October 2007
Lutons On the Road to Recovery
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It seems that this is month for Luton Minors to tour the British Isles on trailers. The good news is that far from being "trailer trash", both these aeroplanes will get back into the air sometime in the future.
The first of these, Lycoming-engined G-ATCN is a classic "barn find". A number of "Minor sleuths" had over the years attempted to track down the elusive aeroplane in its rural hideaway in darkest Essex.
Mark Whitnall though hit gold. Having exhumed the aeroplane from its shed, he's now moved it to Lincolnshire. The idea is to return it to the air, pending an assessment by a PFA inspector.
The second Minor on the move is G-AWMN, which following a take-off accident in Kilkrush, Ireland earlier this summer, sustained a badly damaged fuselage, shock loaded engine and damaged wing struts. Thankfully her pilot escaped without injury.
Picture: Irish Times
Written off by the insurance company, at one point it looked as if might be the end of the line for one of the nicest Minors. The great news now, is that 'MN looks set to fly again. She's been bought by Stuart Penfold, who intends to restore the aeroplane at Halstead in Essex. Stuart's now blowing the dust off the plans that he bought with a view to building a Minor from scratch, about a quarter of a century ago!
"I'm not sure if I fully understand what I have gone and done" said Stuart. "I have had a soft spot for the Minor for many years and I'm keen to find out as much of 'WMN's history as I can.
"We brought it back on a trailer as per attached photograph.In the accident the fuselage had been fractured in front of the cockpit so rather than mess about we separated this completely and loaded up. This break was as expected so no problems.
"Obviously the fuselage is a total write of but this is as expected as is the undercarriage but all the flying surfaces seem OK. I was surprised at the rudder as I was expecting the tail wheel to have come up and smashed this but in fact the rudder is undamaged but the fin which I thought would be untouched has had the front attachment broken. Wings only a small amount of tip damage to one tip.Two of the lift struts are bent so these will have to be renewed. Engine turns over but this will need a full strip and inspection. Again I was expecting this.
"These projects always take longer than originally planned, but I am hoping to achieve summer 09. Its a bit of good timing at the moment as my father who is keen on working with wood is retiring for the second time this Christmas. He has offered to help, but I am not sure if he knows quite what I have planned for him!"
It turns out that "Dad" is a former PPL and worked for the CAA for over 30 years, so he should be able to offer quite a bit of advice!
If anyone is interested in helping Stuart or Mark with their projects, or can offer advice, let us know and we'll put you in touch! Good luck to both!!