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Collin
General

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Location: McMinnville. Oregon
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Posted Tuesday, November 2, 2010 @ 00:14 AM  

Hello,

I got this idea from a BMW motorcycle forum.

As a kid I have always liked the RF4. I remember Charlie Webber and John Buckner would visit my Dad with there RF4s in the mid '70's. Over thirty years later I have a RF4 and still friends with Charlie and John. At that time my Dad had a RF5B (N55JH).

Now I like giving rides to my kids (6) in our RF5B (N55SM).

Collin

Oregon, USA

Jorgen
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Location: Lund, Sweden
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Posted Tuesday, November 2, 2010 @ 01:51 PM  

Hello,
why not? I started flying hanggliders in 1983 and when I "woke up" 10 years later I realized there had to be more to life than that. So I took up gliding which took me to new heights and also got me into aerobatics. When I finally realized that you need an engine to be truly free flying (=without the hassle of towing, long drives to the nearest mountain etc) I got involved in a Piper Cub that I still fly, but although you can "idle-thermal" a Cub I felt something was lacking. As everyone else that has seen Fourniers I was struck with divine inspiration when I saw RF 4 "SE-XSK" which was on a visit in Southern Sweden. I had to get one, and when I got in touch with the right honorable bloke James Hallam in the UK and bought his RF 4 "G-AVNX" (now "SE-XST" I felt complete!

Six years later I still get the "silly grin" syndrome after each 4-flight and I can hardly imagine a more versatile and fun Aeroplane (but then, I got no stick time in a Bücker yet, Steve). My Fournieteering involves a lot of thermalling, so it's a pity RF 5b "SE-UDI" (which is an excellent glider) is unfortunately a repair project but it's another inspirational aircraft that can be highly recommended, although my hard-earned experience suggests you do need a "proper airfield" (=not to narrow strip) to operate it from.

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

Bob Grimstead
Captain

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Location: Perth, Western Australia or West Sussex, England
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Posts: 2027

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Posted Friday, March 4, 2011 @ 00:03 AM  

Hi Guys,

As an outer London (Twickenham) teenager I was always keen on aeroplanes, rushing home from school every evening to stand on my bedroom windowsill, wistfully watching airliners approaching London Airport. My wildest dreams did not envisage me ever owning an aircraft, let alone my own hangar. My ambition was merely to fly, not necessarily as a pilot but only, somehow, to get into the air. Just once.

Eager to get involved in aviation in any way at all, I cycled fifteen miles to Fairoaks aerodrome and begged a job. For ten shillings (fifty pence or one dollar) per weekend I was given the task, for eight hours a day, of sweeping their enormous black hangars, manhandling and refuelling Tiger Moths and Piper Colts, and even got the occasional chance to taxi in one with an engineer.

I joined my school’s Air Cadets. They got me airborne as part-flying passenger in a Provost

and Chipmunks (including simple aerobatics), later giving me a gliding scholarship. My first solo was in an open-cockpit tandem Kirby Cadet Mk III

from Swanton Morley. The logical progression from there was applying to the College of Air Training at Hamble for airline pilot training.

After passing (to my immense surprise and relief) Hamble's selection process, I started training in May 1969. I later saw a copy of my assessment: `Bob writes quite well, but spoils his work with tortuous thinking'. How prophetic. Eighteen intensive and nerve-wracking months later, in November 1970 I graduated to become third pilot on BOAC's (then Britain’s national long-haul airline) Boeing 707 fleet.

That’s when my Fournier life started. With the frighteningly tiny total of 237 hours, and a fortnight’s leave before joining BOAC, having 250 hours would push me two years up the pay scale. So I found Sportair, a Biggin Hill club that rented out its Fourniers at a mere four pounds per hour, or fifteen pounds for a day’s use with the pilot paying for fuel.

I got those thirteen hours in just two November days after being checked out by the great Robbie Dorsey. I got so much pleasure from Fourniers that I continued flying them for several years, and actually won a navigation and precision flying competition in an RF5.

Then I joined the Tiger Club, flew some gentle aerobatics in their RF4 and did some formation display flying in their Turbulent Team, where I met Matthew Hill, pilot extraordinaire.

I bought my ownTurbulent, which I flew for six years

After that I became an aviation journalist, specialising as fight test reporter.

After 33 years I retired from BOAC’s successor, British Airways, living half in Australia, half in England, flying just for pleasure, and finally hoping to get my aerobatics up to display standard. A local RF4D was for sale – a 1968 example imported into Australia in 1982. Rebuilt, re-covered in Polyfiber and re-sprayed blue and white, it looked lovely and flew nicely, albeit slightly lethargically in Australia’s high summer temperatures. I just had to buy it.

