Gloster Strut Newsletter

Tiger Moth at Croft Farm

I am pleased to tell you that the first of our Summer events went off very well, it was our initial attempt to involve a few more youngsters brought along by members and friends. A beautiful evening made the conditions perfect for the BBQ and the visiting aircraft arriving in style, Jeremy Liber pulled out all the stops to fly in with a DH Tiger Moth, a very fine restoration to a very high standard. The aircraft was en-route back to Oaksey Park having been collected from Little Gransden after undergoing maintenance on the Gypsy engine.

The kids enjoyed their visit, chucking model aircraft about and taking in the fresh air and freedom to run around the field at Croft Farm. The free BBQ for them was a big success too! The chocolate ice cream bomb was a favourite, being reduced to crumbs within minutes. Burgers and bangers as popular as ever!!

June 10th will be the date for our next Strut meeting, again at Croft Farm, the BBQ in full swing of course, so bring the kids, family and friends, all welcome.

Start for kids / 5pm (free of charge) / - BBQ / adults 6pm / £6.50 per head – please sign up so I have the numbers. Email Mike or phone 07787 123941.

The visiting aircraft, weather permitting, will be a beautiful Isaacs Fury arriving in from Middlezoy with a presentation from its pilot on the Do’s and Don’t’s and how to fly it.

Hope to see you there.

Blue skies forever – Mike.

Tiger Moth spectacular and BBQ

Jeremy Liber flew in from Little Gransden airfield, having collected a Tiger Moth from Vintech, the DH Gipsy engine specialists who had just cured an obscure oil leak problem (incorrect piston rings in non-standard pistons). The aircraft was one built by de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1939 (many had been built by the Austin Motor Car Company for use as RAF basic trainers). Indeed, its very first flight had been flown by Geoffry de Havilland junior. Its subsequent career is obscure but it ended up somewhere overseas and had been bought by Canadian pilot Mike Hirsch who arranged for it to be restored by Mike Souch of Aero Antiques at Southampton. The aircraft looked as though it had been wheeled out of the factory yesterday, although the cognoscenti would have spotted that it’s now fitted with a tailwheel, instead of the original skid, and brakes on its main wheels – a concession required by its current owner who intends to base it in the U.S. of A where most airfields have paved runways.

Explaining its handling qualities Jeremy said: “if you’ve flown a Cessna 172, flying a Tiger Moth is exactly the same as that – except for everything”

Jeremy informed us that it has been equipped with the wartime standard downward ident light, complete with cockpit morse key. Jeremy, lucky dog, is currently flying it from Oaksey Park on behalf of owner Mike Hirsch for post-restoration de-snagging/bedding-in prior to its export to America. Luckily for us, Mike was happy for Jeremy to bring it to Croft Farm for us to enjoy. Our grateful thanks to Mike and Jeremy for such a treat.

We had several visitors, including several youngsters who were enjoying flying paper aeroplanes courtesy of Arthur Mason, one of our frequent visitors – many thanks Arthur – who has covered many Tiger wings in his time.

Mike Waldron excelled at the BBQ machine, aided and abetted by Claire and Barrie Towers – thank you both. And Avril Badham treated those of us who’d turned up to some of her delicious carrot cake.

Finally, a big thank you to Clive and Michael Porter for once again allowing us to hold our summer meetings at their delightful farm strip. All-in-all a most successful and enjoyable evening.

Qantas Engineering Reports

Alleged reports filed by Qantas Airline Pilots and the Engineering Responses - A short series.

Pilot: DME volume unbelievably loud.

Engineer: DME volume set to more believable level.

The average fighter pilot despite a swaggering personality and confident exterior is capable of feelings such as love, affection, humility, caring and intimacy.....they just don't involve others.

Suckers gap - A simple way to get into trouble.

Favoured by inexperienced pilots, it generally comprises blue sky surrounded by innocuous looking clouds which will surround the plane as soon it enters the gap, thereby preventing any form of escape and immediately transitioning the pilot from easy fun VFR to a nightmare IFR in seconds.

There are no prizes other than your caption being used and your name in lights in next months newsletter. Email The Editor with your caption for this photo of Jeremy and the Tiger Moth.

Chapter Two

I went into the terminal and found the next group of oil workers to take to Inverness which was only around an hours flight. As I turned round to brief the new passengers now seated in the rear cabin seats, one of them said, “Where should I put this? I found it outside and guessed it came from in here.” I groaned as I looked at the yellow life jacket bag he was holding. “Alright, shove it under your seat” I replied. I could only hope there were no dribbles left in it.

