Chipmunks And Bulldogs!

I wish I’d kept my ATC Record of Service Book.
Flights from Colerne in I think 1964.
The Following year at Chivenor.
Many flights from Cambridge. One being when they were filming the BoB film nearby.

Lovely nostalgic thread. My first Chippy flight (at Hurn) is fused into my brain – including the 85 Sqn badge on my pilots flying suit. A few more Chippy flights and a summer camp at Odiham followed. I have the camp photo of me in front of a Chinook that 10 years later I was captain of on an AEF sortie for ATC cadets – the world does throw up these lovely coincidences every now and then! Loved the ‘Dog on the UAS and now, to complete the circle, I fly AEF Tutors (when the props are not falling off….). Looking for a t/w convex next year…I need to have the Chippy in my logbook!! One note of sadness was gliding at West Malling (and going to GWADs) then flying over it in a Chinook a couple of years back…..

That sounds like 1996 as Kinloss was definitely closed in 96 and we had to go to Lossiemouth to see the Nimrods which had been temporarily based there. I’d be interested to see your logs if you can find them.
Jim
PS: I’ve just been Googling and it looks like Kinloss was still closed in 1998.

Could of been from the AEF (Air Experience Flight) that was based at RAF Kinloss as i mentioned in my post #49, although the date seems a year or two earlier than i thought. We were on camp at RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss was having its runways relayed so we had to go to Inverness to do our flying. Remember been flown by an Air Commodore who was an ex Jaguar pilot over some fantastic scenery which involved a buzz by a Nimrod that was operating in the same area! 😎 Will try and dig out the dates from my memory……

I remember seeing a Bulldog at Dalcross (Inverness Airport) 26 July 1996 giving flights to ATC cadets. It was coded I or possibly J and had what may have been a red lion on the fin. (Iwas quite a distance away from it).Has anybody any idea of its identity and/or its parent unit?

Bloody hell! Got your moneys worth there! Very impressive!

Well, my first Chipmunk from No.6 AEF was WK589
Other No 6 AEF machines which I flew in were WZ845, WB586, WP901, WP914. Mind you being a staff cadet meant I had one or two 1 hour trips when ATC/CCF units never turned up!
First Bulldog was XX547 from ULAS, and later flew in a couple of No 6 AEF aircraft for which I forgot to take the serials, as by that time i was a CI.
Other Cadet flying types were as follows:
VC10 = 5 flights, both in transport and tankers
Andover = 26 flights, including sometime at controls, including a formation with two Harriers over Wittering!
Hercules = 3 flights
Tristar = 2 flights on same day, flying one example into LHR and another back to Brize!
Boeing 737 = 6 flights, flying to and from camps to Cyprus, Germany and Gibraltar
BAe 146 = 2 flights, one in each of the two aircraft operated by 240 OCU as part of the evaluation prior to the Queens Flight getting the type.
Ventures = Loads, due to getting my BGT!
Chinook = 4 flights, including a flight over the Mohne Dam!
Puma = 3 flights, including one in formation with an East German Mil Mi 8 Hip!
Canberra = 1 flight, including tangling with F-4s
Victor = Refuelling a total of 7 aircraft, including four Phantoms and three Lightnings
Total flying time as a cadet = 147 hours 28 minutes

All these ex cadets in this thread and there has been no mention of “jump jump John”……. very disappointed! Anyway wish i could find my old 3822, never flew in a chippie but have numerous flights in Bulldogs, Vigilants and Tutors. Also got a flight in a Nimrod (XV241 if a remember correct) while on camp at Kinloss, I have flown out of RAF Woodvale, RAF Brize Norton, RAF Kinloss and also Inverness when Kinloss was having its runways dug up. I flew in the Vigilant many times doing my gliding scholarship from Salmesbury but didn’t actually do any power off gliding…..

Der, WP967 is currently in France with the registration F-AZJQ and is currently for sale here; http://www.planecheck.com/index.asp?ent=da&id=22733&cor=y

TFF Chipmunks

Salad Fingers Try the Leuchars Public Liasson people .When 228 OCU disbanded on Javelins I got a series of photos of crews and planes from them..In the background of the (now sadly losy )pictures were TFF Chipmunks and Canberras so they should have some in their archives.

Best of luck.

ps I also got a Javelin control column.

The Chipmunk Fly In is confirmed. Everyone welcome.

Sunday 22 May 2011 at Panshanger Aerodrome.
This could possibly be the largest gathering of Chipmunks ever.

www.chipmunk.aero

Thanks chaps, All the best.

John

John. If you look into G-INFO you will find its current owners seem to live very close to you ?

Happy New Year.

Keith.

XX621 is now registered as G-CBEF.

FC

Anyone know what happened to this Bulldog,(In which I made my last flight in a service aircraft).

John

Newark’s Curator is currently preparing a new set of display boards and is keen to obtain any ‘in-service’ photographs of Bulldog XX634.

Known units: UAS – Cambridge; Manchester & Salford; East Midlands; Liverpool; 2 & 3 FTS; CFS.

Any leads would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

Chipmunk

The Chipmunk started using a cartridge, like a slow burning 12 bore shotgun cartridge. The same system was used on the Auster 9.

Somebody in MoD decided one day to give them a shelf life, condeming a large amount of the stock. ICI, who made the cartidges went ” Yippee ” and pushed the price up – so the MoD fitted electric starters from Skeeter helicopters.

The CAA accepted cartridge starters and I purchased 1000 cartridges at the pre-increase price fior use on my Chipmunks and Mk. 9’s. When supplies became low and I found the new price equated to about £ 15.00 a start we reverted to swinging my hand.

I remember various trips in the late 70’s with 5aef Cambridge including the Husky also Chippie Air Experience from Manston and Coningsby.I always chuckle when i recall that when your Irvin Chute was on correctly you wadelled out to the aircraft like something from Planet Of The Apes!

It always seemed much worse for me as I was a short little so and so, not breaking 5ft until I was 16 and had left school! 😮

I remember various trips in the late 70’s with 5aef Cambridge including the Husky also Chippie Air Experience from Manston and Coningsby.I always chuckle when i recall that when your Irvin Chute was on correctly you wadelled out to the aircraft like something from Planet Of The Apes!

I am happy (!) to see that WP803 is still around, especially at Booker where I used to fly quite a bit, but not in it.

Laurence