In the late 1950s an agreement was reached between the supervisory board of Hanns Klemm Flugzeugbau, Klemm Technik GmbH and Bölkow GmbH to produce the Klemm KL 107 under licence. In 1959 Bölkow began producing the KL 107C, which featured a number of improvements over previous 107s. However, in December 1960, the prototype of a further upgrade, the Bölkow 207, made its first flight. This aircraft was substantially different to the KL 107, having four seats, a modified wing that incorporated the fuel tanks, a streamlined windscreen and a more powerful American engine. Series production began in August of the following year and Bölkow GmbH eventually built 91 examples, with production ending in 1966.

Despite the rather dull light so typical of a gloomy September Sunday, something about the big red-and-white taildragger definitely caught my fancy. A quick chat with the Bölkow's owner, Trevor Loveday, promptly set up a meeting and barely two weeks later, this very handsome machine was sinking purposefully towards Sibson's runway.
Even before Trevor had disembarked, I was hurrying across the grass to have a closer look at his rather rare aircraft. You are immediately struck by this aircraft's size for a four-seater it really does look rather large. This could be because of its rather stalky undercarriage, which does tend to make the Bölkow look, well, big.

The next surprise was that it is constructed predominantly from wood. The reason I say 'surprise' is that the fuselage is so curvaceous that it almost looks as if it is constructed from composites. In fact, the wings, tailplane and fuselage are all built from organic materials. The fuselage is a wooden semi-monocoque structure covered
with plywood, while the wings and tailplane are of the cantilever design. The wings are covered with plywood and fabric and feature plywood-covered Frise-type ailerons. The tailplane is constructed along similar lines, although the elevators and rudder are fabric covered, with pitch trim provided by a variable-incidence tailplane. I also noted that the split flaps lurking under the mainplane seemed uncommonly large.

Stepping back to take in the aircraft as a whole, I was extremely impressed by its looks. Indeed, the Bölkow has a symmetry of line that really is pleasing and is only slightly marred by the over-tall undercarriage. Initially, I thought that this might be for propeller clearance, but closer inspection revealed that several inches could be removed from the legs before prop clearance was really compromised. I was also intrigued to note that it was fitted with a Tost-type release hook for glider or banner-towing duties. Trevor does not use it for either purpose, and while I'm sure that it could easily tow any sailplane produced in the early 1960s I suspect that it would probably struggle with a heavy modern two-seater, particularly from a soft surface.

Access to the cockpit is nothing short of excellent. There is a small step just aft of the wing and also a handle to assist you in stepping up onto the wingroot walkway. The gull-wing doors are enormous and open wide, making it very easy to gain access to either the front or back seats.

The instrument panel and control layout is clearly from an age when the science of ergonomics was still not fully understood. To be fair, it's not that anything is particularly difficult to reach, it's just that it really isn't clear exactly which control you're reaching for! As the photograph of the single row of controls below the instrument panel shows, with the exception of the prop control (which is white and should be blue) every other control is topped with a black knob! While this point is of little interest to the private owner, for someone like myself, who might fly up to four different types in as many days, having the various controls readily identifiable by both shape and colour would certainly make life easier. I was also fascinated to note that the throttle is of the vernier type.

Apart from this, the rest of the cockpit is excellent, with comfortable seats, superb visibility and incredibly light controls. Indeed, the ailerons are so light that they feel almost frictionless. The control stick is also worthy of a mention, being of an unusual semi-circular design set atop a gracefully-curved stick. The biggest surprise awaiting me in the cockpit was the pair of vertically-mounted wheels, located between the front seats. These control the flaps and pitch trim, with the trim wheel situated nearest to the pilot. The trim wheel is pretty big, but the wheel that drives the flaps is nothing short of massive, and probably wouldn't look out of place on the flight deck of a jumbo jet. Located coincident with the trim wheels are a pair of linear position indicators. As it is possible to extend the flaps to a whopping 60 degrees, once the pointer travels past the 45 degree setting, the colour of the numbers changes from white to red. To further remind the pilot that he is carrying a lot of flap, a red warning light illuminates when more than 45 degrees has been set. This is probably a most prudent addition to the instrument panel, as a go-round with 60 degrees of flap set would probably be a manoeuvre fraught with danger. Indeed, much past 45 degrees I doubt if much, if any extra lift is being generated, just a tremendous amount of drag.

The 207 is powered by the ubiquitous Lycoming O-360, which really is one of the 'all-time greats' of the GA world. Indeed, while I was writing this report I received a press release that announced the delivery of the 300,000th horizontally-opposed Lycoming engine and, you've guessed it, it was of the 360 family. Lycoming's first aero-engine, the 200hp Model R-680 of 1928, was an air-cooled nine-cylinder radial that powered a number of military and civilian aeroplanes. In 1938 it began producing horizontally-opposed engines specifically designed for light aircraft. Initially these early engines were only either 50 or 75hp and were both of the 'flat-four' configuration. Today, Lycoming's 'flat' piston engines produce from 115hp to 400hp, and are available as fours, sixes or eights.

The still-warm engine started readily and we were soon trundling towards the active runway. For a taildragger, the view while taxiing is excellent, with only the area immediately under the nose obscured by the cowling. The pre-take off checks are pretty standard, with perhaps the only slightly unusual action on an aircraft of this size being to lock the tailwheel prior to applying full power. Trevor recommended raising the tailwheel slightly as soon as the airspeed started to build, which seemed to rather obviate the need to lock the tailwheel. Upon reflection, the tailwheel lock is probably more important during the landing roll, when the lack of propwash over the fin and rudder makes directional control more difficult. A combination of short, dry grass, the wind on the nose and the fact that we were some way below gross weight, saw the Bölkow off the ground after a commendably short ground roll, and rapidly climbing away with the VSI indicating 900 feet/min. I was immediately struck by two different aspects the aircraft's superb handling and outstanding visibility.

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