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32 LIGHT AVIATION MAY 2009

> FLIGHT TEST

OUR STAN’S No1 ‘STANGFor 50 years, Stan has been itching to get airborne in the dynamic Midget Mustang. Here, he fulfi lls a childhoo

WORDS Stanley Hodgkins PHOTOS Howard Boylan

p032-040.minimustang.indd 32p032-040.minimustang.indd 32 23/4/09 16:32:1923/4/09 16:32:19

MAY 2009 LIGHT AVIATION 33



> FLIGHT TEST

WHEN I was young, some time ago now, naturally I was interested in the female form, from an aesthetic point

of view of course, but my aviation pin-ups were to be found within the pages of Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft during the 1950s.

Since the wonderful introduction of the ‘experimental’ category in the USA just after WW2, amateur – and professional – designers could really let themselves go and some amazing machines were produced. There was also the revival of air racing and many of these new designs were diminutive hot ships, usually with small Continental engines. The three designs that got my juices going were the Cosmic Wind, the Loving-Wayne Love and the Long Midget Mustang.

The Midget Mustang was designed by Dave Long, the chief engineer of Piper Aircraft, as an all-metal racer in 1948 and fi rst fl own in public at the Cleveland National Air Races in that year. The prototype took second place in the Formula 1 Class elimination heat, but engine problems prevented fl ying in the fi nal. Long built three further prototypes and before his death (in a Midget Mustang) in 1952, he had agreed that Schweizer Aircraft could produce it commercially as a racer/sport aircraft. Subsequently, Robert Bushby purchased the rights to the design in 1959 and sold blueprints and material kits as demand increased. Today, Mustang Aeronautics Inc of Troy, Michigan, own the rights and supply complete kits or partial kits. Numerous improvements have been made to the sound 60-year-old design.

The basic design of the Midget Mustang has changed little over the years, although new options are now offered to the kit builder. These options include bubble canopy, larger engine, retractable gear, folding wings, full IFR panel and added fuel capacity. The performance of the Midget Mustang naturally varies with the engine package installed. With the Continental O-200 engine, the top speed at sea level is quoted as about 200mph and range at 75% power at 8,000ft with a 15-gallon tank is 435 miles.

Last month, once the morning mist had burnt off, I climbed into an RV-8 and set course for Hinton-in-the-Hedges for my appointment with G-IIJC, an O-320 powered, bright red Midget Mustang owned by Jeremy Cooke. Taxying in, I spied it sitting on the grass in front of the hangar, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt

‘It looked as if butter wouldn’t melt in its carburetter intake.

However, I knew better!’

Ferrari red paint says it all...➽

in its carburetter intake. However, I knew better! Over the years I have discovered that the smaller aeroplanes are, the more likely they are to bite you in the bum, and I have developed a healthy respect for them.

After a cup of tea and a briefi ng in Jez’s very comfortable VIP caravan, I was introduced to ‘JC and was immediately impressed by its aerodynamic cleanness and general lack of protrusions. Speed is the fi rst and last word of this design. All-metal conventional stressed skin construction and fl ush-riveted on the outside, it was painted in plain, shouting, glossy Ferrari red with ‘midget mustang’ logos on the cowling blisters and wheel-pants. The only non-aerodynamic bits were the four exhaust stubs and the tail-wheel.

Everything seemed just as I expected with totally conventional, balanced fl ying controls, including generous plain fl aps. The wings are beautifully tapered both in plan and thickness, with no aileron or fl ap hinges showing and look very small. As an RV pilot, I am used to small wings, but this looked ridiculous. Elevator and rudder are again conventional. The beautifully cowled O-320 is a large motor for an aircraft of only 18 feet wingspan weighing a max of 1000lb,

and it was hard to believe the clean stalling speed was only 60mph. The propeller is an Ed Sturba 62in x 82in wooden masterpiece. Although the line of the nose falls away in front of the cockpit it was obvious that forward view would be limited. The undercarriage is a standard fl at spring-steel leg arrangement with long streamlined spats and the sideways-hinged canopy is tiny, with barely enough room for your head – again all in the search for minimum drag, I suppose.

The other notable feature pointed out to me by Jeremy was the tail-wheel arrangement, which has a rigid link between the rudder and tail-wheel arm. This means that there is zero free play in the steering and the aircraft is very squirrelly on a hard surface. It is vital to touch down with neutral rudder on tarmac or you will be off into the scenery in very short order. Fuel is carried in a gravity fed aluminium tank of 56ltr capacity in front of the pilot and also in two 15ltr wing tanks (currently non-approved in UK for weight reasons), which feed fuel into the main tank with an electrical pump.

