The Airco DH.5 was a British
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
single-seat
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
. It was designed and manufactured at British aviation company
Airco
The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the wor ...
. Development was led by aircraft designer
Geoffrey de Havilland
Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. The aircraft company he founded produced the Mosquito, which has been considered the most versatile warplane ever built,D ...
as a replacement for the obsolete
Airco DH.2.
The DH.5 was one of the first British fighters designed with the improved
Constantinesco gun synchronizer, which allowed a forward-firing
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
to fire through the
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
faster and more reliably than the older mechanical systems. It was also one of the earliest biplanes with a marked "back-stagger" of its wings. By the time the DH.5 was fielded, it was already inferior to other fighters in service and thus both unpopular and unsatisfactory with the pilots of the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
(RFC). The type was quickly withdrawn from service once supplies of the
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 permitted.
Design and development
Origins
Shortly after completing work upon the twin-seat
Airco DH.4
The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918.
Ai ...
light bomber
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance.
The earliest light bombers were intended to dro ...
,
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Geoffrey de Havilland
Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. The aircraft company he founded produced the Mosquito, which has been considered the most versatile warplane ever built,D ...
commenced work on a new single-seat
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
to replace the obsolete
Airco DH.2 fighter, which was designated at the ''DH.5''.
[Bruce 1966, p. 3.] The design sought to combine the superior performance of a
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
biplane with the excellent forward visibility of a
pusher type. The resultant aircraft was a relatively compact single-bay
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
, and while the construction was that of a conventional tractor biplane, the mainplanes were given of backward stagger, so that the lower wing was forward of the upper wing.
[Jackson 1962, p. 49.] This configuration enabled the pilot to be positioned underneath the
leading edge
The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...
of the wing, providing uninterrupted forward and upward views, a configuration that has been described as radical, for the era.
The first prototype underwent manufacturer's trials at
Hendon Aerodrome
Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968.
It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...
in late 1916.
It was powered by a single
Le Rhône 9Ja rotary engine
The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...
, which drove a two-blade
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
. The fuselage had flat sides aft of the wings and featured short fairings either side of the circular engine cowling. Towards the rear of the airframe, the fuselage tapered to a vertical rudder post at the tail, which comprised a small fin and horn-balanced
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...
arrangement.
The equal-span single-bay wings were outfitted with large
aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
s on both the upper and lower mainplanes, while a
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
bungee cord attached to the upper ailerons returned them to their standard position. At an early stage, the prototype was fitted with a small hemispherical spinner.
As the pilot was seated forward of the centre of gravity, the main fuel tank was behind the cockpit, below the oil tank. An auxiliary gravity fuel tank was fitted over the top mainplane, offset to the right.
Into flight
Test flights determined that it lacked sufficient directional control, which led to an enlarged fin and rudder being adopted.
Early on, the first prototype had been flown unarmed. Around the same time as the revised tail unit was installed, it was also armed in preparation for official trials.
The prototype armament installation comprised a single forward-firing
Vickers machine gun
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...
, which was either fixed to fire upward at an angle or possibly mounted so that its elevation could be adjusted in flight. In the production installation the gun was given a more conventional fixed mounting on top of the
cowl
A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks.
Originally it may have referred simply to the hooded portion of a cloak. In contemporary usage, however, it is distinguished from a clo ...
, offset to the left, to fire in the line of flight.
[Bruce 1965, p. 129.][Lamberton 1960, p. 42.] The DH.5 may have been designed with the intention of attacking enemy planes from below, but its limited operational ceiling in comparison to contemporaries would have made this infeasible.
On 9 December 1916, the DH.5 prototype commenced service trials at the
Central Flying School
The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at R ...
.
The official report from the observations of its pilots was largely favourable, stating that it possessed satisfactory stability and controllability, its favourable qualities for reconnaissance and agility, but also noted a poor view to the rear.
[Bruce 1966, pp. 3-4.] The type's speed was a significant advance over its DH.2 predecessor, but existing fighters already exceeded its capabilities, especially in climb. Performance may have been reduced by an alternative four-bladed propeller fitted during testing.
[Bruce 1966, p. 4.]
Production
By the time trials commenced in France, significantly more capable types such as the
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...
and the
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 were not far behind. The performance of the new fighter was also inferior to the earlier
Sopwith Pup
The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristi ...
. The provision of a single machine gun at a time when most fighters carried two also meant the aircraft was under-armed for 1917. Nevertheless, on 15 January 1917, the DH.5 was ordered into production with two initial contracts for a total of 400 aircraft.
A total of four manufacturers were involved in producing the type:
Airco
The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the wor ...
(200),
British Caudron
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(50),
Darracq
A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladi ...
(200) and
March, Jones & Cribb (100).
[Bruce 1957, p. 185.]
The DH.5 was subject to extensive changes prior to entering mass production.
A substitute fuel system was adopted, which included an additional five-gallon gravity tank mounted above the upper wing and a pressurised main tank directly behind the pilot's seat. The appearance of the aircraft was drastically changed via a revised fuselage, which now had an octagonal cross section and featured additional
stringer
Stringer may refer to:
Structural elements
* Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened
* Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal
* Stringer (stairs), ...
s around the area of the engine cowling.
