Chilton D.W.1
Chilton Aircraft · United Kingdom · first flew 1937 · light aircraft
The Chilton D.W.1 is a British light sporting monoplane designed and built in the late 1930s by Chilton Aircraft at Hungerford, Berkshire.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 5.33 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Small low-wing wooden monoplane with an aerodynamically clean airframe
- Undercarriage enclosed in trouser fairings
- Trailing-edge split flaps on the wing
A tiny single-seat low-wing sports monoplane with trousered wheels and a cabin top that could be fitted.
Specifications
- The Chilton D.W.1 has a length of 5.33 m (17 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 7.32 m (24 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 180 km/h (112 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
It was built in early 1937 on the Chilton Lodge estate by two former de Havilland Technical School students, Andrew Dalrymple and A.R. Ward. The aim was a cheap aircraft with exceptional performance on low power, and its all-wood airframe had a plywood skin. The prototype was first flown in April 1937 by Ranald Porteous.
Variants
The first three aircraft used the 32 hp Carden-Ford car engine. Several postwar amateur-built examples used engines such as the Walter Mikron and Lycoming O-145.
Where you'll see it
Four were built before the war and all survived it. In 1947 a D.W.1A set a 100 km closed-circuit record at 124.5 mph, and in 1951 one won the Daily Express air race at Shoreham.
Related aircraft
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