SMART AIRCRAFT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26617, 13 November 1947, Page 8

SMART AIRCRAFT

DE HAVILLAND CHIPMUNK SUCCESSOR TO TIGER MOTH The latest of the long series of de Havilland aircraft, a Chipmunk trainer, visited the Taieri Airport yesterday. It is the first machine of its type to arrive in New Zealand, and is at present touring the country to permit demonstrations and trial flights being given to aero club instructors. Designed to meet the requirements of both air force and civilian flying schools for a versatile training aircraft capable of providing instruction from the primary stages to advanced aerobatics and instrument flying, the Chipmunk is intended as the successor to the popular Tiger Moth. It has a high rate of climb—lssec and 248 yards to clear a 50-foot screen in still air—and can cruise at 124 miles per hour, with a maximum speed of 143 miles per hour. The Chipmunk’s absolute ceiling i§ 21,000 feet, and it has a cruising range of 485 miles, or almost four hours’ flying. The rate of petrol consumption is 6.4 gallons per hour, so that operational costs are low. A light, low-wing monoplane, with tandem seating for pilot and passenger, the Chipmunk is of all-metal construction and is powered by the famous Gipsy Major engine, the designed performance being calculated as the maximum obtainable from an engine of this power. The design of the Chipmunk was begun in October, 1945, when the de Havilland organisation decided that a modern successor to the Tiger Moth was required. Great attention was given to cockpit lay-out, controls, ease of entry, canopy headroom, and general visibility. At present the Chipmunk is fitted with a fixed pitch propeller, but it is planned to fit the new de Havilland manually variable pitch propeller as soon as it becomes available. The new aircraft is smooth and flexible to fly, and permits an unusual degree of comfort for training work. The canopy top obviates the necessity for cumbersome flying clothes, yet it can be slid back to permit the freshness of an open plane if desired. It is equally stable on the ground, the wide undercarriage giving insurance against “ground looping” in the early stages of training.