Suitable safety clothing in the Harvardc

The original question on facebook was the consideration of head clearances for the pilot should the Harvard become inverted on the ground due to a take off or landing mishap... After 47 amazing comments the below conclusion was made...

I think the original question has been answered reference the head clearance for the pilot should the aircraft become inverted on the ground with a line drawn from the pylon to the front cowl... If you have a good fist distance between your head and the top of the canopy as you prepare your self for the flight you should be below the line... The if you become inverted on a hard surface you should be in the safety cell however becoming inverted on softer ground the pylon can dig in and go sub surface putting the pilots head in the danger zone and above the line... In all instances the common consensus definitely points to good solid head protection and safety clothing when flying the Harvard... Due to the risk factors discussed which are less common in light modern aircraft... Even a burst tyre on landing may cause an inverted Harvard... Personally for me I'll definitely wear a nomex suit, gloves suitable foot wear and look at options for helmets in the future...

Currency

IV not really blogged for a while even though IV flown a number of hours since the last scribble... Working backwards I completed about 4 hours flying over the week end in the T6 harvard... I concentrated initially on the landings and circuit work to get back in to the flow following a 3 month lay off....how did it go..? Fan bloody tastic! 

As ever I started the day with Glen sitting in the back.. I had ran through the drills a thousand times during my break and I felt quite comfortable when I climbed back in the cockpit... I am big on visualisation and I always take time out to visualise the walk round, checks and start procedure followed by take off and landing... I try to imagine everything from the noise to the smell of the machine and even the pop and crackle as it starts... I do this as a throw back to my competition days as a skydiver where you had to remember some very complx moves while falling through the air... It works for me...

I did 2 circuits with Glen and I was off on my own... I went on to do another 10 or so circuits tightening them up every lap... I started going around on a long final and finished with a spitfire curved approach getting the wings level just before the touch down...there was only a slight cross wind so not a lot of work to be done in that department.. I was really trying to nail the low tail wheel landings which worked well... Sometimes leading to a 3 pointer but on the whole very pleased with the results... I finally feel that the landings are quite easy now... Not being complacent however it's a learned skill and it's taken me a bloody long time to get to this stage! I did over 70 landings in June july and August 2014..

It's quite intuitive now to know when the main wheels touch first to ease the stick forward just enough to keep the tail inches from the ground and let the inertia do its work and lower or fly the tail down gently... This did not come to me naturally... It took many many landings and circuits to get this feel... 3 pointing the harvard has also become second nature now just like the AUSTER... I never ever though I would say that but it's all about the flare and holding the right attitude at the right time .... Once you brain has the picture it's just a case or replicating it....and at the right time and attitude the aircraft settles nicely on to 3 points...sometimes you get a skip or a bounce but the 2.5 tonnes soon settles back down with out the need for a go around... A big bounce or ballon is obviously a different story

Obvious learning points were to come in on a stable approach... Nice approach and inevitably your three quarters there to a nice landing....

I am so aware now of the cross wind effects and I have those dialled in early... On final if there is any weather cock I see how much rudder and aileron is needed to meet he centre line and that's exactly what I use in the flare and hold that stick in to wind progressively adding more as the airspeed decays keeping the beast straight with rudder.... All the way till she STOPS!

Cross wind landings have become second nature now at duxford with the usual southerly wind... If I don't have the southerly wind i feel cheated and I feel like something's wrong... ! IV actually trained in left wing down and right rudder... We definitely need some more north winds to recalibrate me....

Continuation training in the Harvard

Im not sure if anyone actually reads my twitterings however I will blog something soon about my June July and August Harvard Escapades!

More T6 Time

Having gone solo the natural thing would be to continue to go solo however I am a big believer in getting as much coaching as possible and as the machine is a 2 seater and designed for that purpose I continued with Glen in the back as a nice comfort blanket!

