IMPRESSMENTS
LOG V2 UK WW2 RAF DH.80 DH.82 DH.83 DH.84 DH.85 DH.86 DH.87 DH.89 DRAGON RAPIDE
DOMINIE
SOFTBOUND BOOK in ENGLISH by
PETER W. MOSS
DH.80 PUSS MOTH
DH.82 TIGER MOTH
DH.83 FOX MOTH
DH.84 DRAGON
DH.85 LEOPARD MOTH
DH.86
DH.87 HORNET MOTH
DH.89 DRAGON RAPIDE
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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s
biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air
Force (RAF) and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service
with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of
the surplus aircraft entered civil operation.
The Tiger Moth trainer prototype was derived from
the DH 60 de Havilland Gipsy Moth in response to Air Ministry specification
13/31 for an ab-initio training aircraft. The main change to the DH Moth series
was necessitated by a desire to improve access to the front cockpit since the
training requirement specified that the front seat occupant had to be able to
escape easily, especially when wearing a parachute. Access to the front cockpit
of the Moth predecessors was restricted by the proximity of the aircraft's fuel
tank directly above the front cockpit and the rear cabane struts for the upper
wing. The solution adopted was to shift the upper wing forward but sweep the
wings back to maintain the centre of lift. Other changes included a
strengthened structure, fold-down doors on both sides of the cockpit and a
revised exhaust system. It was powered by a de Havilland Gipsy III 120 hp
engine and first flew on 26 October 1931.
The RAF ordered 35 dual-control Tiger Moth Is
which had the company designation DH 82. A subsequent order was placed for 50
aircraft powered by the de Havilland Gipsy Major I engine (130 hp) which was
the DH 82A or to the RAF Tiger Moth II. The Tiger Moth entered service at the
RAF Central Flying School in February 1932. By the start of the Second World
War, the RAF had 500 of the aircraft in service and large numbers of civilian
Tiger Moths were impressed to meet the demand for trainers.
During a British production run of over 7,000
Tiger Moths, a total of 4,005 Tiger Moth IIs were built during the war
specifically for the RAF, nearly half being built by Morris Motors LImited at
Cowley, Oxford.
de Havilland Canada in Downsview manufactured
1,548 of all versions including the DH.82C and Menasco-engined variants known
as the Menasco Moth. The de Havilland Canada operation also built 200 Tiger
Moths to USAAF Lend-Lease orders, which were designated for paperwork purposes
as the PT-24 before being delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force. de
Havilland Australia assembled 20 aircraft from parts sent from the United
Kingdom before embarking on a major production campaign of their own of the
DH.82A, which resulted in a further 1,070 being built locally. Additionally, 23
were built in Sweden as the Sk.11 by AB Svenska Järnvägsverkstädernas
Aeroplanavdelning, 91 were built in Portugal by OGMA, 38 in Norway by Kjeller
Flyfabrikk (some sources say 37 so the first may have been assembled from a
kit) and 133 were built in New Zealand by de Havilland New Zealand in addition
to a large number of aircraft assembled from kits shipped from the UK.
DH.60T Moth Trainer/Tiger Moth: Military training
version of the De Havilland DH.60 Moth. First eight prototype DH.82
configuration aircraft were named Tiger Moth.
DH.82 Tiger Moth (Tiger Moth I): Two-seat primary
trainer aircraft. Powered by a 120 hp (89 kW) de Havilland Gipsy III piston
engine; renamed Tiger Moth I in RAF.
DH.82A Tiger Moth (Tiger Moth II): Two-seat
primary trainer aircraft. Powered by a 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major
piston engine and fitted with a hood over the rear cockpit for blind flying
instruction. Named Tiger Moth II in RAF.
DH.82B Tiger Moth III: Improved variant with a de
Havilland Gipsy Major III engine, it had a wider fuselage and larger fin. First
flown on 1 October 1939 only one was built. In some references the designation
is erroneously applied to the Queen Bee.
DH.82C Tiger Moth: Cold weather operations version
for the RCAF. Fitted with sliding perspex canopies, cockpit heating, brakes,
tail wheels and metal struts. Wheels were moved forwards by 9.75" to
compensate for the installation of brakes by changing the angle of the
undercarriage legs. Powered by a 145 hp (108 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major
piston engine. 1,523 built (including Menasco Moths and PT-24).
DH.82C-2 Menasco Moth I: DH.82C fitted with
Menasco D.4 Super Pirate 125 hp inline inverted 4-cylinder engine due to
shortages of Gipsy Major engines. Because of the reduction in power, they were
used primarily as radio trainers. Externally distinguishable from 82C by
opposite rotation of propeller and reversal of the cowling openings. 10 built.
