Another Chipmunk hangered in the USA is WP 850/N735DH belonging to the National Test Pilots School in Mojave.
Wjen the Valiants were scrapped in 1964 the squadrons were issued with Chipmunks to enable the pilots to maintain flying practice. We on 90 Squadron received WP850 which had a green/grey camouflage finish. The story was that it had been used in Cyprus during the EOKA campaign and when that had finished it had been entombed in an MU.
We soon had a squadron flash on the fin and I seemed to spend most of my flying giving air experience to our groundcrew. I only flew it for about 30 hours but I had two major frights.
The first was where I took it over on an engine running crew change from another pilot who had been flying it solo. Because of this I didn't check that the parachute was out of the rear seat because it should not have been there. There was no indication that anything was wrong until I did a slow roll. The control column stuck against the port cockpit wall.
I rolled it again and as it levelled I stopped the roll with rudder. It was now flying sideways and the engine could not maintain height.
I was an avid reader of crash comics so my mind searched for something similar and an incident with jammed ailerons on a Vulcan came up. They had got out of it by pushing the control stick with the blockage and it had come free. I tried the same, the parachute rolled back clear of the stick and I was back in business albeit using minimum control movements until I landed.
The second was where I was changing over my ground crew passengers. I was given a cup of coffee to keep me going so I did not see who was getting in. The normal chat; what would you like to do, etc and he wanted the whole show. Rolls. loops, stall turns, he was like a box of birds. Then I showed him a spin.
Three turns, stick central on the marker, full opposite rudder, nothing, it kept turning.
I put pro-spin on and then tried again. It took four turns before it grudgingly stopped and we levelled at 1,200 ft.
Gratefully his time was over so we returned to Honington with him singing the praises about his flight and as it was time for refuel I shut down. I was out first and I stood back watching two of our Flight Sergeants helping this enormous barrel of lard called a Corporal Technician out of the cockpit. Somebody on this thread mentioned that 250 lbs. was the limit; his boots weighed that much!
I left the squadron shortly after that and the aircraft was disposed of a month or so later.