Flying from My Mind : Innovative and Record-breaking Microlight and Aircraft Designs

297 Pages·2008·3.7 MB·English

by  Cook

ETERNITY
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.

W. Blake

First published in Great Britain in 2007 by
Pen & Sword Aviation
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright © David Cook, 2007
9781783460465

The right of David Cook to be identified as the author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission
from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in Palatino by
Phoenix Typesetting, Auldgirth, Dumfriesshire
Printed and bound in England by
CPI UK
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen &
Sword Aviation,
Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe
Local History,
Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo
Cooper.

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To my wife Catherine
Acknowledgements
May I acknowledge the people who have assisted me without
wanting anthing in return:

Terry Aspinall, Tony Batten, Dennis Brett, Colin Buck, Peter
Clack, Robert Cassidy, David Clarke, Catherine Cook, Jacob
Cook, Gary Cook, Chloe Cook, Steven Emmersen, Dr David
Foreman, Joan Galway, Rex Garrod, John Gill, Bob Hammond,
Tim Hardwick-Smith, Brian Harrison, Mary Higgs, Mike
Hilling, George Ireland, Joseph Iszard, Robert Jelliff, Frank
Johns, Brian Johnson, Dick Kimmerling, Fiona Luckhurst,
Christopher Meynell, Neil Moran, Tim Moy, Dr Martin Pickford,
Mike Plewman, Harry Potter, David Raeburn, Chris Reilley,
David Robb, Chris Sinclair, Wendy Sinclair, David Southwell,
Dr Ian Tait, Chris Tansley, Gerald Townsend, Nigel Townsend,
Peter Try-Davies, John Wells, Patrick White, John Wibberley.
In memory of my two good friends:-
Zaka Ullah Bhangoo and Mick Newman tragically killed in a
Sky Arrow, 2007.
Foreword
by Wing Commander K. H. Wallis
I had first met David Cook when we were flying at the finale of
‘It’s a Knock-out’ at a small field at Arundel in Sussex. I
witnessed his ‘running take-off’ in one of his early experiments
in ‘real flying’. We had several laughs together on that
occasion. It was only when I read his ‘Flying from My Mind’
that I learned that we had something else in common besides a
desire to fly.
David had been rejected as an RAF pilot on the grounds of
migraine affecting his eyesight. I had been rejected by the RAF
before World War Two because I had a defective right eye from
birth, although I had qualified for a Pilot’s ‘A’ licence in 1937. I
was in the Civil Air Guard when war came and by a series of
lucky chances I was able to fly in the RAF and to continue even
after being ‘discovered’!
I was interested to learn that David was also a competent
marksman. I used to represent the RAF at Bisley and
elsewhere. After our first memorable meeting at Arundel I was
later to witness the steady progress of David’s designs to the
standard of the practical and proven ‘CFM Shadow’. I admired
the way in which he enlisted help and started production. Safe
flying at low cost became available to many desiring the special
pleasure of flight. I had been aware of David’s best use of
modern technology and the use of Fibrelam and the bonding
produced by Aero Research at Duxford. However, it was only
when reading ‘Flying from My Mind’ that I realised the full
extent of David’s work and the very interesting aspects so well
described in detail.
The overseas production of his designs, in widely differing