Gloster Strut
Auster J2 Arrow
So what is an MOR? The acronym stands for Mandatory Occurrence Report which, to my mind is very badly named. Is it a report of a Mandatory Occurrence? No, it is a Mandatory requirement to submit a Report should an Occurrence take place! What is an Occurrence? In CAA speak, an Occurrence is an Incident. It would be far better to be named as a Mandatory Report of an Incident in my opinion.
Why am I writing about this? Good question. The answer is that recently I was involved in an Occurrence (Incident) which was reported to the CAA by the airfield and of course, they followed it up.
After refuelling at Sandown, recalling the old adage of ‘You never have too much fuel unless the plane is on fire’. I fired up the engine, called Sandown Radio and asked for departure information, requesting to use the Northern taxiway. They commanded me to use the concrete taxi way to my right, then across the grass, cross the runway to E4 and off. This I did.
Very shortly after moving, I got a call informing me that my propeller had contacted one of their cardboard/plastic ground signs – I’d had no idea. I stopped the engine, climbed out and went to inspect the propeller. There were some yellow paint marks but nothing else. As I was doing this, the ground crew came over with a somewhat mashed ‘C’ sign. Apparently that was what I’d hit. Also, one of the guys from CAC came over and we agreed that there had been no damage to the aircraft or propeller and that it would be safe to continue which I did, giving the matter no further thought.
A week later I received an email from the CAA notifying me that an MOR had been submitted by Sandown Airfield and that I needed to complete a ‘Pilot Response Form’.
Somewhat surprised as I’d put the ‘incident’ out of my mind, I opened the form. It requested a report on the occurrence from my point of view, the root cause of the incident and ‘Measures taken to mitigate identified risks in the short term’. I completed it to the best of my ability and returned it.
Clearly I underestimated the incident, so contacted the UK specialist for the engine (it’s an Australian Jabiru) who gave me a list of things that needed to be done which included replacing the flywheel bolts, replacing the Propeller flange bolts and checking the propeller. Oh and by the way, no flying until it’s done.
I returned the form to the CAA only to receive another form, this time from the AAIB (Air Accident Investigation Branch) which made the CAA one look trivial!
They wanted everything! Full details of the aircraft including airframe hours, last check type and date, who performed the maintenance, all my personal details, the insurance company, aircraft Weight and Balance details and rather amusingly, the Weather Forecast at the time and the Actual weather at the time – I don’t save that information so ‘Cannot recall’ was my response.
After that, Pilot License details, Pilot Medical, Pilot experience including ‘all types’, ‘all types PIC’, ‘on type’, ‘All types last 90 days’ and ‘all types last 28 days’. Luckily I have a spreadsheet that contains this information so it was quickly completed.
It’s obviously a generic form as it then goes on to ask about which emergency services were called & how I got out of the plane and finally, a page to add a personal report of the incident.
Duly completed and returned I awaited the outcome with some trepidation. I need not have worried. A few days later, the CAA contacted me telling me there would be no further action, and recommended a number of documents to read, one of which was their ‘Safety Sense’ document. A few weeks went by and finally the AAIB also contacted me with the same outcome; no further action.
The ‘Safety Sense’ document details the requirements of the pilot(s) and others. I’d read it some time ago so decided a refresher wouldn’t hurt. I read through the requirements for submission of an MOR. The most relevant one read:
A collision on the ground or in the air, with another aircraft, terrain or obstacle.
At the time, I’d considered it a trivial incident, but having spoken to those wiser than myself, there is no such thing as a trivial incident and every occurrence, no matter how small, should, as a minimum, have the aircraft checked by an expert and in any case, reported to the CAA who may take further action, in my case, perhaps recommend that Sandown move the ‘C’ sign to avoid a future incident.
It was a learning experience, no damage done to the aircraft or any personnel thankfully, although I received a bill for work done to replace the bolts and was unable to fly for several weeks whilst it was sorted out. Sandown will need a new ‘C’ sign of course.
August 1st 1966 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30
August 2nd 1947 – Star Dust (registration G-AGWH) was a British South American Airways (BSAA) Avro Lancastrian airliner which disappeared in mysterious circumstances on 2 August 1947 during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. A comprehensive search of a wide area (including what is now known to have been the crash site) discovered no wreckage, and the true fate of the aircraft and its passengers and crew remained a mystery for over fifty years. Speculation about the cause and nature of the disappearance of Star Dust included theories of international intrigue, intercorporate sabotage, or abduction by aliens.
See the March 2025 Newsletter for a full report by Mick Peakman.
August 8th 1934 - James Ayling and Leonard Reid make the first non-stop flight from Canada to England, in a de Havilland DH.84, taking 30 hours 50 min for the flight.
August 8th 1908 – Wilbur Wright makes his first flights at the Hunaudières racetrack at Le Mans, France. The flight lasts 1 min and 45 seconds. The Wright Flyer used for this and later flights had been shipped to Le Havre by Orville the previous year. It had been seriously damaged by custom officials when it arrived in France and uncrated. Wilbur spent the whole summer of 1908 rebuilding the machine and getting it into flying condition. Wilbur’s flights in this machine will have a profound effect on European aviation during the following months.
August 9th 1967 – The world’s first radar-equipped anti-submarine helicopter enters service, a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Westland Wessex HAS.3 with No. 814 Squadron.
August 10th 1947 – A new world airspeed record of 640 mph (1,031 km/h) is set in the Douglas Skystreak during a flight on 20 August 1947.
August 10th 1922 – The Schneider Trophy race is flown at Naples, Italy. It is won by the only non-Italian competitor, H. C. Biard in a British Supermarine Sea Lion II, with a winning speed of 234.5 km/h (145.7 mph).
