Classic British Flight Sim

One of my sons is thinking about buying a share in a Chipmunk . I did have a few hours in one but it is now 40 years ago and my recollections are hazy although I did enjoy it greatly but recall that it was not so easy on the ground . Does anyone have more recent experience ? and did Peter McL do his ab initio on one - if so all reminiscences and hints on what to look out for on them will be gratefully received

Chris

'Fraid we only had 5 hrs in chippys , like you 40 yrs ago ....apart from 30 mins last year . Skinning the knuckles on your right hand ... was it flap lever ? Don't forget to weave whilst taxiing ,but that like the rest is common to all tailwheelers . Get the tail Up on t/o .... wheeler landing is initially easier than 3 pointer , then from tail up on landing until taxi speed ... dancing feet , pedaling like fury to keep her straight , grass and into wind is easier , respect x-winds and tarmac rwys.

Most of all have fun .

rgds dave f.

40 years since I last flew a Chippie and many of my flights were on tail draggers though occassionally I flew a/c with tri-cycle undercarriage. Apart from having to 3 point the landings which can be difficult at first I always found that a/c such as the Chippie, Tiger Moth and Supercub were delightful to fly and much better handling wise than for example the Cessna.

Peter used to own a share in a Chippie if I remember rightly so he would be the best person to ask.

The only thought that comes to mind is that the Chipmunk is quite old now so if there are any extra payments to be made for maintenance/spares then do the homework first.

Nigel.

I was in a syndicate that ran a Chipmunk G-APSB many years ago...It was a great aircraft to fly, but all I did was fly it and was not really involved with the nitty gritty of running it. I do remember being cautioned about not using the brakes unnecessarily as they were expensive to renew. I also had some hours of instruction in a Chipmunk with the RAFVR back in 1949 when I was 16. I was an ATC cadet then and had started 10 hours "Flying Training" on Tiger Moths at Panshangar. Then, just after I had started, the VR re-equipped with the new Chipmunk, so I did the rest of my training on them. I liked the Chippy and many years later in G-APSB I got to do some aerobatics and enjoyed polishing my skills in them...Quite a challenge after all my previous aerobatics for years had been in Hunter FGA9s.

I'm sorry that I can't really tell you much about the expenses etc of actually owning and running one

BTW Chris...I did my abinitio on the Percival Prentice and then the Harvard...All at RAF Feltwell in Norfolk.

Thank you all for those pieces of information. I've not encountered anyone yet who did not enjoy them . My own principal recollection of the Chippy ( G-ARGG ) was the rather peculiar differential braking system where you had to set the handbrake lever to an intermediate position and you then got some braking at the full rudder position . Does anyone else remember this?

I'm not at home just now,but I'm fairly sure that I've got a copy of the pilots notes for the T10.If anyone would like them,drop me a pm and I'll post them.I'll double check when I get back later tonight. EricT
ps I wasn't a pilot myself and my only experience of the chippie was air experience flights in the ATC.However one of them flies around here occasionally,probably based at Kirknewton.

cstorey wrote:Thank you all for those pieces of information. I've not encountered anyone yet who did not enjoy them . My own principal recollection of the Chippy ( G-ARGG ) was the rather peculiar differential braking system where you had to set the handbrake lever to an intermediate position and you then got some braking at the full rudder position . Does anyone else remember this?

I remember G-ARGG well when it was at ANT Flying Club at Blackpool. Had a couple of trips in her.

Only had a couple of trips in a Chippy, but as for the brakes thats very normal. Most Miles types & Proctors had the Bendix brake system where for taxying one set the handbrake lever 3 notches on & this set the bias plate on the base of the rudder pedals so that one got rudder pedal differential braking.
Only thing I remember about the chippy performance, having learnt to fly (officially that is) on Tigers was that the figures for stall, cruise etc were the same as for the Tiger but was in Knots as opposed to mph. (Learnt to fly I suppose in my fathers Proctor from the RH seat though!)
Keith

Keith : yes, that's the system for the brakes I recall. I did not realise it was widely used , because by the time I started flying ( late 60s ) most of the wooden wonders had disappeared, more's the pity. And Nigel , as for G-ARGG, I did my tailwheel conversion on it with a lovely girl called Jane Murdoch at Blackpool , presumably about the same time you are talking about . Sadly, she was killed when she lost a baggage door on a twin coming back from Norway and had to ditch in the North Sea

I'm green with envy!

My last flight was in 1980 at Newton - so more recent than most here - only thing I can recommend is that he makes sure he uses a decent parachute packer

Not that he should need it, but better safe and all that.