de Havilland Dove

DH.104 Dove
de Havilland Dove
Role	short-haul airliner
Manufacturer	de Havilland
First flight	25 September 1945
Number built	542
Variants	de Havilland Heron

The de Havilland DH.104 Dove was a British monoplane short-haul airliner from de Havilland, the successor to the biplane de Havilland Dragon Rapide and was one of Britain's most successful post-war civil designs. The design came about from the Brabazon Committee report which called for a British designed short-haul feeder for airlines.

Production

Production of the Dove and its variants totalled 542 including 127 military Devons and 13 Sea Devons. The first customer deliveries were made in early summer 1946, the last example being delivered in 1967. Initial production of the Dove was at De Havilland's Hatfield factory, but starting in the early 1950s, most were built at the company's Broughton facility.

Operational service

RNZAF Devon C.1 of 42 Squadron at Wellington Airport in 1971

The Dove first flew on 25 September 1945. From summer 1946 large numbers were sold to scheduled and charter airlines around the world, replacing and supplementing the pre-war designed De Havilland Dragon Rapide and other older designs. LAN Chile took delivery of twelve examples and these were operated within that country from 1949 until sale to small United States airlines in 1954.^{[1][page needed]} The largest order for Doves was placed by the Argentine Civil Aeronautics Board which took delivery of 70 which were mainly used by the Argentine Air Force.^{[2][page needed]} An initial batch of 30 Devons was delivered to the Royal Air Force and these were used as VIP and light transports for over 30 years.^{[3][page needed]} The Royal New Zealand Air Force acquired 30 Devons between 1948 and 1954 and these remained in service into the 1970s.^{[4][page needed]} A few Doves and civilianised Devons remain in use in 2011 in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and elsewhere with small commercial firms and with private pilot owners.

Variants

Early production Dove 1 of Skyways in June 1948

de Havilland Dove

• Dove 1 : Light transport aircraft, seating up to 11-passengers. Powered by two 340-hp (254-kW) De Havilland Gipsy Queen 70-4 piston engines.
  • Dove 1B : Dove Mk 1 aircraft, fitted with two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
• Dove 2 : Executive transport version, seating up to six passengers. Powered by two 340-hp (254-kW) Gipsy Queen piston engines.
  • Dove 2B : Dove Mk 2 aircraft, fitted with two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
• Dove 3 : Proposed high-altitude survey version. Not built.
• Dove 4 : Military transport and communication version.
  • Devon C Mk 1 : Transport and communication version for the RAF.
  • Devon C Mk 2 : Transport and communications version for the RAF. Re-engined version of the Devon C Mk 1.
  • Sea Devon C Mk 20 : Transport and communications version for the Royal Navy.
• Dove 5 : The Dove 5 was powered by more powerful engines. The aircraft was fitted with two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
• Dove 6 : Executive transport aircraft. Uprated version of the Dove 2, powered by two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
  • Dove 6B : Stressed for operations at a maximum weight of 8,500 lb (3856 kg).

Riley Dove with Lycoming engines and taller swept fin at Long Beach airport in April 1987

• Dove 7 : Uprated version of the Dove 1, fitted with two 400-hp (298-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-3 piston engines.
• Dove 8 : Uprated version of the Dove 2, fitted with two 400-hp (298-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-3 piston engines.
  • Dove 8A : Five seater version of the Dove 8 for the U.S. market. The Dove Custom 600 was an American designation of the Dove 8A.
• Carstedt Jet Liner 600 : Conversions of the Dove, carried out by Carstedt Inc, of Long Beach, California, USA. The aircraft were fitted with two 605-ehp (451-kW) Garrett AiResearch TPE331 turboprop engines. The fuselage was lengthened to accommodate 18 passengers.

• Riley Turbo Executive 400 / Turbo-Exec 400 / Dove 400 : Conversions of the Dove, carried out by Riley Aircraft in the USA. The aircraft were fitted with two 400-hp (298-kW) Lycoming IO-720-A1A flat-eight piston engines. Some of the Riley conversions were fitted with a taller swept vertical fin and rudder. During the late 1960s, Riley Aeronautics, located at the Executive Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, did interior refitting work on both the De Havilland Dove and the Herron. They were also test flown out of this facility.

