 Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four Page Five Page Six History Main Page  He is called
"Two-pass
Thompson",
and if
ever he
omits the
first one,
or goes
round again
for a third,
there are
phone calls
asking what
was wrong
or who
else was
flying his
aeroplanes. |
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Story by Jack Meadows First Published in Aeroplane Monthly, March 1994 ...continued from page four Although, particularly in a high wind, its large surface area makes the N3N difficult to handle on water, Bill says that the unauthentic water rudder fitted to 4402 is an unnecessary frill. However, he is a very experienced waterman.  There was little feel of movement when the throttle was opened, and no spray was visible. We were airborne almost immediately and imperceptibly, and climbed away with remarkably little noise and slipstream. The Beaver followed us and soon appeared beneath, turning and climbing northwards.This coast, with its thousands of islands and inlets, is wooded and mountainous. Almost in the harbour circuit there are 2,000ft hills, and inland they reach over 10,000ft. A mariner's local knowledge of the coast and its weather is an enormous advantage, as well as safety insurance for anyone flying here in other than perfect weather. It is easy to see why Bill calls this "floatplane country". He is even considering putting his Stearman on floats, although this would affect its aerobatic potential, in which he is also interested. The float-equipped N3N is cleared for all aerobatics other than snap rolls and for spinning, although with floats these might, at best, be uncomfortable. The maximum level flight speed is 124 mph, which might be optimistic with floats. The unladen weight is 2,390lb, and all-up it weighs 2,940lb. It was nearly 20 years since I had flown an aircraft, but I had no difficulty with the N3N. However, that enormous appendage hanging below, and the two smaller ones at the wingtips, were very apparent both as pendulum effect and as built-in drag and extra load. Although it handled well and easily, these undoubtedly made the aircraft sluggish, and it seemed to do most things at a steady 85 mph. In no way did this interfere with the joy of flying unrestricted and uncontrolled in such beautiful surroundings. |
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