- De Havilland DH.18
infobox Aircraft
name = DH.18
type = Airliner
manufacturer =Airco
caption =
designer =Geoffrey de Havilland
first flight = 1920
introduced = 1920
retired = 1923
status =
primary user =Aircraft Transport and Travel
more users = Daimler Hire LtdInstone Air Line
produced = 1919-1921
number built = 6
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =The de Havilland DH.18 was a single engined British
biplane transport aircraft of the 1920s built byde Havilland .Design and development
The DH.18 was designed and built in 1919 by
Airco as their first aircraft specifically for commercial work, earlier aircraft such as the DH.16 being modified military types. The DH.18 was a single engined biplane, powered by aNapier Lion engine with wooden two bay, wire braced wings, and a forwardfuselage clad inplywood . It accommodated eight passengers in an enclosed cabin with the pilot in an opencockpit behind the cabin. The first prototype flew early in 1920Donald, David, ed. "The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft" (London: Aerospace Publishing, 1997), p.311-312.] .Operational history
The first DH.18 was delivered to
Aircraft Transport and Travel for use on the Croyden-Paris service, but was wrecked in a forced landing shortly after takeoff from Croyden on16 August 1920 .Jackson, A.J. "British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2". London: Putnam, 1973. ISBN 0-370-10107-X.] Two more aircraft were under construction by Airco for Aircraft Transport and Travel when thebankrupt Airco was purchased by BSA, who did not wish to continue aircraft development or production.Geoffrey de Havilland , the chief designer of Airco then set up the de Havilland Aircraft Company, completing the two partly completed aircraft as DH.18As, with improved engine mountings andundercarriage s.Aircraft Transport and Travel closed down in early 1921, due to competition from subsidised French airlines. In March 1921, the British government granted temporary subsidies for airline services, [cite web |url= http://www.bamuseum.com/museumhistory20-30.html|title= British Airways Museum Collection 1920-30|accessdate=2007-06-17 ] with the Air Council purchasing a number of modern commercial aircraft for leasing to approved firms. The three ex-A.T.&T. DH.18s were purchased in this way and leased to
Instone Air Line s. A further DH.18A was built to Air Council order, as were two modified DH.18B, which had fuselages that were entirely plywood clad and had built in emergency exits.The DH.18s were kept busy flying on continental air services for Instone, building up high flying hours. One aircraft, "G-EAWO", was transferred to Daimler Hire Ltd for operation on the Croyden-Paris route until the
De Havilland DH.34 s which it had on order could be delivered. However, on4 April 1922, two days after Daimler commenced operations with the aircraft, it collided with a Farman Goliath over Northern France, 60 miles (100 km) north ofParis , killing seven people, the first mid-air collision between airliners. [cite web
url=http://www.eurocontrol.int/ra-downlink/gallery/content/public/library/Review_of_ACAS_RA_Downlink_ver_10.pdf
title= Review Of ACAS RA Downlink, An assessment of the technical feasibility and operational usefulness of providing ACAS RA awareness on CWP|accessdate=2007-06-17 |format= pdf|page=20]The DH.18 was retired from commercial service in 1923, with one aircraft, "G-EARO", having flown 90,000 miles (144,834 km) without accident. Two aircraft were used for test purposes, with one the subject of an
Air Ministry experiment on how long an aircraft could stay afloat after being ditched, being deliberately landed on water offFelixstowe on2 May 1924 , floating for 25 minutes. The other remaining aircraft was used for test purposes at RAE Farnborough until 1927, when it was scrapped.Variants
;DH.18: Prototype - registered "G-EARI".;DH.18A: Initial production version - modified undercarriages and engine mountings. Three built - ("G-EARO", "G-EAUF", "G-EAWO").;DH.18B: Plywood covered fuselage and increased weights. Two built - ("G-EAWW" and "G-EAWX").
Operators
;UK
*Aircraft Transport and Travel
*Instone Air Line
*Daimler Hire Ltd
*Handley Page Transport pecifications (DH.18A)
ee also
aircontent
related=
*De Havilland DH.16
*De Havilland DH.34
*De Havilland DH.54 similar aircraft=
*Vickers Vulcan
*BAT FK.26
*Westland Limousine
*Bristol Ten-seater "10 seater"
*Martinsyde F6 "Buzzard"
*Sopwith Antelope
*Sopwith Wallaby lists=*
List of aircraft
see also=References
External links
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=858 British Aircraft Directory]
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