Likewise, the climb into a loop, looking up behind my head to see the ground coming up whilst keeping the wings level with the horizon, going over the top, diving out, and then, if there was enough height, repeating the process.8 Slow rolls were never easy in a Chipmunk and took a good deal of practice, whereas any form of hesitation roll was difficult whether it was a four point or the nigh on impossible eight point variety. I was never good at barrel rolls; no matter how much I practised them, or was shown, I always seemed to swish out in a less than satisfactory manner. To do a roll off the top of a loop involved diving to gain almost the maximum permitted speed before pulling up and doing the manoeuvre.9 To do a second one straight after the first so as to fly a vertical figure of eight took a deal of practice, and it was possible to grey or black myself out during the pull up. Any attempt at a vertical climbing roll or 'Upward Charlie' was doomed to failure owing to lack of power or skill, probably both.10
It was during the later part of the course that one Chipmunk landed on the top of another beginning its take-off run. Nobody was injured but it was a close thing. The propellor of the landing aircraft, as it screwed through the air, cut a groove in the fuselage just behind the instructor's head in the rear cockpit of the aircraft on the ground. Its next half rotation cut a groove through the cockpit canopy between the pilots, and the first blade then cut away the top of the engine cowling. The one aircraft came to rest on top of the other. Nasty, but it could have been worse, for there was no fire.
The Rover experimental jet-engined car had just been announced to the public and was under development at the motor industry research facility at the nearby old Nuneaton airfield. On overflying that facility I was dismayed to find that the car, when flat-out on the test track, would go considerably faster than a Chipmunk in straight and level flight!
In those days there was very little civil aviation. The RAF ruled the skies and, as long as we kept a sharp lookout, we could do very much as we liked, or were ordered to do. As an example: during a low flying exercise I was following a railway line and caught up with a passenger train travelling in the same direction. It was on an embankment, so I dropped down and throttled back to formate on it. I could clearly see the passengers looking at me and waving. I waved back. The train then shot into a tunnel, but I was still there when it came out of the other end, very much to the passengers' surprise.
Final examinations came along, and the final flying test - with that awful Mr Hall. He kept flicking the back of my helmet with a stiff piece of paper if he thought I might have done something a little better. I have never come across a quicker way to unnerve someone in the air than that. I think it must have been with great reluctance that he passed me out as 'Average'.
There were parties to celebrate the completion of each major phase of training. We usually went to a nearby hostelry and used a pre-booked room for such occasions. The end of course party was particularly riotous. Much drink was drunk - and we weren't used to it. As the evening wore on bawdy songs were sung as loud as possible - to both the disgust and curiosity of customers in other rooms. Some of them learned new words to old tunes; others wished they could have joined us. I
___________________________________
8 Our minimum permitted height for commencing aerobatics was 4,000 feet.
9 The official maximum permitted speed was 173 knots but anything more than 150 knots made it feel as though the wings would come off.
10 The tab on the first aid kit in the starboard wing root would move forward in the reversed airflow as stalling speed was approached. With this unofficial indication it was not necessary to look at the airspeed indicator. Usually the actual stall was presaged by slight buffeting and a tendency to drop a wing. If not corrected this would lead to an incipient or actual spin. The maximum number of turns I have done in a spin is eight, by which time the spin was beginning to flatten out. Later marks of Chipmunk had modifications to the rear fuselage to correct this tendency. 22