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Mike-RM
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Gender: Male
Location: East Sussex Gliding Club, Ringmer, UK
Registered: Mar 2007
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Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2012 @ 04:35 PM  

I first made the acquaintance of RM in March 1973 when she was barely one year old. I had just gained my RAF wings and, having sat the civilian air law exam, was issued with a CAA PPL. Presumably us RAF types didn’t have to worry too much about air civilian law! My parents house was a mile north of the famous Battle of Britian airfield at Biggin Hill, In my childhood I recall regularly seeing crashed DeHavilland Meteors being dragged out of the field at the bottom of the garden! Being an impecunious Pilot Officer in 1973, I went to Biggin Hill with my shiny new PPL and found Sportair, operating Fourniers at very reasonable rates. My logbook indicates that after a couple of check flights I made my first civilian solo flight in ... G-AZRM! After a few hours of Fournicating at Biggin Hill I was posted to Scotland, which put a temprary holt to Fournier activities. There, I bought into the Fulmar RF3 syndicate (see Donald’s thread) but that’s another story.

G-AZRM, first registered in March 1972, was not owned by Sportair but was one of several privately owned Fourniers accomodated at Biggin Hill and used by Sportair club members. Brian Stevens, one of the directors of Sportair, has kindly given me some information about her early history, having collected RM and RK from the factory at Dahlemer Binz.

Unfortunately the original logbooks are missing but the G-INFO website gives the first owner as Down Park Estates Limited of Crawley Down, a few miles to the south of Biggin Hill. A rather grainy press cutting on Brian Stevens’ website shows that in July 1972 she participated in a London to Edinburgh and return air race between two aircraft and two cars.

Brian gave me more information about the ‘Martini Challenge’, which started when Brian rather mischeviously bet some of the top members of the BARC - British Automobile Racing Club, that a Fournier could do the jorney from London to Edinburgh in half the time of a car, using no more fuel . To make it more interesting they included a 4 seat Robin Petit Prince as well and matched the two aircraft against a 2 seat MGB and a Ford Capri. The Fournier used was RM. The event was sponsored by Martini and officially scrutineered by the Royal Aero Club. Brian thinks that the official observer in the back of RM was the Formula One racing driver Jodi Scheckter! The aircraft, of course, beat the cars hansomly on time and RM, at 42mpg was more economical on fuel. The Robin, at 23mpg rather lagged the Ford Capri in this respect.

You can see more about the Martini Challenge and other Fournier memorabilia on Brian's website

http://picasaweb.google.com/brianjacare/SportairAndTheFourniers

I asked Brian what route they flew and he said they just drew a straight line on a map – which takes you over central London! When I queried this, Brian obliged with a photo of Buckingham Palace off RM’s wingtip - Couldn’t do that today!

And here’s a photo of RM at the BigginHill Air Fair in 1976

In 1978 RM was sold to Rosemary Anne Lloyd-Bostock of Cowfold, West Sussex. In 1983 I returned to civilian life and moved to Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex; by coincidence only a few miles east of Cowfold. Finances put paid to flying for a while, but I recall regulary seeing a Fournier RF5 climbing out from a farm strip a mile or so east of my house, never realising that it was RM. I have no information of it’s activity during this time.

In 1988 RM passed to Ron Speer and Aurther Dearden and moved to the East Sussex Gliding Club at Ringmer. She had, by this stage, been moved from a Certificate of Airworthiness to a PFA permit to fly ; the first logbook entry mentioning a Permit to Fly renewal was in May 1980 with 2500 airframe hours. Since that time she has flown a further 2000 hours and had 3 engine rebuilds. In 1990, having flown 3100 hours, Ron stripped off the fabric and recovered the aircraft.

RM in September 2007 (Photo by Bob Grimstead)

Most of her flying has been in the UK, but since I’ve been part owner, she has ventured further afield, with several trips to France, two to Italy and visits to Germany and Belgium. Flying to Itay involves crossing some fairly high passes and operating out of rather higher airfields than we are used to in the UK and we learned about the effects of density altitude, particularly with a slight lack of compression on one cylinder!

RM crossing Co de Larche in the French Alps between Gap and Eugenio's airfield at Envie.

