"The Chippie is an old lady and not far from when NO aircraft had brakes."
Wrong. Its post WWII, when just about everything had brakes.
Even flown a PT-26? It looks a lot like a Chipmunk. It has toe brakes, reasonable range and an electric starter.
I think that Fairchild stopped making them before de Havilland started making Chipmunks!
However, the Chipmunk sure does fly better!