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About me and chippies
My name is Keith O'Callaghan and some time ago I flew Chippies on and off for a couple of years and they always bring back fond memories (and the occasional frightening one!). I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend them to anyone who likes well harmonised controls and ailerons that actually work.
It has a fly off hand brake ,which actuates differentially from wheel to wheel with the position of the rudder bar giving steering through braking which ,with its fully castoring tailwheel, gives great manoeveability (once you get used to it) but little straight line stability! Taxying is then straight forward, snaking along battle of britain style to clear the blind spot under the nose (Bubble rear side transperancies really help when instructing from the back seat though many have been replaced by cheaper flat ones)
As for any tailwheel aircraft except that the prop turns the other way compared to American engined types giving of course an opposite swing.
GENERAL FLYING
At maximum all up weight, climb is slow, to very slow, depending on the prop fitted and of course density altitude. It's bloody noisy and can be damned hot in direct sunlight.The canopy can be locked back open a few inches and can be left open in flight .The canopy can also be locked back behind the pilots head when taxying (And doing Douglas Bader impersonations !).An endurance of 2.5 hours in the standard tanked model makes it no long distance cruiser. But that is is not what it was designed for. It's forte is basic aerobatics in a very forgiving package and general jollies.
The Chippie has well sorted controls with little friction in any of the circuits, it is an easy and enjoyable aircraft to aerobat for anyone who is used to aero's with fixed pitch props.The ailerons are light and effective, making aileron rolls so much fun that you can end up giggling with glee as the world revolves about you. Barrel rolls are great fun too, and its military heritage gives it a high Vne .Which means you have a great deal more latitude than in civil bred types while teaching when the student gives you the inevitable nose low inverted unusual attitude recovery.(ie. Diving upside down with the throttle open.) In pitch she can be a lot less forgiving with some shake before the stall but this can be passed through quite quickly when pulling a hand full of Gs in a turn resulting in a clean break and wing drop. You have to practice so that your loops don't feel like a drive down a cobbled street.
With the prop rotating in the opposite direction to American engines you should remember to stall turn (hammerhead) in the opposite direction or you can get stuck vertically with the airspeed rapidly decreasing and the aircraft refusing to yaw. The only thing to do then is to hold on to everything tight, close the throttle, wait and generally float around the cockpit with the dirt and lost pens till the tail gets a grip and she falls heavy end down.(This is why we practice at altitude).
A good idea (Supposedly from the Royal Flying Doctor Service who flew Gypsy powered drovers) is never to let the prop drive the engine at speed during long fast descents, as this can apparently cause eventual crankshaft problems.(ie. failures)
If you're doing aero's always check that propellor, they can crack across the hub .This can sometimes be recognised as an odd vibration at different engine speeds and can ruin your entire day.
The chipmunk has had a rather checkered history as regards
to its spin recovery in civil hands in Australia and elsewhere. It has
had modifcations made after reported flat spinning and recovery failures
resulting in several deaths. Some time ago I remember seeing a report from
the 60's where during a dual spinning sortie, complete aerodynamic control
was lost for a period with the pilot being able to move the stick freely
to and fro with no change in attitude. I think the aircraft basically recovered
itself .
CHECKED YOUR WEIGHT AND BALANCE LATELY ? (JUST
ASKING!!)
MY FIRST CHIPMUNK SPINNING SORTIE
This was a dual trip when I was still a PPL taken in a Chippie modified with the addition of a large chord rudder and anti-spin strakes ahead of the stabiliser. All spinning was to be conducted and completed above 3000 FT. After all the usual checks had been completed which MUST include brakes fully off (as they can possibly effect the full travel of the rudder bar) normal stall spin entry was attempted. It resulted in us bouncing around in the stall region losing height and achieving very little else. So we climbed back up and tried again, this time holding the stick right back and to one side while not so gently feeding in a boot full of opposite rudder. A couple of big bounces and over we gohhh into a quickish spin, a bit flatter than your average Cessna with the nose bobbing up and down and all the while losing height like mad.Then comes recovery, check throttle closed, centralise controls, full opposite rudder, stick forward .....no real change ?? gulp!, then came a helpful little push on the stick from the back seat which moved it another 2 or so inches forward to the stop and....ugh, out she comes in a big hurry with little bit of negative G and a fair bit of speed. In my headset I hear (it wasn't fully forward was it ?) eerrmm ..no. So we did it again a few times until I could recover without attempting to throw us out through the canopy and then went home.
This old saying seems to hold true for this aircraft. And it has been demonstrated by a good friend of mine that the technique of letting go of everything, closing the throttle and kicking in opposite rudder, which might work in a C152, will most likely end in a hole in the ground if tried in a Chipmunk.
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Tall Tales and True (NAMES CHANGED TO PROTECT THE GUILTY !)
History
.Cobbled together with the help
of Netscape and Netscape Navigator Gold
Proof read by my Navigator Gnome