Roger Partington

Nicky and I were married on Friday and to celebrate, we are planning a party at the Stanton air strip, just north of Morpeth.
As well as space to camp, we are hoping for a band, barbeque, some local flying and possibly even a little drinking (after the flying!).

It would be great to see as many Menestrel people as possible, however they get there but of course, preferably with their steeds. Of course, all types (of aircraft) would be welcome and our only real restriction is on parking space so it would be good to have an idea of how many are coming.

Northumberland is a great place to fly and the only airspace locally is Newcastle who are very friendly or can be avoided. The hills and coast line around here make for some beautiful scenery and there are many small strips to visit.

Stanton strip as a bit daunting for the first time but is actually very easy. I will send information to anyone who asks but in the mean time, I have posted a video on youtube of a landing there which gives you an idea (Search for "Landing at Stanton"). If still worried about it, there is an airfield close by called Eshott (which is also close to my house) with a nice smooth runway.

If anyone would like to come, please can they let me know so that we know it's a goer and can make arrangements.

The guy who runs our hangar, ChesterPotts, has set up a yahoo group called northeastmicrolights@yahoogroups.com and uses it to arrange local fly-ins and other events as well as to share information

One of the events organised for the Northern Flying Club this year was a fly in to a strip inside the danger area at Otterburn. This strip is usually only open to the military but we managed to get it made available to us for one day and we laid on food and entertainment. There are plans to arrange more events next year and it would be good to see some Menestrels joining in the fun. Picture

I have been doing some bits of work to the plane and if I was building again there are some things I would do slightly differently. When I was building, my Dad asked whether I was going to build in some jacking points and being daft I brushed the comment aside. I now realise how right he was ! I find the best place to jack the plane is under the main spar at the point where the wing attachment bolts go through to the fuselage and my reason for this is that the load is going to be taken on this heavy part of the spar and the ash block will transmit the load up though to the bolt so that the spar itself does not really see the load. With hindsight, I would have put a piece of wood the full width of the spar under here and attached a metal plate with a button so that the jack would locate nicely on it. I don't like jacking further out because there are no flat surfaces to put the jack on and I think that the spar webs could be taking too much weight.

I also found that the undercarriage rubbers had buckled to one side and partially collapsed. I realised that the square section tube of the undercarriage leg has a seam on the inside and while the main sliders on the leg had been machined to clear this, the dividers between the rubbers had not and were catching on the seam and had pulled the rubbers over to one side. The simple solution was to file a notch in each divider so that they cleared the seam. I wish I could find a good alternative to the rubbers as they continue to settle in time and I have now added quite a few extra to re-extend the undercarriage. I know Joe has had the same problem and it would be nice to find a solution.

As we gain confidence in the machine, we are going further afield and flying in more horrible weather and so far we are very pleased with the performance. All you guys who are still building should be reassured that it really is a great little plane and a pleasure to fly - it's all worth it.

The Jabiru wheels that Eric Bentley supplied with the undercarriage have worked very well and dispite all the misgivings by PFA engineering, the brake system seems to be just about right. Landing down hill at Stanton, they provided some much needed stopping power but were not so strong as to lift the tail dangerously.

Going through my notes the other day I found my rough workings for converting the steel tube sizes in the control system to imperial and I have attached the sheet here in case it is useful to anyone. I thought about writing it out nicely but then decided you might like the challenge of reading my scribblings !

I'm glad to hear that you are forging on and making progress even in this colder weather. When I was building the fuselage I used to put blankets over the whole thing and put a small electric heater inside to lift the temperature.

I fitted an oil separator to the engine breather which I think is worth while as it stops the bottom of the fuselage getting covered in oil. An extension to the dip stick tube and a bendy dip stick mean that I can check the oil without taking the cowlings off and at the same time, by recalibrating the dip stick, it now reads correctly with the plane sitting on the tail wheel.

All the flight test paperwork has been sent off and so now I am just waiting for the PFA to formulate some obscure questions - they always have to think of something !

I hear from round about sources that Terry Williams and Barry Enoch are near completion.

I am now helping a group rebuild a 60 year old Taylorcraft L2A which we believe to be the only one in the country and I must say that I prefer building in nice new materials but it is good to part of a group rather than doing it all yourself.

Just thought. I'm sure everyone must know about this but are you aware of the slight problem of the elevator wire rubbing on the upper surface of the tailplane ?
It was something I only found out about when I can to rig the plane, late on in the build and after covering the fuselage. There are various ways of getting around it but it would be easier while the fabric is off the fuselage sides.

