VA Vol 27 No 4 April 1999 - Members Only

At Kessler Field, Walt's private airport west of Chicago, the Hornet Moth strikes a pretty
pose as it waits for Walt to start the Gipsy Major engine and take off to enJoy the smooth
evening air.
controls. Above the left door pillar is the
elevator trim adjustment.
At the left side of the instrument panel
is a large aluminum lever called an air
brake. When pushed down, both landing
gear struts turn flat against the slipstream,
thus reducing the airspeed considerably.
The lower half of the walnut wood instrument
panel is also on a brass hinge.
Lifting the panel toward you and upward,
reveals a large storage area. Also cleverly
hidden inside is a Mode C Transponder,
altimeter, amp gauge, intercom and Escort
II radio.
A sliding door at the left of the panel
lets you access the radio for communicating
and navigating, and viewing the
altimeter. The panel of instruments is authentic
1938 and yet when you lift the
hinged panel, there are all the modem day
electronics hidden away from view.
I might add that Hawthorne Airport,
where the Hornet was based, is only a little
more than three miles away from
LAX. It's in Class B airspace, so all
these "modern electronics" were necessary
and convenient.
In between the seats is a velY comfortable
leather armrest that also flips open for
an additional storage area for sunglasses,
plotters, pencils, or whatever will fit.
The "Y" stick, or control column, is positioned
at the center of the cabin floor. It
is spring loaded to move forward to allow
easier entry and exit. The stick does take
some getting used to, as it does not sit directly
in front of you.
It's a little difficult to pick the right position
for the elevators before takeoff, but
after a while you do get the feel of it. You
have to sort of guess at a position before
the speed builds up to tell you if the nose
is too high or too low. Also, because of
16 APRIL 1999
the very wide cabin, the fuselage sides,
starting from the instrument panel forward,
angle sharply in toward the nose and
are not parallel with your direction of takeoff
or landing.
The P 11 compass, which is five inches
in diameter, sits at the center of the cabin
just in front of the control column. It has
a neat little light that is positioned just
above it.
The fuel gauge is located between the
two leather seat back, at your right elbow.
The onlofffuel selector is a vertical lever
that slides up and down, and is located
next to the fuel gauge. 74 Echo Charlie
does have a complete electrical system,
shielded ignition, nav lights and a strobe at
the bottom of the fuselage.
Starting the Gipsy Major engine is different.
First you must "tickle" the
carburetor; that is, hold down a small but­
ton to flood it. At the
same time, you reach
around the front of
the engine with your
right hand, to the left
side of the engine. A
lever attached to the
fuel pump is wobbled
up and down until
you hear the fuel start
to trickle and flow.
After buttoning both
cowl doors, we turn
the wooden prop
(made in Australia)
over about six or
eight times (all
switches off) . Remember,
the British
engine turns the opposite
from the
American - to the
left. A push of the starter button on the
panel and it belches to life. The Gipsy
Major settles down and idles with that familiar
sound that reminds one of a Model
A Ford engine. Recommended procedure
is to idle the engine at about 800 rpm for
about four minutes. Oil pressure should
be between 30 and 40 Ibs. when cold.
Within the cabin, it is a little noisy but
not too bad. You can still hear and conversation
can be carried on, however,
headphones are the order of the day.
The Bendix differential brakes, once
you get used to them, are easy to use .
Full rudder pedal is demanded in either
direction, or when the ratcheted hand
brake lever is pulled, both wheel brakes
function together.
The Hornet's angular nose does sit high
while taxiing, which doesn't help with forward
visibility. Lined up into the wind,
we do our engine check and go through
our pre-takeoff checklist. There is no temperature
gauge, so after about four minutes
we run the engine up to 1800 rpm for a
mag check, then full throttle for max
power check. The brakes hold well!
After checking the trim, throttle, brakes,
mixture, oil pressure, fuel selector lever,
compass, air brakes, doors and belts, and
we clear our area, we give her full power
for takeoff. Today, the wind is right down
our favorite grassy runway.
We set the stick position for neutral
while we build up our airspeed. We bring
the tail up as soon as we have elevator
control and hold the stick forward. Now
our view is much better. The takeoff run
- Continued on page 25­
SPECIFICATIONS
DEHAVILLAND HORNET MOTH
130 horsepower Gipsy Major
Weight (including standard equipment) .. 1,255 Ibs.
Useful Load695 Ibs.
Length Overall .................... 24 ft. 11.5 in.
Span .......................... 31 ft. 11.4 in.
Span (with wings folded) ............ 9 ft. 0.5 in.
Height ......................... 6 ft. 7.0 in.
Maximum speed at sea level ......... 121-124 mph
Cruising speed at 1,000 ft./2,050 rpm .. 103-105 mph
Endurance (with normal tanks) ........ 6 hours
Stalling Speed ................... 40 mph
Takeoff run in 5 mph wind ........... 135-175 yds.
Climb to 5,000 ft.................. 8.75 min.
Service Ceiling ................... 14,800 ft.
Gliding angle (air brakes on) .......... 1 in 8
Price .......................... L875