Former Skyhawks pilot Matthew Hill (by now my good buddy) e-mailed me: ‘The Fournier is a strong old bird. One pulled 7g and showed no signs of complaining at all. If for any reason it goes quiet, you can look ahead for a place to land rather than underneath you! Fourniers are now much in demand because they are very quiet and have low fuel consumption.’

So I bought VH-HDO, improved my aerobatics and started flying displays. But there are not too many displays in Western Australia. Britain has dozens every year. So Matt & I bought a red British RF4D, G-AWGN and we started flying airshows in that. At the Gap-Tallard CFI anniversary Matt revealed that he had most of a dismantled Fournier, so we decided to re-aasemble it. Three years later, we now have two red-and-white RF4Ds and fly formation aerobatic air displays as the RedHawks.




www.redhawksduo.co.uk

Yours, Bob

[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Friday, March 4, 2011 @ 00:19 AM]

[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Friday, March 4, 2011 @ 00:30 AM]

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Antti
Corporal

Gender: Male
Location: Finland
Registered: Sep 2009
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Posted Tuesday, March 8, 2011 @ 05:00 AM  

Intersting stories. Nice to hear you are from Twickenham, Bob! I used to visit the area quite a lot when I was younger. My mother studied together with a lady that moved to London. He married an Irish guy and had to kids, quite my age. They lived in Teddington and later in Hampton Hill and I went there quite often. Actually lots of my aviation enthusiam root from those days. In age of 11 I flow to London for holiday alone to meet those friends. I was a bit excited as I hadn't flown before. When the Finnair's DC-9 (I later found a couple of boxes filled with logbooks and found out it was OH-LYX ) took off I had an exteremely wonderful feeling. Then the fog and clouds were behind us and sun shone in blue sky. I didn't have any idea of that before. I even got to visit the cockpit and knew what I wanted to do when I'd grow up. During those visits I watched hours and hours the traffic to London Heathrow and saw quite a lot. The was still interesting things to see in the 80's. So I can quite get to the Bob's feeling of his youth.

Back home I joined the local model flying club which was part of the local aviation club. I was a total airliner freak, but visiting the field I got very interested in smaller planes, too. I got to sit in a Grob G109, later even fly in it. The club also had two RF4D's and I sat in them wishing to fly one some day. We went to theoretical course with a friend in the age of 13, so it was done quite early. I waited for 5 years and begun to fly the same G109. I got my licence and so on. With all 28 hours I first flew the RF4D. So it has been with me practically from the beginning.

Later on I got my glider licence and PPL. Despite of knowing what I wanted to do as grown up, I still haven't done it. I still fly as a hobby and as I really am growing up, I may do that for the rest of my flying time. Anyway, I work for the airline which gave me my first flying experience (gave, ha, damn expensive at the time) by writing cockpit manuals. Mostly MEL's. I began my aviation career as a mech but that wasn't for me in th long run. Until now I am close to my first 1000 hours and have flown in many planes, but haven't been a type collector. I've flown the typical Cessnas and Pipers. They are OK, but don't provide too much kicks. The RF4D has and will be my number one, no doubt. Some other interesting things I've flown have been an Acey Deucy, RV4, RV8 and Cub. Oh yeah, and I had a ride in a Texan in Florida. That was a great fun plane to do some aerobatics. Just put the 600 hp working and go for it. It does it all!

I liked the RV4 a lot (it has lots of common with RF4, not just the name. But it comes with power, too), but haven't been able to fly it anymore since it was sold. Nowadays I fly quite a lot with Cessna Caravan as a skydiving base. It's a big Cessna, but the turbine, nice power and state of art G1000 Avionics make it a very great aircraft to spend a day in. And I just tested a Diamond DA40 with G1000, too. An OK cruiser, not big thrills, but I realise I somehow like that gizmo... And I promised I may be kicked the day I'll take a GPS into RF4D. And I did that, too.

And the season is about to begin!

-Antti-

[Edit by Antti on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 @ 06:44 AM]

Bob Grimstead
Captain

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Location: Perth, Western Australia or West Sussex, England
Registered: Dec 2006
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Posted Tuesday, March 8, 2011 @ 05:37 AM  

Hello again Antti,

It is great to hear your stories.
I went to school in Hampton, so it really is a small world...

For my first airliner flight I was older -- 16 I think, and it was in an older aeroplane -- a Canadair Argonaut (DC-4 with Merlin engines) of Air Links, again with the Air Cadets, from Gatwick to Geilenkirchen, Germany for one week.
We returned in a C-54 (ex-military DC-4) also of Air Links (long gone now).

The first time I ever flew in a jet airliner, I was in the cockpit of a BEA Trident, going to Lisbon for the day as part of my training.

The second time I flew in a jet airliner it was in a BOAC Boeing 707 and I was in the front right seat!!!!
Can you believe that?
Very exciting, but I was completely overwhelemed.
We did ten hours of general flying and circuit flying because there was no proper 707 simulator.

