MY FIRST EXPERIENCE of the Tiger Moth was courtesy of my great friend and instructor Larry Beamish deciding that I needed to learn to fly tailwheel planes. For someone brought up on docile Cessnas and Cherokees, the Tiger is – well – a tiger. It assaults your senses.
The wind blasts you; the engine and prop noise hammers you like a rock concert, and the handling is well…. different. This is an aeroplane that demands fancy footwork. The prop turns the ‘wrong’ way so it yaws to the right when you open the power on takeoff.
You have to get the tail up smartly on takeoff to see where you’re going but overdo it and you will grind the prop into the ground and it may flip onto its back. That’s a lot worse than a dreaded ground loop, especially as the fuel tank is in the top wing.
Oh – and did I mention it has no starter – and no brakes. You have to be determined to fly a Tiger.
For my Christmas holiday we took our buckets and spades to Kenton on Sea. And there, hold and below! - a beautiful yellow Tiger came chuntering along the coast. Better still, I knew the owner, Clifford Reynolds, from way back.
Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av SA Flyer Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av SA Flyer Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Iris - her early years: IRIS FLIES ACROSS SUDAN
Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum's early years in East Africa and the Sudan. In part 1 of this story she recounts how she had to fly a bunch of Belgian Missionaries to Aweil, a city in northwestern South Sudan, from Wilson in Nairobi in her old mate 'ARN', the Piper Aztec 5Y-ARN.
UGLY IS PRETTY: LEAR 25 VS PILATUS PC-6
When you go to a party where you don't know anybody, you should always go for the 'Ugly' girl, because she will be happy that you chose to spend time with her.
CIRRUS G7 LAUNCHED IN AFRICA
What makes one aircraft better than another? Range, Speed, or carrying capacity, short field performance, operating costs, high wing, low wing, side stick, traditional control yoke?
PRESIDENT'S TROPHY AIR RACE 2024
The annual Presidents Trophy Air Race (PTAR) is the highlight of the year for many competitive general aviation pilots.
THE ABSA LOWVELD AIRSHOW 2024
This year marked the thirtieth edition of the Lowveld airshow – and it was widely acclaimed as the best ever.
PREVIEW: AFRICAN AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE EXPO(AAD)
Guy Leitch finds out from AAD Exhibition Director, Ms Nakedi Phasha, how the buildup to this year's biennial expo is going, and what visitors and exhibitors can expect.
APRIL 2023
April has been a very quiet month on the local aviation marketplace with only nine new registration allocations and three deletions, according to the officially-supplied register review.
PIPISTREL PANTHERA FINALLY HERE
One of the world's most eagerly awaited piston single engine aircraft designs has finally arrived in South Africa. ZU-KTR is a long awaited Panthera, proudly owned by Bertus Kritzinger, a Free State trucker, and based at New Tempe in Bloemfontein, where the well-known Ferriera Aviation has assembled it.
STAGGERWING - ALREADY OLD WHEN NEW
The Staggerwing was the climax, and the end, of an era.
The Aim of Bombing
In modern warfare it's not the soldiers who die - it's the civilians. One of the best examples of this is carpet bombing.
