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Saturday, 1st June, 2002 at Sywell Aerodrome
I left home at 07:45 and, after being stuck behind an accident for nearly 40
minutes, arrived at Sywell at 10:00. The Tryk was ready for Paul and his cohorts
to do their worst!
Gary was delegated to look over the trike and wing, making sure all was as it
should be. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't! Here's a list of the snags we had to
rectify.
 | Main pivot bolt had to be tightened half a turn and re-wirelocked. |
| Two rivets were not lying flat |
| Pull start not routed through hole in frame |
| Wing batten cords not tight enough and incorrectly tied |
Here's what happened:
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Here's the Tryk on the grass at Sywell, about to be rigged.
There's already been some tinkering at this stage, as the toolkit's clearly
testify! |
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First step was to replace the rear flying wires, and the
rear landing wire too. This is because the UK spec called for thicker wires
then those normally used, and this resulted in them being a millimetre or
two too short, making it impossible to rig the wing without the strength of
3 adults! Flylight had replacements in stock, which were supplied at no cost
to me. |
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Here's what a properly tied batten string should look like.
Gary did one wing and I did the other. It goes without saying that my knots
were neater ;-D |
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Here's the wing all finished, apart from tensioning the tip
bolts |
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Paul entertained himself for hours, after he discovered the
inside of the wing made a nice echo chamber. |
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"Ere, Gary - come and have a go at this man, it's well
wicked" Gary told me later that Paul loves Kisses so much, he cannot
resist licking the wing keel whenever he gets a chance. |
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Here's the pull cord properly routed through the engine
mount. The reason I hadn't done this was the sharp metal edges in the hole,
but Paul told me to look in the kit left-overs for a couple of plastic
inserts. Guess what? I found them - as you can see! |
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All images from this point on are lower quality then usual,
as they were captured from video. So finally, after months of waiting, my
Baby takes to the air, ably piloted by BMAA Test Pilot and all around
good-egg Paul Dewhurst. |
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...and here he is again, taxiing in after the flight. He
said she flew straight and true, and needed no adjustments whatsoever.
Cheeky sod! Of course she did...I built her, didn't I? |
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The classic 'wing intersecting horizon' shot. See that
wing? That's mine, that is! I'm still only in the back seat at this point,
as Paul does the various bits and pieces he needs to deal with to sign the
bird off. |
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One test was to hook a spring balance to the base bar, and
see how much force is needed to pull it right back. Paul looked more like a
climber then a pilot during this flight, as he had various bits of hardware
strapped to his person.....well, OK, just a spring balance....but you get
the idea. |
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The observer for this flight was clearly doing a top job in
every respect (yep, that's me folks!) Love those Flycom helmets - it's the
first I've worn where the visor actually has room for the boom mike. Others
I've used turn the mike into a kind of nasal tampon! |
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Paul's a tall bugger! I have the front forks on the longest
leg setting, yet this shot shows his knees only just fit! The avionics
work well - the LCD displays on both the EFIS and the GPS are clear no
matter where the sun is, and very easy to read. |
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Overhead Sywell. We'd done the airspeed calibration runs
into and out of the wind, using the GPS to get ground speed. Paul did a
bunch of sums when we got back, and determined that the EFIS is almost spot
on. In fact, it over-reads a hair, but this takes Vne from 87 to an
indicated 90, which is very easy to read so I do not intend to adjust the
EFIS. |
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Overhead Sywell again, spiralling rapidly to lose height.
The EFIS flight recorder later told me that she achieved 1500 feet per
minute in climb, when Paul first flew her.
Try to imagine the huge grin on my face at the end of the day! |
What now?
My turn, that's what! Paul sat in the back while I took the controls of the
Tryk for the very first time. I could wax lyrical at this point, but you've
heard it all before. Suffice to say I am one happy camper.
Just after landing we heard G-MAIN calling for airfield information. Yep,
John (BJ) Moore had turned up, with Les (SYUT) Cottle and daughter in tow. They
are on a bit of a flying tour, to take advantage of the Jubilee weekend.
Got home at 21:45, exhausted and excited all at once.
Sadly, although Sunday was very flyable, my family all buggered off to do
their own thing, and none of the club members were at the strip. I can't rig her
on my own, so I came home again. Tomorrow is another day........
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