Following a comment on my post about having to sell my WNW Gotha G.IV. this is the film of my ride in TVAL's Fee. I'm crouching in the front cockpit of the green aircraft, piloted by renown warbirds expert Keith Shilling. Gene Demarco is flying Jess and this is the first (and I believe the only) time the two aircraft had been in the air together.
I was there as a gopher for the Historical Aviation Film Unit who were filming that day so that's how I got the best seat in the house.
To say it was an interesting experience is an understatement! to begin with, Keith gave me the option to decline as his total time in the type was 20 minutes and he only got his type rating that morning. As far as I was concerned, if Keith was flying it, I was perfectly happy to go along for the ride.
The first challenge was to get into the cockpit. A Fee is a bloody big (and heavy) aricraft and the nacelle is a long way off the ground. First, stand on the top of the wheel. Then up onto the wing, and then the pilot can climb easily into the rear cockpit. The poor observer/gunner doesn't get it to easy. There is a step (of sorts) on the outside to aim for (if you have long legs) and then you can lithely spring over the side and into the cockpit. I don't have long legs so that was not going work. I got into the rear cockpit then very carefully clambered from there to the front of the beast where a surprise awaited.
The surprise? There is no seat in the front of one of these things. There is a Lewis gun on a post which at least gives you something to hang on to, and a small wooden locker at the back of the cockpit which holds extra Lewis gun cartridges, but nothing to put your arse on. Options are to stand up, handing on to the gun and getting right in the pilots line of vision (which Keith and I decided wasn't such a good idea) or to kneel on the floor . The sides of the nacelle are no more than knee high so form that position I could still see what was going on. To make sure I wasn't tossed over the side (and that could happen very easily) under my leather coat I was wearing a harness with a wire rope which was clipped to a mount on the floor.
The Fee was the third TVAL aircraft I'd been in and it was a very different experience to the RE8 or BE2. Firstly it is colder but being a pusher there is no prop-wash to buffet you, just the 80mph head wind. The other thing is the totally unlimited view and range of fire which would make artillery spotting or fending off attacks from the front. Conversely, there is very little visiibilty from the rear, and while this aircraft had a second Lewis gun between the pilot and observer which fires up and behind, you would have no idea of an attacker coming from directly behind or below. You definitely feel very exposed when compared to tractor aircraft, there only being basically a bent broomstick and green doped bed sheet separating you from the scene of the accident.
https://youtu.be/xaArnJbtw_4