3 weeks passed since my last solo so I decided to go up with Brian a super competent T6 instructor... We cracked 3 hours of training and also another 1 hour of aerobatics...My landings were ok but they needed polish... I had a habit of pushing to far forward on the stick on take off and also again on landing in the wheeler attitude... After lots of practice in the circuit my progression went up with every take off and landing...

I realised that the quicker you raise the tail the quicker the aircraft is prone to a left hand swing due to the gyroscopic precession... So a slower more controlled lift of the tail was needed especially at full power... 36 inches MP and 2250 RPM.... In the level attitude on take off there is still prop clearance however im flying the Harvard in preparation for a Spitfire and if I was to do that in a Spitfire I would shorten the propeller blades by about 12 inches and have a short career as a Spit pilot! Especially at about 10K per blade......

So raising the tail and maintaining a shallow climb attitude was the lessons learnt here.... On landing in a tail low wheeler again the lessons learnt were to check the stick forward just enough to stop the tail being taken down due to gravity, and to slow its descent to a stop just above the ground, then gently lower it below flying speed on to the ground...

The next day with Glen I was like a new pilot!! Over night all this information had stuck to the sponge and I was well confident with my landings... I was now realising that you had to fly this aeroplane and understand where the tail was at all times, where the wings were... The spacial awareness was growing and I was starting to feel what the aeroplane was doing.... Feeling the aeroplane is an easy thing to talk about but hard to do in practice... When you start to feel the aeroplane you will know about it....!

We did some circuits and departed Duxford on a heading of 320 degrees off to Langar Parachute centre in Nottingham...This was a former WW2 Lancaster base with large runways... I landed dead in to wind on runway 25.... Lovely wheel landing and stopped short.... We popped in for a coffee and allowed people to look around G-BUKY

Pleasant flight back and un eventful landing in a cross wind.... I could have gone solo.... But why? Lets end on a good one and look forward to July when I will be doing it all over again :o)

LANGAR

T6 Harvard FIRST "SOLO"

The day of the Solo - On the day, I had landed in the three point attitude with around 5 knots across the runway from the left... This seemed to go well although I felt like it was a fluke due to my previous day of terrible landings! I bumped the machine down and held the stick back until she came to rest.... I always feel the sense of relief when the Harvard stops allowing me to relax (Just a little - Still concentrating hard all the way to the hangar) and taxi the aircraft back in...After this full stop landing I lined up and completed a circuit to land on the main wheels (A wheeler landing) The penny seemed to drop!!

As I came in to the wheeler attitude my peripheral vision seemed to pick up more visual cues and I realised that I was skimming across the runway only inches away.... I reduced the power from 15 inches to idle and then the wheels touched down....Now came for me the counterintuitive action of pushing the stick forward in a "Check" motion and holding up the tail until the airspeed had decreased to around 40 MPH.... At this point I pulled back the stick 'sharpish' to lock in the pin to the tail wheel to stop it castoring and hold the tail down.

This all seemed to go very well.... So off we went and did another 3 wheeler landings. All went pretty much the same to be honest as did the other landings and the counterintuitive move of checking the stick forward began to feel like the norm as did holding it across in to wind and pulling the stick back still in to wind keeping the in to wind wing down.... I had already experienced the wind getting under the wing of the T6 on take off and landing and its a "Nasty business to be in" A wind from the left on take off will really get wild as you lift the tail without in to wind aileron and rudder control, especially on tarmac as the wind and the gyroscopic clockwise affect of the big heavy Hamilton Standard prop takes effect pulling the nose of the machine aggressively to the pilots left!

Having completed around 4 satisfactory take off and landings, Glen said to me "How would you like to do a circuit on your own?" I felt delighted and amazed all at the same time and said "Yes" immediately... To be totally honest I was thrilled and terrified all at the same time as I reminisced of all the times, quite recently that Glen and Neil had saved me from pirouetting down the runway at Duxford! Never one to let something beat me or challenge me I walked over to the T6 Harvard and climbed aboard... With a smile on my face I tapped the combing and said "Look after me" and strapped my self in.... I was confident but not cocky... I knew that I had the skill and the weather was perfect so "What could possibly go wrong?"