[Edit by Mike-RM on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 @ 04:37 PM]

[Edit by Mike-RM on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 @ 04:42 PM]

Bob Grimstead
Captain

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Location: Perth, Western Australia or West Sussex, England
Registered: Dec 2006
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Posted Friday, March 16, 2012 @ 03:31 AM  

Hi Mike,

That's a great history. Of course it made me rush to my old logbooks and sure enough, there's 'ZRM -- three entries:

9/12/72 (that would have been a bit chilly with no heater!) 1:10 taking my then girlfriend Marian from Windsor flying 'to Brighton and back, dogfight with Tony over Sevenoaks'. I can still see the look on Marian's face when I glanced over my shoulder to see if she was OK. We didn't go out for much longer after that! Tony was Tony Blades, former merchant navy officer, subsequently Air Canada and Lloyd Airways navigator, and then a Sportair instructor. At that time we shared a big old house near Gatwick with half-a-dozen stewardesses. Those were the days. Tony went on to fly an air taxi Cessna 310Q and 414 from Biggin Hill, and then to a long and respected career with British Midland Airways. I last saw him when he visited Australia in December 2003, but have since lost touch after his divorce.

My other two 'ZRM entries are both on 31/1/73, :25 and :30 'with Tony, looked at house, EFTO & practice forced landing.' and 'Tony again, loops & spins.'

This is my favourite photo

Happy memories of those great Sportair days. As we recently warned Sam Mason, once bitten by the Fournier bug, it can be difficult to get it out of the bloodstream, and like malaria, comes back and back again over the years!

Yours, Bob

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

Mike-RM
Sergeant

Gender: Male
Location: East Sussex Gliding Club, Ringmer, UK
Registered: Mar 2007
Status: Offline
Posts: 38

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Posted Friday, November 16, 2012 @ 06:18 PM  

I just found out that the original owner of RM was in fact Jody Scheckter, the well known South African born Formula 1 racing driver in the 1970's who drove for several works teams including McLaren and Tyrell. He joined Ferrari and won the world championship in 1979. Jody had a rather chequered early career, apparently gaining a bit of a reputation for risky driving after he caused a major pile-up at the beginning of the 1973 British Grand Prix, but RM seems to have survived unscathed.
Jorgen
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Location: Lund, Sweden
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Posted Saturday, November 17, 2012 @ 12:18 PM  

Mike,
thanks for a lovely story, if only logbooks could talk This time of year (I've "wintered in" "SE-XST"- don't forget the mouse proofing, Fournieteers!) even more appreciated, thanks!

I see Aurther Dearden owned RZ in 1988, I think Mr Alan Duerden owned RF 4 "G-AVNX" (now "SE-XST" 2002-2005. Given that Fournicating is a cronic condition with a possible hereditary component- do you think they might be related or perhaps the same person with the name misspelled?

The Sportair years are fascinating and I bet there are a bunch of juicy stories from that era that you guys who were there are saving to the Pub, not daring to share over the internet, what? As I've stated before, display pilot Per Cederqvist (Spitfire + Tiger Moth + bugle) said he might have flown "G-AVNX" at Biggin Hill when he was there. I will probably meet a german friend this weekend who flew Fourniers in Germany in the 70-ties, I wouldn't be surprised if I get some stories I might share from him!

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

Mike-RM
Sergeant

Gender: Male
Location: East Sussex Gliding Club, Ringmer, UK
Registered: Mar 2007
Status: Offline
Posts: 38

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Posted Saturday, November 17, 2012 @ 03:35 PM  

Hi Jorgen

I still see Authur very occasionally at the gliding club although he's given up flying due to age. I don't think it would be the same person but I'll ask him when I see him.

There are certainly quite a few juicy stories from the Sportair days. I was only a member for a year so didn't know about them firsthand but I know someone who does! Actually a lot of them are recorded in newspaper cuttings on Brian Stevens' website - link on homepage of fournieruk.com. But one of the best unrecorded stories is about Brian's aerobatic display at the Biggin Hill Air Fair, which ended in a loop that was executed slightly too low and resulted in making contact with the ground. The Fournier disintigrated into a pile of matchwood and throwing off the remains of the canopy Brian did the only thing he could -stood up and bowed to the crowd - which brought the house down!

Mike

Jorgen
Captain

Gender: Male
Location: Lund, Sweden
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Posts: 833

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Posted Monday, November 19, 2012 @ 05:58 PM  

Brilliant story Mike,
I can imagine the collective laugh was substantially augmented by a huge sense of relief! Kind of proves my point though- I can almost feel the cool pint of ale in my hand as I hear- oh, sorry; read it. The rhetorical training you chaps get in the Pubs are not to be underestimated...

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

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 Tuesday, November 20, 2012 @ 10:51 AM  

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the info, and yes, there must still be many as-yet untold Sportair stories.
There were other car-racing Fournier pilots, including Clive Santo.
And of course Fournier racing was Sportair's forte.

Just one correction though. The chap who flew the ultra low-level loop was Brian's 'partner-in-crime' Neil Jensen (co-director of Sportair).

See http://sbeaver.com/cgi-bin/fournier/cutecast.pl?session=AjE4ha6sUkZwFKLI3aBPyH7iLo&forum=23&thread=816&page=1#17

Yours, Bob

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

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