African Pilot June 2005 - RED BULL SPONSORED EXTRA 300L - By Athol Franz

Early in the 1980’s Walter Extra designed his first light aerobatic aircraft, the Extra 230, for unlimited aerobatic competition flying. The two-seater Extra 300 L (L meaning lower wing) with its composite wing is stressed for +10/-10g flight.

The original Extra 230 was designed by the company founder, Walter Extra, to meet the requirements of competition pilots with the Swiss Aero Club, and the first flight occurred in 1983. Unusually for an aircraft of this type the Extra featured a wooden wing.

However, as on most other aerobatic competition aircraft, the 230’s wing has a 0 degree incidence for sustained inverted flight. Production of the wooden wing ceased in 1990 as Extra could not source the correct type of wood. Design works on the larger two-seat Extra 300 began early in 1987, culminating in the first flight of the prototype on 6 May 1988, and certification followed in May 1990. The 300 L, which first flew in January 1996, has a low mounted wing, 300 hp AEIO-540 engine and larger control surfaces. The 330 LX two seat version first flew in early 1999. Both the 300 (two seater) and 300 S (single seater) are stressed for +10/-10g aerobatics. They both have additional transparencies in the lower sides of the fuselage below the wings for pilot visibility, and the 300 S has a single piece canopy. The latest variant is the lower cost EA200 two-seat aircraft based on the EA300L with a 200 hp Lycoming AEIO-360 A1E engine, a lighter weight airframe and lower gross weight. To date more than 220 Extras have been built.

Glen Dell – Current advanced World Aerobatic’s Champion

I have known Glen Dell for many years, from the time he entered the aerobatic competition scene in the days of EAA’s annual Margate airshows. There he regularly competed with the best aerobatic pilots in South Africa. African Pilot decided to conduct the following interview with Glen in order to provide our readers with some of the background to his magnificent flying career.

AP How did you get into flying?
GD My father was a wartime pilot flying Tiger Moths, Ansons, Baltimores, Catalinas and Sunderlands and after the war he left to become one of the first pilots of South African Airways. As a result, I grew up in an aviation environment prior to his retirement and move to a farm in the Queenstown district.
AP At what age did you first undertake formal training?
GD At 16 with Ted Baines from Grahamstown, after which I achieved my PPL whilst in my matric year at Queens College.
AP What was your next career move?
GD I joined the South African Air Force and was selected for pilot training in Harvards at Dunnottar, whereafter I moved to helicopter training at Bloemspruit in Bloemfontein.
AP Which helicopter types did you fly?
GD Only Allouettes and Pumas in the SAAF.
AP Did you see any action during the time of the bush war?
GD I did 23 tours of duty during six years in operational squadrons on the border.
AP After the SAAF?
GD Due to SAAF rules at the time, I was not allowed to move directly from the SAAF to SAA, so I spent six months instructing on helicopters and taking part on the airshow circuit.
AP And then you joined South African Airways?
GD I joined the airline in July 1988 as a ‘boy pilot’ on Boeing 747 Classics.
AP You then had a bad motorbike accident. What happened?
GD I drove into a pavement and broke almost every bone in my body, with the exception of my left arm. I spent three months in hospital, three months in a wheelchair and a further three months on crutches.
AP You must have been off work for a very long time?
GD I went back to work after only three months, assisting with the writing of the SAA flight instructor’s theory manual.
AP When did you get your flying licence back?
GD On 23 October 1989, two days short of nine months, where I continued flying as a ‘boy pilot’ for three months. Thereafter I became a co-pilot on B-737 200’s, spent five years on the B-767 and then three years on the Boeing 747 400. I have been back on the B737 as training captain for three years now. I will remain there for the next month when the type is finally retired from SAA?
AP What do you expect to fly next with SAA?
GD Hopefully Airbus A-340’s or Boeing 747-400s and hopefully as a training captain.
AP Why aerobatics?
GD For certain persons a simple five minute flight has to be the ultimate life-changing experience,. I am constantly striving for a degree of perfection in the sport the same way in which golfers would like to obtain a zero handicap.
AP When did you first enter aerobatic competitions in South Africa?
GD I first flew at Roodeval, the Peter Celliers farm near Ermelo in a Cessna 150 Aerobat, and my second championship was held at Margate, which I won in a Cessna 150 Aerobat. Thereafter I entered various competitions throughout the country flying the same aircraft.
AP When did you get your first true aerobatic aircraft?
GD I purchased a Steen Skybolt project which was mainly built by Brian Roach. I first flew it on 27 June 1987, but this aircraft was not used for competitions.
AP What aircraft did you use for competitions?
GD I used the Smirnoff sponsored Pitts S2A at airshows and in competitions.
AP Any other aircraft?
GD There was a time when I flew for Winfield in the Pitts S2S and thereafter flew the Duva Pitts S2S which I later owned.
AP When did you first enter the World Aerobatic Championships?
GD This was Debrecen in Hungary in 1994 where I flew an outdated Zlin 50LS
AP You must have realized that the world aerobatics standards were considerably higher than those of South Africa at the time?
GD John Gaillard brought out a Russian, Victor Smolin, to assist with the training and subsequently a Russian lady, Valentina Drokina, who had competed in numerous world championships and more importantly, was highly regarded as an instructor.
AP What aircraft did you own at this stage?
GD A Zlin 50 LS which was later sold to Ian Billing and now flies in the Mazda colours.
AP Tell me about the Sukoi 29 you owned.
GD At the time I secured a sponsorship from BMW for which I purchased a flew a Sukoi 29. But at the time the Sukoi was prohibited from entering competitions due to the expensive aircraft type and the FAI were trying to restrict the aircraft types to less expensive and generally more available models. They were trying to test the pilot’s skill and not the pilot’s wallet.
AP Tell me about your first Extra.
GD I sold the Sukoi 29 and replaced it with an Extra 300 L which I used to win the SA Unlimited Aerobatics Championships.
AP I understand you owned this same aircraft twice?
GD Like the Sukoi 29 at the time, the Extra was not allowed to be used in advanced world aerobatic championships. As a consequence, it was sold and I re-purchased my old Zlin 50, which I utilized for various advanced world aerobatic championships. I soon became aware that the pilot’s skill and the amount of practice required to become a World Champion in a Zlin 50 was rather time consuming, and that better results would be attained by utilizing a smaller, more manoeuvrable aircraft.
AP Was this the motivation for the development of the Slick 360?
GD Yes. The aircraft was developed and flying in less than a year due to the incredible passion for the project by Chris Hattingh and Aerocam at Wonderboom.
AP I understand you have several orders for the Slick 360?
GD We are presently building five aircraft, but we will not start marketing the Slick 360 until the proving of the first post-prototype aircraft. Officially, number three will be the first production aircraft which is expected to enter the moulds early in July this year (2005).
AP Tell me about your re-purchase of the Extra 300?
GD Several things came together simultaneously: the Red Bull sponsorship was on the cards due to my success in the 2004 Advanced World Aerobatic Championships and I felt the ideal aircraft would be the Extra 300 L as it had previously been used in Red Bull sponsorships. In addition, I would now have an aircraft with two seats, where the second seat could be utilized for marketing purposes and the spectacular performance as a show aircraft would please my sponsors.
AP I understand that you are the only pilot who is sponsored for aerobatic flying in South Africa?
GD Red Bull’s sponsorship, as opposed to a flying billboard, does not require the aircraft to be seen at any air shows or displays. The requirements of the sponsor are for me to improve my participation in the sport of aerobatics and promote the sport as they do with other sports that carry their brand.
AP What is your vision for the future?
GD My main aim is to see a competent South African aerobatics team participating at World Championship level. South Africa has the ideal weather and environmental conditions and could easily become the centre for the training of aerobatic pilots from all over the world.
AP Are you going to enter the forthcoming Advanced World Aerobatic Championships?
GD It is my intention to enter various competitions during the next three years including the Australian, British, American and Scandinavian national championships, as well as AWAC in 2006 and the World Aerobatic Championships in 2007. I hope that most of these competitions will be flown in the Slick 360 and Slick 362 – the two-seat aircraft currently on the design board.

