An Cosantóir

28 | FLYING THE 'CHIPPY' Sixty years ago the Irish Air Corps took possession of its first De Havilland Chipmunk training aircraft. The 'Chippy' was to be a stalwart in training Air Corps pilots for many years and in this article Brig Gen Paul Fry (GOC Air Corps & Director of Military Aviation) fondly recalls his experiences flying the legendary aircraft. Photographs copyright of Mr Pat Reilly. ing School and Air Corps CFI, then Comdt Pat Cranfield. He brought me for a standard 45-minute type familiarisation flight, which included my first exposure to aerobat- ics. Having previously flown about seven hours on Iona's fleet of Cessna 150s, I found being trussed-up in a parachute, helmet and mask to be a very different working environment. I was immediately challenged by the workings of the cartridge starter that I, in the front cockpit, had to trigger by a toggle hidden behind a spring-loaded flap on the starboard side of the cockpit. Clouds of acrid grey smoke accompanied my ac- tion on the starter, which were then blown back by the propeller and enveloped the cockpit. The view forward was worse than in the Cessna, with the nose protruding well above the horizon eye-line and neces- sitating a lot of weaving on the ground to ensure that the way ahead was clear of obstacles and other aircraft. The view for the instructor from the rear seat, which had a lower seating position, was even worse! The flying task got harder during take-off when the power was applied, as the nose swung left with power and then again to the left due to gyroscopic effect as the tail came off the ground. Once in the air it was necessary to change hands on the control T he first time that I flew the Chip- munk T.22 was 1975 with the Officer Commanding Advanced Flying Train- column to retract the manually operated flaps – nothing seemed to be as familiar or as easy as in the Cessna! However, once in the air the real difference became imme- diately obvious. The ailerons were crisp, the elevators firm and responsive and the rudder was light and needed constant at- tention in order to keep the craft balanced. The view out and about the aircraft was very good, much better than that from a high-wing aircraft. This aircraft demanded to be flown but if flown well it would re- ward the pilot with accurate performance and satisfying results. As a trainer the Chipmunk posed a real challenge to students in the control and manoeuvre phases of the elementary flying training course and placed realistic and quality demands on their skills. Any take-off could degenerate into a series of swings and waltzes if the rudder wasn't closely co- ordinated with the power and elevator in- puts. Landing it on a concrete runway was like trying to land a beach-ball on sand as it bounced readily! Aerobatics were demand- ing to fly accurately as the ailerons needed a full deflection push to get it rolling fast enough to get it around the roll, but loops and roll-off-tops were very satisfying with a very challenging phase during the slow speed roll-out part of the manoeuvre as a lot of aileron was needed. Stall-turns, as al- ways, were attention-getters as the power Brig Gen Fry as a young Chipmunk Pilot needed to be cut just at the right moment as the yaw started to move the nose off the vertical. Reduce power too early and you were in for a stomach-churning ham- merhead manoeuvre. It flicked readily into spins if tight turns were tightened too much and once in the spin it rotated rapidly - but always recovered using standard spin recovery techniques. The spin strakes on the rear fuselage ahead of the rudder are witness to earlier problems with spin recoveries but which thankfully was not an affliction that affected the Air Corps fleet. Having a float-equipped carburettor it didn't like inverted flight much and it had to be remembered to close the throttle when inverted to prevent a 'rich' cut of the engine caused by over fuelling and flooding of the carburettor. The navigation phase was a challenge, not alone for the task of flying accurately in an aircraft that apparently had a mind of its own but also I think that you needed a course in origami to fold your map correctly one-handed in the air in order to see the next turning point – while still retaining some semblance of control of the beast with the other hand! I still maintain that if you can fly a Chipmunk on instruments you could fly anything on instruments. The magnetic compass was mounted on the floor in front of the control column and, as regular com- An Cosantóir March 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie

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