I started the Pratt as if it was now second nature, I had given up flying any other aircraft especially Nose draggers until I was competent on this beast...Before I knew it I was on the threshold of runway 24 pushing the throttle open to 34 inches and holding the tail down... Knowing the rear was light I carefully lifted the tail as I gathered speed down the runway... The tail lifted beautifully as I set a shallow climb attitude and lifted off the tarmac at around 80 MPH.... A slight check forward as I reached the take off safety speed and I retracted the gear before the end of the runway... Manifold reduced to 30 inches and the RPM back down to 1900 RPM as I made a left turn on to the down wind leg.... As I approached 1000 feet in the turn I reduced the manifold pressure again to 20 MP as I started my down wind checks... Brakes, Undercarriage below 150 MPH, two greens and check red pegs on the wing tops that indicate that the gear is locked..Mixture is rich, prop forward to the marker, carb heat to hot and reduce MP to 15 inches.... and a stage of flap....The speed is now around 100 MPH as I go around the left base corner to final.... Having called final and reported "Two greens" I continue my approach making sure I am stable at 90 MPH with full flap...

My short final checks are two greens, prop forward mixture forward and full flap selected.... Nice and stable and elected to go for the wheeler landing...Keeping the centre line I bring the aircraft down and flare to an attitude where the wheels are skimming just inches above the surface of the runway and chop the power.... As the power is chopped the wheels arrived on the ground as I checked the stick forward and in to wind to check any drift and hold the tail up.... The rudders were used just to keep it pointing in the right direction.... As the speed decayed to around 40 MPH I pulled the stick back to lock the tail wheel and waited for the machine to stop...

I taxied in and parked up..... I let the Pratt run for about 2 minutes to let it settle then carried out the normal shut down procedure.... Having shut down I sat in the seat feeling quite pleased with my self and that is the face of complete happiness in the picture above.... What a day that turned out to be!!!

All in all the best 17 hours of flying I have ever flown ... I will continue now to build on my experience and gain more competency as I move forward to start on the road to getting the Display Authorisation (DA) on the T6 HarvarD

T6 Harvard Solo

Apart from the birth of my daughter, passing P Company and a ride in the Spit... Nothing has come close to my first solo in the T6 Harvard on the 31/04/14... Quite amazing!! Having completed 3 satisfactory 3 pointers in nil wind on the Tarmac at duxford I did another on the grass rnw 24... To my shock and amazement Glen Fricker my instructor told me to park up and prepare for a solo!' 

Although I knew I could do it... I couldn't help thinking of the previous 15 hours of disastrous landings however now the penny seemed to have dropped.. The doubt was in my mind that the last 4 landings may have been a fluke!!!?!!! 

Any way I took the bull by the horns and went for it.. The sense of achievement was unbelievable as I settled back down on 3 points.. And stopped on the runway which was a bonus!

The next day I went back to wheel landings as I know they are the way forward but I hit another brick wall... I identified that I was not looking in the right place on landing so on the 2nd April I practice for 45 minutes in a 10 knot cross wind and nailed them all!! 

It seems now the penny is starting to drop however I know not to underestimate the T6 as she can bite back when abused or mishandled! 

Auster engine failure

Yep it had to happen sooner of later... Left base, 800 feet and the fan stopped ! Nice glide in and managed a 3 pointer ;) 

Duxford at last!!!

Finally landed in the UK and ready to pick up the AUSTER D4 from Andover in Hampshire... Weathers looking good so it should be a pleasant trip up to duxford... Coffee and cake then off to derby for the night...! 

Facebook - T6 Harvard Aviation

1963 likes! Very close to the 2000 mark which is amazing.. Hopefully we will reach the target by the end of March 2014 :) fantastic support from out Facebook army :) 

"BAILING OUT"

"BAILING OUT"
I was just surfing the net and came across this picture of the P51 "Big Beautiful Doll" collision in 2011.. The pilot Rob Davies did an incredible job of bailing out. I say incredible because he survived a low level, high speed bail out. I would like to meet that guy and get his story!