Glen Dell describes the Lomcevak Manoeuvre

“There are several English translations of the Czech word ‘Lomcevak’, but the most popular one is ‘the way your head feels the morning after too much plum brandy’. The Extra climbs 45 degrees while flying inverted, rolls on the knife edge at a ninety degree angle to the earth, then makes a negative snap roll and a few tumbles. The manoeuvre ends in an inverted spin or with a vertical descent. The Lomcevak is a class of negative ‘G’, near-zero-airspeed aerobatic manoeuvre invented by the Czechs, in which the rotational momentum of the engine and propeller are used as an additional flight control along with the three usual ones : aileron, elevator and rudder. There are several variations of the Lomcevak, especially in the way the pilot enters the manoeuvre, and whilst to many spectators, it looks like a totally out-of-control gyration, a Lomcevak is actually a precision manoeuvre, with a specific definition of how it is supposed to look to spectators on the ground.”

Glen Dell performs Lomcevaks of the aerial variety in his Extra 300 L, an aerobatic aircraft especially designed for this most demanding kind of flying. It is powered by a Lycoming AEIO 540 engine, rated at 300 horsepower and equipped with oil and fuel systems that allow it to fly fully inverted. His full routine at airshows includes the Torque roll, the Square Loop, the Knife-edge pass, Cravat, Ruade and the inverted Wing Wave, among many other manoeuvers. The Extra 300 is capable of any aerobatic manoeuver and is certified to +10 and -10 G’s. Certain pilots who are not wearing G-suits and pull out of a dive at only three times the force of gravity can typically lose consciousness when the blood pressure of their heart cannot overcome the force draining blood from their heads. However, this aircraft can withstand forces three times greater than average pilots can. Glen explains that he regularly pushes his Extra 300 to its limits of +10 and -10 G forces in an aerobatic display. African Pilot wishes Glen Dell all the best for the defence of his Advanced World Aerobatic Championships’ title in 2006.