Chipmunk Is Beautiful

[Fake Sealion]

Manston Photos

I would suggest that the Chipmunks in question were possibly photographed whilst at Manston for a UAS Summer Camp. This being the case, we can ask any Ppruners if they know of any UAS Summer camps at Manston in the period say 1972-75? The UAS markings in the photo are not quite readable.

FS - (ex SUAS -1975-77)

[Fake Sealion]

No 1AEF were located at Manston. However, in the lower of the 2 photos (sans Wessex) the right hand Chippie looks to be wearing the typical UAS badge with coloured horizontal band. AEF badges tended to be a simple crest or logo.

My theory -

Could be the "UAS" Chippie was on loan to the AEF for some reason or it might for example have been a ex-UAS Chippie which had just been replaced by a Bulldog and sent to 1 AEF for its remaining life? The fact that the red/white Chippies don't have prominent UAS markings supports my theory.

But....didn't the AEFs themselves detatch way to other RAF Stations for their own Summer Camps?

[Steve Bond]

7 AEF Newton - happy days. I was the Corporal "sootie" there in 1980-81 before I got promoted and banished to Valley. Great times looking after five Bulldogs and four mega-reliable Chipmunks, with university-length holidays!

[Dora-9]

Fake Sealion: I wondered about the owner unit being 1 AEF too, but was distracted by the obvious UAS shape of the badge on the RH Chipmunk. But the R/W/LG aircraft’s badge doesn’t appear to have bars, and with a stretch of the imagination could well be 1 AEF’s “Elephant” badge, so you may well be right.

Cheers.

[India Four Two]

Dora-9,

Thanks for the update on CVM. Nice photos. The windscreen difference is obvious when you compare the two aircraft but I don't think I would ever have noticed otherwise.

So how was Omaka? I'm jealous. Do you have any other photos you can post?

I'm planning to be back in Tauranga next February, to coincide with their biennial airshow and I also hope to fly CVM.

[BEagle]

The badges on those Chipmunks are, I'm pretty sure, ULAS markings. I'm also reasonably sure that ULAS was on Summer Camp at RAF Manston in 1974.

I might be able to confirm that on Sunday at the ULAS fly-in/drive-in at Old Warden aerodrome.

ULAS Summer Camps in my time were:

1970: RAF Thorney Island (also RAF Tangmere for circuits)
1971: RAF Marham (also RAF Watton for circuits)
1972: RAF Newton
1973: RAF Abingdon
...
1990: RAF St Mawgan
1991: RAF St Mawgan
1992: RAF Benson

Is there a ULAS in the house? Can anyone fill in the gaps* from 1974-1989?


*(This is not an invite for UWAS 'lads' to commit violence - they'll understand the meaning of that!)

[G-APDK]

For all you Chipmunk aficionados, the Air-Britain Fly-In at North Weald (EGSX) on 2-3 July will also have a gathering of Chipmunks, (along with Austers), as part of its British Classics theme.

All are welcome so please come along. The Air-Britain website contains details.

G-APDK

[Dan Winterland]

The name of the cartridge starter

It's referred to as the ''Coffman'' starter in some manuals. I have also seen it referred to as the ''Koffman'' starter. But if you watch this video, you will see the correct spelling is ''Coughman'!''

YouTube - ‪Chipmunk start failure.wmv‬‏

[Dora-9]

But BEagle, I thought that the ULAS was the first UAS to receive the BA Bulldog - in 1973.

[India Four Two]

''Coughman'!''

The first time that happened to me, there was an expletive from the back seat, followed by a rapid closing of the canopy to keep the smoke out and then "Boss" McGrory explained we had had a "slow burn".

[Dan Winterland]

I've just uploaded some video of RAF Chipmunks in service.

RAF Chipmunks - YouTube

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Thanks Dan. Aeros above the clouds, and some nice formation stuff. Just jealous that they were getting paid for it! I've got our Chippy booked next week but all my flying is funded out of my wallet.

But hey, for a Chippy, it's worth every penny!

[Dora-9]

Bloody marvelous, Dan - really evocative stuff. Thanks for posting this.

[Dan Winterland]

Thanks guys. It's 10 minutes edited from a couple of hours of video I took while I was an instructor at EFTS. The place really was a gem. Fifteen Chippys on our own airfiield and a new batch of students turning up every six weeks. All the instructors and most of the students had a ball. If you speak to EFTS alumni, they often say it's the best fun flying they had in their career. I was also a student there, and it's true with me.

WG478 is in there somewhere if you look hard enough!

[cossie]

I spent a good deal of time in chippies with Pat Gallagher during the late 1950"s as I worked weekends on the old Morris fuel truck while learning to fly. I often went with Pat on test flights and he taught spin recovery as being specific to aircraft type. Interestingly, Tom Long, George Martin and Bill Lord all had slight variations to each other. During the sixties I flew Lockheed Hudson's with Adastra and the chief pilot, Lionel Van Praag demonstrated two spin recovery techniques associated with the load distribution in the aircraft.
The RACNSW and the members remain the foundation of all that came after.
Cossie

[India Four Two]

During the sixties I flew Lockheed Hudson's with Adastra and the chief pilot, Lionel Van Praag demonstrated two spin recovery techniques associated with the load distribution in the aircraft.

Cossie,

Welcome to PPRuNe. Could you clarify which aircraft you are talking about? Surely not the Hudson?

[jonnyskyboss]

Wow! What a fascinating read! My dad flew in the chippie, tiger moth and provost at Roborough around 1960-63ish. His name is George Rundle. Anyone remember him at all? He was a Barnardo boy from Efford. I'd love it if I could find someone who flew with him just to give me an idea of the aircraft numbers he flew in. Here's one I found yesterday at Turweston Aerodrome here in Buckinghamshire...

[dragontech]

2 FTS Chipmunks

hi guys, here are the first batch of Chipmunks, did theses first from a image on this site, lots and lots more to do, hope you like them.

[Dora-9]

Could I humbly suggest:

a) the black anti-dazzle panel corners were more rounded,
b) the code numbers were fractionally larger and hard up against the white area,
and c) the red sweeps up slightly on the rear fuselage so that the red/white division is immediately below the strakes, leaving the serial entirely in the red area.

Photobucket is on strike again or I'd post some 2 FTS photos, although they're on this thread previously anyway....

[Dora-9]

See post #80. Note also the prominent white "squares" on the cowl sides - these are the background to the oil and brake fluid specifications stencils.