The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a two-seat, single engine primary trainer aircraft, designed to replace the DH.82 Tiger Moth biplane. It was the first true original design of the newly formed De Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada and attracted immediate air force interest.
The prototype DHC-1 Chipmunk (CF-DIO-X) was flown for the first time by Pat Fillingham (a de Havilland test pilot) on 22nd May 1946, from Downsview near Toronto and it attracted immediate interest from the military. Alongside the high level of interest from the Royal Canadian Air Force, it competed with the Fairey Primer for the contract to provide a basic training aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
Predominantly of all metal construction, with fabric covered wings aft of the spar, it also featured a sliding perspex canopy providing excellent 360 degree vision. Some 1,000 aircraft were built in the UK at Hatfield and Chester, with a further 217 built in Canada and 66 built by OGMA in Portugal.
The RAF DHC-1 Chipmunk T.Mk 10 variant was powered by the Gipsy Major 8 engine. This type was exported widely, serving with at least 14 air forces in addition to the RAF and RCAF.
During the 1950s and 1960s, many aircraft were brought onto the British civil register by private owners and commercial organisations, especially after they were withdrawn from RAF service. These are mainly designated DHC-1 Chipmunk Mk.22 or DHC-1 Chipmunk Mk.23, serving as crop sprayers and glider towing-tugs, as well as personal transport for those that could afford their own aircraft.
The simplicity and easy maintenance of the aircraft type made the DHC-1 Chipmunk very popular with flying schools around the world and after a period of evaluation at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, a fully aerobatic DHC-1 Chipmunk was also adopted by the RAF. HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh actually learnt to fly in a DHC-1 Chipmunk and claimed it to be one of his favourite aircraft.
Other adaptations saw Chipmunk aircraft being extensively modified for competition aerobatics (including being re-engined and fitted with constant speed propeller and inverted fuel systems) whilst most of those employed in glider towing were typically re-engined with the 180hp Lycoming O-360. Some aircraft, particularly for Canadian use, were also fitted with a more aerodynamically refined one-piece blown cockpit canopy. A side-by-side cabin arrangement was also designed as the DHC-2 but this was never produced and the DHC-2 designation was eventually allocated to the De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver.
Some 80 years after its first flight it is believed that there are still hundreds of DHC-1 Chipmunks in operation around the world.