The weather was still pretty good as we were flying on a northerly heading away from the approaching bad weather front. It was now about 8pm and the flight went uneventfully until we approached Inverness when a passenger in the second row who had been asleep woke up suddenly just as I was in a turn towards the final approach to the runway. He was obviously disorientated and threw up on the floor before he could get to his sick bag. In the floor in the centre of the plane is a grill which is part of the heating system to give an even temperature in the cabin. With great accuracy the passenger managed to hit the bulls eye and deposit his vomit all over the grill. I carried on with the landing of course as at that point there was nothing I could do apart from fume with anger. All the oil workers left the plane including the one who had thrown up. I jumped out and ran after them and demanded the sick passenger to clean up after him. He apologised and we eventually managed to find a mop and bucket and cleaning materials in the small terminal. The passenger then made an attempt at cleaning up, this was important as we had the last two divers to take from here to Sumburgh in the Shetland islands. What I didn’t realise at the time was that some vomit had sunk below into the grille of the heating system- what joy was waiting as it got colder!

It was now nine in the evening and there was a three hour journey ahead of us over the far North Sea. I had fuelled up the plane to the very last drop before we left base, but aviation gasoline was in extremely short supply everywhere and I knew that Sumburgh only had jet fuel. If I had done my sums correctly then I thought we would have just sufficient fuel to get back to base with a very small margin of reserve.

We landed in the dark 11.45pm, that’s it I thought I can now fly directly back to base at Leicester without any awkward passengers. It was now approaching midnight as I took off over the North sea, on the radio Sumburgh advised me I was the last flight of the night and if I was happy to carry on with Scottish Radar they could close down and go home. I agreed and why not? I thought about it for a moment and realised that if I had an emergency or an engine problem I would have to return. I called them back on the radio but they had already shut down, I then tried to call Scottish Radar but even at eight thousand feet there was no reply as I was too far away and out of radio range with them.

I droned on, on a south westerly heading but by now I was battling into a stronger headwind and this was going to use more fuel than I had bargained for. It was a dark night without a moon and after around an hour I was beginning to feel a bit tired and somewhat concerned that if I was to have a serious problem and had to ditch, no-one would know. Without a dinghy my chances of survival would be nil. It’s odd but if you ask any pilot of a single or small twin engine plane flying over the sea on his or her own will as soon as they are far from land, hear noises from the engine that they never heard before, which again disappear when back over land. It could be due to the increased awareness of the consequences of going down in the sea.

Suddenly I started to hear deep regular heavy breathing in my headset. I assumed it was something being broadcast from somewhere on this frequency so I turned the radio volume down but it was still there. I pulled the jack plugs for my headset out but I could still hear it, I then took the headset off and all I could hear was the roar of the engines. By now I was fully awake, I looked behind me and all I could see in the eerie green glow from the instruments was the two rows of empty seats. By now the hairs on the back of my neck were starting to stand up. What had I heard? It was definitely someone breathing heavily. I put my headset back on again and tried to contact Scottish Radar but still no reply. I checked the fuel state again and now I knew for certain I wasn’t going to make it back to base with what was left. At that point a gloved hand dropped on my thigh, I almost jumped out of my skin! My heart started to race and as I opened my mouth to shout out I realised what it was. I had shoved my charts and long navigation ruler between mine and the other front seat and just before take-off I’d thrown my gloves to one side. A glove had landed on the rulers end and slowly with the engines vibrations had wiggled forward to land on my thigh. I was now completely and utterly wide awake and my heart rate was beginning to slow back down yet again.

I eventually made contact with Scottish Radar who gave me direct vectors on course for home. But for now my immediate problem was my low fuel state and where could I get some more. The nearest open airport at this time of night was Newcastle, so I contacted them and begged for some fuel and after some negotiation they grudgingly allowed me fifty gallons. If they hadn’t I would have to land there and be grounded.

The warm front had now started to make itself known with low clouds and torrential rain. I lined up with the runway using the instrument approach system, The rain was lashing against the cockpit windows and I was being buffeted with turbulence. I landed on a runway slick with rain and a howling crosswind, I breathed a sigh of relief after this challenging approach and taxied to the fuelling area for the meagre fifty gallons which would enable me to get back to Leicester with a slim margin of reserves.

I had been on duty for seventeen hours with seven landings and take-offs and made it back ok eventually. If I had taken the time to understand the flight time limitations properly, I would have known that the flight could not have been done legally and what in fact I had flown was way outside of the maximum allowable. I often wonder if some psychic power with the heavy breathing had been at work to help keep me going and not fall asleep over the cold North Sea. It had certainly been a day full of events both good and bad. As I look back on that experience with the benefit of hindsight I think about what chances we all took when we were younger and completely oblivious to the dangers around every corner. But then again if we never did take any of those chances and stayed on the safe path, how dull life would have been? It is true that we learn from our experiences, that is why as we age and reflect on those experiences we now know not to take those risks that our young selves would have accepted gladly.

07/06/2025 Bristol Strut Fly In

Oaksey Park is the destination for the fly in. PPR required.

12/07/2025 Vintage Aerobatics

Breighton Vintage Aerobatic competition and summer BBQ. PPR required

12/07/2025 Sleapkosh

Sleapkosh at Sleap. 12-13th. PPR Required.

