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Text & Pictures : Luc Dujardin © sbap 2011
"Chipmunks" : small striped squirrels native from North America and Asia
"EBZR Zoersel" is an
old, bare NATO
airfield close to Antwerp. Because of its
originally military role, the runway (23-05) is
paved and quite long (2980m x 45 m).
It may not be the most
famous airfield in Belgium, but if you are flying a "Chipmunk", Zoersel is
actually the place to be. For
each year since 1998, the "Aero Para Club der Kempen" organizes a big event
known as "Chipmeet". It is a gathering of
the "De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk". This
aircraft is a tandem two-seat trainer mainly used as elementary
trainer in the Royal Air Force.
The plane
served to train
RAF pilots from 1956 until 1990. Some of them
remained in use with the
"N° 10 Air Experience Flight" and the very last flight took place in 1996. More
than 1200 "Chippie" were
built and were operated as a military
training aircraft in 23 countries.
This year, "Chipmeet 2011" (the
13th edition) was held from Thursday 2nd
till Sunday 5th
June 2011. Unfortunately, I only had the opportunity to visit this meeting on
the first day. It was a beautiful sunny day. Runway 05 was in service
and there was light
wind. The local aeroclub had
glider activity in the north of the field, while other areas were
open for aircrews to
practice and improve their formation flying skills. Some crews arrived on June 1th,
but June 2nd
was the normal
arrival day. However, some aircrafts made one or two local flights, including
even
aerobatics. The "Victors", a civilian Belgian aerobatic team, landed at 15h00
and took off one hour later for a nice presentation.
After some rest, the team left the field in close formation at 17h45. When I
left the airfield around 18h00, most of the
airplanes were parked on the ground,
but there was still some air activity: a Yak-52
display rehearsal
and a locally
based Cessna and some
gliders.
In total 13 Chipmunks came at Zoersel, total planes was aound 50 to 70. Around 20 sorties a day was registered Regarding the growing success of this event the organistaors totalized about 90 visiting press photographers and spotters plus many more regular visitors.
De
Havilland DHC-1 on June 2nd
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WB 671 WK 590 WP 803 WB565 WK577 WP896 WB703 WP903 WG321 WP973 WB756 |
Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-119) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-910) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-697) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-017) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-598) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-766) Chipmunk Mk 22A (c/n C1-151) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-776) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-393) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-839) Chipmunk Mk 22 (c/n C1-205) |
G-BWTG G-BWVZ G-HAPY G-PVET G-BCYM G-BWVY G-ARMC G-BCGC G-DHCC G-BCPU G-AOJR |
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Remarks : Chipmunk T.10 (Mk 10) : de Havilland Gipsy Major 8 engined version for the Royal Air Force, 735 built. Chipmunk Mk 22 : T.10 converted for civilian use. Conversion also involves engine, the Gipsy Major 8 (military) replaced by a Gypsy Major 10 Mk 2 model (civil). Chipmunk Mk 22A : Mk 22 with fuel tank increased to 12 Imperial gallons per side instead of 9 Imperial gallons. |
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OO-F60 : Rainbow Aircraft Cheetah |
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OO-146 : VAN’s RV-7 |
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F-GAXB : Robin R2160 Alpha |
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| OO-VAD : Slingsby T67M | |
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| D-GVCC : Diamond DA42 | |
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OO-SPM : Stampe & Vertongen (SNCAN) SV4c |
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G-CBJJ : Scottish Aviation bulldog 120 |
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D-EJFG : Extra 300L |
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HB-KCG : Robin DR400/120 |
HB-COK : Cessna 170B |
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RA1428K : Yak52 |
RA3446K : Yak50 |
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N145PC : Cessna FR172J |
F-PAMD : Brügger MB2 |
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| Amazing plane...isn't it ? | |
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F-PDHV : Verhees Delta (c/n 01) |
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The Victors OO-VCU : Piper PA-28-161 OO-EBU : Piper PA-28-161
OO-VMY : Piper PA-28-161 |
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| Just nice shoots ! | |
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