De Havilland DH.50

infobox Aircraft
name = DH.50
type = Transport biplane
manufacturer = De Havilland Aircraft Company

---

caption =
designer =
first flight = 1923
introduced = 1923
retired = 1942
produced =
number built = 38
status =
unit cost =
primary user = QANTAS
more users = Imperial Airways
developed from =
variants with their own articles = The de Havilland DH.50 was a 1920s British large single-engined biplane transport built by the De Havilland Aircraft Company at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, and licence-built in Australia, Belgium and Czechoslovakia.

History

In the early 1920s, Geoffrey de Havilland realised that war surplus aircraft would need replacing, so his company designed a four-passenger-cabin biplane, the "DH.50", using experience gained with the earlier de Havilland DH.9. The first DH.50 (registered G-EBFN) flew in August 1923 and was used within a few days by Alan Cobham to win a prize for reliability during trial flights between Copenhagen and Gothenburg. Only 17 aircraft were built by de Havilland; the rest were produced under licence. The different aircraft had a wide variety of engine fits.

In 1924 Cobham won the King's Cup Race air race in G-EBFN averaging 106 mph. Cobham made several long-range flights with the prototype until he replaced it with the second aircraft. The second aircraft (registered G-EBFO) was re-engined with the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar engine and was designated the DH.50J. Cobham flew the aircraft on a 16,000 mile (25750 km) flight from Croydon Airport to Cape Town between November 1925 and February 1926. The aircraft was later fitted with twin floats (produced by Short Brothers at Rochester) for a survey flight of Australia in 1926. On the outward flight from England to Australia Cobham's engineer (A.B. Elliot) was shot and killed by a stray bullet when overflying the desert between Baghdad and Basra. He was replaced by Sergeant Ward, a Royal Air Force engineer who was given permission to join the flight by his commanding officer. Also in 1926, a DH.50A floatplane was used in the first international flight made by the Royal Australian Air Force. The Chief of the Air Staff, Group Captain Richard Williams, and two crew members undertook a three-month, 10,000-mile round trip from Point Cook, Victoria to the Pacific Islands. [Stephens 2006, pp.39-41.]

Licence production

The aircraft was popular in Australia and licence production was agreed, leading to 16 aircraft being built there. QANTAS built four DH.50As and three DH.50Js, Western Australian Airlines built three DH.50As, and Larkin Aircraft Supply Company built one DH.50A. SABCA built three DH.50As in Brussels, Belgium. and Aero built seven in Prague, Czechoslovakia. One of the QANTAS-built DH.50s (G-AEUR) was the first aircraft used by the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Variants

* DH.50 : Single-engined light transport biplane.
* DH.50A : Built under licence in Australia and Belgium.
* DH.50J : Powered by one 385-hp (287-kW) Armstrong-Siddeley Jaguar radial piston engine.

Operators

;flag|Australia
*Australian Aerial Services Ltd
*Holdens Air Transport
*QANTAS
*Rockhampton Aerial Services Ltd
*Royal Australian Air Force
*West Australian Airlines Ltd

;flag|Belgium
*SABCA

;flag|Czechoslovakia
*Czechoslovakia Government

;flag|Iraq|1924
*Iraq Petroleum Transport Company Ltd

;flag|New Zealand
*Royal New Zealand Air Force

;flag|United Kingdom
*Air Taxis Ltd
*Brooklands School of Flying Ltd
*Imperial Airways Ltd
*North Sea Aerial and General Transport Company Ltd
*Northern Air Lines Ltd

pecifications

aircraft specification

ref=De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 Jackson 1987, p.190.]
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=
length main= 29 ft 9 in
length alt= 9.07 m
span main= 42 ft 9 in
span alt= 13.03 m
height main= 11 ft 0 in
height alt= 3.35 m
area main= 434 ft²
area alt= 40.32 m²
empty weight main= 2,352 lb
empty weight alt= 1,022 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main= 3,900 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 1,769 kg
engine (prop)=Siddeley Puma
type of prop= inline piston engine
number of props=1
power main=230 hp
power alt= 172 kw
max speed main= 112 mph
max speed alt= 97 knots, 180 km/h
range main= 380 miles
range alt= 330 NM, 612 km
ceiling main= 14,600 ft
ceiling alt= 4450 m
climb rate main= 605 ft/min
climb rate alt=3.07 m/s
loading main=8.99 lb/ft²
loading alt=25.3 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.059 hp/lb
power/mass alt=0.097 kW/kg
armament=

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=

sequence=

lists=
*List of aircraft of the RAAF
*List of aircraft of the RNZAF and RNZN

see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

*cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=
*cite book |last= Jackson|first= A.J.|authorlink= |coauthors= |title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2|year= 1973|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0 370 10107 X
*cite book |title= De Havilland Aircraft since 1909|last= Jackson|first=A.J. |authorlink= |coauthors=|edition=Second edition |year=1987 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn=0 85177 802 X |pages=
*cite book|last=Stephens| first=Alan|origyear=2001|year=2006| title=The Royal Australian Air Force: A History| location=London| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195555414

External links

* [http://www.historicaircraft.org/British-Aircraft/pages/DeHavilland-DH50s.html A photograph of the float-equipped DH.50S]