Pilot – June 2018

62 | Pilot June 2018 | pilotweb.aero

Nick Bloom gets his second homebuild Currie Super Wot

project off to a slow start – just the way he likes it

Words: Nick Bloom Photos: Philip Whiteman

Wot, another?

W

hen it comes

to building an

aeroplane, I’m

in the slow lane.

I already have a

Currie Super Wot, so building

another one is a labour of love,

and the longer it takes the better.

Which is probably just as well,

because Wot building can’t

be rushed.

Actually, I suppose it can, if you

don’t mind how much you spend.

The six Wots built in 1967 by

Slingsby to look like SE5a aircraft

for the film Darling Lili were

certainly produced in record time.

For homebuilts, the rules only

58 | Pilot May 2013

Diary of a Homebuilder Part 6 | The Wot flies!

After two years of effort, the Currie Super Wot homebuilt project abandoned in 1980 is finally completed

Words Nick Bloom Photographs Keith Wilson

The Wot flies!

Pilot May 2013 | 59

S

till working on those wires?” asks my wife. “Aren’t you bored?” But I’m not, I tell her; I

classic Birds and Fools Flyenjoy rigging biplanes. In 1969, when Dr Urmston wrote his about building a

Currie Wot, the ends of bracing wires were spliced. Today we clamp a Nicopress sleeve on them. LAS offers a basic

homebuilder’s clamping tool as an alternative to the expensive one that the professionals use. It requires skill and

takes a long time.December 2012

The Wot has fourteen bracing wires, each with two Nicopress sleeves at both ends. (My LAA inspector, Simon Westley,

wants a second as back up.) The turnbuckles allow some room for adjustment, but not much: the wires have

to be the correct length to within an inch, so the sleeves must be clamped in exactly

the right place. Then each of the 56 sleeves has to be compressed three times. There is just room on the sleeve for three

squeezes, making 168 delicate operations in all. There’s a learning curve; I have to

scrap my first attempt and then the next few sleeves are only just OK. By the time I’m on to the tenth, they look almost

professional and the final ten are nearly perfect. I enjoy this part of the Wot

build, even if it is repetitive−the routine is soothing.

January 2013Simon’s many customers keep him busy

as we approach Christmas, and give him more urgent jobs in the new year, but he finally has time for me. While he was

busy I dealt with final matters like setting ignition timing, weighing the aeroplane

and tensioning and wirelocking all the turnbuckles (23 of them, including the control cables). There is also paperwork;

the LAA posted through a completion pack and I’ve been steadily filling in all

the forms it contains. For each form there’s at least one double-sided sheet of instructions. One sheet is sternly headed:

‘Common reasons why applications for Permits are delayed’.We sit in Simon’s office while he

ploughs through the pile of forms. He pens his signature down the long columns, occasionally throwing out

questions. “What was that mod inside the lower wings Francis asked for?” “Did you track the propeller?” He finally hands it

all back to me. “OK−as soon as you’ve done the engine runs, call me and I’ll come and make my final inspection,”

he says.

“