I often wonder how many pilots would have a clue "how to bail out?" "What handle to pull?" "How to avoid the tail?" What does their parachute look like?" "How to steer it?" "How to land it?" The list goes on and on and on and on......


Personally with my experience, statistically I guess I stand a better chance than most of getting out and deploying my parachute however that doesn't stop me realising that a bail out is a hazardous option, less hazardous than striking the ground at 300 mph though none the less risky and fraught with danger!

I see pilots donning parachutes regularly and ask them what type of parachute is in the container? Answer... Dunno? When was it packed last? How do you know they were qualified? Where has this oily rag of a parachute been stored? Has the parachute material been tensile tested?

The list goes on.... If anyone was ever interested in "How to Bail Out" and survive the lesser of two evils I would gladly give a presentation.... I am a former member of the Red Devils Free Fall team and a current Tandem master, AFF instructor. I hold the advanced/examiner rating and I am duel qualified in the American USPA system... Apart from my sport parachuting I am military HALO and HAHO trained with numerous jumps on round parachutes and over 7000+ on sport parachuting equipment.... I have still yet to bail out of a stricken aircraft.... Hopefully that will never happen.. Touch wood!!

T6 Harvard Aviation - New Logo

A Big Big Thank you to Anthony Richards for the new logo - Brilliant Brilliant! This will appear on all of our marketing material... We offered up the opportunity for our Face book army to enter the logo design competition to win 20 Minutes in the T6 Harvard... The below result was the result 

Aircraft cleaning

Great response from our face book army of followers.. RS aviation have kindly volunteered to clean and polish G BUKY AND ST... Wow cheers guys! Also Alex Walsh a big thank you for volunteering.. Any other helpers welcome .. Dates will be first week in April hopefully 

Instagram T6 Harvard Aviation

We are now posting pics at T6HarvardAviation take a look ! 

T6 HARVARD MEET UPDATE - 19th 20th JULY 2014

NEWS FLASH - T6 Harvard Meet at Duxford IWM 19th/20th July 2014. This is a low key event to establish a good solid T6 Harvard network in the UK with a view to performing a large T6 Harvard Formation in 2015, imagine the noise! So far we have appearing G-TSIX - G-BUKY - G-BJST - and possibly two other well known UK Harvards.... I can also confirm now that a YAK 52 will attend and an Aztec for aerial photography and for you to chat with the pilots .

For Aircraft that I register for the event (Also none Harvard's) the landing fees will be a reduced rate to £7.00 and all day landing fees will be an amazing £20 for all day movements. Overnight parking will be £6.00 per night. All aircraft will be parked to the South side of the Taxi way behind the tower for easy viewing and photography.

• If you have liked Facebook - T6 Harvard Aviation you may be escorted to the T6 Harvards in small groups to have a close look and sit in the aircraft for photographs and chat with the pilots. Please email at info@t6harvard.com to register
• The Aircraft will be flying circuits at various times through the day
• Cafe opposite the Control tower open all day chats with the pilots and for food and drinks etc
• Flights in the T6 Harvard available when booked through Classic Wings

We are looking for ground volunteers, photographers, helpers and anyone willing to assist with some positive PR through flying magazines and local press. Contact Andy on info@T6Harvard.com

FLYING THE T6 FROM A LOW HOURED PILOTS POINT OF VIEW

PART 1

The Harvard from a low hour tail wheel pilot’s point of view

My flying started to get stale so I needed something to focus my attention. I had become bored of visiting the same old airfields for a coffee and a slice of carrot cake and needed something a little more exhilarating. From my home in Wiltshire, I used to watch the Boscombe down Harvard flying overhead at low level quite often so I researched the possibilities of getting an experience flight in one not realising where this was about to propel me!

