COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

COMBAT AND COMPETITION
original sternpost gave a longer moment arm and there was a much
bigger fin extending forward along the fuselage spine - changes to
compensate for the 17 metre wing. The canopy moulding was wider,
and lower at the sides, providing more room and better visibility.
The all moving tail would reduce the trim drag, increasingly so at
high speed, and the new design, soon to be known as the 403, had been
stressed for inverted flight.
Horace gave the go ahead. But he was adamant that I should not
rely on the new prototype for the following year's Nationals. David
Carrow solved the problem by persuading his syndicate to offer me
their new Skylark III for its first competition outing. Their terms
included extensive use of the aircraft to practice on beforehand, and
that at the height of the soaring season. It was a most generous gesture
and I was glad that my job enabled me to present them with a brand
new diluter demand oxygen system.
Some months later, at a cockpit conference in Newbury, there was
ample evidence that the 403 was well under way. I offered to give up
the Skylark III for the Nationals and commit myself to the 403 there
and then. But Horace would have none of it.
"Don't do it David! I have a lot of difficulties at the moment. What
you have seen today means absolutely nothing. I simply cannot
guarantee that it will be ready."
In fact it was, but only just, exactly four days before the Nationals,
when I found myself at RAF Andover, with the aircraft ready to fly
and the bearded Tony Goodhart literally breathing down my neck!
Visiting Elliotts at the eleventh hour, he had realised that 403
might still be completed in time, and had somehow persuaded Horace
to loan it to him. Now he was full of flap in case I found something
which might scupper his chances.
Tony was fortunate. The only immediate difficulty involved the all
moving tailplane. 100% mass balancing was necessary to cure a short
period oscillation, and this had the further advantage of somewhat
reducing the excessive stick force per 'G'. In this state it would be
tiring for a competition pilot, circling for long periods in thermals, but
that was Tony's problem. So I compromised with non optimised
handling, but not with safety, and took the aircraft through its special
category C of A flight tests at one CG5 position. Cleared for contest
flying by an experienced pilot, with a maximum speed limitation, it
provided Tony with an aircraft for the Nationals.
That year had been threatened by the Suez crisis and the possibility
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