DH.82C-4 Menasco Moth II: As DH.82C-2 but with
reduced fuel capacity and further detail alterations. One example survives and
is on display at Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. 125 built.
DH.82C-4 Menasco Moth III: Fitted with American
AT-1/AR-2 radio and intended as a radio trainer from outset but project
cancelled when shortages of British radios and engines was resolved. The sole
example, RCAF 4934 was converted from Menasco Moth II.
DH.82 Queen Bee: Unmanned radio-controlled target
drone that used Tiger Moth wings and for economy a wooden fuselage based on
that of the DH.60 Moth (but with the structural changes associated with the
cabane struts having been relocated as per the standard Tiger Moth) was used.
The Queen Bee was intended to be operated from either floats or wheels.
PT-24 Moth: United States military designation for
the DH.82C ordered for Lend-Lease to the Royal Canadian Air Force; 200 were
built by de Havilland Canada.
Thruxton Jackaroo: Four-seat cabin biplane,
modified from existing DH.82A airframes by widening the gap between the
fuselage longerons. 19 were converted in the United Kingdom.
DH.83 Fox Moth: Used many Tiger Moth components
including wings (rerigged to remove sweep), tail and undercarriage with a new
fuselage featuring an enclosed cabin for the passengers, and an open cockpit
for the pilot. Built in both the United Kingdom before the Second World War and
in Canada after the war.
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Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
The de Havilland DH.80A Puss
Moth is a British three-seater high-wing monoplane aeroplane designed and built
by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1929 and 1933. It flew at a speed
approaching 124 mph (200 km/h), making it one of the highest-performance
private aircraft of its era.
The unnamed DH.80 prototype
which first flew in September 1929 was designed for the flourishing private
flying movement in the United Kingdom. It was a streamlined all-wooden aircraft
fitted with the new de Havilland Gipsy III inverted inline engine that gave
unimpeded vision across the nose without the protruding cylinder heads of the
earlier Gipsy II engine.
After the prototype was tested,
the aircraft was redesigned with a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage and as
such redesignated the DH.80A Puss Moth. The first production aircraft flew in
March 1930 and was promptly sent on a sales tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Orders came quickly, and in the three years of production ending in March 1933,
259 were manufactured in England. An additional 25 aircraft were built by de
Havilland Canada. Most were fitted with the 130 hp (97 kW) Gipsy Major engine
that gave slightly better performance.
The Puss Moth was replaced on
the production line by the de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth that, with a plywood
fuselage, was both cheaper to build, and lighter weight. Being lighter, the
Leopard Moth had better performance on the same rather modest 130 hp (97 kW) Gipsy
Major engine.
Early in its career, the DH.80A
was plagued by a series of fatal crashes, the most famous being to Australian
aviator Bert Hinkler while crossing the Alps in CF-APK on 7 January 1933. The
cause was eventually pinned down to "flutter" caused by turbulence
leading to wing failure – this was corrected by stiffening the front strut with
a jury strut to the rear wing root fitting. One aircraft took part in the
Challenge 1934 European tourist plane contest, but dropped out because of an
engine fault on one of the last stages.
Most DH.80As were used as
private aircraft, though many also flew commercially with small air charter
firms for passenger and mail carrying. Seating was normally two although in
commercial use two passengers could be carried in slightly staggered seats with
the rear passenger's legs beside the forward passenger seat. The wings folded
backwards for storage, pivoting on the rear spar root fitting and the V-strut
root fitting, a system used on other De Havilland light airplanes of the
period.
Surviving British civilian
aircraft were impressed into service during the Second World War to act as
communication aircraft. A few survive into the early 21st century.
During the early 1930s, DH.80s
were used for a number of record breaking flights. In early 1931, Nevill
Vintcent made the first flight from England to Ceylon in G-AAXJ. In July–August
1931 Amy Johnson made an eight-day flight with her co-pilot, Jack Humphreys, to
Moscow and Tokyo in G-AAZV, named "Jason II", completing the leg to
Moscow in one day. Late in 1931, the Australian Bert Hinkler piloted a
Canadian-built CF-APK on a series of important flights including New York
City-Jamaica, Jamaica to Venezuela, and a 22-hour, west-east crossing of the
South Atlantic, only the second solo transatlantic crossing.
In November 1931, the
19-year-old Peggy Salaman set out in G-ABEH named "Good Hope", to
beat the record for the flight from London to Cape Town. She succeeded in
arriving in Cape Town at 5.40 a.m. with Gordon Store, her co-pilot and
navigator, beating the previous record set up by Glen Kidston by more than one
day.
