The DH.75 Hawk Moth was the first of a family of high-wing monoplane Moths, and was designed as a light transport or air-taxi for export. The aircraft had a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage and wooden wings. The Hawk Moth was first flown on 7 December 1928 from Stag Lane.[1] The first aircraft used a 200 hp (149 kW) de Havilland Ghost engine. This engine comprised two de Havilland Gipsys mounted on a common crankcase to form an air-cooled V-8.[1] With the Ghost, the aircraft was underpowered and a 240 hp (179 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Lynx radial engine was fitted to it and all but one production aircraft. Changes were also made to the structure including increased span and chord wings and the aircraft was redesignated the DH.75A.
In December 1929 the first aircraft was demonstrated in Canada with both wheel and ski undercarriage. Following trials with the second aircraft on floats, the Canadian government ordered three aircraft for civil use. The first Canadian aircraft (actually the first Hawk Moth) did not have doors on the port side and could therefore not be used as a floatplane, so it was used by the Controller of Civil Aircraft. Further tests were carried out by de Havilland Canada in 1930, and the second and third aircraft were cleared to use floats. With restrictions on payload when fitted with floats the Canadian aircraft were used only on skis or wheels. In an attempt to compete with American-designed aircraft, the eighth aircraft was produced as the DH.75B with a 300 hp (224 kW) Wright Whirlwind engine. Production was stopped and two aircraft were not completed.
Operational service
With three aircraft operating in Canada a further two were exported to Australia. One of the Australian aircraft, VH-UNW ex G-AAFX, was used by Amy Johnson to fly from Brisbane to Sydney in 1930 when her De Havilland MothJason was damaged. Major De Havilland later flew Miss Johnson to Perth in the aircraft, from where she returned to Britain by ship. VH-UNW was later sold to Hart Aircraft Service of Melbourne who used it mainly for joy flights. In February 1934 it was sold to Tasmanian Airways as the City of Hobart to run between Brighton, Tasmania and Launceston, Tasmania which it continued to do until it made a forced landing at Brighton on 10 January 1935 after a piston-rod failure, and the engine appears to have been found beyond repair. By mid-1936 the engine-less airframe had been sold to G. H. "Harry" Purvis who refitted it with a Wright Whirlwind engine and used it to conduct joy flights in New South Wales. It last flew for Connellan Airways of Alice Springs and was withdrawn from service in 1949.[2]
Variants
DH.75
Prototype with de Havilland Ghost V8 engine; one built, later re-engined.
Final production aircraft fitted with a 300 hp (224 kW) Wright R-975 Whirlwind radial engine; one built. DH.75A VH-UNW retrofitted to this standard in 1936.
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources De Havilland Hawk Moth news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message The de Havilland DH 75 Hawk Moth was a 1920s British four seat cabin monoplane built by de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware DH 75 Hawk MothRole Cabin monoplaneManufacturer de HavillandFirst flight 7 December 1928Number built 8 Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational service 3 Variants 4 Operators 5 Specifications D H 75A Landplane 6 See also 7 Notes 8 ReferencesDesign and development EditThe DH 75 Hawk Moth was the first of a family of high wing monoplane Moths and was designed as a light transport or air taxi for export The aircraft had a fabric covered steel tube fuselage and wooden wings The Hawk Moth was first flown on 7 December 1928 from Stag Lane 1 The first aircraft used a 200 hp 149 kW de Havilland Ghost engine This engine comprised two de Havilland Gipsys mounted on a common crankcase to form an air cooled V 8 1 With the Ghost the aircraft was underpowered and a 240 hp 179 kW Armstrong Siddeley Lynx radial engine was fitted to it and all but one production aircraft Changes were also made to the structure including increased span and chord wings and the aircraft was redesignated the DH 75A In December 1929 the first aircraft was demonstrated in Canada with both wheel and ski undercarriage Following trials with the second aircraft on floats the Canadian government ordered three aircraft for civil use The first Canadian aircraft actually the first Hawk Moth did not have doors on the port side and could therefore not be used as a floatplane so it was used by the Controller of Civil Aircraft Further tests were carried out by de Havilland Canada in 1930 and the second and third aircraft were cleared to use floats With restrictions on payload when fitted with floats the Canadian aircraft were used only on skis or wheels In an attempt to compete with American designed aircraft the eighth aircraft was produced as the DH 75B with a 300 hp 224 kW Wright Whirlwind engine Production was stopped and two aircraft were not completed Operational service EditWith three aircraft operating in Canada a further two were exported to Australia One of the Australian aircraft VH UNW ex G AAFX was used by Amy Johnson to fly from Brisbane to Sydney in 1930 when her De Havilland Moth Jason was damaged Major De Havilland later flew Miss Johnson to Perth in the aircraft from where she returned to Britain by ship VH UNW was later sold to Hart Aircraft Service of Melbourne who used it mainly for joy flights In February 1934 it was sold to Tasmanian Airways as the City of Hobart to run between Brighton Tasmania and Launceston Tasmania which it continued to do until it made a forced landing at Brighton on 10 January 1935 after a piston rod failure and the engine appears to have been found beyond repair By mid 1936 the engine less airframe had been sold to G H Harry Purvis who refitted it with a Wright Whirlwind engine and used it to conduct joy flights in New South Wales It last flew for Connellan Airways of Alice Springs and was withdrawn from service in 1949 2 Variants EditDH 75 Prototype with de Havilland Ghost V8 engine one built later re engined DH 75A Production version with Armstrong Siddeley Lynx VIA radial piston engine six built DH 75B Final production aircraft fitted with a 300 hp 224 kW Wright R 975 Whirlwind radial engine one built DH 75A VH UNW retrofitted to this standard in 1936 Operators Edit AustraliaRoyal Australian Air Force CanadaRoyal Canadian Air Force United KingdomRoyal Air ForceSpecifications D H 75A Landplane Edit De Havilland DH 75 3 view drawing from NACA Aircraft Circular No 91 Data from De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 3 General characteristicsCrew One Capacity Three passengers Length 28 ft 10 in 8 79 m Wingspan 47 ft 0 in 14 33 m Height 9 ft 4 in 2 84 m Wing area 334 sq ft 31 0 m2 Empty weight 2 380 lb 1 080 kg Max takeoff weight 3 650 lb 1 656 kg Powerplant 1 Armstrong Siddeley Lynx VIA radial engine 240 hp 180 kW Performance Maximum speed 127 mph 204 km h 110 kn Cruise speed 105 mph 169 km h 91 kn Range 560 mi 900 km 490 nmi Service ceiling 14 500 ft 4 400 m Rate of climb 710 ft min 3 6 m s See also EditList of de Havilland aircraftNotes Edit a b Jackson 1987 p 284 Launceston Examiner 11 May 1934 12 January 1935 28 November 1936 http www australianflying com au news the de havilland dh 75 hawk moth in australia Jackson 1987 p 288 References Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to De Havilland DH 75 Hawk Moth The De Havilland Hawk Moth Flight No 7 February 1929 7 February 1929 pp 93 98 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Part Work 1982 1985 Orbis Publishing Jackson A J 1973 British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2 London Putnam ISBN 0 370 10010 7 Jackson A J 1987 De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 Third ed London Putnam ISBN 0 85177 802 X http www australianflying com au news the de havilland dh 75 hawk moth in australia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title De Havilland Hawk Moth amp oldid 1012981566, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
