DH 89 Dragon Rapide @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
    de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
  • DH.89 Dominie DH.89 Dominie
    DH.89 Dominie
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    de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
  • Dragon Rapide - 1938 Dragon Rapide - 1938
    Dragon Rapide - 1938
  • DH.89 Dragon Rapide - 2005 DH.89 Dragon Rapide - 2005
    DH.89 Dragon Rapide - 2005
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    de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
  • de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
    de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
  • de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
    de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
  • DH.89 Dominie DH.89 Dominie
    DH.89 Dominie
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    de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
  • de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide ca1935 de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide ca1935
    de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide ca1935
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    de Havilland DH.89
  • de Havilland DH.89 - Ringway 1939 de Havilland DH.89 - Ringway 1939
    de Havilland DH.89 - Ringway 1939
  • DH.89A Dominie - 1955 DH.89A Dominie - 1955
    DH.89A Dominie - 1955
  • de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
    de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
  • de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
    de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
  • de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
    de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide
  • DH.89 Dominie DH.89 Dominie
    DH.89 Dominie

de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide & Dominie

The DH.89 was a British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s. Designed late in 1933 as a faster and more comfortable successor to the DH.84 Dragon, it was in effect a twin-engined, scaled-down version of the four-engined DH.86 Express. It shared many common features with the larger aircraft including its tapered wings, streamlined farings and the Gipsy Six engine, but it demonstrated none of the operational vices of the larger aircraft and went on to become perhaps the most successful British-built commercial passenger aircraft of the 30s.

The prototype first flew on 17 April 1934 and 205 were built for owners all around the world before the outbreak of World War II. Originally designated the "Dragon Six" it was first marketed as "Dragon Rapide" although was later just called a "Rapide". With the fitting of improved trailing edge flaps from 1936 they were redesignated DH.89A.

One famous incident involving the use of a DH.89 was in July 1936 when British MI6 intelligence agent, Hugh Pollard, flew Francisco Franco in one from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco, at the start of the military rebellion which began the Spanish Civil War.

At the start of World War II many (Dragon) Rapides were impressed by the British armed forces and served under the name de Havilland Dominie. They were used for passengers duties and radio navigation training. Over 500 more were built specifically for military purposes, powered by improved Gipsy Queen engines, to bring total production to 731. Many survivors entered commercial service after the war, and 81 were still flying on the British register in 1958. Dominie production was by both de Havilland and Brush Coachworks Ltd, the latter making the greater proportion.

The DH.89 proved a very durable aircraft despite its relatively primitive plywood construction and many were still flying in the early 2000s.

Seafarer - Trail of the Caribou

On August 8, 1934, the first successful overseas flight from Canada took off from Wasaga's long, straight beach, which served as the perfect, natural runway. The momentous event had its roots in an unsuccessful attempt that had been made the year before.

In 1933, the British air ace Captain James Mollison and his wife, Amy Johnson, came to Wasaga Beach with their plane, called Seafarer II. Their hope was to break the world's long distance flying record of 5,657 miles, which had been set by two French pilots in 1933. They planned to fly to Baghdad, a distance of about 6,300 miles.

The presence of the Mollisons and their plane, along with several experts from the De Havilland Aircraft Company, caused great excitement at Wasaga and, when the day of the great attempt dawned, almost everyone turned out to watch. The crowd was doomed to disappointment. There was a heavy crosswind blowing which foiled two attempts to get the plane into the air. On the third attempt, the plane became airborne but then touched down again, buckling its undercarriage and crippling the plane. No one was hurt, but the mishap ended any attempt at flight that summer. The next year, Wasaga residents heard that two Canadians, James Ayling and Leonard Reid, had bought the Mollisons' plane and intended to attempt the same flight that August. They had renamed the plane "Trail of the Caribou".

Some four miles of the beach was leveled with all large stones and wood from the previous winter's storms removed. Finally, it was August 8th and the take-off run started at 0612. As with the Mollisons flight attempt the year before, strong crosswinds still prevailed and take-off was precarious to say the least. The plane ran for about a mile before it slowly rose into the air, and after a wide sweep across Georgian Bay to gain altitude, it flew back over the people on the beach as it headed east.

