The de Havilland DH.77 was a prototype

British 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, ...

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 ...

of the late 1920s. Intended as a fast climbing

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

for Britain's

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, the DH.77 was a lightweight low-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

Hawker Fury The Hawker Fury is a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was a fast, agile aircraft, and the first interceptor in RAF service capable of speed higher than 200 mph (321 kmh). It was the fighter cou ...

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 ...

being preferred.

Development and design

In 1927, the British

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

, faced with the need to deal with increased bomber performance, issued Specification F.20/27 for a single-seat interceptor.Lewis 1979, p.195. Unlike previous fighter Specifications, the resulting aircraft were intended to be short-range (not intended to mount standing patrols), fast climbing high altitude aircraft, carrying a minimum of equipment.Jackson 1987, p.289. To meet this requirement, de Havilland developed as a private ventureLewis 1979, p.197. the DH.77, designed by W.G. Carter, of

Gloster Aircraft Company The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963. Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H H Martyn & Co Ltd of Chelte ...

,There was an agreement between de Havilland and Gloster to co-operate on the development of de Havilland military aircraft in close collaboration with engine designer

Frank Halford Major Frank Bernard Halford CBE FRAeS (7 March 1894 – 16 April 1955) was an English aircraft engine designer. He is best known for the series of de Havilland Gipsy engines, widely used by light aircraft in the 1920s and 30s. Career Educat ...

. De Havilland chose to concentrate on civilian aircraft in 1930 and the DH.77 (along with the incomplete DH.72 bomber) were turned over to Gloster."From Mars to Javelin" ''Flight'' 1955 pp. 713–714 The DH.77 was a small low-winged lightweight

, of mixed metal-and-wood construction, powered by a 300 hp (224 kW)

Napier Rapier The Napier Rapier was a British 16-cylinder H pattern air-cooled aero engine designed by Frank Halford and built by Napier & Son shortly before World War II. Design and development The Rapier was the first of Napier's H cylinder engines. The ...

air-cooled

H-engine An H engine is a piston engine comprising two separate flat engines (complete with separate crankshafts), most often geared to a common output shaft. The name "H engine" is due to the engine blocks resembling a letter "H" when viewed from the fro ...

, which offered very low frontal area to minimise drag. The wing was braced with distinctive bracing struts above the wing, while the aircraft had a wide-track fixed tailwheel undercarriage. It was fitted with large span

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 and a

stabilator A stabilator is a fully movable aircraft horizontal stabilizer. It serves the usual functions of longitudinal stability, control and stick force requirements otherwise performed by the separate parts of a conventional horizontal stabilizer and el ...

to give good control characteristics and spin recovery. Armament was the normal pair of synchronised

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 ...

s, mounted on each side of the cockpit.Jackson 1987, p.290. De Havilland DH77 001

The single prototype first flew on 11 July 1929 piloted by H.S. Broad. Despite the low power of the Rapier (which gave only 60% of the power of the

Rolls-Royce Kestrel The Kestrel or type F is a 21 litre (1,300 in³) 700 horsepower (520 kW) class V-12 aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce, their first cast-block engine and the pattern for most of their future piston-engine designs. Used during the interwar pe ...

which powered the competing Hawker Hornet), the DH.77 demonstrated excellent performance, reaching 204 mph (328 km/h) (although performance carrying a full military load was less, reaching 185 mph (298 km/h)). It was delivered to

Martlesham Heath Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles (10 km) east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield. A "new village" was established there in the mid-1970s and th ...

for evaluation by the

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its work ...

on 12 December 1929. Although the prototype was purchased by the Air Ministry, no production followed, the orders going to the heavier and more powerful

, the production version of the Hornet.Mason 1992, pp.224–225. The DH.77 continued in use at Martlesham until 1934.

Specifications

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography *Jackson, A.J. ''De Havilland Aircraft since 1909''. London:Putnam, Third edition, 1987. . *Lewis, Peter. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. London:Putnam, Fourth edition, 1979. . *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''.Annapolis, Maryland USA:Naval Institute Press, 1992. . {{de Havilland aircraft Low-wing aircraft 1920s British fighter aircraft DH.77 Single-engined tractor aircraft

Development and design

Specifications

See also

References