twochai
Way to go, Bri! Get those poms thinking.
Actually, we Brits were operating a Lycoming Chipmunk back in the early 70s as a glider tug at Bicester. Very nice to fly, obviously better ptw ratio and much quieter cockpit. The electric start was handy too - we always hand swung our Gypsy chippies.
We also had 2 ex-crop duster Gypsy chippies with fixed leading edge slots, both single seat. One had a squat little box canopy and was a real drag-master but nevertheless had good climb rate and superb slow speed handling. The other had a blown canopy and was a dream to fly. I'm sure the bubble produced extra lift as the climb performance seemed as good as the Lycoming aircraft - handled better too. On good thermic days, when a glider pilot didn't pull off in lift and I knew their competence I would crank us into a thermal (left turn) and often achieved 1500fpm+, waving off with a roll to the right at the club's statutory 2000ft. Again the low speed handling was a dream and it was possible to sideslip at speeds standard Chipmunks would have been stalled at. We often had to increase power after landing to taxy up to the glider line, having cleared the boundary hedge with our tow rope. Standard RAF chipmunks never achieved half the launch rate these aircraft did - most of their time was spent taxying.
The Chipmunk is a beautiful aircraft. After I'd been flying a Pitts S2A every day for a year I was asked to show a Chipmunk owner some aeros in his aircraft. It was so nice to get back in an aircraft with such beautiful control harmonisation. We did a few basic aeros - loops, avalanches, barrel rolls, slow rolls and stall turns and, some 30 years later, I still remember landing with an ear-to-ear grin.
Sadly I no longer have any photos and I can't remember the registrations. My log book was 'borrowed' by the Lagos police and not returned and one of my ex-wives burned all my piccies - lovely girl, but she's a good mum.