XX32l f A PIECE OF CAKE Flying the C-102 By James H. Orrell Chief Test Pilot, Avro Manchester It is not often that a first prototype aircraft comes so close to living near to its design values as has turned out in the case of Avro Canada's C-102 Jet liner. Too many times some member of the design staff in effect puts a decimal point in the wrong place, with the result that the test crew is con stantly searching for a few more miles per hour speed or a few more feet per minute climb so that the aircraft will come up to the performance which the engineers ' slide rules say it should do. Happily, the Jetliner has demon strated such promising qualities that even at this earlv stage of the test pro gram the indications are that the air craft will reach and likely even surpass its design aims with little difficulty. For a pilot to fully appreciate ari aircraft as the Jetliner, it is of course necessary to Hy it. However, it is proposed here to atterrpt to pass on some of the first impressions the test crew has recei,·ed of the aircratt. And because this article is intended to c0 Yey impressions, technicalities h8 be~n largely ,1,, "ded. Taking fost • ngs first, on ope; into the flight -~ F;lot i,. lL i- tially impressed i: ,1ment lay- out. The sensil:,. '}£ the October, 1949 controls is good. The engine instru ments are nicely separated, but easy to read. This group is set right in the centre of the overall panel, and on each side of it, directly in front of each pilot, is a complete blind flying panel. In the centre of the forwa:-d cabin overhead is a small panel on which is located the engine starting and fire emergency controls. On either side of the pedestal be tween the pilots is a set of throttles, so that pilot or co-pilot can control the Rolls-Royce Derwent 5's without having to do any awkward reaching. One of the beauties of the jet turbine is that a single throttle is the only control necessary for each engine. There are, naturally, no mixture or propeller pitch controls required. Addi+i,.. I This • .• ,e_d at ; carries tk 1 ·" lt lS P.J' .,. A 'tc ~ ev:ror da1..' Thi~_,•''.'.1.e ,. d t ;. ac - en· ,e eP·"~/,0 p1iot an ra 10 controls are· ,u.-"':d. The latter are of a du... ,,.,__ : 1 addition to his normal dutie,. --a•1tain of the air- craft looks ab . the pressurization panel, whi,h is I. ,ea led alongside him ,:-,· the left h:>:id side. On the C'"'·l';t...,t's list of duties and to his The Front Office. right is the heating and ventilating system control panel. The co-pilot also handles the radio. The actual flying controls are completely ortho dox. The engine starting procedure is a simple operation and takes only about 20 to 30 seconds per engine. The first act is to see that the low pressure fuf''. cocks are in their normal tion . Next select the engin started on the starter panel and the starting button. Wh .lt •nd begins to turn over, turn pressure fuel cock and boo which fires two of the en3"i,i. ben. Prom then on the firin, ger the the chambers is a continuous pi-. and the Derwent settles at idling re \ of about 3"t-3'i00 rpm. Since no warming up is necessary, you can start taxiing out to take-off position -as soon as all four engines are 7 running. Slight extra power is neces sary to start the aircraft rolling, so the engines :ire opened up to abo,Jt 9,000 rpm. As soon :is the machine starts to 111 0\'e you close the throttles down to about 6,000 rpm, this bei ng all that is necessary to maintain a taxiing speed customary fo r ·rn air- liner the size o[ the Jetliner. Because there is only slight S\\'ing effect from the thrust of the close in engines. all steering is done with the nosewheel for small changes of direc tion while taxiing. For sharp turns the brakes can be utilized . Prior to take-off a normal cockpit check is carr ied ou t. For take-off the Jetliner ·s flaps are depressed 25 °. \Vhen rake-off clearan..:e is obtained from the tower, you taxi into position, taking care that the aircraft is lined up directly down the runway and that the nosewheel is plumb stra ight. The brakes are then held on and you open up the engines to fu ll power. This procedure gi\'es an opportunity to check that all power is a,·ailable. It also ol)\'iates th::it which is :ilways a possibility w ith pi ston engines: the choking of an engine and subsequen t temporary loss of power through open ing the throttles too rapidly when be g inning the take-off run. When the engines are wind ing up at their take-off speed of 14,700 rpm, you release the brakes and the Jetliner starts to roll. • The acceleration is not sharp ; the surge or sudden pressure against the back that is found in piston engine aircraft is absent. The gain in speed is steady and fluid because the thrust rncreases with the forwarJ speed. This cont inuous gain 111 thru st as the forward speed increases could be explained with mathematics, but gene tics are slightly more intriguing. It's like breed ing rabbits. You start off with two and first thing you know you have four, then sixteen, with this business con tinuing ad infinitum--a s0rt of a chain reaction. So it is wit' thruSt : two pounds of thrust J,. e".'.d sewral mph of forward speed, ; ,h1ch in turn result in additional rounds of thrust, and so on up to the maximum 1:1rust available . Th '· ., in J.h :: r: F Pilots , 1-jE PICTURES ,es appearing ot left oicture down are, I to ,,eer 8" 1 ti:~ , k< Test ce ll -,gers. l I. Nose Section. 2. Centre Section . 3. Rear Centre Section. 4. Rear Section. S. Tail Cone. b. Outer Wing. 7. Wing Tip. 8. Aileron. 9. Aileron Trimmer. I 0. Londing Flap. 11. Dive Flap (Nacelle). 12. Dive Flop ( Centre Section). 13. Leading Edge Fillet. 14. Trailing Edge Fillet. 15. Fairing. lb. Fin. 17. Fin Tip. 18. Rudder ( Power Opera tee!). 19. Rudder (Manually Opera,cd). 20. Rudder Trimmer. 21. Tail Plane. 22. Elevator ( Power Operated). 23. Elevator ( Manua ll y Operated). 24. Elevator Trimmer. 25. Tail Plone Tip. The actual flying technique of tak ing off is the same as with any other aircraft. There is no tendenc y to swing. The nosewheel comes off at about 80 mph IAS and at about 100 mph [AS the aircraft gets light, with a tenJency to become airborne. At an indicateJ s;,ce J of approximately l lJ m;~h th'2 Jetl ir.er lifts off. Imme

A Piece of Cake - Flying the C-102

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