An Afternoon Of Nostalgia.

I have begun to construct another Airfix Kit today; a model of an aircraft that not only has a strong design lineage, but one that holds a special place in my heart.

The Chipmunk first flew in May 1946, designed by Polish engineer Wsiewo?od Jakimiuk for De Havilland Aircraft of Canada and intended as replacement trainer for the venerable Tiger Moth. The Royal Air Force later received the Chipmunk for Reserve Flying and University Air Squadrons.

It was as a cadet in the Air Training Corps in the 1980s that I encountered this dependable and robust aircraft flying out of No.9 AEF based at RAF Turnhouse. A flight usually lasted nearly half-an-hour: one could experience aerobatics, or take control of the plane for a few maneuvers amongst the clouds.

It's the closest I will ever get to flying in one of the great Second World War-era monoplanes like the Spitfire and the Hurricane - feeling the freedom of the sky in a manner best described by director David Lean in an aerobatic sequence at the beginning of his 1952 film, The Sound Barrier.