Today's Pilot Magazine, August 2004 Issue

News

G-News

La Fumée - Top!
Or 'Smoke - Go!' Dave Unwin tests the L39 Albatros and flies with the Breitling Jet Team, the world's only civilian jet formation squad.

Today's Pilot At Tollerton
"Cor Blimey, What a Scorcher!" As the temperatures soared, more than 200 aeroplanes visited Nottingham Tollerton Airport for the annual Today's Pilot Fly-In. Steve Bridgewater reports back as an exhausted event organiser!

EASA - Servant Or Master?
As mentioned in last month's Editorial, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has recently published a consultation document on its web site. A number of readers have contacted the Today's Pilot office seeking to clarify some of the questions, so here is our interpretation of the document.

Letters

Pilot Portrait - Kermit Weeks
Kermit Weeks began building his first aeroplane at 17, won the United States National Aerobatics Championships twice and was placed in the world's top three on five occasions. He went on to found the famed Fantasy of Flight attraction in Florida and has even more ambitious plans for the future.

Technical - Are You Trying To Start Something? Jerry Parr looks at starter motors.

Flight Safety
The latest reports from the AAIB and CHIRP.

Future Flight
What will the GA aircraft of the future look like? Mike Jerram examines the Small Aircraft Transportation System programme, and Dave Unwin tries to imagine what kind of aircraft we might be flying.

Out & About + Diary Dates
As part of our ongoing attempts to improve Today's Pilot, we are now combining our popular Out & About series with our Diary Dates column. This month our reporters visit Old Sarum, Abingdon and Compton Abbas, as well as airfields in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Beriev Be-103 BEKAS
Built to rugged military standards, this unusual Russian amphibian may not look too handsome on the ground, but on water and in the air the 'ugly duckling' turns into a sweet-handling 'swan'. Howard Levy and Jerry Innella take a dip.

Reviews

Chipmunk To Gibraltar
Alex Livingston and Ian Mills took their vintage trainer to 'The Rock' and back, and landed in the Duchess of Bedford's 'back garden'!

Going Places - Plymouth
Tom Allett reports from this popular Devon airfield.

Safari
Although it can trace its history back 50 years, the Safari helicopter can still keep up with the pack. Steve Bridgewater dons his pith helmet and goes off in search of the Helicom's kit-built grandson.

Today's Pilot at EBACE and ILA
Mike Jerram reports from Geneva and Dave Allport files from Berlin on these two big European events.

Cub Class
Philip Whiteman extols the virtues of the immortal Piper Cub.