My first trip was to Honolulu, again in the right seat out of London, and I had no idea where it was -- it was before Hawaii Five-oh came on TV, and our family had not owned a TV for very long, although I do remember watching the first moon landing on the Flying College TV, with a hundred other keen young aspiring pilots.

You write MELs Antti. Maybe we should have one for the RF4. Do you think we could dispatch without one outrigger for a ferry flight for repair?

As you say, the flying season is about to begin.

I wish all fellow Fournier fliers a great summer of flying in 2011.

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Antti
Corporal

Gender: Male
Location: Finland
Registered: Sep 2009
Status: Offline
Posts: 28

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Posted Tuesday, March 8, 2011 @ 07:01 AM  

Hello Bob,

Makes me smile to read your memories! It must have been something very different after all during your days. And all those good old birds. Beautiful.

I have to say I've been lucky to get into positions where I have been able to at least get near my dreams of childhood. I used to clean the aircrafts during studying and I also worked in a cargo terminal and got to visit several interesting freighters like B737, DC8, DC10, MD11, B747, AN124, AN22, IL76 and a lot more. During mech years I of course got deep inside different stuff among aviation. Later on I've had a chance to fly several airliner simulators - even sat a flight in an A380 sim last autumn in Toulouse. And I've been observing quite a lot and really seen what it is like in the cockpit. But still have the spark to fly for living. Just wondering how I could finance it

But to MEL, I believe we can still manage with pilot's handbook and local regulations! I wouldn't fly without an outrigger, cause there are too many things to go wrong

-Antti-

Jason B
Private

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Location: UK
Registered: Aug 2022
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Posted Wednesday, August 31, 2022 @ 05:49 AM  

I have been searching this forum for many years but have only just signed up to it.
My history is similar to many others here in that I started hang gliding in the mid 70s and then gliding in the 80s and 90s before getting a ppl in the late 90s and a finally a share in a RF4 G-BHJN at Enstone in England in 2000 which I still have and regularly fly.
Bob Grimstead
Captain

Gender: Male
Location: Perth, Western Australia or West Sussex, England
Registered: Dec 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 2027

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Posted Wednesday, August 31, 2022 @ 06:03 AM  

Hello Jason,

Welcome to the forum and I look forward to meeting you in person sometime.

Happy Fournicating, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

sscchris
Private

Gender: Male
Location: Surrey UK
Registered: Aug 2023
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Posted Monday, August 21, 2023 @ 05:47 PM  

Hi All, I have just joined the forum having recently bought RF3 G-BHLU from David Millar. The repairs required are not major but I need a number of parts, an engine rebuild and the entire aircraft re-covering. It's my first aircraft project, but my LAA inspector is a former RF4 pilot who has experience with VW based engines so I think I'm in good hands.

I have been flying various gliders and motor gliders for the last 15 years and more recently converted to powered flying. Having learnt at White Waltham and Fairoaks airfields in the south of the UK i now fly a jodel 1050 from a farm strip in Sussex when not soaring in a sailplane. All of my flying has been within the UK but I look forward to flying the RF3 far and wide in the future. A trip to GAP in the southern French alps seems like an appropriate aim for the first big trip in the RF3- hopefully only a couple of years away!?

Cheers, Chris.

Bob Grimstead
Captain

Gender: Male
Location: Perth, Western Australia or West Sussex, England
Registered: Dec 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 2027

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Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2023 @ 04:22 AM  

Hello Chris and welcome to our forum.

I mostly fly around Sussex myself (where I live) although I now operate my Fournier from an airstrip in Surrey.

I look forward to meeting you somewhere around the place.

Cheers, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Paul King
Private

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Posted Thursday, August 31, 2023 @ 10:08 AM  

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and a proud new owner of RF3 G-BIIA! It's an excellent example and a credit to its former owners especially Chris Dennis the previous owner who has proved to be a true gent. We are hoping to move the aircraft this weekend from Dunkerswell to its new home at Craysmarsh Farm near Melksham UK.

It has the 1400CC upgrade, Hercules prop and a recently re worked panel and seat. The airframe is in lovely condition I've never had an aircraft with such complete records including the original French docs and flight manual from Alpavia, original logbooks and even a hand written letter from Rene Fournier dating from 1965.

I am just a humble PPL with some gliding experience who has wanted a Fournier as long as I can remember so I'm so pleased to have found one in such great condition. I'm a 'hands dirty' LAA member with quite a few aircraft in various states of repair. They are what I call my 'greatest hits' collection and yes it's getting a little out of hand these days. (according to my wife...)

The aircraft are:

Isaacs Fury
Piper L 4 Cub
Corben Baby Ace D
Flaglor Scooter
Funk B85c
and now the Fournier RF3.

I really looking forward to being part of the Fournier community and learning from the masses of great info contained in this forum.

Paul King

[Edit by Paul King on Thursday, August 31, 2023 @ 10:15 AM]

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