BBMF Chippies new scheme

[NutLoose]

Looks sweet

http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww142/PhantomPhil/Misc/facebook_2061687192jpg.jpg

Photo Copyright - Official BBMF

[CoffmanStarter]

I preferred her in Training Command "Raspberry Ripple" ... here she is pre BBMF "High Viz Black" mid/late 70's.

The new Dayglo scheme looks more Navy to me than RAF ... but I could be wrong ?

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af162/CoffmanStarter/Scan101640001.jpg

Kind regards ...

Coff

[Tigger_Too]

Not so different to the first one I flew (which was actually WD322, not this one)

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr224/jythill/wd3471.jpg

[Torque Tonight]

I always liked the red, white and black on the Chipmunks and Bulldogs that I flew as it looked smart and about as military as possible without getting out the olive green or AD grey. This grey and dayglo harks back to a much earlier scheme as illustrated by Tigger. Of all the schemes I think the recent black has been one of the best and is probably the best for conspicuity. If I was pimping my Chipmunk I'd probably go for gloss black and a highly polished aluminium cowling.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

I remember when Chippies looked like;

http://www.abpic.co.uk/images/images/1116547F.jpg

Just a thought, if black A/C are so conspicuous, why are the Air Force SAR Units still flying in all yellow?

[BEagle]

Early 1970's scheme:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/untitled1.jpg

ULAS Chipmunk from White Waltham on Summer Camp at RAF Newton in 1972. WK518 was also on the sqn's strength at the time and would have had the same colour scheme.

Those were such fun days! But little did we know how the RAF would be decimated over the ensuing 40 years....:( Nowadays there's no RAF Newton, no RAF presence at White Waltham and UASs cannot even afford to detach for Summer Camps.

[diginagain]

I rather liked them like this;
http://www.army.mod.uk/images/central-panel/aac-AHAFchipmunkA410px.jpg

[huntaluvva]

I think that it looks great. As far as I know no-one has recreated this scheme before on a flyer.

It was the standard scheme on RAF & RN training types in the late fifties to early-mid 60's, until it was superceded by stick-on dayglo tape, which was easier to maintain. The Navy persisted with it for several years after the RAF .

[Geehovah]

Some great pictures. I enjoyed my ride in that one a few years ago and I felt quite nostalgic for a few minutes there. Good to see BBMF bringing the Chippie into the fold. She's a celebrity in her own right nowadays.

[teeteringhead]

Didn't Middle Wallop have a camouflaged Chippie - known as the "Spitmunk"??

[1.3VStall]

TTHead,

Certainly did! It had a hook as well and I was towed up by it many times from Odiham in the early 80s.

And going back to WD322, as mentioned earlier, I remember her at MUAS over 40 years ago! (How time flies).:O

[AnglianAV8R]

It looks superb in that retro scheme, but I'm surprised that the highly risk-averse RAF would abandon the black scheme.

Didn't the RAF operate a pair in Berlin? They were in a dull grey scheme and were used to exercise the right to fly the corridors.

I'm sure I've seen one camouflaged Chipmunk in RAF or AAC service for FAC training or something like that?

Chipmunks were operated in Cyprus for AOP duties during the 'troubles' leading up to independence.

[RAFEngO74to09]

AnglianAV8R

They did a bit more than just exercise the right to fly !

Follow this link then select "Aircraft" and "de Havilland Chipmunk T10"

main (http://www.spyflight.co.uk/main.htm)

[maxred]

Coff that is a great photograph, captures the 'mood' perfectly. Rasperry ripple for me, but I saw a Cambridge one at Cranfield a few years ago, silver and light blue. Looked good.

[P6 Driver]

"I preferred her in Training Command "Raspberry Ripple" ... here she is pre BBMF "High Viz Black" mid/late 70's."


CoffmanStarter - RAF Manston?

I'm not keen on the new scheme - I think the Chippy looks better in some of the others, but would be interested to know the background and why the BBMF have chosen it.

[NutLoose]

Off the BBMF website


WK518 has been with the BBMF the longer of the two Chipmunks, having been delivered to the Flight from No 1 AEF at Manston in April 1983. This aircraft first entered RAF service in January 1952, going to the RAF College at Cranwell to be used for the elementary flying training of pilots. Other units who have operated WK518 include the University Air Squadrons (UASs) for Liverpool, Manchester, Cambridge, Hull, Leeds and London Universities, and also the RAF Cottesmore Station Flight. WK518 is now painted in the colours it actually wore when it served with Hull UAS in 1961.

