de Havilland Hornet Moth

For the twin-engined 1940s fighter, see de Havilland Hornet.

DH.87 Hornet Moth
1936 de Havilland DH87B Hornet Moth
Role	Trainer and Tourer
Manufacturer	de Havilland
First flight	9 May 1934
Status	still in operation
Primary user	private owner pilots
Produced	1935–1938
Number built	164

The de Havilland DH.87 Hornet Moth was a single-engined cabin biplane designed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1934 as a potential replacement for its highly successful de Havilland Tiger Moth trainer. Although its side-by-side two-seat cabin made it closer in configuration to the modern aircraft that military trainee pilots would later fly, there was no interest from the RAF and the aircraft was put into production for private buyers.

Design and development

DH.87A Hornet Moth retaining the original tapered wing design. Wetaskiwin, Alberta, June 1996

The prototype first flew at Hatfield on 9 May 1934 and, with two other pre-production aircraft, embarked on an extensive test program that resulted in the first production aircraft (designated DH.87A) completed in August 1935 having wings of greater outboard taper. These were found to cause problems, especially when landing in three-point attitude: there was a tendency for the tips to stall, causing embarrassment to the pilot and often damage to the aeroplane. From early 1936 de Havilland offered owners of the DH.87A replacement wings of the new squarer shape at a reduced price in exchange for the original wings. Designated DH.87B, new aircraft, from about Builder's Number 68, were built with the new square wings. This wing reduced the overall span by 8 inches (20 cm). The alterations slightly increased overall weight at some penalty to performance.

Production was 164 aircraft, of which 84 were placed on the British Register. Many were impressed for military service during World War II, mostly being used by the RAF as liaison aircraft.

Small numbers survived the war and with time became highly prized by vintage aircraft enthusiasts. A small number are still flying over seventy years after production ceased.

Variants

• DH.87 Hornet Moth : prototypes
• DH.87A Hornet Moth : production model
• DH.87B Hornet Moth : production model with wing modification

Operators

Civil charter operators and pilots 1935–2009

 United Kingdom

 Australia

 Austria

 Belgium

 Canada

 France

 India

 South Africa

 Spain

 Switzerland

Military operators

 Canada

• Royal Canadian Air Force

 Portugal

• Portuguese Air Force

 South Africa

• South African Air Force

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force (1940–1945)
  • No. 24 Squadron RAF
  • No. 49 Squadron RAF
  • No. 116 Squadron RAF
  • No. 510 Squadron RAF
  • No. 526 Squadron RAF
  • No. 527 Squadron RAF
  • No. 528 Squadron RAF
  • No. 529 Squadron RAF

Specifications (DH.87B)

1936 de Havilland DH87B Hornet Moth cockpit

Data from de Havilland Aircraft since 1909 ^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1, pilot
• Capacity: 1, passenger or trainee
• Length: 24 ft 11½ in (7.61 m)
• Wingspan: 31 ft 11 in (9.73 m)
• Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
• Wing area: 244.5 ft² (22.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,241 lb (564 kg)
• Loaded weight: 1,950 lb (886 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × de Havilland Gipsy Major I 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted straight engine, 130 hp (97 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 124 mph (108 kn, 200 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 105 mph (91 kn, 169 km/h)
• Range: 620 mi (539 nmi, 998 km)
• Service ceiling: 14,800 ft (4,500 m)
• Rate of climb: 690 ft/min (3.51 m/s)
• Wing loading: 7.97 lb/ft² (39.0 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.067 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)

In fiction

A Hornet Moth appears in Ken Follett's 2002 suspense novel Hornet Flight. It also appears in Jasper Fforde's 2005 mystery novel The Big Over Easyand Mark Ryan's The Hornet's Sting

References

Notes

1. ^ Jackson 1987, p.355.

Bibliography

• Jackson, A.J. de Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam, Third edition, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-802-X.

External links

• The de Havilland Moth Club