Chipmunks

This story about 074 currently at Vintage Wings
http://www.vintagewings.ca/page?a=553&lang=en-CA

Aussie Chippies

VH-ZIZ was once owned by the Surrey & Kent Flying Club and is believed to be the last aircraft to officially fly out of Croydon Airport.

The ‘shiny red Chippie’ is ‘Noddy’. WP903 aka G-BCGC.

The aeroplane as used by HRH Prince Charles for his first solo, hence the shiny high visibility red paint and the large anti-collision beacon above the cockpit.

It is now based at RAF Henlow, where lucky flying club members can hire it!

Shiny Chippy

Taken at Benson in 1990s – sorry, lost the date info when I scanned it. Can’t remember the serial either, but who could forget that horrible hat she is wearing?

Chippies were lovely things – ATC cadets are an entirely different animal!
Didn’t have much idea how to sit on a chair while we ‘fitted’ their parachute for them, let alone climb onto the wing during a running pax change. As for failing to use the bag provided – don’t even go there!

My most unforgettable Chipmunk moment (apart from my first ever flight in one) was my having to remove a jammed starter breech, with live 12 bore ammo still inside, after one of our pilots failed to fully yank the starter ring then let it go slack before it fired. Safety man in place, engine fitter’s GS screwdriver in hand, then ‘bang’. Still smelling the cordite almost fifty years later.

If anyone has memories or old pictures of WD390, now G-BWNK based at Wickenby, I would be grateful to hear from you.

Following extracts from the Form 78 Movement Cards might jog a memory or two:-

RAF
1951 April Delivered 2BFTS
1953 Jan Allocated 5RFS
Oct 10MU
1955 March Allocated 22 Group Comms Flt.
1957 March 10MU
June 22 Group Comms Flt.
1960 March Allocated Tech College Henlow
Sept Cat 3R RES/71MU (??)
Dec Tech College Henlow
1961 June 27MU
1964 Aug Allocated RAF South Cerney
Sept 27MU
1965 March Allocated Bristol UAS
May Allocated 2 AEF
June Allocated 1 AEF
Aug Allocated ITS South Cerney
1967 Jan name chge Aircrew Officer Training School
Jan name chge RFS (Church Fenton) AOTS
1969 Oct Allocated Manchester UAS
1970 July Disposal Ac RDS/60MU
Sept Manchester UAS
1974 July NEA 5MU
1979 Aug Allocated FSS Swinderby
1980 Oct 5MU
1981 Feb FSS Swinderby
1984 Nov Allocated 9 AEF Finningley
1986 June Marshalls
Dec 9 AEF Finningley
1987 June Marshalls
July 9 AEF Finningley
1988 July Marshalls
Aug 9 AEF Finningley
1990 approx SOC

Private
1995 bought at Sale
1996 Registered G-BWNK
Civilianised at RAGWING
and to private owner, Breighton.
2007 re-registered to
WD390 GROUP’, Wickenby.

Cheers,

S

RAF hand propping demonstration?

Scandanavian? 😮
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1e_eI9u8dM

Thanks nice people and true aviators at Bidford,plus a lovely airfield in the summer.

Bidford I believe. The pilot who was flying her is a friend of mine, didn’t want to ask to many questions.

Thanks for the information,was the incident at Bidford or Wellesbourne ?

Unfortunately she suffered an accident on take-off but is now understood to be on rebuild ‘down south’. :):)

G-ARMG is listed as “Cancelled as destroyed ” in the latest aviation magazines . Does anyone know what happened to this immaculate ex CAT Hamble machine ?

I was also witness to one of the very rare chipmunk incidents (1994 i think) – again WZ878. The pilot attempted to take off with a gusting crosswind and misjudged it. One gust found him tail up and heading off the side of the runway. As a natural reaction he stamped on the brakes…. DOH! TAILDRAGGER!. 878 ended up on her nose, using her spinner for a brake… When I was last at 11AEF in 96, the bent prop was still mounted on the wall in the line office.

I was the guy in the back! On the next cadet night they presented me with this: [ATTACH]169200[/ATTACH] which I still have (rather sadly) in a frame in my office. From the piccy it looks like it was ’92, but I’d have to dig out my 3822 for the actual date ;-). I really wanted to keep that prop…

Here are a couple of photos taken on Saturday.

Martin

Did anybody here fly as a cadet in WK518 or WG486 before they became the BBMF tail dragger trainers?

Radarsdesk – your 2nd picture with the crankcase top cover on the floor – agony as I need one of them like now for my Chippy engine due to hair line cracks in the current one!!

No more Chippies?

Here’s G-AOSO posing as WD288 in 1996 when owned by Lord Suffolk and John Hoerner. Location – Charlton Park near Malmesbury, the French ‘chateau’ in ‘Piece of Cake’.

Hello,

Thank you very much for all your help.

I think, the next objective will be to find some pieces of spare for a better support of this Chipmunk.

Thanks a lot again.

Radarsdesk – the Chipmunk pictured might well be 9M-ANN which was a former Malaysian Air Force machine brought to the U.K by Les Groves and Ian Hammond trading at Lee On Solent in the 1980’s. Not heard of since

9 AFTS

Bonjour Anthony
9 AFTS was at Wellesbourne Mountford 1951-1954

Laurence

Inside the stores

Some pics of inside the stores in Holbeach. These show a small percentage of Chipmunk spares that were stocked. Let alone the Dove and Heron spares.

These show some of the new old stock items, there were also shelves of ‘as removed’ as well.

Hope they are of interest.

Regards
Dave