The Tipsy B was a small sports two-seat monoplane

Monoplane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...

 designed by E.O.Tips, and built in both Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 and the UK. A total of 42 was built, and a few are still flying.

Design and development

Avions Fairey

Avions Fairey

Avions Fairey was the Belgian-based subsidiary of the British Fairey Aviation that built Fairey aircraft designs for the Belgian government.-History:...

, the Fairey Aviation Company's Belgian subsidiary, was set up in 1930-1 to produce Fairey Fox

Fairey Fox

The Fairey Fox was a British light bomber and fighter biplane of the 1920s and 1930s. It was originally produced in Britain for the RAF, but continued in production and use in Belgium long after it was retired in Britain.-Fox I:...

 and Firefly aircraft for the Belgian Air Force

Belgian Air Force

The Air Component, formerly the Belgian Air Force, is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces. Originally founded in 1909, it is one of the world's first air forces, and was a pioneer in aerial combat during the First World War...

. Once production of the military aircraft was under way, its manager Ernest Tips found time to design and build light aircraft of his own, first the single-seat Tipsy S and S.2

Tipsy S.2

The Tipsy S.2 was the production version of the Tipsy S, a single seat, low wing sports monoplane designed by E.O.Tips in Belgium in the mid-1930s. It was produced in both the Belgium and the UK.-Design and development:...

 in 1935, then the two-seat Tipsy B. Although the latter was larger, the two aircraft types had much in common; both were single-engined low wing cantilever monoplanes, with wings that carried strong taper on their trailing edges. In detail, though, the planforms of the two aircraft were different. Both were built in Belgium by Avions Fairey and in the UK under licence.

The Tipsy B was a wooden framed machine, covered with a mixture of plywood and canvas. The wing was built around an I-section main spar at about one quarter chord and an auxiliary rear box spar. These spars were linked by a rigid diagonal pyramid bracing. Stressed plywood skin was used from the main spar forward, with the rest of the wing fabric covered over wooden ribs. The leading edge was almost straight, and the trailing edge straight but strongly forward swept except at the centre section. Differential ailerons were carried on the tapering section, so their hinge line was also strongly forward swept.

The fuselage was based on four spruce longerons, flat sided and plywood covered apart from a rounded decking. The depth of the decking behind the cockpit depended on whether the seating was open or closed. The Tipsy B had an open cockpit, with almost side-by-side seating in the sense that the seats were slightly staggered fore and aft to minimise fuselage width, with the left hand seat 8 in (200 mm) further forward. The Tipsy Bc had the same seat arrangement, but enclosed under a Rhodoid (cellulose acetate) canopy, faired into the fuselage rearwards by a much deeper decking. Some Tipsy Bs had an asymmetric windscreen formed out of a single Rhodoid sheet, with its free edge further forward on the left to match the displaced seating, but symmetric screens became common. Both seats were equipped with controls. The control column was on the mid-line between the seats, with a horizontal extension that could be rotated over either position. A 60 hp (45 kW) Walter Mikron

Walter Mikron

|-See also:-References:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9-External links:*...

 four cylinder inverted in-line engine drove a two-bladed propeller.

At the rear the fin was almost triangular, and built as an integral part of the fuselage. The fabric covered rudder was rounded, and moved between the separate elevators, which with the tail plane formed an elliptical shape. As a result, the elevator hinges, like those of the ailerons were strongly forward swept. The tailplane was supported from the fin near the rudder post with a pair of external struts. There was a long tailskid. The main undercarriage had two cantilever forks with rubber-in-compression springing, its legs faired and the wheels spatted.

On 8 May 1937, the Tipsy B first flew from the Avions Fairey factory airfield at Gosselies, near Charleroi

Charleroi

Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...

, with A.J.Eyskens at the controls. A week later, the Tipsy was being demonstrated in the UK at Great West Aerodrome

Great West Aerodrome

The Great West Aerodrome, also known as Harmondsworth Aerodrome, was a grass airfield, operational 1930–1944. It was situated adjacent to the hamlet of Heathrow, within the parish of Harmondsworth...

. On 5 June 1937, the Tipsy Light Aircraft Company of London Air Park, Hanworth

London Air Park

London Air Park, also known as Hanworth Air Park, was a grass airfield, operational 1917-1919 and 1929-1947. It was situated on the southeastern edge of Feltham, now part of the London Borough of Hounslow...

 was established to build the Tipsy B under licence.

In total, twenty-four Tipsy B and Bc aircraft were built at Avions Fairey before the invasion of Belgium by Germany in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. About eight had open cockpits (Tipsy B) and the rest were enclosed (Tipsy Bc). The Tipsy seems to have been mostly nice to fly but, as with other aircraft with pointed wing tips, its low speed behaviour could be unforgiving, dropping a wing at the stall without much warning. During the British production run, some of these issues were addressed.

The fourth British aircraft was the first to be modified. To improve the stalling behaviour, it had a strengthened wing with washout

Washout

A washout is the sudden erosion of soft soil or other support surfaces by a gush of water, usually occurring during a heavy downpour of rain or other stream flooding. These downpours may occur locally in a thunderstorm , or over a large area, such as following the landfall of a tropical cyclone...

 at the tips, so that this part of the wing should not stall first, and camber-changing flaps were added to the straight centre section to delay the stall. To meet British airworthiness concerns about control surface flutter, all were mass-balanced. The rudder balance was external, projecting from its leading edge just above the tip of the fin. The elevator was also revised to a single unit with a straight hinge and trailing edge, and the bottom of the rudder slightly cropped to allow it to move. Subsequent British Tipsys included these changes, and from the sixth aircraft onwards also featured fixed letter box slots. In August 1938, during the Certificate of Airworthiness tests at Martlesham Heath

Martlesham Heath

Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield...

, there were concerns about rudder authority, so Tipsy Light Aircraft added 18% to the rudder area, leading to successful certification. At that point, the name of the aircraft changed from Tipsy B to Tipsy Trainer. The ninth aircraft was approved at an increased all up-weight of 1,200 lb (544 kg), and from then on the name was revised to Tipsy Trainer 1.

In all, Tipsy Light Aircraft built eighteen aircraft, all with open cockpits, the last three after the war.

Operational history

The Avions Fairey-built aircraft flew with private owners and club in Belgium, the UK, Sweden, France and Switzerland. In 1937, the prototype had the rare distinction of serving as a tombola prize, but crashed soon afterwards. In 1940, the second machine escaped to England, served with the RAF in the war, and then became the Tipsy Belfair prototype. Many were destroyed during the war, but at least six flew afterwards. The pattern of ownership of the British-built aircraft was similar; one went to India, and later served the RAF there. Twelve of the UK pre-war machines survived the war, although two did not fly again. One post-war machine went to Finland, another to Belgium.

Survivors

Three of the UK-built Tipsy Trainers were still flying in 2008/2009: G-AFWR, G-AISB and OO-EOT. One Belgian-built aircraft is a static exhibit in the Svenidos Bil-Och Flygmuseum at Sloinge, Sweden.

Variants

Tipsy B: Open cockpit initial version
Tipsy Bc: Enclosed cockpit initial version
Tipsy Trainer: UK-built with washout, mass-balanced control surfaces, slots, flaps, single elevator and enlarged rudder
Tipsy Trainer I: As Tipsy Trainer, with increased all-up weight

Specifications (Tipsy B)