DHC-1 CHIPMUNKS IN AUSTRALIA - 1960s

Chipmunks replaced Tiger Moths as the standard training aircraft with the Australian aero clubs during the 1950s. The majority were
shipped from Britain, purchased from RAF disposals.


This July 1963 view from the Moorabbin tower shows most of the fleet of the Royal Victorian Aero Club posed for the picture.
Chipmunks were still in popular use, painted in club colours of blue and white with dayglo orange tailplane.
Photo courtesy Civil Aviation Historical Society.



Royal Victorian Aero Club VH-RVK at Parafield, the finish line of the March 1964 Ansett Air Race from Brisbane to Adelaide.
Flown by long-time enthusiast Richard Maclean, it gained second place of the 140 competing aircraft.



VH-RVW on the Royal Victorian Aero Club flight line at Moorabbin in May 1963.



VH-BWB & VH-BWK on the Royal Aero Club of SA apron at Parafield in December 1962. Both retain the austere 1950s club
scheme of all metal finish, thin cheat line, club name stencilled on the side and two tone blue rudder flash.



VH-BWK taxying out at Parafield in August 1962.



The aero club Chipmunks had their share of serious accidents. The remains of VH-BWE between storage sheds at Parafield in
May 1962. It had struck a power pole during a forced landing near Parafield on 9 January 1960. The pilot was seriously injured.



Royal Aero Club of SA repainted their remaining Chipmunks in a blue and white scheme from late 1962.  Here's VH-BWC
fresh from the paint shop in January 1963.



This shot of VH-BWM in the late afternoon during May 1963 shows the two-tone blue and white scheme to advantage.



VH-BWM was sold to a private owner in November 1963 and re-registered VH-UEU. It visited an airshow at Blyth SA in
October 1964 with additional liberal areas of high-visibilty dayglo orange wings, tailplane and cockpit canopy.



Royal Aero Club of SA's VH-BWF was sold in September 1963 as VH-AMV to Bob Couper Pty Ltd at Cunderdin WA, a
pionering WA aerial agricultural company. At that time Bob Couper had the largest fleet of ag Tiger Moths in Australia. The
Chippie still had the aero club blue paint scheme when photographed at Jandakot Airport, Perth in November 1969.



Royal Aero Club of NSW Chipmunk VH-FTA on the club ramp at Bankstown in January 1964.



Royal Aero Club of NSW VH-RSK with club wings on the fuselage, Bankstown January 1964.



VH-RSK five years later, privately owned at Northam WA in December 1969.



Tasmanian Aero Club at Launceston operated a number of Chipmunks. VH-BSR at Launceston in September 1962.



The same VH-BSR at Mangalore, Victoria in January 1968. It was now in private hands and looking very smart in polished
metal finish with wheels spats.



Aero Club of Southern Tasmania at Hobart also had Chipmunks.  This was one of theirs, seen at Benalla Vic in March 1969
now with a private owner, painted with an unconvincing Flying Tigers sharks mouth on the cowlings.



VH-BSP was a former Tasmanian Aero Club aircraft purchased by Aviation Services (SA) Ltd at Parafield for their SA country
flying schools. It was in their hangar at Parafield in October 1962. It was wrecked in February the following year in a
forced lnding near Tumby Bay SA.



Aviation Services (SA) Ltd registered VH-UEK in 1959 from several RAF disposals Chipmunks acquired by the company.
This picture was taken in their Parafield hangar in September 1962. In January the following year it crashed on a sandbar near
the shore at Tumby Bay SA while low flying.



Another Aviation Services (SA) Ltd Chipmunk was VH-UET, previously with the Royal Aero Club of SA as VH-BWA. It is
seen in their Parafield hangar in July 1962. Three months later it was wrecked at Whyalla SA when the engine failed on takeoff
and it turned over several times during the forced landing.



Aero Club of Broken Hill had two Chipmunks. Here's VH-BAD visiting Parafield in August 1966.



Aero Club of Broken Hill's second Chipmunk VH-BAC was at Parafield in February 1965, with club markings removed.



VH-BAC, now privately owned, at Swan Hill Vic early one morning in February 1967.



The same VH-BAC in January 1968 at an airshow at Mangalore Vic, now repainted into a new colourful scheme.



VH-BAW at Bankstown in May 1963 with South Coast Aero Club wings on the tail, visiting from Wollongong NSW.



Royal Aero Club of WA were the first to introduce Chipmunks in 1952 and operated many over the years, standardising on a
bright red and white colour scheme. VH-FLC photographed at Jandakot Airport, Perth in June 1968 in that scheme was
previously with the club as VH-RWI.


VH-RHW was another former Aero Club of WA aircraft in the red and white paint scheme. Photographed at Jandakot early
morning in December 1969.



VH-AST at Hamilton Victoria in February 1967.



VH-CJM in gleaming silver and blue, at Horsham Victoria in March 1965.



VH-UPD at Parafield in November 1968.


VH-CYN was painted allover pale blue when seen at Parafield in APril 1968.



VH-ESP at Moorabbin in April 1968 was formerly with Royal Aero Club of NSW as VH-RSP.



VH-WMT was another former Royal Aero Club of NSW Chipmunk as VH-RSM, confirmed by the overpainted "M" on the
cowling. It was at Swan Hill, Victoria in March 1965.



VH-WFH was one of a number of Chipmunks used by Wagga Flying School. It was at nearby Albury NSW in September 1965
during an extended rebuild following an accident. 



Now for the modified Chipmunks rebuilt by Aerostructures Pty Ltd at Bankstown:
Sasin-Aerostructures SA-29 Spraymaster VH-GEB at Tintinara SA in September 1966, where it was based with Tim O'Neal's
Tonair Pty Ltd.  The signwriter had misspelt the town name on the fuslage. Three Spraymasters were completed.



SA-29 Spraymaster VH-BCA with Bob Couper Pty Ltd at Cunderdin WA in December 1969, rigged for dusting.



The fully-developed Aerostructures Sundowner VH-CXZ was completed at Bankstown in 1968 for John Roulston Aviation in
WA, which specialised in low-level aerial stock mustering. It had metal-skinned wings, modified tail design, wingtip fuel tanks,
a 180hp Lycoming O-360 engine and raised seats with a one-piece frameless blown canopy. Certification problems with DCA
could not be resolved and instead it was shipped to USA to become an aerobatic sport machine N8DW.



VH-RJK at Bankstown in September 1968, freshly modified by Aerostructures with the Lycoming O-350 and painted as a
Sundowner
.  However this rebuild had not been as extensive as VH-CXZ and was approved by DCA.

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