As regards progress on the plane, I have just finished making a new exhaust
for it which I am hoping will reduce the back pressure and allow it to
develop a bit more power. Either way, I am about sick of working on it and
just want to go and fly.

I have attached a picture of the strip I fly out of, taken from the hangar
during a bit of engine work - why are they always the good flying days ??

I got the permission to test fly on the morning of the 29th July and the first flight took place on the same day at 19:30.
The prop was one which was lent to me by Joe McCollum and which is a bit fine but is great for testing as the plane leaps off the ground and it still gives a cruise of 85knots at 3000rpm or 90 knots at 3200rpm so it isn't too bad for going places.
I have to do 15 hours of flying before I can do the flight test proper but we have done 4.5 hours of that already
The handling is lovely and crisp and apart from the standard desire to roll left all the time, which I will fix, she really does fly very nicely.
Today I was dodging among the heavy rain showers and getting chucked about under some of the big cumulus that were roaming around - great fun !
Roger

It is nearly the end of June and I said that my Menestrel should be ready to fly by now.
Well, apart from a bit of tweaking to do with the propeller, she is ready to go and we have had some fairly energetic taxying around.

Now I am waiting for paperwork from the PFA.

The weather is beautiful and for the first time in 4 years, I have nothing that needs doing to my plane. To be honest, I feel a little bit lost !

Well hopefully this will be the last update before the big one...
The wings have been fitted and seem to match the fuselage - quite a relief !
Just knocking off the last jobs and working though the snagging list while trying not to rush the job and add more corrections to the list.
I still think that work and PFA allowing, G-CCKN should be ready to fly in June.
Here are a couple more pictures. You will notice how much use the black lab. (Scooby) can be. My fault for wanting to share his bed obviously !

I reckon to be 95pc complete as long as the wing fits the fuselage (which is the next job when I get back). Apart from that, I am mainly down to making a couple of fairings, covering the wing and sploshing some paint around the place. The only slight hitch at the moment is in getting somewhere to keep it - but I have a couple of ideas.

I am spraying control surfaces at the moment and should be mating fuselage to wing in a couple of weeks. Like many, much depends on my job (they want me to go to Bangladesh this week) but I hope to be flying this June. I suppose I should find somewhere to keep it !

I guess it's about time I updated my details.
I took on a new job about 6 months ago which involves me travelling worldwide for a number of weeks at a time. While this has probably saved my sanity by releasing me from the office , it has not been the best thing for the build progress. That said, when I do get home, it is with renewed enthusiasm to get on and so the project is progressing fairly well.
The fuselage is rubbed down and ready for one final coat of paint before applying the registration letters. Apart from this, it is finished.
The engine is complete (as far as I can tell) but I am resisting the temptation to run it until closer to the overall completion, to avoid having corrosive combustion products lying in the engine any longer than I have to.
The woodwork of the wing is complete except for the cut-outs in way of the undercarriage legs and the skin from under the centre of the wing (which I am leaving off until I have finished attaching the wing to the fuselage.
I have almost finished the ailerons except for some sanding and mounted them on proper hinges which Brian Gowland and Tom Ellison got for me from the Jodel people. These hinges are expensive but really nice as they have spherical bearings which take up any misalignment and let the control surface run absolutely smoothly. I ran some electrical cable into the control runs for the ailerons and it all seems to work fine (which was a surprise).
The flaps are on and fitted with the control system, my only concern being the limited clearance between the flap lever bracket and the elevator push rod. The bracket has to be cut away to make space and I hope that I have removed enough.
The undercarriage and brake system is half way fitted and looking good. Following the advise of others, I am fitting and additional rubber, increasing the preload and increasing the leg extension a little bit. This is to give it more travel before the stops and to increase the prop clearance a touch - both of which may be important to me as I intend to operate off rough grass sites.
I finished making up the last of the metal work last week as far as I could before handing it over to Eric Bentley for welding so that should be ready by the time I get back home (I'm in NY again at the moment)
So to summarise - I am aiming to fly the plane in June of the year which would be 4 years and one month from when I started. I originally said that I wanted to do it in 3.5 to 4 years so that wouldn't be too bad ! Of course, this is all dependant on work, weather and the PFA.

All ribs fixed, seat in place, undercarriage mounts made. All progressing fairly well except for holidays which interupted work and last week every thing I made seemed to have to go in the scrap bin. Must try harder. I have also included a picture of the engine as installed.

Roger Partington

For problems or questions regarding this web contact Peter Berkin. Last updated: 14th August 2010.

For problems or questions regarding this web contact Peter Berkin.
Last updated: 14th August 2010.