G-BUCO SYWELL 1996

Registration

G-BUCO

First Flown

13 May 1992

Builder

Owner

Alan James

Based

Thatcham, Berks

Engine

C-90

Hours Flown

493 hours

Notes:

First flew from Popham, Hants. G-BUCO has flown to date 493 hours, 862 flights (277 solo) and carried 229 different passengers. My longest single flight so far is 2 hours & 20 minutes (I'm making an additional, removeable tank for the centre section so I can replenish the main tank in flight) and we've climbed to 10,000 feet. It took 24 minutes! 70 seconds for the first thousand and 4.5 minutes for the last thousand. OK for a home carved prop and no mixture control.

I'll also try and put into words a little flying story about my trip back to the Somme last year. Cecil Lewis was also my inspiration for this trip. I entered the 'Dawn to Dusk' challenge, flying from Newbury, accross the Channel and on to photograph over 100 sites of Historic, Military and Aviation interest, following the frontine of 1916. Took off at 6.15am and got home at 9.15pm. The Duke of Edinburgh liked it and I walked away with the1st prize trophy, also the Pooley Sword for best log book. You can have the full story when I've got it sorted.

Hi Paul,

just a line to let you know that G-BUCO is up and running once more. I managed to locate some Slick mags through my PFA Inspector who also oversaw the installation of the new gears. She's running a little warm at present and I'm sure the weather does not help. I flew for over an hour this evening and although it was bumpy in the conditions, it was great to get back in the air again. Thanks for putting the message up on the web site. Regards Alan James

Hi Paul - the paint is perfect thank you. G-BUCO got back in the air about 4 weeks ago and I've had one or two good trips. Yesterday she came out of the air in spectacular fashion. About 12 minutes into a flight to Chilbolton I sensed a slight vibration, 10 seconds later it turned into a rattle and while I was attempting to tune into Popham to divert it became a serious shudder. A quick look around revealed only one field big enough then the engine quit. We were about eleven hundred feet at the time. I carried out a gliding turn and came over the hedge and held her off as long as I could to stall her on, as the grass was incredibly long, and I was worried about turning her over. We sank into the grass and rolled through a nettle patch before stopping and Alan Watson my passenger said it was the best landing I've ever made, but I think he was just relieved, almost as much as me! The grass was chest high in places and I'm sure If I'd had small wheels we would have gone over. To cut a long story short it appears the crankshaft gear lost 5 teeth and the magneto gears and camshaft gear tried to eat them. There is no other damage as far as we can tell. Replacing the gears is fairly easy but the mags have had it so I'm on the scrounge to borrow two mags to keep flying this Summer, otherwise she'll be grounded til next spring. If you know anyone who might be able to help I would be happy to hear from them. ps. She glides quite nicely but its a bit on the steep side. All the best -Alan James