Aeroplane – June 2018

Archive

112 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE JULY 2018

the Series 1 Ace prototype, G-AHLG,

needed a major redesign. On its fi rst

fl ight, Monty Brown wrote, test

pilot Rex ‘Ivy’ Stedman was expected

to make just a single circuit before

landing, “but the Ace took off and fl ew

almost out of sight”. When eventually

he returned, having landed the aircraft

very gingerly, Stedman “seemed quite

disturbed as he quickly went off with

Chris and co to the offi ce. Presumably

a large Scotch was required for Ivy was

clearly very pale and in a nervous state.

It later transpired that he experienced

a complete loss of rudder control;

in fact the turbulence created by the

wide cabin had made the tail controls

largely ineffective when fl ying just

above stalling speed. He had indeed

had great diffi culty getting the Ace

back on the ground. Within the

month, a new twin fi n and rudder

assembly had been designed, made and

installed to operate outside this area of

turbulence.”

With those modifi cations complete,

the Ace proceeded through test-

fl ying satisfactorily. Preparations for

production were delayed by a move

from Heston to Exeter Airport, but

in March 1948 the fi rst CH3 Series

2 Super Ace, G-AKFD, was ready

and made its initial fl ight from the

fi rm’s new Devon home. Among the

main changes was substitution of the

Lycoming engine for a de Havilland

Gipsy Major X. This time the length

of Stedman’s maiden trip in the new

aircraft was intentional, his confi dence

in it being such that stalls and spins

were evaluated. According to Flight,

“he found that the aircraft did not spin

but merely made a steep spiral turn

which was immediately corrected as

soon as the controls were released”. The

Aeroplane said it was “doubtful whether

spinning trials have ever before been

attempted at such an early stage in a

contractor’s fl ight-test programme.”

So far, so good. But Stedman had

plenty of experience of Chrislea’s

curious control confi guration.

What would a neophyte make of it?

Representatives of both main British

aviation weeklies were invited to

try out the Super Ace, their reports

appearing within a day of each other.

The account by Flight’s Maurice

Smith came fi rst. “It is usually possible

to get into a light aircraft and, after

a single fl ight, to give a reasonably

Probably the less experience a pilot has, the easier he would fi nd it; and a pilot

learning ab initio would acquire the sense as quickly as he would on a normal aircraft^

ABOVE:

Short take-off

performance was

a plus point for

the Super Ace.

However, The

Aeroplane’s Richard

Worcester reported,

“Pilots used to

conventional

controls should

restrain a wild

impulse to pull the

control column out

of its socket...”

BELOW:

The car-like controls

and dashboard

looked smart

and made for an

uncluttered cabin,

but were far from

universally liked.

The Super Ace’s

unorthodox fl ight

control system

explained.

111-113_AM_AeroArk_July18_cc C.indd 112 04/06/2018 07:22