and blood sometimes

Couldn't resist adding my 2p worth!
With respect to spinning , I once did an aerobatics course at Purdue University. Part of the course included what the instructor called "the big spin".

Climb (eventually) to 9000', enter spin and then try various effects of controls - in and out spin aileron, slightly forward stick, full power(!) to observe the effect, and recover. A total of 11 turns! The recovery took about one and a half turns.

I suspect one of the igredients might be Brylcreme. Do you remember the malodorous insdes of the flying club helmets, hanging on pegs along the side of the Nissen hut as you progressed to the CFI's office at the end . . . ? Ugh!

Sadly, it's all gone now.

Today; Prestwick-Inverness via the Great Glen at 800 feet. Return direct track over the Highlands at 4000 feet. 1hr 40min each way. Idyllic scenery; perfect weather; Chipmunk. An unbeatable combination.

It's not just for spinning and aeros!

Indeed. In fact, I find I have less tendency these days to aerobat the old girl (well OK, maybe the odd - sometimes very odd - loop and roll). The Chippie is a great bimbler as IM says. I love to wander out over Wales from our Liverpool base, over Snowdon if wx allows, then low level around the Lleyn penninisula (but not too low!), Caernarfon for fuel and lunch, then a wander over mid Wales to Shobdon. Back up north over lovely Shropshire (with some aeros, and perhaps a visit to delightful Sherlowe strip), then home.

I don't often have time for that full bimble, which takes most of a day, but often do sub sets of it, or head north along the Lancashire coast past Southport and Blackpool to Morcambe bay and the Lakes.

On a good day, perhaps with canopy open if it's hot, it's fantastic. The aeroplane is very manouverable to examine interesting things (maybe a country house, a pool in the middle of a wood, an interesting boat, or chase a train if you can catch it - some of the modern ones at 125mph take some catching!... ) and it has excellent short field performance for those farm strips.

Can't wait for my next flight!

Eeee lad. You're echoing the very route I used to fly many years ago - except it was from Hawarden rather than Liverpool.
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/bones/F...d%20Runner.jpg
Apologies for inserting an FS2004 shot here but I never took any photographs of the aircraft at the time - for which I will eternally kick myself.

flying a chipmunk
 

overwhelming reply to my thread here!!!

lots to consider.........and to look forward to!

Jabber - thought I was going mad there - I thought that picture was real :\

After reading this thread, it is obvious that I am stupid for not joining the Liverpool group (if I can) VinceC - help ! :ok:

Hey jabber, I used to fly G-BARS as well! back in 1979/80 just after we'd got our own SL, she went into the engineers for a long time for lots of remdial work. So a few of us joined the dH club at hawarden to fly RS. Great days!

Mazzy - there's a share or 2 available in SL AFAIK. Phone Liverpool School of Flying - the ad is up on their notice board.

SSD

HFC had two Chipmunks, the other being G-BBRV. No idea what happened to that one. G-BARS is now in Portugese AF colours.

Hawarden had a third Chipmunk that no-one was allowed to fly. It was the first off the UK production line and was only flown by the boss. I think it was G-BAPB.

shaggy sheep,
is yours the one, thats often at barton? (im sure ive seen it there?)
if it is, its a fabulous aeroplane.



im bloody useless at remembering registration numbers...

Chippy
 

Let us remind ourselves that the Chippy was a basic trainer. The forces sent their nebies out on it. UAS flew them. They are a delight to fly and they are not difficult. I fly one doing formation takes off and landing with three others only feet away and it is EASY.

OK an extra 45 horses would be great, being able to lift the wheels would be an advantage... and what was that about at RG version at Seething?

formationfoto
Yes it's an easy aeroplane to fly - but I find it's not necessarily an easy aeroplane to fly well...

I M - spot on.

55 - yes, it was Barton based from when we bought it in 1979 until a couple of years ago. Some of us still regularly return her to her spritual home.:)

Reg is G-BCSL.

jabber - the third chippy was owned by 'Black jake', wasn't it? The whole place was in fear of him (I rmember all those instructions plastered around the club hut - DO THIS..... DON'T DO THAT etc. There was even a written, explicit instruction on how to wrute a cheuqe! What an ar5ole he was!

Still when he'd gone home for tea at 5pm, we mice did play! Flying down the tyaxyways, hopping over hagars - he'd have had a seizure if he'd known.

Maybe we should have told him.:ok:

I only met BJ once.

I'd booked the Chipmunk to take her down to White Waltham for a fly-in and had just finished all the planning - including lots of alternate routes around zones because the radio was dicky. That left me behind schedule so I was a little impatient to get off, and wasn't happy when someone walked in and started firing questions at me. My replies were curt - borderline civility but not quite rude - but the lass in the office looked like she was going to have a heart attack.

BJ was unruffled by my poor manners, paused a second and said, "You should have asked me about this as I would have let you take the Tiger Moth." Only then did I know who it was and I locked up completely - which he intrepreted as disappointment at not getting the Tiger (which was also true). I mumbled something and made a fast exit..

I remember the cheque instruction..

A few extra horses would have made a very considerable difference.

At one time, I wondered if I might be able to get a Blackburn Bombadier into the space then occupied by the Mk10. 180hp for only a small weight penalty was a very attractive proposition but the engine (35 years ago - things may have changed since), was restricted to military use and the bureaucrats made it clear very early on that they were not on my side. :=

Chippy
 

Of course but then most good aeroplanes are. There is a mystique built up around a number of aircraft and this is one of them. You HAVE to fly it to get the best out of it but if I can fly it well anyone can. On most of my landings you dont know when the aircraft has touched down. Hitting my wake in a 360 tight turn is easy. Hardly ever had to 'go round' from not getting it right. Never ground looped. Need I go on?.

The Chipmunk flies well. A poor pilot will make a mess of it but you dont need to be superhuman.

With four in v. close formation doing a display low level with high bank angles and sporty manouvring you have to fly quite well to avoid hitting the ground or your colleagues. The Chipmunk takes the random inputs of this average pilot and converts them into precise positioning (OK maybe I have a bit more of an influence than that).

If you are thinking of flying one dont be put off by believing that you have to be an ace to fly it reasonably well - you dont. Greater ability will always extract a better result but I cant comment on that until my ability is up there with that of IM :-)

Well I've been flying it for getting on for 3 decades and still a far better aeroplane than I am a pilot.:O

FF is correct as is IM; as I said in an earlier post, it's an easy aeroplane to fly, difficult to fly well. Ab initios in HM forces soloed it in only a few hours.

SSD

chippy
 

SSD would you say it is any more difficult to fly WELL than any of the other precise aircraft you have flown?.

I think the same goes for the YAK 52, the Pitts S2, etc......

Maybe with a soggy C172 or PA28 the benefit of an excellent pilot is not as noticeable but most good handling aircraft benefit from a good handler dont they?. The chippy isnt unique in this respect is it?.

ff - I haven't flown a Pitts. I don't think the Yak 52, with its 360hp radial engine, VP prop, retractable u/c, cowl flaps (which you have to use!), non-ergonomic cockpit, and considerable power is a particularly easy aeroplane to fly for a new pilot, unlike the much simpler and lower powered Chippy - except in one area - the landing.

The Yak almost lands itself, and you really don't need to be very skilled to do it. The Chippy demands correct technique and rewards the more skillful pilot in the landing phase, without threatening to kill or injure the less skilled pilot.