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| Having had earlier designs interrupted by World War II, Chrislea launched new light aircraft designs shortly afterwards, featuring a high wing, a tricycle undercarriage and a dual tail fin. In addition, a new design of control system (a wheel and universal joint) replaced the general standard aircraft control column. The controversial control system was
replaced on the later Super Ace version due to its unpopularity, but only 21 examples were produced. The last version, the Series 4 Skyjeep, had a tail wheel and a more powerful engine. Several examples were produced and exported before the company ceased trading in 1952.
| MODEL | CH.3 Series 2 Super Ace |
| CREW | 2 |
| PASSENGERS | 4 |
| ENGINE | 1 x 145hp de Havilland Gipsy Major 10 inverted inline piston engine |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 1066 kg | 2350 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 14.10 m | 46 ft 3 in |
| Length | 8.50 m | 28 ft 11 in |
| Height | 2.50 m | 8 ft 2 in |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 203 km/h | 126 mph |
| Range | 644 km | 400 miles |
| Wendy Lyne-Ley, e-mail, 08.03.2012 20:01 My father was part of the team that built The G-AKFD at Exeter Airport, He has some wonderful photo's of it. reply | | Ray Baker, 01.02.2011 12:48 I had the misfortune of first flying VH-RBI on 21 Feb, 1959 and over the next year or so, VH-BAE and was responsible for sending a first solo and convertees on these aircraft. I think I flew about 100 hours on this work before the owners and their aircraft moved on. With out a doubt, the Chrislea 3 /2 was the worst aircraft I have ever flown, not that there were that many, (about 100 types) in 58 years, but it left indelible impressions with me for a number of reasons: it was poorly co-ordinated control-wise, no harmonisation whatsoever. Both examples I flew had 'organ-pedal' type rudder pedals that provided no balance feed-back. An interesting stability observation was that in moderate to severe turbulence, this aircraft was as steady as a rock, yet in smooth conditions, it had to be flown as though 'milking a mouse' to ensure it was balanced.
I also flew the 3 /4 Skyjeep after modification by Bill Smith with the Gypsy Six engine. An untidy aeroplane to say the least. reply | | David E. Baker, e-mail, 15.10.2010 22:00 I flew in a Chrislea Ace at Fairoaks (Surrey UK) in 1959 acting as observer on a C of A renewal test flight. The pilot was unfamiliar with the very strange "ball joint" control wheel mounted on the instrument panel. On take-off he kept pulling back to raise the nose but of course you had to move the control wheel DOWN! We nearly broke the land speed record and were about go off the end of the strip, I shouted "pull down" which he did and we leapt into the air like a startled quail! What a ludicrously lethal design, no wonder they changed it in later models. reply | | Cesar Pedrozo, e-mail, 30.04.2010 21:19 In Fray Bentos city (Uruguay South America)we had one of the Skyjeeps (CX-AMR)at the air club. It was crashed in a take off atempt around 1958 with only 165 hours' log. Unfortunately, later, a hangar fire destroyed the remaining. reply | |
| | John Rickett, e-mail, 30.07.2007 19:32 Minor corrections to the data for a Chrislea Super Ace
wingspan 36'
length 21'6"
crew 1
passengers 3
Only 16 Super Aces were produced, part constructed airframes were scrapped when the company was sold.
3 Skyjeeps were produced.
Regards
John Rickett reply |
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