[CoffmanStarter]

Hi Maxred and P6 Driver ...

Yep RAF Manston it is (the white control tower is a dead giveaway) ... yours truly up front with Boss John Shelton (RIP) in the boot of WK518 (he was fiercely proud of his Cambridge UAS "Blue" Bone Dome). Picture taken 4th August 1977 with a Kodak Instamatic 126 camera by my good friend (sadly no longer with us) Andy George RN Sea Harrier pilot. This was prior to her transfer to the BBMF in April 1983 where I believe she has been ever since. This trip was a Spin Check ... 6 left, 6 right ... PFL ... tea and debrief ... great fun a very long time ago !

I can't be sure there was a specific reason why she was selected for the BBMF ... but she was the only airframe that then had a 360 Channel VHF box as opposed to the 10 Channel Fixed Crystal 1986 VHF sets fitted to our other airframes ... this and airframe hours might, I suspect, have been the deciders.

Irrespective of colour scheme ... I'm so pleased that she is still flying and in RAF hands.

Kind regards ...

Coff.

[diginagain]

Didn't Middle Wallop have a camouflaged Chippie - known as the "Spitmunk"?? AKA the "ChipFire".

[AnglianAV8R]

The Gatow flight must have been entertaining! Did they ever get harrassed by Warpac aircraft?
Also, surprised that website doesn't go into any detail about the exploits of the 60 sqn Pembrokes in Germany ;)

[Stitchbitch]

AnglianAV8R the flights other Chippie is a Berlin veteran, having served at Gatow. Both WK and WG more than earn their keep these days.:ok:

[fade to grey]

any reason why it was repainted ? If black was the best for being seen...
Is it to look more in keeping with the vintage theme ?

Happy days at 6 AEF in the mid/late 80s from abingdon...

[Self Loading Freight]

I remember as a small boy watching orange Chipmunks pootling high over Plymouth - mid-late 70s, must have been. Who were they, and where were they flying from? I also have a vague memory that one of our neighbours, first name Sandy, was involved in flight training, but it's all hazy now.

[teeteringhead]

Who were they, and where were they flying from?

Didn't the RN/FAA do their flying grading from Roborough (sp?) at about that time (or earlier)??

[teeteringhead]

'Fraid this is the best I could find on Google for "camouflaged chipmunk"!
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTqNopKXN2bRLbh6yTb3XgMTbvp_e7CO6LoMwuqhhX 8LyloXjVUWg
;)

[Green Flash]

Digin

I'm sure other modded 'munks have existed. I'm fairly sure the gliding club at Topcliffe had a Lycoming(?) engined Chippie. I was told it could heave a Blanik into the sky with ease but swung like a swinging thing without anything strapped on the back. Apparantly even with a boot full of rudder it had a distinctly curved take off.
Had about a dozen Chippie rides and loved them all. DH definately built a little beauty.

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

if black A/C are so conspicuous, why are the Air Force SAR Units still flying in all yellow?


For the same reason that the Air Force Aerobatic Team are still flying in all red, and the BBMF still use wartime camouflage on their operational aircraft.

[TEEEJ]

AnglianAV8R wrote

Didn't the RAF operate a pair in Berlin?

See following for details of WG486.

Welcome to the BBMF - The Chipmunk (http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/theaircraft/chipmunk.cfm)

[TEEEJ]

AnglianAV8R wrote

I'm sure I've seen one camouflaged Chipmunk ....

Air-Britain : WP964 (http://www.abpic.co.uk/search.php?q=WP964&u=reg)

[Rocket2]

GF - Supermunks are easily controlled off tarmac or grass - certainly no worse than any other tail dragger of that size / power. In all the hours I've flown them the only minor diversion that started (but was quickly stopped) was when I'd fininished doing 2 hours towing in a standard Munk & got straight in a Supermunk & promptly hit the wrong pedal when I firewalled the throttle despite conciously telling myself what I was in!
Lovely aircraft, miss flying them terribly.:{

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Self Loading Freight. You might find Royal Navy Historic Flight - de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk (http://www.royalnavyhistoricflight.org.uk/aircraft/chipmunk.htm) interesting.


DH definately built a little beauty
Indeed, and DH Canada to be precise.

