(WS editor's note: This article is taken from WWI Aero and depicts the author's experience in flying this primitive machine on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of flight, December 17, 2003, at Old Warden Aerodrome, United Kingdom.)

By now the ground crew has left me and I am alone, lined up for take-off. I always experience a blend of excitement and nervousness at this time in an aircraft I have not flown before; but today, in such an unconventional machine, the experience is heightened. Just before I open the throttle, I mentally go through the Boxkite survival guide that I hope will get me out of any trouble if performance is lacking at any stage of the flight. This comprises three steps. Fly at exactly 35 mph, ensure full power is achieved (and check for icing) and fly exactly in balance with reference to the string sideslip indicator. Then, if the aircraft is still descending, my only option will be to look for somewhere to land ahead. Happy that I am prepared for any eventuality, I open the throttle....

The aircraft accelerates fairly gently, although the engine noise is loud. Glancing down to check that the engine is producing the required 2450-2500 rpm, I am suddenly aware that the aircraft is actually airborne, sooner than I had expected. The undercarriage is extremely smooth and this makes it hard for the pilot to ascertain the exact moment of lift-off. Although she is a slow aircraft, the impression of speed on the ground is even less, due to the relatively high seating position. It immediately becomes apparent that the aircraft is in a slight sideslip, and I gently feed in some left rudder to align the yaw string. This is the same as the string seen on a glider canopy. If the tail of the string is to the right, left rudder is required to eliminate the sideslip and ensure that the aircraft is flying straight. We are now about 10 feet off the ground, and I make a gentle pitch input. The elevators/foreplane are fairly effective, but it soon becomes obvious that the aircraft is unstable in pitch. This means that after any pitch input the aircraft attitude will continue to diverge in pitch. Consequently, the aircraft is prone to PIO (pilot-induced oscillation), and it requires constant attention by the pilot to keep a stable angle of attack. In practice, provided the pilot relaxes on the controls, this is not too difficult, as the foreplane provides a useful reference to hold at a constant angle above the horizon. I therefore note the position of the foreplane relative to the horizon that gives 35 mph and concentrate on holding it. The climbout is shallow and the trees at the end of RW21 are approaching. However, it is apparent that we are going to clear them, and I resist the temptation to put in any significant lateral input (i.e., no turns....editor) until I have achieved a safe height.

For the first time I have an opportunity to observe my surroundings, and I must say they are quite stunning. Apart from directly ahead, where the view is partially blocked by the foreplane, the field of view in all other directions is superb. The aileron control cables are attached to the stick just below the handgrip. This means that the pilot must hold the long stick right at the top and consequently the forward view is also partially blocked by the pilot's forearms. However, when I look down, there is a feeling of gliding effortlessly over the countryside below, and the slow speed and low altitude seem to make every detail on the ground stand out with enhanced clarity.

(to be continued in March 2008)

THE CROSES "POUPLUME"

.This one should look familiar. It was featured on Windy Sock's cover of February 2003. Joe Fergusson has now provided us with a full-size plan for a 25" wingspan model. There is no practical way to reduce to a size that will fit Windy Sock's format so we are offering it to one and all for $5 postpaid, mailed flat in an 9"x12" envelope. This is a non-profit deal, for sure.

The first version of the Pouplume (French term meaning "lousefeather") flew in 1960, and was powered by a one-cylinder motorcycle engine, 8 hp. It weighed 238 pounds empty and managed a top speed of 44 mph. What will it do as a model? It's probably a design which can be a big success in the hands of one modeler and a total flop with another.

SCOTCH ON THE RAF (Continued from January)

(This continues the series on Joe Fergusson's RAF service in World War II....Editor)

One of the maintenance sergeants owned a little Capuchin monkey, brought home from overseas service as a pet. It always accompanied him, cycling around perched on his shoulder a la Long John Silver. For some reason, though, if anyone even dared to cycle across the tarmac between hangars, the monkey would go berserk, chasing them off his territory. Another lovable habit of his was to pick up any dismantled nuts, bolts, hydraulic unions, etc. while we were doing Major Inspections on the aircraft and run up the roof trusses with them, smiling and chattering at us and our attempts to catch him.

Then there was the night when a squadron of Hampden bombers arrived at our drome. They were up from Lincolnshire and on a raid to Christiansand in southern Norway to attack German shipping there. They called in at Montrose to top off their fuel tanks to give them the range to get to Norway and back. As Robert Burns said, "the weellaid schemes O mice and Men gang aft agley, etc." was very true that night. What happened: the Hampden bombers were refueled from below the mainplanes (wings...ed.) As they sat rather high off the ground. The Bowser nozzles screwed on to the tank spigot and fuel was pumped up into the wing tanks. Or so was the theory. Our old clapped-out Bowsers with boiling-hot Lister engines didn't have the guts to pump the fuel up the necessary height. After fruitless hours we ended up in the wee hours of the morning still trying to fill up the wing tanks of those Hampdens through the tiny air vents on the top surface of the wings. Needless to say, the raid had to be cancelled and a few missiles were hurled at those held to be responsible for the debacle. I believe the Hampdens were from Squadron 144, at which by pure coincidence, I later ended my war service as an NCO in charge of maintenance in the last year of the war, when they were equipped with Beaufighters.

One other memory of Hampdens at Montrose was the time one came back from a raid on Norway with a live torpedo hung up in his racks and had to land on our grass airfield rather than setting down on a runway somewhere else. Every one of us was in a prone position, trying to scrape holes in the field to get down lower - you know, eyes below the horizon. On this occasion he got down safely as the torpedo was well and truly stuck.

The winter months were murder for us erks. Every time the pilots were running up the Rolls Kestrels of the Hawker Harts or Audaxses we poor sods had to stick a bar through the fuselage and hang our frozen bodies over it while the engine was run up to full revs and checked for mag drop, etc. (Editor: With twin magnetoes, it was necessary to verify both were performing satisfactorily by switch ing off one at a time to see if the rpm held at an acceptable level.) A quick form of deep freeze, believe me. That slipstream could penetrate through uniform cloth as if it didn't exist. On occasions when an engine was a bit dicey, the pilot would run it up repeatedly till he was happy with the revs or the mag drop. The poor erk had to be lifted off the bar when given the All Clear. All good fun.

(More next month)

At right, Joe Fergusson on leave in 1939, happy at his free-flight action before returning to the nasty activities of WWII . "Just by memory the model is the all-sheet Flying Aces Triangle Sportster from 1939 or possibly 1938....by memory it performed quite well but was no record breaker. Just a good, reliable flyer."
At left is Joe, again on leave, this time on more essential business.
The girl is Daisy, his future wife, now deceased.