Mini (started life as standard 850 and ended life as 1100 courtesy of Dave Visard's bible on engine tuning), Mk1 Escort Mexico (big wing with twin 40s etc), Escort XR3 (the one with the front camber all over the place), Peugeot 205 GTI (Peugeot Rally Challenge 1991-92), Group A Sapphire Cosworth 4x4 (National Championship and RAC 1993-95), Talbot Samba Sport (recce car 1994 RAC - I can't remember why I thought this was a good idea), Peugeot 309 GTI (recce car 1995 RAC - much better), 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 (had a hatch back so could get the mountain bike in the boot), Mondeo Estate TDCI (faultless family hack and you can get a pair of Jungmann wings in the back), 1943 Piper Cub
Think of it like an Airfix kit for grown ups
"Jungmanns have a reputation for being one of the best balanced and most rewarding aircraft to fly. There's a pilot called Pete Kynsey who does an aerobatic display in a Jungmann that is jaw dropping. It's not like a modern aerobatic plane that chews its way through the air with a lot of power, in a Jungmann it's all about keeping the energy stored in the plane, either in speed or altitude, and to me that's far more impressive."
What I wish I'd known:
"I wish I'd known that the brake shoes were magnesium before I'd tried to get them anodised - not much came out of the tank after the guy had worked out what all the fizzing was about. I also wish that I'd known how much more obsessed you get with a plane in trying to do things properly. In WW1 they used to send the mechanics up on the first flight of a new plane to promote good workmanship - from my experience I can only imagine that worked quite well."
Incentive for making it work properly clear enough
"The detail of the engineering is really nice. Things like the diameter of the fuselage tubes steps down towards the tail for weight saving. All of the controls have ball bearings rather than plain bushes and this gives them a really light precision feel."
Things I hate:
"Being a biplane there's quite a lot of repetition of work on the wings. There are effectively four identical wing halves so by the time you get to the last one the novelty has worn off whatever you were doing. Also, I'm not sure the missus is overly keen on the wings in the dining room."
Costs:
"Planes aren't anywhere near as expensive as you might think. You can do most of the work yourself (under the supervision of a Light Aircraft Association Inspector) so it's mostly time. One of the more significant costs has been the fabric covering and dope etc. All in this is about £5K for a complete re-cover. Running costs will be similar to a car other than hangarage which would be between £50 and £250 per month."
Costs reasonable, time required less so
"It's been in a few different workshops but nowhere exotic. I've ended up in some one-horse towns in the middle of nowhere in Spain chasing spare parts down though. There are still some pockets of genuine parts out there and most deals are concluded with vast quantities of Rioja."
What next?
"I want to get the oil and fuel systems plumbed in by early next year so that I can fire it up without the wings on. I can then cover the fuselage and start to think about putting it together. The flight that I want to make in the Jungmann is down to Goodwood Revival. I think it's one of the best days to be had at a race track and if you can beat the traffic by going low level along the south coast in a biplane then to me that would be something like the perfect day."