August 11th 1986 – A modified Westland Lynx sets a new helicopter world speed record of 249 mph (401 km/h)
August 15th 1949 – A de Havilland Tiger Moth makes the first service flight by an aircraft of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
August 19th 1921 – Gene Roddenberry, B-17 combat pilot and winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in the U. S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, was born in El Paso, Texas. Roddenberry was also a producer, screenwriter and creator of Star Trek. He became one of the first people to be buried in space upon his death 1991.
August 22nd, 1922: The Vickers Victoria, a prominent RAF military transport, took its maiden flight from Brooklands, Surrey.
August 27th 1913 (USSR) — Lieutenant Petr Nesterov of the Russian Army in Kiev performs the first loop-the-loop. The complete circle and other intentional acrobatic stunts prove to be valuable experience for the wartime manoeuvres needed during aerial battles.
If you have a safety tip that you'd like to pass on to the other Strut members, please send it to the Editor and we'll publish it.
Here's one from our longest serving Strut member, Harry:
PROPELLORS CAN BITE
At our last meeting I was reminded of a safety precaution which I thought worth repeating as a reminder to you all.
Some years ago, one of our members went to clean his aircraft in its hangar. To move it to a more favourable position he needed to turn the propellor and on doing so the engine immediately started but fortunately only for a short burst – enough to startle him and remind him of the old adage 'always treat a propellor as live'. In this instance someone had left a magneto switch in the ON position BUT even if it had been left switched OFF, a magneto is live unless its field winding has been earthed. Hence, a switch failure or a break in the path to earth can leave the magneto live.
Several years ago (Ed: As we get older, 'the other day' can refer to any period up to a year, 'several years ago' can be anything up to 50 years), when I was still flying, I was given a useful tip by Ralph Vincent of RGV. Like others, I was in the habit of switching off each mag in turn as I taxied in, to prove that each was still working, but I wasn’t checking that each mag switch was working and/or there were no breaks in the path to earth when each was switched Off. To do so, it’s only necessary to momentarily switch BOTH to Off. The engine should start to die, showing that both magnetos have been successfully temporarily earthed.
Remember the old adage when you next have occasion to pull your prop through. One or two aviators were badly injured to bring it into existence.
Regarding the LAA Rally in September, we have received a plea for assistance from the organisers.
As Strut Chair/Co-ordinator I am reaching out to you with a request for Strut support at the forthcoming LAA Rally at Leicester Aerodrome on 4-6th September.
The 80th Anniversary is a significant milestone in the history of the Association. From the earliest days grass roots networking, socialising and flying gatherings have been an integral part of the Association’s activities. This was perhaps formalised in late 1969 when David Faulkner-Bryan, subsequently Chairman and President, inaugurated the first Strut. From that time Struts and strut members have played a significant role in delivering our annual rally. In recent years, particularly during COVID and the hiatus following our enforced departure from Sywell that support has declined; perhaps a reflection on the age of many of our members but also the challenge of encouraging volunteering.
Without Strut and strut member support we are challenged to continue to deliver our annual rally. So this is a personal appeal to ask for your support for this year’s rally. As individual Struts there is scope to take on specific duties over the course of either Rally set up or the event itself. There is considerable volunteer work to be done in setting out the exhibition site and during the event itself in stewarding across the site. This year we will have a dedicated 80th Anniversary Aircraft and Type Club display site for which additional support is required. Duties are not onerous and we will marry up volunteers either as struts or individuals to balance workload.
In addition to helping in delivering the Rally there is a great opportunity to promote your Strut and its local activities whether they be evening talks, fly-in/outs or other social gatherings as part of the Strut & Club area at the rally. In the past Struts have provided pull-ups, bi/trifold Strut literature which we would be delighted to promote with your support. Fellow Board director and Devon Strut Chair, David Millen co-ordinates this activity and would welcome support across the three days for the Rally to host the area, greet fellow LAAers as well as explaining what Struts & Clubs do.
So if you value the Rally and its future success can I ask you to consider how your Strut might assist and please share the call for support with fellow strut members.
I look forward to your support and hope that you are able to attend this years 80th Anniversary rally.
Yours sincerely,
Eryl Smith (LAA Chairman) and David Millin (LAA Director)
If you feel you can help, please email Harry in the first instance, but also David Millin to let him know you are available and perhaps a short summary of what you feel capable of doing. Thursday will be the (leisurely) set up day and Sunday evening and Monday will be packing up days. All of the heavy lifting and shifting will be done by contractors so there will be no onerous tasks handed out. As a reward for helping, 'Exhibitor' wrist bands will be handed out giving you free entry to the rally and free camping should you wish.
No time will be too soon for this, so please don't hesitate to volunteer!
General Aviation campaigners are rallying to save another long-established UK airfield after plans were submitted for a major solar farm development that could bring flying at Over Farm Airfield in Gloucestershire to an end.
The British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) is urging pilots to object to proposals for a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic farm and battery energy storage system on land surrounding the popular microlight airfield, warning that the development threatens one of the south west’s best-known grass strips.
Over Farm, north-west of Gloucester, has been a fixture of the UK’s microlight scene for more than 40 years. It is home to the Severn Valley Microlight Club, supports flight training and regularly attracts visiting pilots from across the country.
Read the full report here.
Good afternoon,
We have recently experienced several Safety Significant Events resulting from aircraft broadcasting on the incorrect frequency during indemnity operations. Please could I remind all operators of the importance of ensuring the correct frequency is selected and that blind R/T transmissions on indemnity are to be made on frequency 128.555 MHz, stating the pilot’s intentions as applicable to each phase of the movement. This will include, but is not limited to: taxiing, runway entry, departure and arrival, joining information, which runway or heli pad is being used, position reports in the circuit and on the ground etc.
Kind Regards
Manpreet Shergil
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