Thruxton Jackaroo

Martin Clotworthy, e-mail, 07.01.2011 19:41 I well remember parachuting from a Jackeroo at Thruxton in 1964, and I certainly remember my instructress, a lovely girl called Helen Flambert who was I think a world champion skydiver. reply

Matthew Anne, e-mail, 05.01.2011 23:13 Hello to all Jackaroo enthusiasts. I have for ages meant to look up this aircraft, because it is part of my history. Sqdn Ldr James Edward Doran-Webb was my grand father, and I remember all sorts of stories over the years regarding Thruxton, and flying etc. Sadly though I was just too young to get involved with it, and when I realised there was an interesting history, it had long since been sold. As childeren, we had various bits given to us to play with, and I fondly remember climbing over some nose cone or other in the garden. I have in my posession a model of a Jackeroo, with removable canopy, and alternate crop dusting cock pit.This used to sit in my GP's office, and I was left it when he died. Its about 12" long, red and silver, and similar wing span. The registration I do not have to hand, as it is packed in storage whilst I am moving house...ditto the model.It is made from a very light modelling wood. We also have an amount of pictures, some rather tatty, of things people etc which some of you may recognise? I am very interested to try to identify as much as I can, and would dearly like to meet up with one of "the family" that are left. Please do get in touch, either by email, or by phone my number is 07966 209381. Thank you very much. Regards Matthew. reply

John McVittie, e-mail, 02.01.2011 20:06 I had an ATC Flying Scholarship in 1960 based at Rhoose near Cardiff. Most of the training was done on a Tiger Moth G-AOUY but I carried out one flight from Rhoose to Bristol in a Thruxton Jackeroo G-APJV. I sometimes wonder what happened to these two aircraft. Are they still around? reply

G York, e-mail, 19.12.2010 23:30 ATC Flying Scholarship in 1958. The Jackeroo was thought up by the guiding light of the Wiltshire School of Flying, one Sqdn Ldr Doran-Webb and as well as a touring aircraft had a hopper conversion that allowed it to operate as a crop sprayer The company also tried to develop their own utility aircraft for this market, but unfortunately I have forgottebn the name. Other "characters " at that time were "Sprocket" Smith, who lived in a converted double decker bus and my QFI(Fred ?) who used to fly in an ancient tank crew members suit, looking like a moth eaten teddy bear. I was lucky I trained on the real DH 82a! reply

Tim, 24.10.2010 02:02 No cutting was actually required to widen a Tiger Moth fuselage and no welding is required to make it a Jackaroo. The basic steel structure of a Tiger Moth's fuselage consists of a set of cross frames at the front and rear of the cockpit section, a set of side frames for the cockpit section and a truss assembly from the back of the rear cockpit aft. All of this just bolts together so the conversion parts for the Jackaroo simply sub in, which is why there are so few today since it is so easy to revert them back into the much more prized Tiger Moths they once were. reply

