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“A trainer in a great tradition”, said de Havilland Canada in a 1946 brochure, and so it proved to be
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The Chipmunk has its origins at the Downsview, Toronto, offices of the de Havilland Canada Aircraft Company (DHC), established in 1928. As the Second World War ended, the British parent firm recognised that the stalwart Tiger Moth, having been training pilots for nearly a decade-and-a-half, was becoming long-in-thetooth and would soon require replacement. However, its design capability was heavily invested at the time in development and production of the Vampire, Venom, Dove and Comet.
As early as 1943, drawings of a bush-plane — at the time the predominant DHC thinking — and a trainer could be found in the office of DHC’s chief engineer, Wsiewołod Jakimiuk. History has it that Francis St Barbe, one of the UK firm’s directors, saw the model of the trainer during a visit to Downsview and stated, “If you can make a good trainer, I will sell it.”
An internal memorandum from W. Doug Hunter, DHC’s director of engineering, on 26 November 1945 sets the scene, making clear the importance to DHC of achieving production within a very tight timescale. “It is hoped”, he began, …