18/07/2025 RIAT

18-20th July at Fairford. Royal International Air Tattoo.

If the offer of assistance to fly to France in last months newsletter piqued your interest, you might find the following of interest...

As you may have read in recent magazine articles we have been overhauling the current PCS scheme to create a slightly more structured and interactive approach for members and coaches alike. The new scheme has a range of courses and coaching aimed at helping us all to improve the range and depth of our piloting skills. We are initially launching four new PCS courses with more to follow. These new courses will sit alongside the existing coaching support for Biennial revalidations etc.

Tailwheel differences training

This will contain all required theoretical knowledge and practical demonstrations required to obtain your tailwheel differences training sign off.

Strip flying - NEW!

This course is designed for people new to flying out of farm strips and non-controlled airfields. It’s a chance to gain further knowledge into the operation of your aircraft and what to be aware of when landing or taking off from a farm strip.

Returning to flying after a break? Re-establishment of currency training

A course designed for licensed pilots looking to refresh their knowledge in most aspects of the day to day flying operation. It will contain useful information and practical coaching on overhead joins, stalling, rejected take-off and much more.

Airspace awareness and zone transits – NEW!

With airspace in the U.K. becoming more and more complex, we have identified the need to offer a course of training to qualified pilots looking to further their understanding of airspace with practical coaching on how to properly request permission and fly in controlled airspace including flight planning, radio terminology, the differences between Danger Zones, MATZ, CTRs, Class G, D, A airspace, TMZs, RMZs etc

Airspace Safety: Remember Take 2 and prepare for warm weather

TAKE 2 is a simple, proven approach to help stay clear of controlled airspace. Whenever you can, plan to remain at least 2 nautical miles from the edge and at least 200 feet above or below controlled airspace.

Flying in warmer weather you may want to increase your planned margins to allow for turbulence or thermal to avoid inadvertent climbs into controlled airspace.

There's more information on TAKE 2 on the Airspace & Safety Initiative website.

And remember that a hot cockpit can cause a moving map device to overheat and fail. So, make sure you have a back-up plan in place that works for you in case you lose your VFR moving map in flight.

CHIRP Air Transport FEEDBACK Edition 154

CHIRP Air Transport FEEDBACK Edition 154 takes a look at how normalisation of deviance can impact on safety with some thoughts on both prevention and cure. This thread feeds through several of the ATC, flight crew and engineering reports, as well as our human factors learning feature, which has a new spin to it in this edition. CHIRP also says farewell and thank you to a CHIRP stalwart - their veteran Engineering Programme Manager, Phil Young.

Consultation on changes to UK Regulations recognising physical or electronic format personnel licences and medical certificates

The CAA is proposing amendments to the Air Navigation Order 2016 and Implementing Rules subject to UK Regulation 2018/1139, to adopt the amendments introduced to the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 1, Chapter 5.

The purpose of the consultation is to gain feedback on the proposed amendment to this legislation, to permit either physical or electronic form of licence or certificate to be issued while ensuring that the Authority can remain compliant with ICAO.

We invite stake holders to give us their views.

REMINDER: Carbon Monoxide Safety in General Aviation

From 1 January 2025, operators of specified piston engine aircraft are required to have a functioning active carbon monoxide detector on board when operating with passengers who do not hold a recognised pilot qualification – see SD-2024/001 for further details.

Our Safety Sense Leaflet provides guidance to GA pilots on how they can protect themselves and their passengers from CO by employing effective prevention via maintenance and detection methods.

For further guidance, please visit our safety page on carbon monoxide on the CAA website.

Several safety reports have been filed regarding the non-compliance with Hi-Visibility garment requirements in airside areas. This includes the pumps area.

An internal decision has been established that at least one individual within a group must wear a Hi-Vis garment, and up to three additional individuals may be escorted airside without one, provided they remain under direct supervision. Passengers transiting between an aircraft and the terminal are not required to wear Hi-Vis garments when escorted by the designated handling agent.

Please ensure that all Hi-Vis garments are maintained in a clean and serviceable condition and are replaced promptly once their high-visibility properties begin to deteriorate. For effectiveness, Hi-Vis garments must be properly fastened when worn.

All Hi-Vis garments used airside must comply with European Safety Standard EN471 Class 2 or Class 3.

Kind Regards

Airport Safety Officer

If any member would like a flight in the Harvard Wacky Wabbit, our illustrious member Jeremy Liber can arrange for it to visit Oaksey Park as a special for Strut members only. If it is something you'd like to do, have a look at the Harvard website for prices etc, then contact Jeremy for more details either by phone (07825 561232) or email

Photos on the website can be zoomed in. Click on any of the photos and they will grow before your very eyes. Helpful, if, like the Editor, your eyes 'aint what they used to be. To return them to their smaller size, simply click on image again.

The June Strut meeting will be held on Tuesday 10th June at Croft Farm, Defford. Full details are in the Chairmans Chat at the top of the newsletter.

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