I went head long in to flying the Harvard with very little tail wheel time and I don’t mind admitting that it has caught me out on more than one occasion! The machine is a real beast but at the same time a lady and a privilege to fly. It has been said many times “If you train in a P51 Mustang, you should be ready for the T6 Harvard!” I have never flown a P51 so I can’t comment on that.

The Harvard (left) is G-BJST T6-J Myself in the front and Neil Oakman in the rear
"However what I can say with complete confidence is that the feeling of thundering down a former Battle of Britain runway with a T-6 strapped to you is a very special feeling indeed"

Sat with the same view that pilots had in the Harvard over 70 years or so ago, inhaling the same fumes as I do now, listening to the pop and crackle of the engine whilst looking over that big R-1340 Wasp radial engine, feeling the sheer sense of excitement as the throttle is opened up to 34 inches of manifold pressure is real living history, something that has to be experienced, impossible to get the feeling from a book, a real privilege.

The Harvard (right) is the type that Geoffrey Wellum would have flown in early 1940 - Or maybe this is him?

The first Harvard I flew was made by the Canadian car and foundry (CC&F) and was the 1953 T-6J MK IV variant (G-BUKY). The name of the manufacturer CC&F doesn’t have the same ring to it as ‘Supermarine’ especially when the company was initially famous for making railroad cars and trolley buses!

The CC&F during world war 2 built over 1400 Hawker Hurricanes which made up for nearly 10% of the total number of Hurricanes ever built and had various other contracts including the building of the T6 Harvard for distribution to world wide air forces.

With about 1200 hours on piston and turbine aircraft I also bought an Auster to build some tail wheel time. I was told that “if you can fly and Auster you can fly anything”… Well, in hindsight that’s complete balderdash! The difference between the Auster and the T-6 Harvard is like ‘night and day!’ That’s in my humble opinion, apart from the tail wheel of course....The Auster does take skill to get it down on 3 points with out bouncing due to the elastic bungee undercarriage however its not the same technique as placing over 5000 pounds of T-6 Harvard on three points at 70 Mph in a cross wind with the feeling of wearing a blind fold!

PART 2 Coming soon 

T6 Harvard FLYIN 3

Ok as ever up dates promised on the fly in.... Dates will either be the 19/20th July or just the 19th... At the moment we have G-BJST - G-BUKY - G-TSIX and possibly 2 YAK 52 turning up... Hopefully all aircraft will be available for photo shoots and the opportunity for our facebook likers to sit in the machines and talk to the pilots... All in all will be a good day

RESTORATION MAN FEB 11th 8PM

Furniture maker Jamie Brown has big ideas about turning a colossal and historic 15,000 square foot RAF bunker from World War II into his new home.

However, with the Nottinghamshire bunker totally encased in earth, with no natural light, and the back section submerged in water, Jamie's wife, who is about to have their first baby, isn't so sure.

With its fascinating history and jaw-dropping engineering, George helps Jamie tackle this huge undertaking and discovers the important role it played in the blitz.

Facebook

I was going to update T6 Harvard Aviation Facebook site however it seems to be running rather slow tonight? Anyway work is progressing on the FLYIN with over 28 'I' Letters being sent out today... More work on G-INFO tonight digging out another 15 address of T6 Harvard Owner Operators in the UK or at least G Registered Harvards/Texans and SNJ...

Below is a Picture of T6 Harvard MK IV T6 J CC&F 464 on short final at Duxford... I thought I would share this lovely shot...

19th 20th July FLYIN

HARVARD FLYIN 19th/20th JULY 2014 - Ok guys the latest update is - I have just sent a letter to 28 UK Harvard Owners through the magic of "I mail" To invite them to the Flyin.. Location still TBC however a decision will be made hopefully very soon... Just waiting for return... Again please spread the word to any operators that you know... All ideas welcome to make this event a success!

T6 Harvard Flyin 2

Ok all looking good so far for the 19-20 july... Some progress made today and I have an aircraft available... I have 1 possible/maybe 1 email sent out to another potential and this week a letter sent to all uk owners of Texan/ Harvard/SNJ aircraft... I will eventually list all known UK based aircraft on the web site as per GINFO... 