Operators

de Havilland Devon

Dove 6A belonging to the National Test Pilot School departs the Mojave Airport

Cockpit

Civil operators

 Australia

• Airlines of Western Australia

 Belgium

• BIAS
• SABENA

 Burma

• Union of Burma Airways

 Chile

• LAN-Chile

 Gambia

• West African Airways Corporation

 Germany

• LTU

 Ghana

• West African Airways Corporation

 India

• Indian National Airways
• Government of Madras

 Iraq

• Iraq Petroleum Company

 Japan

• Nippon Helicopter and Aeroplane
• Far East Airlines

 Nigeria

• West African Airways Corporation

 Rhodesia

• Central African Airways

 Portugal

• SATA - Sociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aéreos

Portuguese Angola

• AERANGOL - Aeronaves de Angola
• ETASA - Empresa de Transportes Aéreos do Sul de Angola
• SATAL - Sociedade Anónima de Transportes Aéreos

Portuguese Cape Verde

• ACCV - Aero Clube de Cabo Verde
• TACV - Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde

Portuguese Mozambique

• DETA - Divisão e Exploração de Transportes Aéreos

Transportes Aéreos de Timor Dove at Bankstown Airport in the early 1970s.

Portuguese Timor

• TAT - Transportes Aéreos de Timor

 Sierra Leone

• West African Airways Corporation

 South Africa

• Comair (South Africa) operated 2 aircraft.
• South African Airways

 Sudan

• Sudan Airways

 United Kingdom

• BOAC (for training and communications)
• Bristow Helicopters
• British Midlands
• British Westpoint Airlines
• Channel Airways (scheduled services)
• Dan-Air (scheduled services)
• Hunting-Clan Air Transport
• Morton Air Services
• Olley Air Services
• Silver City Airways
• CAA Flying Unit

 United States

• Air Wisconsin
• Apache Airlines
• National Test Pilot School
• Superior Airlines

Military operators

 Argentina

• Argentine Coast Guard ^[5]
• Argentine Federal Police

 Belgian Congo

• Force Publique

 Biafra

• Biafran Air Force

 Brazil

 Ceylon

• Royal Ceylon Air Force

 Egypt

• Egyptian Air Force

 Ireland

• Irish Air Corps

 Ethiopia

• Ethiopian Air Force

 India

• Indian Air Force

 Iraq

 Jordan

• Royal Jordanian Air Force
• Royal Flight

 Kuwait

• Kuwait Air Force

 Lebanon

• Lebanese Air Force

 Malaysia

• Royal Malaysian Air Force

 New Zealand

• Royal New Zealand Air Force
  • No. 42 Squadron RNZAF

 Pakistan

• Pakistan Air Force

 Paraguay

• Paraguayan Air Force

 South Africa

• South African Air Force

 Sweden

• Royal Swedish Air Force

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force
  • No. 21 Squadron RAF
  • No. 26 Squadron RAF
  • No. 31 Squadron RAF
  • No. 32 Squadron RAF
  • No. 60 Squadron RAF
  • No. 207 Squadron RAF
• Fleet Air Arm

 Venezuela

• Venezuelan Air force

 Yugoslavia

• SFR Yugoslav Air Force

Specifications (Dove 5)

de Havilland Dove Srs 5

Data from Jane's

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 8 passengers
• Length: 39 ft 3 in (11.96 m)
• Wingspan: 57 ft (17.37 m)
• Height: 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m)
• Wing area: 335 sq ft (31.1 m²)
• Empty weight: 5,725 lb (2,600 kg)
• Loaded weight: 8,800 lb (4,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × de Havilland Gipsy Queen 70 Mk.2 geared, supercharged 6-cylinder in-line inverted air-cooled engine, 380 bhp (283 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 202 mph at 8,000 ft (325 km/h at 2,400 m)
• Range: 1,070 mi (1,720 km)
• Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
• Rate of climb: 920 ft/min (4.7 m/s)

See also

Related development

• de Havilland Heron
• de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover
  

References

Notes

1. ^ Sykes 1972
2. ^ Jackson 1978
3. ^ Jackson 1978
4. ^ Sykes 1972
5. ^ "F-12 (cn 04156)". airliners.net, 11 February 2006. Retrieved: 11 October 2011.

Bibliography

• Jackson, A.J. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam & Company Ltd, 1978. ISBN 0-370-30022-X.
• Sykes, T. The DH104 Dove and DH114 Heron Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1973.

External links

• Airliners.net
• http://www.LTU-Classic.de