it is not much higher on the land version. It turns out that DeHavilland reduced the VNE with the turboprop; for the radial engine version it is something like 160MPH. You would think that a turbo would be higher as it must have less vibration, but it seems to be related to the ability to use reverse thrust, which even at 130MPH doesn’t sound like a good idea to me!
The Spitfire like curved landing approach was even more amazing than the take off - from downwind to stopped in 30 seconds or so!
Landing over the Shipyards
Both the landing and take off were the smoothest I've ever experienced, you hardly noticed the transition from water to air, I guess it show how calm the harbour is. The stopping distance was very short, with the column held back the floats seemed to dig their heels in and slow the plane very quickly - we were stopped by the time we were level with that crane on the right in the picture below:
On Short Finals
Most amazing of all was that Julie & Fiona actually enjoyed the flight!
You can just see me in the cockpit behind Fiona.