de Havilland DH-87B Hornet Moth
Single-engine Two-seat Taildragger Cabin Biplane, U.K.

Archive Photos ¹

1938 de Havilland DH-87B Hornet Moth (N74EC) on display (c.1986) at the Western Museum of Flight, Hawthorne, California (Photos by John Shupek)

1938 de Havilland DH-87B Hornet Moth (N74EC) on display (c.1986) at the Hawthorne Air Faire, Hawthorne, California (Photos by John Shupek)

Overview ²

• de Havilland DH-87B Hornet Moth
• Role: Trainer and Tourer
• Manufacturer: de Havilland
• First flight: 9 May 1934
• Status: Still in operation
• Primary user: Private owner pilots
• Produced: 1935-1938
• Number built: 164

The de Havilland DH-87 Hornet Moth is a Single-engine cabin biplane designed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1934 as a potential replacement for its highly successful de Havilland Tiger Moth 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 and the aircraft was put into production for private buyers.

Design and Development ²

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 8 inches (20 cm). 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, mostly being used by the RAF 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 ²

• DH-87 Hornet Moth: prototypes
• DH-87A Hornet Moth: production model
• DH-87B Hornet Moth: production model with wing modification

Operators ²

Civil Charter Operators and Pilots 1935-2009

• United Kingdom:
• Australia:
• Austria:
• Belgium:
• Canada:
• Denmark:
• France:
• India:
• South Africa:
• Spain:
• Switzerland:
• Turkey: TC-101

Military Operators

• Portugal: Portuguese Air Force
• South Africa: South African Air Force
• United Kingdom: Royal Air Force (1940-1945) No. 24 Squadron RAF, No. 49 Squadron RAF, No. 116 Squadron RAF, No. 510 Squadron RAF, No. 526 Squadron RAF, No. 527 Squadron RAF, No. 528 Squadron RAF, No. 529 Squadron RAF, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm One aircraft impressed and four from Canada

deHavilland DH-87B Hornet Moth Specifications ²

General Characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Capacity: one, passenger or trainee
• Length: 24 ft 11½ in (7.61 m)
• Wingspan: 31 ft 11 in (9.73 m)
• Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
• Wing area: 244.5 ft² (22.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,241 lb (564 kg)
• Loaded weight: 1,950 lb (886 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × de Havilland Gipsy Major I 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted straight engine, 130 hp (97 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 124 mph (108 kn, 200 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 105 mph (91 kn, 169 km/h)
• Range: 620 mi (539 nmi, 998 km)
• Service ceiling: 14,800 ft (4,500 m)
• Rate of climb: 690 ft/min (210.6 m/min)
• Wing loading: 7.97 lb/ft² (39.0 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.067 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)

References

1. Shupek, John. The Skytamer Photo Archive, photos by John Shupek, copyright © 1986 John Shupek
2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. de Havilland Hornet Moth