The Airpower Museum in Blakesburg, Iowa, has added DHC Super Chipmunk N6311V to its collection.
The two-seat aerobatic trainer was designed to be the first monoplane to represent the US in world aerobatic competition. It was flown by World War Two veteran and aerobatic champion Harold Krier who was instrumental in adapting the original Chipmunk design to achieve this goal. As well as lengthening the ailerons and redesigning the tail, he strengthened the airframe and installed a 200hp (149kW) Ranger engine.
The museum received the aircraft from display pilots Todd and Jo Peterson of El Dorado, Kansas. It will eventually be put on display alongside Frank Price’s Great Lakes biplane, a US entrant in the first Modern World Aerobatic Contest, held in 1960. The Great Lakes, donated in 1984 by test pilot Mel Barron, can currently be seen in the attraction’s main hangar, and is the subject of a return-to-flight fundraising campaign. WITH THANKS TO PAUL BERGE AND BRENT TAYLOR
