History:
Delivered to the Royal Air Force on 1952-12-19 this aircraft, construction number C1-0227, was demobilised in June 1956 after (in Chipmunk terms*) a short service career. It went onto the British civil register as G-AOSO. Records show it as being registered to Derby Aviation in 1958, and briefly to British Midland Airways in 1965 (the name which Derby Aviation adopted in 1964). In 1966 it was bought by the London Flying School (which operates to this day), where it remained for three years. Between January 1969 and 1976 it was in a number of hands before being withdrawn from use in 1976. Although it was registered in France as F-AZDN it apparently never flew with that identity and was restored as G-AOSO in December 1988 by Lord Suffolk. It was acquired by Alan Klapmeier in 2004, at which point it was brought to the US and is now based at Duluth, MN. While Alan is very occupied with his business interests (see http://www.kestrel.aero/) he likes to see his Chipmunk being flown and displayed and is generous enough to allow friends in the Chipmunk community to bring his airplane into Oshkosh on his behalf. Let’s keep ‘em flying!
* Chipmunk production ceased in September 1953: to this day two are operated by the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and one by the Royal Navy Heritage Flight, for the purposes of converting fighter and transport pilots onto tail-draggers, before progressing to the (other) vintage aircraft in those flights – Spitfires, Hurricanes, Swordfish, Sea Fury, Dakota and Lancaster. The ‘Chippie’ is oft referred to as “the poor man’s Spitfire”.
| Registration Number | Date of Manufacture |
| WD288 (aka N122DH) | Delivered 1950-12-19 |
| Aircraft Role | Nickname |
| Trainer | Chippie (a group of them is known as a ‘slick’) |
| Aircraft Type: | Wingspan: |
| dHC-1 Chipmunk T.22 | 10.46m (34ft 4in) |
| Overall length: | Empty weight: |
| 7.75m (25ft 5in) | 526kg (1158lb) |
| Gross weight: | Fuel capacity: |
| 914kg (2014lb) | 18 Imp gals (21.6 US gals) |
| Oil capacity | Engine type: |
| 12 qts | de Havilland Gipsy (‘Dripsy’  Major 10, 108kW (145hp) 4-cyl inverted inline piston engine |
| Propeller type: | Max Speed |
| Fairey-Reed | 223km/h (120kt) at sea level |
| Rate of Climb | Cruise Speed |
| 900ft/min | 200km/h (108kt) |
| Service Ceiling | Number of Crew |
| 17,200ft | 2 |
| Armament | Bomb Load |
| None, except the copious oil expelled by the ‘Dripsy’ Major! | None |
| Number Built | Number Surviving |
| CA – 217; PT – 60; UK – 1000 | Approx 200 |
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Restoration Images
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Printable QR Codes for: dHC-1 Chipmunk Mk22:
Please read before printing the Avery style labels
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