It was enormously generous of Jez to let me have a go in his pride and joy and I was very conscious of not bending it! Installed

Those short wings only

measure 18ft and support

a beautifully cowled

O-320 engine.


Smooth... From tip to tail the Midget Mustang is intended to slip through the air with minimal resistance. Cockpit is snug, with plenty of grunt up front.


> SECTION HEAD


in the cockpit wearing the custom-designed back-type parachute, the aeroplane fi tted me well and everything seemed to be where you would expect it. This example was built by an experienced Canadian pilot Richard Eaves who is obviously a great craftsman and it won one of the prizes at Oshkosh in 2000. As a Van’s builder I loved the look of the familiar ‘aluminum’ all around me and I had a sudden urge to rivet something! Seriously, this aircraft has a feel of proper engineering.

The fl ying controls were smooth and light to operate, elevator and ailerons being push-rod operated and the rudder by cables. All the ‘works’ were exposed and it would be diffi cult to panel them in, so regular inspections for foreign objects would be a good idea. The very short fl ap lever was positioned on the cockpit fl oor to the left of the seat. The quadrant has detents for three fl ap positions and I was warned that full fl ap requires considerable force to overcome the air loads, even at low speed. Above the fl ap lever, on the cockpit sidewall, is the simple elevator trim quadrant and forward of that is a narrow vertical panel/fuselage frame containing the mixture control, starter button and warning light. The plunger-type throttle is at the bottom left hand of the main instrument panel.

> FLIGHT TEST

Behind the stick, in front of the main spar, are the radios and above them the fuel tank with the main fuel cock at its base. Behind the spar is another fuel cock for selecting the required wing tank when transferring fuel. On the main instrument panel are the usual fl ight instruments – not including an attitude indicator or DI – and engine instruments. To the bottom left is the split master switch and just a handful of circuit breakers and switches. A keyed magneto switch is at top left, a primer at top right. A clock, g-meter, magnetic compass and fuel gauge complete the picture. On the right-hand side were controls for carb heat and cowl fl ap, and alongside the seat a fi re extinguisher. Simple and straightforward.

When the canopy closed things seemed rather different. After my RV-8 I felt a bit trapped. There was room to move my head forward but not from side to side. When I tried

to look over the nose, my hard hat hit the canopy. It reminded me of the War Replica FW 190 and I did get used to that.

Start-up was standard Lycoming and the cockpit noise level is considerable. Taxying was done carefully and I wandered around on the main hard runway getting used to the rudder/brake effectiveness and yes, it was sensitive on the pedals. The main fuel tank was over three-quarters full and with my 10 stone our weight was approximately 925lb, some 75lb short of MAUW and the CofG well forward.

A standard run-up and pre-take off checks were carried out (two notches of fl ap) and the aircraft lined up on RW 27 grass with the old wartime concrete on the left and the buttercups on the right. Easing on the power slowly (this is a big engine for this little machine), acceleration was moderate and only a fi rm positive right rudder pressure was needed to keep straight. I was aware of the limited propeller clearance so I just allowed the tail to naturally break ground and held the nose-up attitude as the aircraft became airborne. With the fi xed-pitch propeller, speed took a little time to build and fl aps were lifted in two stages.

I thought 120mph seemed about right for the climb and the rate of climb settled at about 1100fpm. At this speed the controls were

‘There was room to move my head

forward, but not from side to side’


MONTH 2008 LIGHT AVIATION 00

Stan’s been waiting some

50 years to fl y one of the

beautiful MMs, hence

the beaming smile! This

example is a former

award-winner at Oshkosh

and feels superbly well

put together. It’s a more

forgiving beastie to fl y

than one might think too.


light and responsive, especially the ailerons. Trim changes so far were minimal even when retracting the fl aps. The trimmer was very powerful and very small adjustments were essential. Levelling at 3000ft, I allowed the speed to build up and noticed that it would be easy to over-speed the engine in level fl ight. Throttling back to 2450rpm (65%) the IAS was around 175mph. At this speed the ailerons had stiffened up appreciably but the elevator was still relatively light. Leaving the throttle at this setting I then did some turns and wingovers to get the feel of things. If the speed was kept in the region of 150mph, the controls were pleasant, although I would have preferred the ailerons to be lighter and the elevator heavier. Nevertheless, I soon got used to the feel of it. The rate of roll was impressive – they quote 300 degrees per second and I am sure it is.