TorqueOfTheDevil. Thank you. So the none Op A/C follow tradition rather than visibility. Regarding SAR, I originally thought Adml Sandy W was very wide of the mark regarding Flt Lt Wales Det to MPA; "he's not there as a military man, he is there as air sea rescue which is really not military at all. It's civil," Admiral slams Falklands 'hot air' - Defence Management (http://www.defencemanagement.com/news_story.asp?id=18911) (no Thread Ddrift intended) :}

[coorong]

Teetrering + Coffman,

Yes, Roborough was the base for the RN Flying Grading where we graded to confirm our suitability to proceed onto Elementary FT at RAF Leeming. There, I was on the same course as Andy George. He and Mel Robinson went Seaharrier and the rest of us [those who were'nt chopped !] went on to Culdrose for the terrors of rotary.............
Andy was a good bloke, it was very sad to learn of his accident years later.......

C

[CoffmanStarter]

Hi Coorong ...

Great to hear from you ... yep ... Andy was a Top Bloke and a very able pilot. I seem to remember his Dad owned the Red Lyon Pub in Canterbury Kent back then ... so Andy had all the right qualifications to be a flyer :ok:

Best regards ...

Coff.

[Green Flash]

Rocket - I only saw the thing engineless in the process of getting the new motor so I bow to your knowledge, thanks.

GBZ - DHC, of course. Proof positive that if you do it simple and do it well then everyone has a smile on their face. Possibly one of the best aircraft ever?

A few thoughts, thrown out to Ppruneland in general -

Did anyone hang ordnance on them?

Any single seaters?

And what's the most outrageous Supermunk around?

[Old Bricks]

As well as the two Chipmunks at Gatow, the French and US Forces in West Berlin used their own light aircraft for similar "recce" puposes. From memory, I think they both originally used Piper Cubs (or the military variant thereof), but the French then used a Max-Holste Broussard (which you could hear coming all over Berlin!) which was eventually replaced by a Twin Otter - which could also fly out of West Berlin through the corridors. The US ended up using the Pilatus Turbo Porter. I don't think there were any major interceptions by Soviet or EGAF fixed-wing, but they were regularly shadowed by Sov Hips. None of these aircraft based in West Berlin were camouflaged - that would have suggested that they were up to something nefarious, rather than just flying within the terms of the agreements!;)

[TEEEJ]

Green Flash wrote

Did anyone hang ordnance on them?

Chimpunk with Red Top air-to-air missile. It was positioned next to the Chipmunk as a joke at the airshow.

De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk 22, G-BYHL, Private (http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1009200/)

[John Eacott]

These were the colours on Chippies at Linton in 1967:

http://www.eacott.com.au/gallery/d/4798-2/Chipmunk+N+in+snow.jpg

http://www.eacott.com.au/gallery/d/4801-2/JGE+on+Chipmunk+wheel.jpg

and the Dartmouth Flight:

http://www.eacott.com.au/gallery/d/4802-1/Dartmouth+Chipmunks.jpg

There are obvious differences in the RN and RAF schemes with the dayglo!

[rlsbutler]

Green Flash

Many single seaters - see:

de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk_T.1#Variants)

In my view the Krier Chipmunk was the least elegant, but the principles were similar in all cases.

R

[P6 Driver]

CoffmanStarter & NutLoose,

Thank you for the information.

:D
RD

[Rocket2]

No probs Green Flash - G-AOTF (the Bumble Munk) is a single seater, was with Kestrel GC at Odiham but saw it on E-Bay (didn't sell) a few months ago - not sure where she is now but have many hours in her, including a single handed descent off tow at Bicester with me clinging like grim death to the open, derailed canopy! God my arm hurt after that!
Cheers
R2

[MrBernoulli]

Good to see BBMF bringing the Chippie into the fold.Actually, Chippies have been within the BBMF a long time. They are used for tail wheel-type training/familiarization for those who fly the Spits and Hurricanes.

.... but I saw a Cambridge one at Cranfield a few years ago, silver and light blue. Looked good. Did it, perhaps look something like this? WK514 is based at Wellsbourne.

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/1226/wk514.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/811/wk514.jpg/

[gpugh]

Hi Self Loading The Chipmunks you saw were based at Plymouth with Britannia Flight, if you lived in Tamerton then that would probably be Sandy Sinclair who took over from my father as Naval Flying grading Examiner on the Chipmunks, both retired from the RN and continued flying the Chipmunks as civilian instructors. The new scheme is very close to the scheme the Navy's chipmunks used to wear, I wonder how long it will be before someone manages to paint royal navy on the side.

gordon

[NutLoose]

Seeing as we like Chippies, have added a couple of my friends Chipmunk, or it was, as they were selling it I believe..

