de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Hav...DHC-1_Chipmunk

The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a tandem, two-seat, single-engined
primary trainer aircraft developed and manufactured by Canadian aircraft
manufacturer de Havilland Canada. It was developed shortly after the Second
World War and sold heavily throughout the immediate post-war years, being
typically employed as a replacement for the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane.

The Chipmunk holds the distinction of being the first postwar aviation project
conducted by de Havilland Canada. It performed its maiden flight on 22 May 1946
and was introduced to operational service that same year. During the late 1940s
and 1950s, the Chipmunk was procured in large numbers by military air services
such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Air Force (RAF), and several
other nations' air forces, where it was often utilised as their standard primary
trainer aircraft. The type was also produced under licence by de Havilland in
the United Kingdom, who would produce the vast majority of Chipmunks, as well as
by OGMA (Oficinas Gerais de Material Aeronáutico) in Portugal.

The type was slowly phased out of service from the late 1950s onwards, although
in the ab initio basic training role, this did not occur within the Royal Air
Force until 1996, having finally been replaced by the Scottish Aviation Bulldog.
However, many of the Chipmunks that had been formerly in military use were sold
on to civilians, either to private owners or to companies, where they were
typically used for a variety of purposes, often involving the type's excellent
flying characteristics and its capability for aerobatic manoeuvres. More than 70
years after the type having first entered service, hundreds of Chipmunks
remained airworthy and were in operation around the world.


Role
Trainer

Manufacturer
de Havilland Canada

Designer
Wsiewolod Jakimiuk

First flight
22 May 1946

Introduction
1946

Retired
1972 (Canada)

Status
Out of production, in active service

Primary users
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Portuguese Air Force
Belgian Air Force

Produced
1947–1956

Number built
1,284 (including Canadian, British, and Portuguese production)

The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a two-seat, single-engine aircraft
that has been heavily used as a primary trainer aircraft. The basic
configuration of the aircraft included a low-mounted wing and a two-place tandem
cockpit, which was fitted with a clear perspex canopy covers the pilot/student
(front) and instructor/passenger (rear) positions and provided all-round
visibility. The Chipmunk uses a conventional tailwheel landing gear arrangement
and is fitted with fabric-covered flight control surfaces; the wing is also
fabric-covered aft of the spar. In terms of handling, the Chipmunk exhibited a
gentle and responsive flight attitude. Early production aircraft were only
semi-aerobatic, while later production models were almost all fully aerobatic.

The structure of the Chipmunk makes heavy use of metal, the majority of the
airframe being composed of a stress-skinned alloy; this allowed the adoption of
thinner wings and consequently provided for increased performance as well as a
greater degree of durability. Numerous features were incorporated in order for
the type to better perform in its trainer role, including hand-operated
single-slotted wing flaps, anti-spin strakes, disc brakes on the wheeled
undercarriage, a thin propeller composed of a solid lightweight alloy, the
adoption of an engine-driven vacuum pump in place of external venturi tubes to
power cockpit instrumentation, electric and Coffman cartridge engine starters as
alternative options, cockpit lighting, onboard radio system, and an external
identification light underneath the starboard wing.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) had been one of the operators to quickly take notice
of the new Canadian trainer, and encouraged its formal evaluation with an eye
towards procuring it. Accordingly, a total of three Chipmunk aircraft were
transported to the United Kingdom, where they underwent an evaluation by the
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at RAF Boscombe Down,
Wiltshire. Based upon this favourable evaluation, the British Air Ministry
proceeded to formulate and release Air Ministry specification T.8/48 around the
type as a replacement for the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane then in use. This
specification was also contested by the rival Fairey Primer, which lost out to
the Chipmunk and ultimately did not enter production.

As such, the fully aerobatic Chipmunk was ordered to serve as an ab initio
trainer for new pilots. The RAF received a total of 735 Chipmunks, which were
designated in British service as the de Havilland Chipmunk T.10; these aircraft
had been manufactured in the United Kingdom by de Havilland, the parent company
of de Havilland Canada.

Specifications (DHC-1 Chipmunk)

General characteristics
Crew: 2, student & instructor
Length: 25 ft 5 in (7.75 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 4 in (10.47 m)
Height: 7 ft in (2.1 m)
Wing area: 172 ft² (16.0 m²)
Empty weight: 1,517 lb (646 kg)
Loaded weight: 2,014 lb (953 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 2,200 lb (998 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × de Havilland Gipsy Major 1C, 145 hp (108 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 120 kn, 138 mph at sea level (140 mph is also given) (222 km/h)
Cruise speed: 90 kn
Range: 225 NM (445 km)
Service ceiling: 15,800 ft (5200 m)
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (274 m/min)
Wing loading: 11.709 lb/ft² (57.82 kg/m²)
Power/mass: .072 hp/lb (.113 kW/kg)




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