The story starts in 1945, from the pencil of a certain Wsiewolod J Jakimuik. After studying at Wilno University, this engineer of Polish origin studied further at the Ecole Supérieure d'Aéronautique in France, where he obtained his diploma in 1929. From there he went to work at PZL in Poland. In 1939 with the invasion of Poland, he escaped first to France and then to Canada, where he joined De Haviland at Downsview near Toronto, a factory already fully employed in the production of the famous Mosquito fighter-bomber. Much later in life, Jakimuik returned to France where he was involved in many ambitious projects - including the Concorde, but that, as they say, is another story.

Jakimuik started the design work on the Chipmunk, named after a small North American squirrel, in October 1945; the prototype flew seven months later. A problem with the rudder caused the second prototype to crash on the 19 th January 1947, from a spin that the pilot could not control. The rudder was enlarged, the tail modified, the C of G was moved forward and the spin recovery procedure was modified.

A total of 1292 aircraft were built, more than 1000 at Hatfield in the UK, a few in Portugal and the rest in Canada.

Even a quick look at the Chipmunk leaves no doubt as to it' s origins. The profile possesses the unmistakable combination of straight and curved lines, at once the finesse of the Tiger Moth, the Puss Moth and the Fox Moth. This becomes even more apparent when you observe the vertical fin - it could only have come from the same stable as the Mosquito ! Even if this de Haviland was not designed by Sir Geoffrey, it is still part of the family, indeed no one at Hatfield wou ld ever think of denying it.

For de Haviland Canada, the construction of the Chipmunk marked the start of a new era, it was it\rquote s first real post war production, and it' s first home grown product. DHC-1 signifies (means) De Haviland Canada-1, but above all it was the first de Haviland aircraft where no wood was used.

The Chipmunk is therefore entirely metal, with the exception of the rear two thirds of the wings and the ailerons which are fabric covered. The rivets are a mark of the care taken in the building, destined for a long and hard military life. The design could be classed as "refined rustic". Throughout, ease of maintenance was the by-word. Thus the fixed-pitch metal propeller gives a good take-off and climb performance at the expense of high cruising speed.

Narrow as a Fighter

To reach the cockpit a band of black rubberised paint on either side indicates where to put your feet. However the pilot will use the left side, that is where the handles for the sliding canopy are to be found. As in the majority of British military aircr aft, the predominant colour in the cockpit is black. You slide into this narrow hole without real difficulty, but once in place you have the impression of being inside a metal glove. Space has been used to a maximum, no question a bout carrying baggage, you will just about find space for a few maps, tall and wide pilots will be ill at ease. Once the canopy is slid into place, the impression of a glove is reinforced and you can believe that you are in the cockpit of a fighter. An ad vantage of this narrowness is that everything - or almost everything - falls to hand. The seat is not the most comfortable, but once you are sat upon the parachute or a few cushions, you are not too badly placed. The instrumentation is basic, with all th e instruments in imperial measurements. For a newcomer to the type there is however one instrument missing : - the fuel injection pump.

FULL OF CHARM

The Temperatures and pressions climb slowly. At 40° for the oil the pilot can start to taxi. Taxying - supposedly a severe test because of the tail wheel not being linked to the rudder bar - it is sufficient to refer to the Pilot's Notes, edited by the RAF : - pull the parking brake pawl over the first two or three notches of the ratchet, the brake shoes are just "licking" the drums. The brake is activated by a large lever by the pilot\rquote s left k nee, and the pawl is operated by sliding the hand down the hand grip to apply pressure on a ring, which in turn presses the pawl into place in the teeth of the ratchet. It is a classical "fly-off" hand brake system. Left and right braking is then done fro m the rudder bar. With 1 000 rpm on the dial, taxying is easy, zigzagging is essential to see round the nose. If the cross wind component is a little high, then add another notch to the brake. Simple ! At the holding point engine checks are classic, excep t for the carb re-heat - more a de-misting than anything else - a form of bolt inside a sleeve, to the pilots right shoulder, which needs to be activated by the left hand. So very British. It is highly recommended to leave it in the "on" position, the La Baule Chipmunk F-AZXM has the bolt wired in place. The trim wheel is situated under the left hand between the side of the seat and the side wall of the fuselage - two stops nose down, one notch of flaps, brakes off. A note about the flaps, experience has sh own that take off can be made without flaps on hard runways. But the RAF Pilot' s Notes stipulates one notch in all cases, so, one notch it is. Open the throttle and the Chipmunk accelerates slowly but surely, with a slight pull to the right. Yes ! The engine turns to the right - anti-clockwise from the cockpit, as on many engines of the thirties - such as the Renault fitted to the Luciole.

Conceived and designed to replace the Tiger Moth as the RAF' s basic trainer, the Chipmunk behaves well in all areas of the flight envelope. Without flaps, the stall comes at about 45 Kt. with a marked buff eting to warn you. With one notch of flap the stall comes at 40 KT. The nose drops gently below the horizon. A small amount of throttle with stick forward and a little rudder to counteract the yaw, soon has the aircraft flying again. The aircraft is robust enough for basic aerobatics. Negative G is not possible, the carburettor and the oil lubrication system were not designed for it. For the roll, the pilot puts the stick forward to go for 120 Kt., nose up to 15° above the horizon and the roll is completed in 4 - 5 seconds. The engine will cough a little if the pilots maintains horizontal. For the barrel roll the problem does not occur. For the loop, the pilot will enter at 130Kt. finding 40 Kt. at the top.

Landing preparation is also simple. Down wind at 70 - 75 Kt. At 70 Kt., one notch of flap, trim to two notches nose up. Finals at 60 Kt. The qualified RAF pilots flew finals at 50 Kt. The canopy can be opened at this time, the sliding mechanism has severa l solid locks to ensure full safety in flight. A se cond notch of flap on short finals - strongly recommended - allows a slightly more nose down attitude, therefore a better view of the runway. Round out is clear and precise, and if the speed is correct, the main undercarriage will touch and there will be no bounce. The tail is maintained in the air as long as possible to avoid all possibility if shimmy. All that remains is to control the roll out with rudder - only delicate in a cross wind - limited to 18 Kt in the RAF, and judicious use of the fly off hand brake.

Back on the apron, two or three minutes at tick-over to stabilise the temperatures. The engine cut-off is activated by a ring-pull that you need to find with the right hand, underneath the instrument panel. Magnetos off, master switch to "GROUND" , hand brake off - this is important for conserving it' s long life.