Shortfinals – aviation and more!

By: shortfinals

Apr 15 2011

Tags: 'high-conspicuity black', 12 gallon tank, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1956, 735 examples, a green 8 on a white circle, Aberdeen University Air Squadron, agreed modifications, Air, Air Cadets, Air Experieince Flights, Air Service Training, aircraft, airline, airline pilots, all-over silver, Aviation, basic trainer, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, BBMF, BEA, BOAC, British European Airways, British Overseas Airways Corporation, British United Airways, Cambridge University Air Squadron, Canada, Canadian-designed, Channel Islands Aero Club, Chester, Chipmunk, Civil Aviation Authority, civil version, civilian bidders, civilian owners, continuation training, Cotswold Airport, De H Gipsy Major 10 Mk 2 engine, De Havilland, DHC-1, disposal sales, England, ex-RAF machines, extra Chimunk, Fairey Reed, fleet of aircraft, flying schools, fuel system, full RAF scheme, future airline pilots, G-APLO, Gipsy Major engine, Gloucestershire, Great Britain, Hatfield, high initial cost, high-conspicuity, Jersey, Lindholme Aircraft Ltd, metal propeller, military aspects of the design, military specification, miltary prototype, Ministry of Defence, Mk 22, Mk 22A, model number, mollify the authorities, new wings, No. 11 Reserve Flying School, official specification, Perth, potential adversaries, private pilots, prototype, racing numbers, RAF, RAF Coningsby, RAF roundels, RAF's fleet of aircraft, RAFVR, RCR-C, Royal Air Force, Scone, Scotland, St Ouen, T. Mk 10, taildragger, training scheme, training schools, UK, University Air Squadrons, warbird, WB549, WB696, WD379, WG 486, white bands, WK 518

Category: aircraft, Aviation, British Isles, England, Great Britain, military, RAF, Royal Air Force, Scotland, warbird

3 Comments

The De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk is a delightful aircraft to fly. This Canadian-designed basic trainer (powered by a De H Gipsy Major 10 Mk 2 engine, driving a Fairey Reed metal propeller) was built both in Canada and the U.K., at the Hatfield and Chester factories of De Havilland and by the OGMA factory in Portugal. After the first military prototype, WB549, flew in 1949 it was followed by no less than 735 others (as the T. Mk 10) for the RAF and RAFVR training schools and later the University Air Squadrons and the Air Experience Flights of the Air Cadets. Many other countries adopted the Chipmunk including the air arms of Portugal, Ireland, Canada and Belgium. Total production ran to 1,284, with the last being delivered in 1956.

Needless to say, when the British examples were finally disposed of by the Ministry of Defence, they were much sought after by private pilots and flying schools. There had not been too many new sales of the civil version of the Chipmunk to private owners, due to the high initial cost of a machine which was built to an expensive military specification. However, ‘disposal sale’ prices had civilian bidders very interested. Unfortunately, that same ‘high-quality’ official specification now caused problems. The Civil Aviation Authority was not happy with various military aspects of the design (including parts of the fuel system), so it was not until a new model number (the Mk 22) was allotted by De Havilland, and a series of agreed modifications carried out, that the ex-RAF machines began to appear in private hands in any numbers. Many ex-T.10s were modified as Mk 22A aircraft which had new wings with a 12 gallon tank each side, rather than the original 9 gallon unit.

Some private owners, particularly in America, made extreme modifications to their Chipmunks, usually centred around fitting the Lycoming O-360 engine of 180 hp, reducing the wingspan to increase roll rate, increasing the rudder area for more control authority, and strengthening the structure to withstand higher G forces. The well-known U.S. aerobatic pilot, Art Scholl used a so-called single-seat Super Chipmunk to good effect. Others modified the delightful trainer even more, with a retractable undercarriage, autopilot, an even bigger 240hp engine and a ‘blown’ one-piece canopy, as used by many RCAF Chipmunks. More mundane uses for ex-military machines include touring, crop spraying, and the towing of gliders.

The aircraft shown here (at Cotswold Airport, Kemble, Gloucestershire), is registered as G-APLO, and was built in 1950 for the RAF as WB696. For a time, it served with No. 11 Reserve Flying School (carrying the code ‘RCR-C’), based at Scone, near Perth in Scotland, then with Aberdeen University Air Squadron from 1951 to 1956. After disposal by the Ministry of Defence, it was bought by Air Service Training Ltd, who used it from their Perth base to train future airline pilots for British European Airways, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British United Airways, amongst others.

A move south meant that G-APLO ended up with the Channel Islands Aero Club on Jersey, painted in a typical all-over silver training scheme as ‘WD379’, coded ‘K’, of the Cambridge University Air Squadron. The aircraft, A Mk22A, is now under Dutch ownershire, and was finished in a very reasonable facsimile of a colour scheme once carried by one of the two RAF Chipmunks still active (WK518, WG486), both of them with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby. They are used to provide continuation training on ‘tail-dragger’ aircraft for display pilots of the BBMF – this is due to the fact that all the other ‘front-line’ aircraft of the Flight are ‘tail-draggers’!

Unfortunately, the RAF did not take too kindly to WB696 being finished in the BBMF’s ‘high-conspicuity’ black scheme, with white bands, which had been, at one time, standard for their Chipmunks, as it was claimed that people would be ‘confused’. Actually, since the Ministry of Defence already scrapped or retired a very large proportion of the RAF’s fleet of these aircraft, you would think that they would be happy to make potential adversaries think we had an extra Chipmunk!

The then owners of Lima Oscar decided to mollify the authorities by putting large ‘racing numbers’ – a green ‘8’ on a white circle – where the RAF roundels would normally go. Thus were the official feathers successfully unruffled. This is a smart-looking  aircraft, and I just wish the  Ministry of Defence would allow it to carry a full RAF scheme!