Chrislea Ace

[Hagar]

Felix spotted this unusual aircraft in one of my other threads.



At first sight it looks like many other light aircraft of the period. What makes it different is the strange control layout. It originally had no rudder pedals.


Note that the spectacle (yoke) is mounted on a balljoint. This can be moved in both axes similar to a gaming joystick. The spectacle can also be turned in the usual way. If my memory serves me right you pull down towards your legs for "Up" elevator & raise it for "Down". Turn the wheel for aileron control & move the whole thing from side to side for rudder. The present owner has locked the side-to-side axis & fitted standard rudder pedals. He told me it's easy enough to fly if you hold the centre spoke of the spectacle.

It was apparently designed by a businessman who found it difficult to fly using the conventional controls. Despite having no previous design experience he decided to build his own plane that he found easier to fly. Needless to say this idea never caught on although some found their way to Australia.

There are 2 airworthy examples of this rather strange aircraft in the UK right now. Both were at G-VFWE in their original markings.

[Politically Incorrect]

Pretty Cool!!

Really is a odd way to fly, makes me wonder if it more difficult to fly that way?
I always wondered what it would be like to fly with your throttle control set much like a car?
This aircraft would be suitable for a set-up like that, gas and brake on the floor.

By the way all your photos are great!!!! Looks like you had a blast! Many aircraft there I have never seen nor heard of! And a few that son't even look airworthy! I like them the best

[Hagar]

Really is a odd way to fly, makes me wonder if it more difficult to fly that way?

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to sit in & try it. Sounds & looks confusing. Don't think it would suit me.

I always wondered what it would be like to fly with your throttle control set much like a car?
This aircraft would be suitable for a set-up like that, gas and brake on the floor.

Ooops......! Now you come to mention it I think this was the idea.

By the way all your photos are great!!!! Looks like you had a blast! Many aircraft there I have never seen nor heard of! And a few that son't even look airworthy! I like them the best

Thanks Fret. Glad you like 'em.

[FLYING_TRUCKER]

Definitely Different Doug

However there have been many commercial and military designs without the standard rudder configuration but can't seem to recall any other aircraft that used those controls for the lateral axis.

Now you got me thinking again damit....the old girl says she can smell the rubber burning LOL

Will ask around as I find this post very interesting.

Thanks for posting it Doug!

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
P.S. If you have any further information on that concept of flight control would you kindly post...THANKS

[FLYING_TRUCKER]

Sorry to be a pain Doug but just a quick comment and question...

The Artificial Horizon Instrument is where it is because of the movement of the controls....I think.

I think it is oversized for the panel as there is no turn and bank indicator...I do believe I catch a glimpse of a vertical speed indicator between the two yokes.

My Question is this aircraft looks like it has a LANDROVER STYLE HAND THROTTLE.
That is where you move the Throttle from left to right RATHER than in and out like a Cessna 150 or 172.
Would I be correct in assuming this from the picture?

Sorry to be such a bother

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[Hagar]

Hi Doug. Your questions & comments are welcome. I know very little about this aircraft or the concept behind it. The whole thing seems a little misguided to me. My own comments are based on a chat with the owner of one at a previous G-VFWE 2 or 3 years ago. I was hoping that Felix might spot this & add more info.

Here's what I do know. The 2 existing examples in my photos are the Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Series 2 - fitted with a DH Gipsy Major 10 engine. The original Chrislea CH3 Ace was advertised with a 90 hp Franklin & single fin/rudder.

That artificial horizon does look oversized & might well be an afterthought. I hadn't thought about it before but moving the whole yoke assembly sideways would possibly hide some of the instruments at an inconvenient time. The throttle might well be from a Land Rover for all I know. Most aircraft had a throttle control lever in the 1940s when these were produced. (I'm not sure when the modern push-pull throttle was first introduced.) I seem to remember that the original was floor-mounted as Fret suggested. The whole idea seems to have been to make flying more like driving a car. It seems strange to me that anyone would attempt to introduce a new method of control after the conventional method had been accepted & in use for many decades. This would mean that anyone trained on this type of aircraft wouldn't be able to fly a conventional type. It sounds confusing & dangerous idea to me.

[Hagar]

Here's a few original ads I found.




23 registrations were allotted to Chrislea types. These include 1 x original CH3 Ace & 4 x Super Ace Skyjeep Series 4 (a taildragger with conventional controls I believe). I don't know how many were built. Chrislea Aircraft Co. Ltd. was formed in 1946 & originally based at Heston.

Chrislea Ace light touring aeroplane.

The Ace was designed with a revolutionary control system which incorporated the rudder into the control spectacle. By twisting the top of the spectacle this operated the rudder. However after a demonstration to flying instructors throughout the UK the system did not go down well and Chrislea redesigned the aircraft with conventional controls and a tail dragger undercarriage to become the Skyjeep. Very few of this interesting aircraft were built and when the original designer R.C Christophorides left the company the company struggled on until the assets were sold off to C.E.Harper Aircraft Ltd who scrapped off the remaining nine incomplete airframes.

[ozzy72]

Now that is an interesting control arrangement

Mark

[Hagar]

Now that is an interesting control arrangement

Mark

My first impression is that it's unnatural. Pulling the yoke down to go up is the opposite to what I & I suspect most other people would think normal. I'm sure anyone used to the conventional controls would find this awkward. Not only that but in an emergency they would instinctively move the controls the wrong way, possibly with serious results.

I always wondered if it's worth all the bother & expense to invent & produce a completely new system to suit you when the old tried & tested one works perfectly well. Mr Christophorides obviously believed it was. I think he was misguided. As with anything else, it's much better to learn how to do it the "proper" way. IMHO

[Rifleman]

Well now, its time for me to put in my bit.......I have always thought that the "conventional" rudder control arrangment was not the way it should have been......in fact, an aircraft is the only vehicle in which this type of control input is backwards to the way most other vehicles turn.

[Felix/FFDS]

I figure that moving the yoke "down" to go up is the same as pulling the stick "back" ...  note that if you rotate a control stick through 90-degrees, that "back" motion becomes "down" ...

On a side note, the American "Ercoupe" initially had a coordinated rudder/aileron arrangement, no rudder pedals (which is easily emulated in FS by using the "auto-rudder"  feature)

[Hagar]

[quote]If you consider that when one foot moves forward and the other moves backwards at the same time, the perpendicular of the angle between the feet is in the opposite direction to the way you want the nose to move.....consider a bicycle, a bus or car, or even a tiller on a boat rudder...