Met up with my old mucker & fellow Wild Mogger Steve T on Saturday, down at Bicester.

Steve's wife had bought him one of those 'experience' presents last year, which was a flying lesson in a 1940 deHavilland Tiger Moth biplane, but fate played a hand as the original outfit went bust before he could use his voucher.

Step in to the breach Finest Hour Experiences, who fly a similar aircraft from Bicester, and who very kindly agreed to honour his present, and as Saturday was the first cracking blue sky day it all came together nicely.

We arrived before Steve, and chatted with the other people there to fly. One poor chap seemed very quiet when he landed, apparently not too impressed with flying in such a fine lady. He certainly had a short trip, anyway.

The pause between him and Steve arriving allowed us to chat with the pilot, who was a retired or part time pilot for Emirates. He's bought T7109 in the same way as we'd probably buy a vintage car, but being qualified to take passengers has allowed him to pay for it's upkeep. Really nice guy, although even chatting he speaks like a pilot..!!

Steve was a little apprehensive at first, but the pilot asked if he wanted to do some aerobatics.. I thought he was just winding us up, but no. He loves flying as much as we love Morgans, and despite Steve's hesitancy we all shouted 'Yes, he'd love to' in unison.. Stitched up nicely, we thought.

And guess what..? He was buzzing when he landed.. I'm sure he'll say more when he appears on here, especially about how he felt when the pilot had to hit the magneto's to get it going..but we managed to take a few shots of Steve's Healey next to the aircraft too.

Apparently the Moth takes around 45 minutes to fill up. That must be a close run thing with Steve's Healey I reckon..!!

Lovely picture.

Will start looking for similar flights and dropping hints to

Great photo and write-up Steve.
Look forward to further comments from the man himself

Sounds like a great day out and glad you both enjoyed it.

There is nothing quite so visceral as a flight in a Tiger, particularly after a roll off the top of the loop followed by a spin.

There will ne no stopping you now Steve "chocks away".

And oil....

the Gypsy Major Engine in the Tigger is from the 1930s.
It is 6.25L, produced 120bhp....
Drinks 30L fuel/hour AND 1L oil/hour....that is 30:1 and almost 2 stroke consumption!
Lets assume that the aircraft averages 100mph so that is 30L per 100 miles or 15mpg.
It weighs 150kg.
It has to have a full overhaul every 1500 hours.

Compared with a Steve's Healey...
It is 2.9L and produces 150bhp,
Consumes fuel at about 21mpg and no oil.
It weighs, including gearbox, over 300kg....
The engine will need a full overhaul every 50,000 miles, so at a working average of 45mph that is 1100 hours between overhauls.

So, the big Healey is more powerful and more fuel efficient than the Gypsy Major III, but it is almost twice as heavy yet has a longer life between services.

de Havilland produced not just iconic aircraft, but great engines.

I can thoroughly recommend it too. I did mine almost exactly a year ago, also a birthday present. I flew from Old Sarum out over Salisbury and circled Stonehenge, probably the best view of it you can get!



~iw

30:1 two stroke consumption?
I've owned and ridden 2-strokes that used 20:1 and 25:1 (as well as 50:1, but we'll ignore that for the present).

Umm..

Nicely captured Steve! Yes it certainly was an experience! Slightly apprehensive as I don’t do fairground rides well, my stomach turns even at the fruit machines. It wasn’t helped when it required a few thumps on the magneto to get the old girl to start. But helmet and goggles donned we took off and headed out over the Oxfordshire countryside on a beautiful evening. Plenty of opportunity to have a go and although I didn’t do anything too technical I had a good go at the stick and pedals. Keeping her on a steady path wasn’t too far distant from the approach I take with the Healey, soft hands but ready for when she decides to leap about a bit!
So heading back to the airfield after about half an hour, the pilot says through the headset “So how about some aerobatics?” With the words of Steve saying that some times you just have to “Slap that Bull” ringing in my ears I bravely replied with “Go for it!” Oh my word, Loops, Stall turns and barrel rolls followed, The sky and green fields of Oxfordshire merged and became a blur while my stomach made attempts to move to another part of my body!
Fantastic is all I can say and glad that I didn’t miss the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary.
Now what’s for my next big birthday?

57 knots !