From the start, Ayling and Reid experienced trouble setting the engine throttles to run the aircraft at economical cruising speed. Although, once set, the engines ran with no difficulty. On the first leg of the journey, they had the benefit of a tail wind. On the eastern part of the Atlantic, they ran into a heavy fog bank, which forced them to fly blind for some 8 hours, before they sighted the Atlantic through breaks in the fog. While climbing out of the fog banks, they experienced carburetor icing on both engines. this caused the engines to operate with throttles frozen open, thus increasing fuel consumption from some 10 gallons per hour to 17-18 gallons per hour. Ayling and Reid were very much aware that their fuel supply was rapidly diminishing. They recognized that the record could not be made and decided to settle for being the first airmen to fly non-stop from Canada to Britain.

Some 24 hours after leaving Wasaga Beach, they sighted Ireland. Although held back by head winds and far behind their estimated arrival time, they were particularly pleased to note that they were almost exactly on the course they had plotted for the flight. No doubt an excellent achievement, considering they were forced to fly the aircraft blind for a major portion of the trip across the Atlantic. They arrived over England with 200 gallons of fuel on board and decided to land at Heston Airport, 30 hours 55 minutes after taking off from Wasaga Beach. The flight had been unsuccessful in its record-breaking attempt for the world's no-stop distance in an aircraft. However, it was successful in establishing the first flight between Canada and Britain.

Variants

  • D.H.89 Dragon Six : Prototype.
  • D.H.89 : Twin engined light transport biplane. First production version.
  • D.H.89A : Improved version, fitted with a landing light in the nose, modified wingtips and cabin heating.
  • D.H.89A Mk.4 : One D.H. 89A aircraft, powered by two de Havilland Gipsy Queen 2 piston engines, fitted with constant speed propellers.
  • D.H.89A Mk.5 : One D.H.89A aircraft, powered by two de Havilland Gipsy Queen 3 piston engines, fitted with variable-pitch propellers.
  • D.H.89A Mk.6 : One D.H.89A aircraft fitted with Fairey X5 fixed-pitch propellers.
  • D.H.89M : Military transport version. Exported to Lithuania and Spain.
  • D.H. 89B Dominie Mk.I : Radio and navigation training version.
  • D.H. 89 B Dominie Mk.II : Communications and transport version.

Civil Operators

  • Australia : Australian National Airways.
  • Canada : Canadian Pacific, Quebec Airways.
  • Finland : Aero Oy operated two aircraft.
  • Ireland : Aer Lingus.
  • India : Air India, Indian National Airways, Tata Airlines.
  • Malaysia : Borneo Airways.
  • Netherlands : K.L.M.
  • New Zealand : National Airways Corporation, Union Airways of N.Z. Ltd.
  • United Kingdom : Air Atlantique Classic Flight, British European Airways, Classic Wings, Scottish Airways, Trans European Aviation, Crilly Airways Ltd, Hillmans Airways, Olley Air Services, Railway Air Services.

Military operators

  • Australia : Royal Australian Air Force.
  • Finland : Finnish Air Force.
  • Nazi Germany : Luftwaffe operated captured aircraft.
  • Iran : Imperial Iranian Air Force.
  • Israel : Israeli Air Force.
  • Lithuania : Lithuanian Air Force operated two D.H.89M aircraft.
  • New Zealand : Royal New Zealand Air Force.
  • South Africa : South African Air Force.
  • Spain : Spanish Air Force operated three D.H.89M.
  • United Kingdom : Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm.
  • United States : United States Army Air Force.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article De Havilland Dragon Rapide of Wikipedia ( authors )

Specifications (Dragon Rapide)

  • Crew : 1.
  • Capacity : 8 passengers.
  • Length : 34 ft 6 in (10.5 m).
  • Height : 10 ft 3 in (3 m).
  • Wingspan : 48 ft (14.6 m).
  • Wing area : 340 ft² (32 m²).
  • Wing loading : 16 lb/ft² (79 kg/m²).
  • Empty weight : 3,230 lb (1,460 kg).
  • Loaded weight : 5,500 lb (2,500 kg).
  • Maximum speed : 157 mph (136 knots, 253 km/h) at 1,000 ft (300 m).
  • Range : 573 mi (498 nm, 920 km).
  • Service ceiling : 16,700 ft (5,100 m).
  • Rate of climb : 867 ft/min (4.3 m/s).
  • Powerplant : Two de Havilland Gipsy Six inline engine.
  • Power : 200 hp (150 kW) each.
  • Power/mass : 0.036 hp/lb (60 W/kg).

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article De Havilland Dragon Rapide of Wikipedia ( authors )
de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide & Dominie : Your comments on this subject
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