What a fascinating thread this has been. Input from those with hundreds of hours on type has been particularly informative and has – if anything - reinforced my opinions.
I believe the Chipmunk’s brake system to be inherently flawed. After all, imagine taking a group of early solo students out to a ramp full of identical trainers – and having to modify your briefing for each individual airframe!
Quote;- “the navy had a fleet of up to 12 chipmunks and all were different he says some needing 2 clicks some needing 4 or 5”
Or taxying an aircraft that has the ability to suddenly, unilaterally and without input from the pilot, apply sufficient brake to almost cause an incident!
Quote;- “I also once taxied in a strong wind and turned directly downwind. The wind blew the rudder to full deflection and that brake came on. The tail lifted but I quickly centralised the rudder and thankfully the tailcame down again! After that, I ensure I 'brace' my feet on the rudder taxying in a strong tailwind.”
Or the fact that incorrectly adjusted wheel brakes may make it impossible to recover from a spin.
Quote;- “I once pre-flighted ours after she'd undergone maintenance and noticed I could not push the rudder from stop to stop. It would move almost to either stop but could not be pushed further. I double checked the brakes were off (they were), then failed the aeroplane. Turned out the cables had been incorrectly adjusted. Not something to discover on attempting to recover from a spin!”
I rest my case.