The de Havilland Australia DHA-G2 was a

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n transport glider based on the earlier prototype DHA-G1. Only two prototype G1 and six production G2 gliders were built.

Design and development

The G1 glider was designed to meet a

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) requirement for a transport glider to specification 5/42. Two prototype gliders, sometimes known as ''Experimental Glider 1'', were ordered from

de Havilland Australia de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd (DHA) was part of de Havilland, then became a separate company. It acquired the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in 1985 and was purchased by Boeing in 2000 and merged with the Boeing owned AeroSpace Technologie ...

(DHA). As DHA were already committed to build

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 aircraft. ...

basic trainers and

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

navigation trainers, most of the work was to be done by subcontractors, with much of the build work on the two prototypes being carried out on the fifth floor of a Mill in Camperdown,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

.Issacs ''Air International'' July 1976, p. 23. It was a high-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

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 ...

of all wooden construction, making extensive use 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 ...

. It used the cockpit canopy of the DH.84 Dragon, but was otherwise an original design. The aircraft's undercarriage used a single mainwheel behind a long nose skid, and a wooden tailskid. The crew consisted of a single pilot with seats for six passengers.Issacs ''Air International'' July 1976, pp. 23–24. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 14 June 1942, and was accepted by the RAAF on 11 October 1942, with the second prototype following on 17 November. A production order was placed with DHA for a modified version, but with the threat of invasion less likely, as well as the availability of

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

transports and

Waco Hadrian Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

gliders from the United States, only six were ordered.Issacs ''Air International'' July 1976, p.25. The G2 was of similar layout to the G1, but had a slightly larger fuselage and a shorter span wing that could be broken into three parts to aid transportation. The first production G2 flew on 20 March 1943 and was delivered to the RAAF on 6 May 1943, with the remaining 5 following in July that year. They saw little use, with most of the gliders being stored, with the first G2 being used for glider conversion training.Issacs ''Air International'' July 1976, pp.25–26. The surviving gliders were reduced to components in 1952. The first G2, serial number A57-1, was modified in 1948 by the Government Aircraft Factory for trials of a suction airfoil, the modifications included the fitting of a Mercury 95A engine. Trials continued until 1951.Issacs ''Air International'' July 1976, pp. 28–30.

Operators

; *

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

**School of Land and Air Warfare

Specifications (G2)

References

Note

Bibliography