The horn balance was removed from the rudder. Some of these changes made the aircraft more complex to manufacture.
The main fuselage was produced in two sections that were butt-joined at an attachment point aligned with the rear wing struts.
Extensive use was made of
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
throughput the structure, while the remainder used conventional wire-braced wooden box-
girder
A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ' ...
s. While some DH.5s were built with the original rubber bungee return springs on the ailerons, later-built examples used
pulley
A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft that is designed to support movement and change of direction of a taut cable or belt, or transfer of power between the shaft and cable or belt. In the case of a pulley supported by a frame or shell that ...
s and balance cables.
[Bruce 1966, pp. 4-5.] A positive feature of the aircraft was its great structural strength, which was revealed during April 1917 in destructive testing.
[Bruce 1966, p. 5.]
Operational history
The introduction of the DH.5 to squadron service with the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
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, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
(RFC) was protracted. These delays were the result of Airco's focus on the more successful DH.4, greatly hindered the type's prospects.
[Bruce 1966, pp. 5-6.] The first DH.5 only arrived with
No. 24 Squadron on 1 May 1917, and deliveries were slow, so that the squadron only had a few by 7 June. The DH.5 was not well regarded by the squadron, a common feeling with other users.
[Bruce 1966, p. 6.]
Soon after entering service, the DH.5 quickly proved to be most unpopular with the RFC. Its unconventional appearance led to largely unfounded rumours of handling difficulties.
There were also claims that the DH.5 had gone into service against the wishes of its designers.
[Bruce 1966, p. 7.] What was true was that while it was manoeuvrable, performance rapidly dropped off over , and it lost altitude quickly in combat.
The position of the upper wing resulted in an unfortunate blind spot above and to the rear which was the very direction from which a single-seater would generally be attacked from.
![AFC de Havilland DH 5 Scout plane Sept 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/AFC_de_Havilland_DH_5_Scout_plane_Sept_1917.jpg)
The robust construction, good performance at low altitude and the pilot's good forward field of view made the aircraft a useful
ground-attack aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
. In this capacity, the type served with distinction in the
Battle of Cambrai.
During the battle, the DH.5 had, in conjunction with Sopwith Camels, provided airborne mobile machine gun coverage to the infantry, strafing German
trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from eros ...
es and causing heavy losses to the Germans. Replacement had already begun and Cambrai had little impact on its withdrawal.
[Bruce 1966, p. 8.]
The DH.5 formed the initial equipment of
No. 2 Squadron Australian Flying Corps, the first Australian fighter squadron. It was unsatisfactory and enemy twin-seater airplanes were often able to escape.
It served mainly as a ground-attack aircraft until December 1917, when the type was replaced by the S.E.5a. By this time, the withdrawal of the type from the
Western Front was almost complete, the last DH.5 squadron receiving the S.E.5a in January 1918. DH.5s issued to training units proved unpopular and the type soon vanished from RFC service.
[Jackson 1962, p. 52.] A number of retired aircraft were reused as trials machines, some of these tests included alternative gun mountings, jettisonable fuel tanks and plywood coverings.
[Bruce 1966, p. 9.]
No original aircraft has survived but an airworthy full-scale reproduction, built in the United States by John Shiveley, is on display in the Aviation Heritage Centre,
Omaka Aerodrome
Omaka Aerodrome is a private airfield owned by the Marlborough Aero Club and used solely by private and vintage aircraft.
It is located two nautical miles to the Southwest of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenheim, New Zealand, at the northern end o ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Military operators
*
Australian Flying Corps
The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...
**
No. 2 Squadron AFC (a.k.a. No. 68 Squadron RFC) in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
**
No. 6 (Training) Squadron AFC[
** No. 7 (Training) Squadron AFC in the ]United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
* Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
** No. 24 Squadron RFC
** No. 32 Squadron RFC
** No. 41 Squadron RFC
** No. 64 Squadron RFC
No. 64 Squadron was a squadron (aviation), squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was first formed on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. It was disbanded on 31 January 1991 at RAF Leuchars.
History
1916 to 1919
No. 64 Squadron R ...
** No. 68 Squadron RFC
Specifications
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London: Putnam, 1957.
* Bruce, J.M. ''The de Havilland D.H.5. (Aircraft in Profile number 181)''. London: Profile Publications, 1966.
* Bruce, J.M. ''Warplanes of the First World War, Vol. 1.'' London: MacDonald, 1965, pp. 128–132.
* Jackson, A.J. ''De Havilland Aircraft since 1915''. London: Putnam, 1962.
* Lamberton, W.M. et al. ''Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War''. Lethworth, Herts, UK: Harleyford, 1960, pp. 42–43.
* Taylor, John W.R. "D.H.5". ''Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the Present''. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airco DH.005
DH.005
1910s British fighter aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes with negative stagger
Military aircraft of World War I
Aircraft first flown in 1916
Rotary-engined aircraft