Date of Next Meeting

Meeting Date 10-09-2024

From 7:00pm
The Victory Club
Burlington House
Lypiat Rd
Cheltenham

Photos from Leicester LAA Rally and an update on the Pietenpol project.

As usual, please feel free to bring a friend.

Blog

What did you do in the RAF? 13/08/2024
Retired Group Captain Laurie Hilditch gave us a flavour of the life of a 1970s RAF air defence pilot, and what a complex life it was. Having trained on Chipmunk, Jet Provost and the Gnat (all quite small aircraft) he made the giant step up to the front seat of the Phantom F-4K which had an empty weight of 31,000lbs and a max AUW of 56,000 lbs. This UK variant was equipped with two RR Spey afterburning engines each giving a max thrust of over 20,000lbs. It had a Vne of 515 knots and was capable of Mach 1.9. It was cleared to -3/+8.5G. That must be the equivalent of going from an Austin Allegro to a formula one race car.

In the air defence role (the RAF had previously used the Phantom in the ground attack fleet) they carried one 20mm gatling gun with a max rate of fire of 6,000 rounds per minute (although it carried only 1,200 rounds) and a mixture of air-to-air missiles. It was the RAF’s first fighter capable of head on interceptions.

The pilot’s job involved a whole lot more than flying the beast: he had to master the complexities of its operational performance envelope and, as this was a pre-digital aircraft, this involved not only memorising a massive amount of data, it also required a considerable amount mental gymnastics.

By the conclusion of the talk those present were all mightily impressed that all this was within the compass of one human being.

BBQ Night 09/07/2024
A most excellent BBQ was enjoyed by a number of members with burgers, sausages and salad in abundance, plus some rather excellent cake and dessert, rounded off with a presentation by Arthur on Farm Strip flying. If you fancy having a go in a very short landing aircraft or have always wanted to land in a particularly challenging strip, get in touch with them at farmstripflying.co.uk. I am sure they will be delighted to hear from you.

RAF Cosford 11/04/2024
The sun shone as we made our way to and around RAF Cosford. First stop for many was for coffee and cake followed by a tour of the first of the three big hangars. For many, this was the most popular with aircraft dating back to the first world war and some innovative test aircraft. For several, lunch called, followed by the second hangar which was the Cold War hangar, being relevant to one or two who served in the RAF at that time. It was a stark reminder of what could have been. The third hangar, called Hangar 1 oddly enough, contained a variety of aircraft of different shapes and sizes, plus a small art gallery and the history of the base.

Too soon it was time to leave and as we pulled out of RAF Cosford, we realised we were missing one, despite several head counts. Turning the coach around on the narrow exit road was no mean feat but the Strut never leaves a man behind!

April Meeting 09/04/2024
Ernie Hoblyn entertained us with stories of building and flying replica Sopwith Camel biplane and Sopwith triplane with some interesting photos of not only the build process, but also in-air photos as part of his role in the Great War Display Team. My take-away from the evening was the difficulty in flying them. If your nose itches on take-off, scratch it when you land!

New outings 23/03/2024
Two outings arranged ( to include in March 12th newsletter )

Jet Age Museum / Kids Day / March 23rd . Saturday
Arrive 10am at the Museum
Cockpit time in the jets for the kids !! (1m tall minimum ).
( book with Mike ) info@carouselgolfing.com
RAF Cosford Museum / April 11th Thursday
Coach from Staverton 9am / return 5pm .
Many new exhibits to view / restorations .
Reserve your place on the coach
return : £20
( book with Mike by April 1st ) info@carouselgolfing.com

March Meeting 12/03/2024
In spite of a slight delay caused by a missing cable, David Beale managed a wonderful presentation about building and displaying his Mew Gull G-HEKL.

February meeting 13/02/2024
Kath Burnham who is a type rated instructor on Dakotas was our speaker for the evening and gave a fascinating talk about her life as a pilot of these iconic aircraft, plenty of amusing anecdotes kept the audience enthralled from start to finish.

January 2024 meeting 09/01/2024
It was the clubs AGM, which came and went in about 3 minutes. Some said it dragged on a bit. Afterwards, we were entertained by Richard Goodwin talking about his aerobatic flying, and his jet powered Pitts aircraft. One or two Europa fliers went away with some interesting ideas for their own aircraft.

December 2023 meeting 12/12/2023
A slide show of aircraft photographs was presented by Dave Haines and Steve Smith with a quiz element thrown in to check whether the audience had been been paying attention! Dave and Steve have attended the Rallies for many years and scour the airfields around to get photos of unusual and interesting light aircraft, and a very entertaining evening was had by all. The first part of the quiz was an identification game with members scoring from very high to very low! The second half was a challenge to name all of the aircraft types used by the military - who knew there were so many! Being the last meeting before Christmas, a glass of wine and a mince pie were served to all.

Who are we?

The Strut is the local branch of The Light Aircraft Association.

We run monthly meetings for those interested in all aspects of light aircraft, be they pilots, builders, owners or just aviation enthusiasts.

Our meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month, starting at 7.30 pm.

From September to April we meet at the Victory Club, Lypiatt Road , Cheltenham , GL50 2SJ.

In May, June, July and August we meet at a venue to allow outdoor events.

We also have a flying programme which includes an annual tutored jaunt across to Le Touquet for Channel Virgins and anyone else who enjoys a pleasant day out with an excellent lunch.

We enjoy occasional social events and visits to places of interest to members.

We have over 100 members and we’re a friendly bunch, so if you think we might have what you’re looking for do come to one of our meetings to 'try before you buy'. Joining the club is just £10 per year for Full membership.