How to fly the Chipmunk (1968)
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: nicolalaland
Posts: 128
Ah, spinning. In the long distant past the first words in the patter for spinning were "Full opposite rudder", and this applied for all types through training, right up to the Meteor. Anyone know when a check of the turn needle was introduced? It might have saved a young lad panicking when, from being vertical with full right rudder on, he found himself in a spin which turned out to be to the left.
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
Posts: 12,990
Apologies for the thread drift; all this discussion of “rogue” spinning reminds me of my time as a Bulldog QFI. The ‘dog had a well known reputation for this issue. QFIs had to practice deliberate entry to and recovery from high rotational spins on a monthly basis. It was done mutually with another QFI and the entry and recovery technique to be used was briefed in the air, along with an abandonment brief.
It didn’t take much to cause a spin to speed up. My personal technique was to enter, then move the control column just off the back stop. I never had any trouble recovering from any spin but others certainly did, some to the point of having to abandon the aircraft.
I had always wondered why and towards the end of my time in that role I carried out some personal research into aircraft C of G calculations. All of our squadron aircraft were on the edge of, if not outside of, the limits at typical spin training weights if fully refuelled before departure and carrying two heavier occupants, bearing in mind that it was normal to climb to spinning altitude immediately after takeoff. Looking back, it now seems strange that we weren’t routinely carrying out more accurate weight and balance calculations.
It didn’t take much to cause a spin to speed up. My personal technique was to enter, then move the control column just off the back stop. I never had any trouble recovering from any spin but others certainly did, some to the point of having to abandon the aircraft.
I had always wondered why and towards the end of my time in that role I carried out some personal research into aircraft C of G calculations. All of our squadron aircraft were on the edge of, if not outside of, the limits at typical spin training weights if fully refuelled before departure and carrying two heavier occupants, bearing in mind that it was normal to climb to spinning altitude immediately after takeoff. Looking back, it now seems strange that we weren’t routinely carrying out more accurate weight and balance calculations.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: 11 GROUP
Age: 74
Posts: 1,101
C o G !!
Originally Posted by sycamore
Notable mods for Chippies;
H 104 date,22/01/`51,Wide chord rudder,to improve x-wind control;
H197,04/12/53,Early glider towing attachment..
H231,26/08/58,Spin strakes..
H310,Revised glider-towing mod.for easy attachment or removal....20/9/73
H 104 date,22/01/`51,Wide chord rudder,to improve x-wind control;
H197,04/12/53,Early glider towing attachment..
H231,26/08/58,Spin strakes..
H310,Revised glider-towing mod.for easy attachment or removal....20/9/73
Re the Portuguese machines; another issue was a possible u/c mod.
Amazingly they seem to have served the original owners well. !!
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 23
A relevant article in the June 1960 issue of Australia's Aviation Safety Digest, The Chipmunk Spin - The Facts. asd_22_jun_60.pdf (atsb.gov.au)
"After considering these reports· and the results of tests conducted in Australia, the Department decided that each and every Chipmunk should be spin-tested at maximum all-up-weight and with the centre-of-gravity fully aft, fully forward and neutral. In the case of each aircraft on the Australian register its behaviour was found to be normal, in that the spin characteristics and responses to controls were safe and within the performance envelope described by the manufacturer."
"After considering these reports· and the results of tests conducted in Australia, the Department decided that each and every Chipmunk should be spin-tested at maximum all-up-weight and with the centre-of-gravity fully aft, fully forward and neutral. In the case of each aircraft on the Australian register its behaviour was found to be normal, in that the spin characteristics and responses to controls were safe and within the performance envelope described by the manufacturer."
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SE Qld, Australia
Age: 74
Posts: 1,026
David: That's DH's TNS.142 that I alluded to in #58. Apart from appearing in the Safety Digest, both the covering letter and the TNS were posted out to every Australian Chipmunk owner/operator - I don't know how it was promulgated in the UK. As a student on Chipmunks in 1961, it was "required reading".
Last edited by Dora-9; 5th Jan 2021 at 18:52.
