The de Havilland DH.87 Hornet Moth is a single-engined cabin

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 a ...

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

Aircraft Company in 1934 as a potential replacement for its highly successful

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraf ...

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 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 ...

and the aircraft was put into production for private buyers.

Design and development

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 . 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, mostly being used by the

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 seventy years after production ceased.

Variants

* 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

; ; ; ; ; ;Hitler's Savage Canary by David Lampe pg15 ; ; ; ; ; ; - TC-101

Military operators

; *

Portuguese Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 1 July , equipment = , equipment_label ...

; *

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

; *

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) an ...

(1940–1945) ** No. 24 Squadron RAF **

No. 49 Squadron RAF No. 49 Squadron was a bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1938 to 1965. They were the first squadron to receive the Hampden in September 1938. The unit achieved fame through the Victoria Cross awarded to Rod Learoyd in 1940 and for its r ...

** No. 116 Squadron RAF **

No. 510 Squadron RAF No. 510 Squadron was a Royal Air Force transport and liaison aircraft squadron that operated during the Second World War. History During 1942 it was decided that 24 Squadron was too large and the internal communication flight became no. 510 Squ ...

** No. 526 Squadron RAF **

No. 527 Squadron RAF No. 527 Squadron RAF was a radar calibration unit of the Royal Air Force between 1943 and 1958. History Formation No. 527 Squadron was formed from various calibration flights at RAF Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire on 15 June 1943 for radar calibr ...

** No. 528 Squadron RAF ** No. 529 Squadron RAF *

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...

**One aircraft impressed and four from Canada

Specifications (DH.87B)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Jackson, A.J. ''De Havilland Aircraft since 1909''. London: Putnam, Third edition, 1987. . * Follett, K. "Hornet flight", (translated in Italian "Il volo del calabrone", Mondadori Editore S.p.A., Milano, 2003 ) It's a fictitious novel, first printed in 2002, in which a hornet moth plays a key role in the story.

External links

The de Havilland Moth Club
{{de Havilland aircraft 1930s British civil utility aircraft 1930s British military utility aircraft

Hornet Moth The hornet moth or hornet clearwing (''Sesia apiformis'') is a large moth native to Europe and the Middle East and has been introduced to North America. Its protective coloration is an example of Batesian mimicry, as its similarity to a hornet ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1934