Most famous of the record
breaking Puss Moths was Jim Mollison's G-ABXY, "The Heart's Content"
which completed the first solo east-west Atlantic crossing in August 1932 from
Portmarnock Strand near Dublin to New Brunswick, Canada and the first east-west
crossing of the South Atlantic from Lympne Aerodrome to Natal, Brazil in
February 1933. His wife, Amy Johnson, made record flights between England and Cape
Town using G-ACAB, "Desert Cloud" in 1932. C. J. Melrose flew VH-UQO,
named "My Hildegarde" in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race. They
finished overall seventh and second on handicap in a time of 10 days 16 hours.
On 5 May 1931, English aviator
Glen Kidston was killed when his Puss Moth broke up in mid-air while flying
through a dust storm over the Drakensberg escarpment of South Africa.[5]
On 18 September 1932, Puss Moth
VH-UPM of New England Airways crashed at Byron Bay, New South Wales, while
travelling from Sydney to Brisbane. Three people were killed, including World
War I fighter ace Les Holden (travelling as a passenger).
On 19 January 1937, Puss Moth
VH-UPQ of North Queensland Airways crashed into the sea on approach to Cairns,
Queensland, en route from Cooktown. One person was killed and two badly
injured.
On 27 August 1941, an Air Lines
of Australia Puss Moth crashed in the Coen River near Coen, Queensland, while
flying from Thursday Island to Cairns. Three people were killed, including
former Australian senator Charles Hardy.
On 20 July 1936 a Puss Moth
crashed on takeoff at La Marina Boca do Inferno near Cascaes in Portugal
killing General Jose Sanjurjo Sacanell who was travelling to Spain to assume
command of the Nationalists in the civil war. The pilot, Spanish playboy and
aviator Juan Antonio Ansaldo, survived the crash.
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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide was a 1930s British short-haul
biplane airliner for 6 - 8 passengers. It proved an economical and durable
craft, despite its relatively primitive plywood construction. In late 1933, the Dragon Rapide was designed
at the de Havilland company as a faster and more comfortable successor to the
DH.84 Dragon. It was in effect a twin-engined, scaled-down version of the
four-engined DH.86 Express. It shared many common features with the DH.86
Express, including its tapered wings, streamlined fairings and the Gipsy Six
engine, but it demonstrated none of the operational vices of the DH.86 Express,
and went on to become perhaps the most successful British-built short-haul
commercial passenger aircraft of the 1930s.
On 17 April 1934,
the prototype aircraft first flew at Hatfield. 205 craft were built for
airlines and other owners all around the world before the outbreak of World War
II. Originally designated the "Dragon Six" it was first marketed as
"Dragon Rapide", although later it was popularly referred to as the
"Rapide". From 1936, with the fitting of improved trailing edge
flaps, they were redesignated DH.89As.
In the summer of
1934, the type entered service with UK-based airlines, with Hillman Airways Ltd
being first to take delivery in July. From August 1934, Railway Air Services
(RAS) operated a fleet of Dragon Rapides on routes linking London, the north of
England and on to Northern Ireland and Scotland. The RAS DH.89s were named
after places on the network, for example "Star of Lancashire".
Isle of Man Air
Services operated a fleet of Rapides on scheduled services from Ronaldsway
Airport near Castletown to airports in north-west England including Blackpool,
Liverpool and Manchester. Some of its aircraft had been transferred to it after
operation by Railway Air Services.
One famous
incident was in July 1936 when two British MI6 intelligence agents, Cecil Bebb
and Major Hugh Pollard, flew Francisco Franco in Dragon Rapide G-ACYR from the
Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco, at the start of the military rebellion which
began the Spanish Civil War. It is on display in the Museo del Aire, Madrid.
At the start of
World War II, many (Dragon) Rapides were impressed by the British armed forces
and served under the name de Havilland
Dominie. They were used for passenger and communications duties. Over
500 further craft were built specifically for military purposes, powered by
improved Gipsy Queen engines, to bring total production to 731. The Dominies
were mainly used by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy for radio and navigation
training. Postwar they were used as communications aircraft by Royal Naval air
station flights.
Other civilian
Dragon Rapides continued to fly for UK airlines as part of the Associated Airways Joint Committee
(AAJC). The AAJC co-ordinated the UKs wartime scheduled services which were
entirely operated on over-water routes.
After the war,
many ex-RAF survivors entered commercial service; in 1958, 81 examples were
still flying on the British register. Dominie production was by both de
Havilland and Brush Coachworks Ltd, the latter making the greater proportion.
