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Post by johnnyfalcon on Apr 10, 2020 20:23:49 GMT 12
ZK-BBV
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Post by rone on Apr 11, 2020 12:24:24 GMT 12
I have question for you Tiger Experts. I the picture above of BBV, there is a flat panel on top of the fuselage starting at the fin and extending forward about 3feet or so. My question is, was this only on early Tigers or removed at repair time as it served no real purpose. I know I am pretty ancient now but I clearly recall seeing plenty of Tigers with this flat panel years ago, but photos of more recent times do not show it. I was beginning to believe I was getting senile and imagining things. Please put this old bugger's mind at rest please someone.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 11, 2020 13:27:02 GMT 12
Interesting, I have never noticed that flat panel before. I am sure the RNZAF's Tigers never had it?
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Post by baronbeeza on Apr 11, 2020 13:41:29 GMT 12
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Post by madmax on Apr 11, 2020 19:32:23 GMT 12
Quite correct Dave, RNZAF Tigers were not fitted with anti-spin strakes. Strakes evolved in 1941 after several RAF Tiger pilots reported a reluctance of their aircraft to recover from spins. As a result spin test were conducted at Boscombe Downs and later Farnborough and it was determined that aircraft fitted with mass balanced ailerons and wing bomb racks were slow to recover due to the increased weight on the outer lower wings. Those that had been repainted several times and as a consequence were heavier also were slow to recover from spins. One test pilot reporting it took 13 turns before his aircraft recovered. As a result of this testing strakes were trialed, fitted and found successful and from December 1941 fitted to all RAF Tigers. As RNZAF Moths were not fitted with bomb racks they were deemed unnecessary here. If my memory serve correctly I recall reading many moons ago that in the early 1950s NZCAA conducted tests with Wellington Aero Club Tiger ZK-ALK with and without strakes fitted and concluded there was not perceptible difference in spin recovery. I suspect the Tiger which have appeared in this country with strakes were former RAF aircraft imported post war.
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Post by madmax on Apr 12, 2020 11:07:43 GMT 12
Further research has revealed that one RNZAF Tiger was fitted with Strakes. These were fitted at the de Havilland factory Rongotai, sometime in 1942, presumably to a new aircraft off the assembly line. Flights tests conducted with and without the strakes by DH test pilot John Neave failed to find any noticeable change in spin recovery and as a consequence were not fitted to NZ built DH82s
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 12, 2020 23:49:33 GMT 12
Thanks for this info. Very interesting.
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Post by ZacYates on Aug 25, 2020 13:42:50 GMT 12
Here's one for the brains trust: who has photos of NZ1467/ZK-BQB? Now that she's destined for display at Omaka I'd love to see images of her early life.
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Post by madmax on Aug 25, 2020 16:19:36 GMT 12
A colour image of ZK-BQB in the background of a general shot of aircraft on whanganui airport appeared in the Aviation Historical Society Aero Letter #29 which was released a week or two back. It shows BQB in over-all silver with day-glo rudder
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Post by shorty on Aug 25, 2020 17:44:32 GMT 12
Antispin strakes were compulsory on Dutch registered DH82s
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Post by Peter Lewis on Aug 25, 2020 19:16:41 GMT 12
ZK-BQB at Nelson March 1958March 1961Interesting to note that Smith bought this Tiger off the Wanganui Aero Club in August 1960, but the aircraft was not withdrawn from use until 1966. So who used it for those six years? I was not aware the John was an active aviator, is this news to me?
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Post by harvard1041 on Aug 25, 2020 20:25:15 GMT 12
Yes - John flew BQB for a while - his Pilot Licence was in the house, and just unearthed recently ... was rated on Tigers, Austers, & Cubs Cheers Hvd1041
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 25, 2020 21:48:22 GMT 12
I remember John Smith telling me about flying Tiger Moths when I visited him in 2005 with my friend Ross Yeatman. He was saying he'd just read in a British magazine about how you were not supposed to spin Tiger Moths, and he was saying he used to love spinning his.
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Post by madmax on Aug 25, 2020 22:12:15 GMT 12
Dave, Tigers are fully aerobatic. I enjoyed spinning mine, it was very docile compared to other DH types such as the Chipmunk
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Post by Peter Lewis on Aug 25, 2020 22:27:57 GMT 12
I would certainly expect that spinability would have been a 'must have' attribute for any RAF training aircraft.
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Post by baronbeeza on Aug 26, 2020 0:24:25 GMT 12
More than a few years ago I worked for the Tiger Club in the UK. They had a Tiger test which included an inverted spin as part of the deal. G-ACDC was the oldest flying Tiger in the world then, it only really did circuit work. They had a couple of others plus two Stampe, it was the Stampes that did most of the aerobatic stuff. www.tigermothclub.co.nz/training/spin-training/
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 26, 2020 0:31:01 GMT 12
I know full well Tigers can spin. John was ripping the piss out of the magazine article he'd just been reading that claimed they should not be spun.
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Post by baz62 on Aug 26, 2020 11:10:41 GMT 12
Yes - John flew BQB for a while - his Pilot Licence was in the house, and just unearthed recently ... was rated on Tigers, Austers, & Cubs Cheers Hvd1041 Would be interested to see what registrations pop up in his logbook if that's around.
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Post by ZacYates on Aug 26, 2020 13:32:26 GMT 12
Lovely photos Peter, thank you. Hvd1041 - to find his licence must have been quite something. A colour image of ZK-BQB in the background of a general shot of aircraft on whanganui airport appeared in the Aviation Historical Society Aero Letter #29 which was released a week or two back. I have that! I think I must have only skimmed it. EDIT: there's also a lovely front-3/4 photo in the same issue. Lovely!
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Post by pjw4118 on Jan 24, 2021 12:16:29 GMT 12
A question , put to me yesterday at MoTAT , and I couldnt answer it. When did the RNZAF stop using Tiger Moths for elementary flying training and what replaced it ?
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