DH.87 Hornet Moth
1936 de Havilland DH.87B 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 is 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 manufacture 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 eighty years after production ceased.

Variants

The second Hornet Moth
ex-RAF 1936 de Havilland DH.87B Hornet Moth at Cotswold Airport, England, in 2018
DH.87B Hornet Moth G-AHBL, Kemble (2019)
  • 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
 Denmark[1]
 France
 India
 South Africa
 Spain
  Switzerland
 Turkey - TC-101

Military operators

 Portugal
 South Africa
 United Kingdom

Specifications (DH.87B)

1936 de Havilland DH87B Hornet Moth cockpit

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938,[2] De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 [3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: 1 passenger / trainee
  • Length: 24 ft 11.5 in (7.607 m)
  • Wingspan: 31 ft 11 in (9.73 m)
  • Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
  • Wing area: 244.5 sq ft (22.71 m2)
  • Airfoil: RAF 15[4]
  • Empty weight: 1,241 lb (563 kg)
  • Gross weight: 1,950 lb (885 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 35 imp gal (42 US gal; 159 L) fuel in fuselage tank; 2 imp gal (2 US gal; 9 L) oil in an air-cooled tank
  • Powerplant: 1 × de Havilland Gipsy Major I 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted in-line piston engine, 130 hp (97 kW)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 124 mph (200 km/h, 108 kn) at sea level
  • Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn) at 1,000 ft (305 m)
  • Stall speed: 40 mph (64 km/h, 35 kn)
  • Range: 620 mi (1,000 km, 540 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 14,800 ft (4,500 m)
  • Rate of climb: 690 ft/min (3.5 m/s)
  • Time to altitude: 5,000 ft (1,524 m) in 8 minutes 45 seconds
  • Wing loading: 7.97 lb/sq ft (38.9 kg/m2)
  • Power/mass: 0.067 hp/lb (0.110 kW/kg)

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Hitler's Savage Canary by David Lampe ISBN 978-1-84832-574-6 pg15
  2. ↑ Grey, C.G.; Bridgman, Leonard, eds. (1938). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. p. 31c.
  3. ↑ Jackson 1987, p.355.
  4. ↑ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

Bibliography

  • Comas, Matthieu (September–October 2020). "So British!: 1939–1940, les avions britanniques dans l'Armée de l'Air" [So British!: British Aircraft in the French Air Force 1939–1940]. Avions (in French) (236): 38–61. ISSN 1243-8650.
  • Jackson, A.J. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam, Third edition, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-802-X.
  • Follett, K. "Hornet flight", (translated in Italian "Il volo del calabrone", Mondadori Editore S.p.A., Milano, 2003 ISBN 88-04-54428-7) It's a fictitious novel, first printed in 2002, in which a hornet moth plays a key role in the story.
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