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff321/taylortony/Aviation/RAF/Chippy901departureSmall.jpg

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff321/taylortony/Aviation/RAF/901.jpg

:ok:

[Courtney Mil]

Really good quality shots. Nice one.

[Green Flash]

Thank you rlsb and rock2

[CoffmanStarter]

Loverly .... :D

[Geehovah]

Actually, Chippies have been within the BBMF a long time. They are used for tail wheel-type training/familiarization for those who fly the Spits and Hurricanes. Very true. They've been at Coningsby ever since the Flight arrived but have never really featured as "celebrities" in their own right. The trip I took was with one of the Spitfire pilots as he was working up to the start of the season. We used to provide the fighter pilots for BBMF from the OCU staff. After Chipmunk work up, the guys also get some Harvard time as an interim stage. The C47 was originally taken on to give heavy piston experience to the Lancaster pilots but, unlike its smaller brother, became a full time member on the display circuit.

[Halton Brat]

An ex-RAF pal of mine once recounted to me an incident which occured when he was a Rigger on Station Flight somewhere many moons ago (Thorney Island? Ahhhh........).

A long-retired Old Boy had departed this mortal coil, & his widow requested that his ashes be scattered by the RAF that he loved so dearly. The Station's Chipmunk & Padre were pressed into service; the brief was that the Padre would say a few words in flight, the canopy would be opened & the good Padre would jettison the contents of the urn overboard.

All went swimmingly until the canopy was opened & the Padre removed the top of the urn, whereupon Mr Venturi joined in & the ashes jettisoned themselves in a flash, all over the Padre & rear cockpit.

My pal went out to greet the returning Chippie, & was surprised to see that the Padre was entirely the hue of alabaster, coated liberally in the dearly departed's ashes. A vacuum cleaner was employed to remove the mess from the cockpit; an example, I suggest, of Dyson with death.......

HB

[lightningboy]

I have a similar story concerning the scattering of ashes from an SAR Wessex at Manston. The ashes were dropped out of the cabin door over the middle of the airfield and 'Mr Venturi' and others spread them all over the cabin.

We had to sweep some of the ashes out of the Wessex when it had landed back on the pan!

[Gingie]

G-AOTF seen today at Spanhoe in Northamptonshire. August 12, 2012.

[Tiger844]

New member, and first post.
I believe the pair of Chipmunks shown pulling up and to the right, are over BRNC Dartmouth, and from looking at the serials, I believe them to be 904, (WP856) and 908, (WB657), both of which were with the RN Grading Flight at Roborough
Flew both of them as part of my time at Dartmouth with the then Britannia Flying Club
Ended up as TACCO with VS816 (Grumman S2 Trackers) and Air Ops Officer of HMAS MELBOURNE (CVS 21)

[NutLoose]

Welcome :)

[ACW VGL]

My vote for the nicest Chipmunk colour scheme goes to this one:


Prince Charles Has Flying Lessons AKA Prince Charles Learns To Fly - British Pathé (http://www.britishpathe.com/video/prince-charles-has-flying-lessons-aka-prince-charl/query/Pinney)


Link added as I'm unable to attach an image. WP903/G-BCGC is now in gentle retirement at RAF Henlow and attended Prince William's wings parade.


The black BBMF ones did look rather sporty though! I was watching someone being given a circuit bashing session in a silver and dayglo one at Scampton a couple of weeks ago and wondered who it might be. I now know.

[50+Ray]

Nice picture to start the thread!
I flew my first RAF solo in 518 on 09 Feb 1969, off the grass of White Waltham.
I well remember the rollocking after picking up the heroic QFI from the caravan for not knowing the checks to shut it down.

:O

[Brian W May]

Did aeros in a Navy one overhead Dartmoor Prison in 1969 - just to let the inmates know what they were missing.

Returned to Roborough when it was grass (not sure what its status is now). There had to be some advantages of being at BRNC Dartmouth . . .

[Dora-9]

Seeing as we like Chippies

Nutloose, how could you not like Chippies?

[Jayviator]

I like them red white and black, purely because that's how they were back when I was in the Air Cadets when I got to take the controls on a few occasions. I'm so gutted I lost my 3822 so I will never be able to find out which ones I flew in.

[MPN11]

Fortunately I still have mine!
First Air Experience flight (0:35) in WP981 at White Waltham, 13 Mar 59 ;)