On 14 August at Goodwood aerodrome, West Sussex, retired Gp Capt Philip Pinney was reunited with de Havilland Canada Chipmunk T10 WP903, in which he taught HRH Prince Charles to fly during 1968-69. Now based at Old Warden and registered G-BCGC to the Henlow Chipmunk Group, it had made its last RAF sortie with Philip at the controls, this being a 60-minute delivery flight from Benson on 10 October 1969 after being transferred from the Queen’s Flight to the storage facility at Shawbury.
Philip, who was a squadron leader during 1968, remembers, “HRH the Prince of Wales flew 101 sorties in WP903. The first four were flown at RAF Tangmere on 30 July and 1, 2 and 3 August 1968, and on the following day we flew from Tangmere to RAF Benson.
“I was HRH’s flying instructor on the Chipmunk and Basset for the first two-and-a-half years of his time at university. Most of his flying training was flown from RAF Oakington near Cambridge. I sent him off on his first solo in WP903 on 14 January 1969 at RAF Bassingbourn, the Oakington crosswind being above solo limits that day. Most of his other solo flights on the Chipmunk and Basset were flown at these two airfields during his time at Cambridge. He also flew solo sorties at RAF Aberporth dur…
