367

21 March 1958

Club and Gliding News

THE NEW

TIPSY

OR very many years the thoughts of Mr. E. O. Tips, managing

F
director of Avions Fairey, Gosselies, Belgium, have been
directed towards the idea of a new ultra-light aeroplane. The

culmination of these thoughts, and of the subsequent formal design

and construction effort, was the recent appearance of the Avions
Fairey Tipsy Nipper, with a span of less than 20ft.
At present undergoing performance and endurance tests and
powerplant adaptations, the prototype Tipsy Nipper is to be followed by a small batch of development aircraft of this type. It is
the company's intention to put a thoroughly tested aircraft on the
market; and they expect to be able to accept orders for kits of
parts in about three months time; followed by orders for complete
aircraft. Tooling is already partly complete.
The airframe has been designed to comply with A.R.B. regulations for the semi-aerobatic category. The wings are of wooden,
one-piece construction, with a single spar of constant-width
rectangular section. Ribs are of simple Warren-girder type, and
consist of spruce strips reinforced with ply gussets. Leading
edges of the wing are covered with 1 mm ply.
Access to the cockpit is by means of a novel light-alloy flap on
the port side which folds down aft of the spar and contains a footstep. Normally this flap is raised, forming pan of the wing. The
wing as a whole is easily detachable, a feature intended to facilitate towing the aircraft behind a car (with the wings supported on
a roof cradle).
The fuselage is a conventional, tubular-steel, bronze-welded
structure. The nosewheel undercarriage gives good visibility on
the ground, the nosewheel being steered by means of the rudder
pedals for taxying. The wheels themselves are of simple and light
construction, with Nieman rubber-ring shock absorbers, and mainwheel brakes (lever-operated from the control column).
The light-alloy fuel tank forms the upper fuselage fairing
behind the engine, and also supports the instrument panel and
front windscreen-attachment points. Engine cowling and propeller spinner are of moulded glass-fibre, as is the lower fuselage
fairing. Both cowling and fairing are easily detachable for
accessibility.
Powerplant chosen for the prototype Nipper is a modified
version of the Volkswagen car engine. An alternative choice for
production machines is the Porsche car or industrial engine.
Of particular interest are the detailed plans already made by
Avions Fairey for the supply of kits of parts for amateur constructors who wish to build the Nipper. For a provisional price of
375 ex Gosselies it is intended to provide a packed kit including
finished fuselage structure, undercarriage, metal rudder ready for
fabric-covering, controls and fittings, fuel tank, untrimmed glassfibre fairings, windscreen, footstep flap, wooden parts cut to
approximate sizes, three-ply sheets, working drawings and illustrated assembly brochure. On the inside surfaces of the packingcase panels the outlines of spars, ribs, ailerons, fin, tailplane,
elevators and other components will be marked, enabling the
panels to be incorporated in construction jigs.
Not included in the kit are engine and cowling, propeller,
instruments, fabric, dope and paint. These would normally
be obtained locally, but can be supplied at extra cost by Avions
Fairey if required.

THE

Top, simplicity in design is the keynote of

the diminutive Tipsy
Nipper
single-seater
Span is only 19ft 8in.

Centre, scale is provided in this photograph of the prototype

machine by pilot Bernard Neefs. The engine is a Volkswagen.

Right, the novel folding flap containing the

footstep for access to
the cockpit. The simple instrument-panel
is mounted on top of
the wing mainspar.

A Popular Flying Association spokesman in London told Flight

last week that plans for the Nipper had not yet been submitted
for approval by the Association. British purchasers would presumably have to pay the normal 171 per cent import duty on the
aircraft or kit, plus freight charges. No special import licence
would be needed.
Avions Fairey Tipsy Nipper (Volkswagen engine)
Dimensions: span, 19ft 8in; length, 14ft 9in; height, 5ft 3in; empty weight,
360 Ib; max. designed weight, 660 Ib; wing area, 80.5 sq ft; aspect ratio, 4.8.
Estimated Performance: take-off and landing speed, 38 m.p.h.; take-off
distance, 150 yd; landing distance, 100 yd; cruising speed, 65 m.p.h.; maximum
speed, 75 m.p.h.

GLIDING

'""THE best run of gliding weather in all history" and an expan-*- sion of the gliding movement in every direction were reported
by Mr. Philip Wills, chairman of the British Gliding Association
in his report for 1957 to the annual general meeting of the Association at Londonderry House on Saturday, March 15. Eleven U.K.
and British national gliding records were broken; and 25 Gold C
and 12 Diamond leg flights were achieved.
During the year, a total of 20,344 hr was flown by memberclubs, from 120,024 launches. These figures showed an increase
of 5,618 hr and 20,595 launches compared with those for 1956.
In addition to this activity, the Air Training Corps had reported
64,659 launches and 4,538 hr; and the Corps had trained 1,063
cadets up to B Certificate standard.
Five new clubs had been elected to associate membership
during 1957, and there were now 18 full-member clubs and 18
associate-member clubs, four of which were overseas. Clubs in
Dorset, Halifax, Hertford, Ipswich and Plymouth and for B.E.A.
employees were now in process of formation.
The Kemsley Flying Trust had continued its good work; loans
totalling 5,896 had been advanced to 18 gliding clubs and groups
during the year. In addition, further loans totalling 7,665 had

YEAR

been approved and three of these involved the development of new

gliding sites.
"The most important single task undertaken in 1957," Mr. Wills
stated, "was the taking over, at the request of the clubs concerned,
of negotiations for the acquisition of security of tenure at Lasham.
The last time such a thing occurred was in 1933, when the B.G.A.
successfully negotiated a lease for Sutton Bank with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. It is to be fervently hoped that we shall
again be successful and thus be able to bring stability to a group of
clubs which currently represents about 20 per cent of the whole
civil movement."
Concluding his report by considering the future, the chairman
said that 1958 might prove a crucial year. The Ministries were
disposing of a large number of airfields, including those on which
some of the most promising British clubs were operating. Apart
from Lasham, the clubs affected were the Kent Club at Detling,
the Coventry Club at Edgehill, the Newcastle Club at Usworth
and the Cornish Club at Perranporth. It was true to say that,
by the time of the next annual general meeting of the Association,
the shape and size of the British gliding movement would have
been determined for the next generation.