Noted warbird pilot Stephen Death has added the former Royal Air Force trainer to his hangar to display at airshows and teach his sons to fly.

Mr Death said pilots today usually trained on nose-wheel aircraft but with most World War II planes having tailwheels, the Chipmunk still had a significant role in training pilots to fly warbirds.

Chipmunks are still used by Britain’s historic flight organisations to keep their pilots current on tailwheel aircraft.

One of 735 Chipmunks used by the RAF, Mr Death’s plane saw service between 1952 and 1997 when the legendary Australian warbird restorer, the late Col Pay, imported it from Britain.

It was eventually sold to an enthusiast in Melbourne but following a minor landing accident was taken over by an insurance company which put it out to tender.

Designed by a Polish engineer for de Havilland in Canada, the Chipmunk first flew in 1946 and replaced the Tiger Moth as the RAF’s trainer.

The Duke of Edinburgh took his first flying lesson in a Chipmunk in 1952.

Fully aerobatic, it is not fast – it cruises at 160kmh – but it is a nimble machine with light controls that make it easy to fly, and a wide main undercarriage that gives it stability on the ground, especially in the take-off and landing rolls.

The frame is all metal with fabric covering the rudder, flaps and ailerons and the rear half of the wings.

The tandem cockpit, with pilot in front and passenger or instructor in the rear, is a snug fit.

The sliding, multi-panel Perspex canopy is typical of the British Chipmunks, with the rear panels bulged to give the instructor better visibility.

After RAF service many Chipmunks had civilian careers, being used for training, aerobatics and crop spraying.