De Havilland Giant Moth

infobox Aircraft
name = DH.61 Giant Moth
type = Transport Biplane
manufacturer = De Havilland Aircraft Company


caption = puic|

designer =
first flight = 1927
introduced = 1928
retired =
produced =
number built = 10
status =
unit cost =
primary user =
more users =
developed from =
variants with their own articles = The de Havilland DH.61 Giant Moth was a 1920s British large single-engined biplane transport built by De Havilland Aircraft Company at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware.

History

Following the success of the de Havilland DH.50 in Australia the company was asked to design a larger replacement using a Bristol Jupiter engine. The cabin had room for up to 8 passengers with the pilot in an open cockpit behind the wings. The aircraft took only ten weeks to design and the prototype first flew in December 1927. Following test flights in England the aircraft was sent to De Havilland Aircraft Pty. in Melbourne, Australia. It first flew on 2 March 1928 and was used on scheduled services between Adelaide and Broken Hill by MacRobertson Miller Aviation. The prototype was originally called Canberra which was used as a type name until changed to Giant Moth.

Ten aircraft were built (including one in Canada built from components). Two aircraft for Canada were fitted with Short Brothers floats at Rochester before delivery to Western Canada Airlines Ltd. Three aircraft were used in Australia on air mail services by Australian Aerial Services Ltd and QANTAS. Another aircraft G-AAAN was bought by the Daily Mail to carry a photographer and his motorcycle around the United Kingdom, the aircraft would land at the nearest airfield to the story. This aircraft was also equipped with a dark room to enable the photographs to be developed on the return journey. One aircraft G-AAEV named "Youth of Britain" was used by Alan Cobham in an aviation promotional tour in 1929 of the United Kingdom. During the tour the aircraft carried 10,000 schoolchildren were given free trips.

Operators

*AUS
**Guinea Airways Ltd
**Holden Air Transport Ltd
**MacRobertson Miller Aviation Company Ltd
**QANTAS
**West Australian Airlines Ltd

*flag|Canada|1921
**London Air Transport Ltd
**Ontario Provincial Air Services
**Western Canada Airways Ltd

*UK
**Alan Cobham Aviation Ltd
**Associated Newspapers Ltd
**Imperial Airways Ltd
**National Flying Services Ltd

pecifications

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Fact|date=September 2008
crew=
length main= 39 ft 0 in
length alt= 11.89 m
span main= 52 ft 0 in
span alt= 15.85 m
height main= 13 ft 1 in
height alt= 3.99 m
area main= 613 ft²
area alt= 56.95 m²
empty weight main= 3,650 lb
empty weight alt= 1,656 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main= 7,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 3,175 kg
engine (prop)=Bristol Jupiter XI
type of prop= radial piston engine
number of props=1
power main=500 hp
power alt= 373 kw
max speed main= 132 mph
max speed alt= 212 km/h
range main= 450 miles
range alt= 724 km
ceiling main= 18,000 ft
ceiling alt= 5,485 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
armament=

References

*cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=
*cite book |last= Jackson|first= A.J.|authorlink= |coauthors= |title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2|year= 1973|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0 370 10107 X

External links

ee also

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