de Havilland Dragon

de Havilland Dragon
DH.84 Dragon
Role Passenger and military transport / trainer
Manufacturer de Havilland
First flight 12 November 1932
Introduction April 1933
Number built 202

The de Havilland DH.84 Dragon was a successful small commercial aircraft designed and built by the de Havilland company.

Contents

Design and construction

Following the commercial success of its single-engined De Havilland Fox Moth that had first flown in March 1932, that aircraft's original commercial operator Hillman's Airways requested that a larger twin-engined version be built. It was a simple, light design with a plywood box fuselage using the same type of engine and similar outer wing sections of the earlier single-engined aircraft. It was originally designated the DH.84 "Dragon Moth" but marketed as the "Dragon." The prototype became the first production example and entered commercial service in April 1933. It could carry 6 passengers each with 45 lb (20 kg) of luggage on the London-Paris route on a fuel consumption of just 13 gal (49 l) per hour. The wing panels outboard of the engines could be folded for storage.[1]

Operational service

The inaugural service of the Irish Airline Aer Lingus was provided by a DH Dragon, EI-ABI "Iolar", which means "Eagle" in the Irish language. For the 50th anniversary of the airline in 1986, a replacement Dragon was acquired and restored as the "Iolar".

DH84 Dragon.jpg

The "Dragon" proved very attractive as a short-haul low capacity airliner and was soon in service worldwide. From the 63rd aircraft late in 1933, the "Dragon 2" with improvements including individually framed windows and faired undercarriage struts was produced. Even though these changes were largely cosmetic the streamlining improved the aircraft's speed by about 5 mph (8 km/h), allowed 250 lb (113 kg) more payload to be carried and added 85 mi (137 km) of range.

British production of the DH.84 ended at the 115th aircraft, when it was replaced on the assembly line by the more powerful and elegant De Havilland Dragon Rapide. However, during World War II the DH.84 was put back into production at Bankstown, Australia as a navigational trainer for the RAAF, being preferred to the Rapide because its smaller engines were then being manufactured locally for De Havilland Tiger Moth production. A further 87 were built.

Following the end of the War, surviving DH.84s were released into commercial service and a number are still flying today.

DH84 Dragon G-ECAN at Woburn Tiger Moth Rally 2007

Accidents and incidents

  • On 1 July 1935, G-ADED of Railway Air Services crashed on take-off from Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man injuring all seven people on board. The aircraft, which was operating a scheduled passenger flight from Ronaldsway to Ringway Airport, Manchester, Lancashire via Squires Gate Airport, Blackpool and Speke Airport, Liverpool, was destroyed in the subsequent fire.[2]

Variants

  • Dragon 1 : Twin-engined medium transport biplane.
  • Dragon 2 : Improved version. Fitted with framed cabin windows and two faired main undercarriage legs.
  • DH.84M Dragon : Military transport version. The DH.84M was armed with two machine guns, and it could carry up to sixteen 20 lb (9 kg) bombs. Exported to Denmark, Iraq and Portugal.

Operators

Military operators

 Australia
 Austria
 Brazil
 Denmark
 Ethiopia
 Iraq
  • Royal Iraqi Air Force - Eight DH.84M Dragons
 Ireland
 New Zealand
 Portugal
 South Africa
 Spain
 Turkey
 United Kingdom

Civil Operators

 Brazil
 Canada
 Egypt
  • Misrair
 Ireland
DH.84 Dragon 1 of Air Navigation & Trading (UK) in 1956
 New Zealand
 Turkey
  • Turkish Mapping Aviation
 United Kingdom
  • Air Navigation & Trading
  • Air Dispatch
  • Commercial Air Hire
  • Hillman's Airways
  • Railway Air Services
  • Scottish Motor Traction

Specifications (DH.84 Dragon 1)

Data from de Havilland Aircraft since 1909 [4]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one, pilot
  • Capacity: 6-10 passengers
  • Length: 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m)
  • Wingspan: 47 ft 4 in (14.43 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
  • Wing area: 376 ft² (34.9 m²)
  • Empty weight: 2,300 lb (1,045 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 4,200 lb (1,909 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2 × de Havilland Gipsy Major 1 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline, 130 hp (97 kW) each

Performance

See also

Related development

References

  1. ^ Jackson 1973, p. 122
  2. ^ Poole 1999, pp. 12-13.
  3. ^ a b c Hooks 2011, pp. 42-48.
  4. ^ Jackson 1987, p.334.
Bibliography
  • Hooks, Mike. "Civvies at War". Aeroplane (Cudham: Kelsey Publishing Group) (October 2011). 
  • Jackson, A.J. (1987). De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 (Third ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0 85177 802 X. 
  • A. J. Jackson (1988). British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972: Volume II (1988 ed.). London: Putnam (Conway Maritime Press).  ISBN 0-85177-813-5
  • Jackson, A.J. (1973). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2. London: Putnam. pp. 382. ISBN 0 370 10010 7. 
  • Poole, Stephen (1999). Rough Landing or Fatal Flight. Douglas: Amulree Publications. ISBN 1 901508 03 X. 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • De Havilland Dragon — Die de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon (englisch für Drachen) war ein kleines zweimotoriges Transportflugzeug des britischen Herstellers de Havilland Aircraft Company aus den 1930er Jahren. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Geschichte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • de Havilland Dragon — de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • De Havilland Dragon — infobox Aircraft name = DH.84 Dragon type = Passenger and military transport / trainer manufacturer = de Havilland caption = designer = first flight = 12 November 1932 introduction = April 1933 retired = status = primary user = more users =… …   Wikipedia

  • De Havilland Dragon — De Havilland DH.84 Dragon …   Википедия

  • de Havilland Dragon Rapide — DH.89 Dragon Rapide/Dominie Role Short haul airliner Manufacturer de Havilland …   Wikipedia

  • De Havilland Dragon Rapide — de Havilland D.H.89 Dragon Rapide …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • De Havilland Dragon Rapide — Infobox Aircraft name=DH.89 Dragon Rapide/Dominie caption= type=Short haul airliner manufacturer=de Havilland designer= first flight=17 April 1934introduced= retired= status= primary user=Royal Air Force more users= produced= number built=731… …   Wikipedia

  • De Havilland Dragon Rapide — De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide De Havilland Dragon Rapide …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Dragon Rapide — De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide De Havilland Dragon Rapide …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Dragon (disambiguation) — A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or otherwise reptilian traits. Dragon may also refer to: Contents 1 Literature 2 Music 3 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”