21 March 1958 367

Club and Gliding News

THE NEW TIPSY

FOR very many years the thoughts of Mr. E. O. Tips, managingdirector of Avions Fairey, Gosselies, Belgium, have been

directed towards the idea of a new ultra-light aeroplane. Theculmination of these thoughts, and of the subsequent formal designand construction effort, was the recent appearance of the AvionsFairey Tipsy Nipper, with a span of less than 20ft.

At present undergoing performance and endurance tests andpowerplant adaptations, the prototype Tipsy Nipper is to be fol-lowed by a small batch of development aircraft of this type. It isthe company's intention to put a thoroughly tested aircraft on themarket; and they expect to be able to accept orders for kits ofparts in about three months time; followed by orders for completeaircraft. Tooling is already partly complete.

The airframe has been designed to comply with A.R.B. regula-tions for the semi-aerobatic category. The wings are of wooden,one-piece construction, with a single spar of constant-widthrectangular section. Ribs are of simple Warren-girder type, andconsist of spruce strips reinforced with ply gussets. Leadingedges of the wing are covered with 1 mm ply.

Access to the cockpit is by means of a novel light-alloy flap onthe port side which folds down aft of the spar and contains a foot-step. Normally this flap is raised, forming pan of the wing. Thewing as a whole is easily detachable, a feature intended to facili-tate towing the aircraft behind a car (with the wings supported ona roof cradle).

The fuselage is a conventional, tubular-steel, bronze-weldedstructure. The nosewheel undercarriage gives good visibility onthe ground, the nosewheel being steered by means of the rudderpedals for taxying. The wheels themselves are of simple and lightconstruction, with Nieman rubber-ring shock absorbers, and main-wheel brakes (lever-operated from the control column).

The light-alloy fuel tank forms the upper fuselage fairingbehind the engine, and also supports the instrument panel andfront windscreen-attachment points. Engine cowling and propel-ler spinner are of moulded glass-fibre, as is the lower fuselagefairing. Both cowling and fairing are easily detachable foraccessibility.

Powerplant chosen for the prototype Nipper is a modifiedversion of the Volkswagen car engine. An alternative choice forproduction machines is the Porsche car or industrial engine.

Of particular interest are the detailed plans already made byAvions Fairey for the supply of kits of parts for amateur con-structors who wish to build the Nipper. For a provisional price of£375 ex Gosselies it is intended to provide a packed kit includingfinished fuselage structure, undercarriage, metal rudder ready forfabric-covering, controls and fittings, fuel tank, untrimmed glass-fibre fairings, windscreen, footstep flap, wooden parts cut toapproximate sizes, three-ply sheets, working drawings and illus-trated assembly brochure. On the inside surfaces of the packing-case panels the outlines of spars, ribs, ailerons, fin, tailplane,elevators and other components will be marked, enabling thepanels to be incorporated in construction jigs.

Not included in the kit are engine and cowling, propeller,instruments, fabric, dope and paint. These would normallybe obtained locally, but can be supplied at extra cost by AvionsFairey if required.

Top, simplicity in de-sign is the keynote ofthe diminutive TipsyNipper single-seaterSpan is only 19ft 8in.

Centre, scale is pro-vided in this photo-graph of the prototypemachine by pilot Ber-nard Neefs. The en-gine is a Volkswagen.

Right, the novel fold-ing flap containing thefootstep for access tothe cockpit. The sim-ple instrument-panelis mounted on top ofthe wing mainspar.

A Popular Flying Association spokesman in London told Flightlast week that plans for the Nipper had not yet been submittedfor approval by the Association. British purchasers would pre-sumably have to pay the normal 171 per cent import duty on theaircraft or kit, plus freight charges. No special import licencewould be needed.

Avions Fairey Tipsy Nipper (Volkswagen engine)Dimensions: span, 19ft 8in; length, 14ft 9in; height, 5ft 3in; empty weight,360 Ib; max. designed weight, 660 Ib; wing area, 80.5 sq ft; aspect ratio, 4.8.Estimated Performance: take-off and landing speed, 38 m.p.h.;distance, 150 yd; landing distance, 100 yd; cruising speed, 65 m.p.h.;speed, 75 m.p.h.

take-offmaximum

THE GLIDING YEAR'""THE best run of gliding weather in all history" and an expan-

-*- sion of the gliding movement in every direction were reportedby Mr. Philip Wills, chairman of the British Gliding Associationin his report for 1957 to the annual general meeting of the Associa-tion at Londonderry House on Saturday, March 15. Eleven U.K.and British national gliding records were broken; and 25 Gold Cand 12 Diamond leg flights were achieved.

During the year, a total of 20,344 hr was flown by member-clubs, from 120,024 launches. These figures showed an increaseof 5,618 hr and 20,595 launches compared with those for 1956.In addition to this activity, the Air Training Corps had reported64,659 launches and 4,538 hr; and the Corps had trained 1,063cadets up to B Certificate standard.

Five new clubs had been elected to associate membershipduring 1957, and there were now 18 full-member clubs and 18associate-member clubs, four of which were overseas. Clubs inDorset, Halifax, Hertford, Ipswich and Plymouth and for B.E.A.employees were now in process of formation.

The Kemsley Flying Trust had continued its good work; loanstotalling £5,896 had been advanced to 18 gliding clubs and groupsduring the year. In addition, further loans totalling £7,665 had

been approved and three of these involved the development of newgliding sites.

"The most important single task undertaken in 1957," Mr. Willsstated, "was the taking over, at the request of the clubs concerned,of negotiations for the acquisition of security of tenure at Lasham.The last time such a thing occurred was in 1933, when the B.G.A.successfully negotiated a lease for Sutton Bank with the Ecclesi-astical Commissioners. It is to be fervently hoped that we shallagain be successful and thus be able to bring stability to a group ofclubs which currently represents about 20 per cent of the wholecivil movement."

Concluding his report by considering the future, the chairmansaid that 1958 might prove a crucial year. The Ministries weredisposing of a large number of airfields, including those on whichsome of the most promising British clubs were operating. Apartfrom Lasham, the clubs affected were the Kent Club at Detling,the Coventry Club at Edgehill, the Newcastle Club at Usworthand the Cornish Club at Perranporth. It was true to say that,by the time of the next annual general meeting of the Association,the shape and size of the British gliding movement would havebeen determined for the next generation.