Michael Frederick Simpson, e-mail, 05.04.2010 17:47 C-FPHZ is one of the rarest aircraft in the world. "T.J." started life in 1937 as a De Havilland DH82A (British) Tiger Moth and served as an RAF trainer until the start of the Second World War. The airplane was reportedly in France at the start of hostilities and fled back to England just ahead of the advancing German forces - which makes this one of the very few flying aircraft still in existence that actually saw combat during WW2. "TJ" was used as a training and liason aircraft throughout the Second World War, but after VE day, the plane ended up in storage. In 1958, a group of enthusiasts at Thruxton Aerodrome decided to convert some of the numerous war surplus Tiger Moths into four seat aircraft and the resulting aeroplane was named "The Thruxton Jackaroo." Some 16 examples were built as well as a variant named the Rollason Jackaroo. "TJ" was originally converted into a "Jackaroo Crop Duster" for "Colchester Airspray" in England. Owner Brian Witty brought the plane with him to Canada, then sold it to pilots Glenn Norman & Michelle Goodeve. The couple created a "Trans-Continental Air Dash" for old aeroplanes in 1972 and flew the Jackaroo from Mountain View Air Force Base (near Belleville,) to Delta Air Park (just south of Vancouver) on the Pacific Ocean Later that year, the aircraft was sold to an American collector who promised to restore the aircraft - but when Norman & Goodeve learned the Jackaroo was to be parted out, they contacted their friends Frank Evans & Tom Dietrich - better known as "The Tiger Boys" - and asked if they could help save TJ from the scrap heap. The Tiger Boys purchased the aircraft just THREE DAYS before it was scheduled to be cut apart - then took seven years to restore the aircraft to its current mint condition. Today, there are only three airworthy Jackaroos in the world - A Rollason Jackaroo in England, a Thruxton Jackaroo in Australia, and the Thruxton Jackaroo you see here today now owned by Tiger Boys Tom and Bob and their partner, Steve Gray. Thruxton Jackaroo - SPECIFICATIONS Description Manufacturer: Thruxton Designation: D.H. 82 Nickname: Thruxton Jackaroo Serial Number: N6924 Registration: C-FPHZ First Flew: April, 1957 Type: Private, Recreational Specifications Length: 23'11" 7.29 M Height: 8'10" 2.69 M Wingspan: 29'4" 8.94 M Wingarea: 239 Sq Ft 22.2 Sq M Empty Weight: 1,200 lbs 544 Kg Gross Weight: 1,825 lbs 827 Kg Propulsion No. of Engines: 1 Powerplant: de Havilland Gypsy Major 1C Horsepower 142 Performance Range: 275 Miles 442 Km Cruise Speed: 90 Mph 144 Km /H 78 Kt Max Speed: 107 Mph 172 Km /H 93 Kt Climb: 750 Ft /min 229 M /min Ceiling: 14,800 Ft 4,450 M The Thruxton Jackaroo first flew in 1957 and was constructed from a standard Tiger Moth. The fuselage centre section was cut in half longitudinally and the side frames moved further apart by installing new cross frames. A wider undercarriage was added plus extra fairings at the wing root and fuel tank. The nose was extended by moving the engine forward by 8 inches and the rear fuselage also lengthened to add baggage space. The result - a four seat cabin biplane. reply

Ian MacLean, e-mail, 04.01.2010 01:51 I also learnt to fly in the Jackaroo at the Wiltshire School of flying in August and September 1962 as an officer cadet at Sandhurst. The accident referred to in Graham Horder's comments happened as a result of the CFI John Heaton attempting to execute a spin around a parachutist, giving spectators the impression that a crash was about to happen. For some reason he had insufficient hight for this manoeuvre but could not resist the challenge and crashed at the back of the clubhouse with only minor injury. He also caused concern by taking off late one evening from Shoreham tto return to Thruxton, which was a grass airfield with no landing lights. On hearing him overhead in the darkness people rushed out to switch on car headlights but John would have none of it and landed safely on the dark side. I would be interested to know more about his wartime exploits.It was an unforgettable experience with interesting instructors who mentioned that Sheila Scott was sometimes prepared to take exercise doing topless pullups to a roof beam, which I missed out on! The aircraft was easy to fly and the cost of the course £50 from memory. reply

Graham Horder, e-mail, 31.12.2009 16:02 I also learned to fly on the Jackaroo at Thruxton in July 1962 as the result of a RAF Flying Scholarship. The CFI at the time was a swashbuckling, mustachioed figure called John Heaton, who managed to spin into a cornfield in a Tiger Moth, without doing himself much damage, half way through my course. The Jackaroo must have been an efficient training machine, I completed my PPL in exactly 30 hours of flying, 13 days after arriving at Thruxton. Sheila Scott's aeroplane was G-APAM and had a metal propellor, unlike the training machines, which was hard on the fingers when you were commandeered to swing it for her. Any fellow students of that era please do get in touch, you might remember the cartoon in the restaurant under the Tower which said "Watch it or the Jackaroo will knacker you". reply

George Mair, e-mail, 27.12.2009 15:04 The Jackeroos I learned to fly on at Thruxton in 1964 had tandem dual controls, as in the original Tiger Moth. Unlike the Tiger, it was flown solo from the front. The instructor sat behind, left. The passenger seats were right front and right rear. G-ANZT did not have dual control, and was used for solo only. usually cross country. reply

Bernard Rumbold, e-mail, 28.03.2009 23:22 This is the aeroplane that I got my PPL on at the Wiltshire School of Flying at Thruxton in 1960 as a result of an ATC Flying Scholarship. The Jackaroo is a Tiger Moth with a widened fuselage to accommodate 4 seats, the front two being dual control. There was no radio fit, communication being by Gosport tube. Most of them had a canopy. A famous owner of the time was the racer Sheila Scott. Some of the conversions have been re-converted back to Tigermoths. reply

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