I was now quite at home in this little projectile, so I thought I’d try a stall or two. The clean 1g power-off stall occurred at 60mph as advertised, with a little shudder a couple of mph beforehand, followed by a nose drop and left wing heaviness – not a wing drop. With full fl ap the stall was at 57mph with the same symptoms. Nothing to worry about there, I thought. Jez had said I had to do two things before I returned to land. First, I had to try the selection of full fl ap – which did take a few tries before I mastered the technique of pulling up and slowing to 70pmh – and the other was to try the dreaded g-stall. Due to the lightness of the elevator, this is quite easy to do. Having been briefed, I pulled into a steep turn to the right with 2500rpm and applied more back pressure.


> FLIGHT TEST

It did not need much. Suddenly, without warning the aircraft simply rolled rapidly towards wings level – ie to the left. Apparently it always goes left, hence the right turn!

Recovery was immediate on relaxing the back pressure and again it reminded me of the FW190 Replica: once, in the middle of an airshow routine, coming down vertically from a loop I tweaked it too hard and it fl icked to the right – relaxing the back pressure, I caught it at the ninety degrees and they thought it was part of the routine! That is not, however, a manoeuvre I recommend.

The following cruising speeds were

recorded at 3000 feet:

Power IAS

Max Power (limited to 2700rpm) 195mph2550rpm (75%) 180mph2450rpm (65%) 170mph

Regaining boring straight and level cruising fl ight, the nose was raised about 20 degrees and the stick released. The nose pitched gently down and the oscillation damped out in half a cycle taking 30 seconds, showing positive pitch stability. Yaw/roll stability was checked and also found to be positive in both senses. Throttling to idle, I established ‘JC in a 90mph glide, fl aps up – this seemed about the best speed – and this produced a rate of descent of 600fpm. Defi nitely not the manhole cover I had feared! At this speed a little rudder was necessary to co-ordinate turns.

All that now remained was to have some fun as instructed by Jeremy and so I tried the

‘The rate of roll was impressive – they

quote 300 degrees per second and I am sure it is. I was quite at home in this little projectile’


> FLIGHT TEST

Clean lines of the

beautiful Midget

Mustang in fl ight

off er an insight into

one of its main

design goals: speed.

To that end, it

has a top speed of

over 200mph.



PERFORMANCE

Vne 230mphCruise 215mphStall speed (full fl ap)

57mphTake-off distance 470ftLanding distance 680ftRate of climb 2500fpmRange (75% power)

400 milesCeiling

20,000ft

DIMENSIONS

Width 5.6mLength 5mHeight 1.37mWEIGHTS & LOADS

Empty 309kgUseful load 210kg+Max take-off weight

450kgFuel capacity 15gal

POWER

Continental O-320VALUE

£38,000 approx

MIDGET MUSTANG (O-320 MODEL)

> FLIGHT TEST

normal, positive g aerobatics and thoroughly enjoyed myself. As long as you are aware of the g-stall and the fact that it is very easy to exceed 2700rpm and also the 230mph Vne, the average aerobatic pilot would have no problems. Incidentally, this aircraft is good for +6/-4g and at Vne seemed as steady as a rock. As mentioned before if entry speeds are kept to 150mph or so the control forces are pleasant.

As an obedient pilot, I returned to Hinton at high speed for the compulsory fast pass and zoom – again as instructed by the owner, or I would be grounded! Jez had said that he had never seen the aircraft in the air and I was most happy to oblige! Now I had to land this thing and braced myself for some tricky footwork.

Slowing down to the fl ap limitation speed of 100mph is actually easier than in a fi xed-pitch RV, especially if you can pull some g. Circuit speeds are compatible with Cessnas’ and Pipers’ with about 90mph, two fl ap downwind, 80mph, full fl ap on base leg and 70mph at the threshold. By now I had got used to the view over the nose and I found the machine to be stable on the approach with speed easily controlled. I do not remember using the trimmer at all!

The landing was a non-event. I managed to place it in the right spot at the right speed and allow it to roll onto the ground in a slightly tail-down attitude and patiently ride to a halt.

There is a great tendency to over-control the rudder due to the rigid link to the tail-wheel and the brakes are best left until slow speeds. Twitchy it is! Of course, this was on the grass and I would continue to fl y off grass for some time before trying tarmac.

Again my thanks to Jez for letting me fl y his little gem – it is an aeroplane that demands respect and I feel privileged to have tried it. If it were mine though, I would put some springs on that tail-wheel!

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

It’s tight in there and Stan’s head wasn’t given much room to move! Cockpit is snug but stick

movements are not expansive. Spats are long for their small wheels, and overall build is great.

DETAILS

‘The average aerobatic pilot would have no

problems’

Barring prop, it could easily be a sculpted 50s car.


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