T6 Harvard Fly In

At the moment the ball is rolling for a fly in to the proposed location of NORTH WEALD on the week end of 19th/20th July 2014. So far we have some willing volunteers such as ground marshaller s, photographers and 'one Harvard' so far..... We are looking for more UK Harvard operators to come forward and of course we are looking to maximise the PR potential of this fly in.... If you would like to be a part of this please drop me a line at info@T6Harvard.com Thanks Andy

Channel 4 11 February "Restoration man"

DONT MISS - Restoration Man - The programme is currently scheduled to go out on 11th February this year Channel 4 at 8.00p.m. Brown has big ideas about turning a15,000 sq ft historic WW2 RAF bunker into his new home. However with the bunker totally encased in earth, with no natural light, and the back section submerged in water his wife who is about to have their first baby isn’t so sure. With its fascinating history and draw dropping engineering, George helps Jamie tackle this huge bunker and discovers the important role it played in the Coventry Blitz.

  (2 photos)

January flying

A miserable January day in the UK however we managed to get in some circuits and bumps! Although gloomy the wind at Duxford was straight down the runway which made life easy after a 4 month lay off! This is G-BUKY going back to bed in the OFM hangar at Duxford

G-BUKY model

I thought this would be a nice touch for my office table! At least it's a taking point :) 

Take off and Landings

This forward facing GoPro footage shows what its like to land in a cross wind in the T6 Harvard, however what it doesn't show is the shear terror on my face as I try and land the beast with only 13 hours on the T6 Harvard and a total of 80 hours on tail wheel aircraft. I am fairly happy knowing that I have either Neil Oakman or Glen Fricker in the back to assist me when I get it wrong... How they can help from the back is beyond me as you cant see a damn thing from the back of the T6... ?

Years and years of skill which is admirable... It shows me the bench mark that one day I want to achieve and that is instructing from the back however i don't think i have enough time left on the planet for that to become a reality... Indeed a rare skill.

This was a practice in wheeler landings. My biggest mistake was not fully understanding the technique and then rehearsing it wrongly in my head... The concept of a lower approach seems logical and then kissing the wheels on with a touch of power, then power off is logical even with the 600 - 1000 feet per minute descent rate with gear and full flap down... The illogical thing was to then push the stick forward and to the left as the wind was coming from my left... Holding the tail up until it naturally wanted to drop and then pulling the stick back and to the left to lock in the tail wheel pin... As all this was happening the drift has been stopped and now its time to dance on the pedals keeping it pointing in the right direction.

All in all I practiced this for about 3 hours and the penny started to drop. I learnt so much in those 3 hours! Most of my time has been on Cessna Caravans, Islanders and Twin Otters which I have to say are training aircraft compared to this advanced trainer.... Now I know that rudder pedals are not just "Foot rests" I should do better next time...

The wheeler landing is a great way to land the T6 and is debated often. Yes, you do use a lot of run way, so fly from an airfield with a long runway... We are not trying to practice deck landings here just trying to get down in one piece without a ground loop! You land Spitfires in a 3 point attitude, dont you?... True and also between the 3 point attitude and also a wheeler however this is a T6 and she doesn't mind being wheeled on, plenty of prop clearance and as the speed naturally drops and the tail comes down in to the three point attitude you are fairly slow but the flight is far from over .... Keep on working those pedals and keep that wing down in to wind!

All in all thrilling and at times damn scary but i know its all coming together... Not a machine to be underestimated however a delight to fly once airborne...

Test from the iPhone?!?

If this works I'll be shocked and stunned!!! 

Blog Up and Running!

Ok t6 Harvard Aviation Followers... It seems like I have overcome the technical difficulties of setting up this blog page... To be honest it will be a replication of our T6 Harvard Aviation Facebook "Like" page... Every web site has a blog apparently!

T6 Harvard Take off and Landings