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| DH.75 Hawk Moth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Cabin monoplane |
| Manufacturer | de Havilland |
| Number built | 8 |
| History | |
| First flight | 7 December1928 |
Thede Havilland DH.75 Hawk Moth was a 1920s British four-seat cabin monoplane built byde Havilland atStag Lane Aerodrome,Edgware, in London.
TheDH.75 Hawk Moth was the first of a family of high-wing monoplane Moths, and was designed as a light transport or air-taxi for export. The aircraft had a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage and wooden wings. The Hawk Moth was first flown on 7 December 1928 fromStag Lane.[1] The first aircraft used a 200 hp (149 kW)de Havilland Ghost engine. This engine comprised twode Havilland Gipsys mounted on a common crankcase to form an air-cooledV-8.[1] With the Ghost, the aircraft was underpowered and a 310 hp (230 kW)Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah[2] 7-cylinder radial engine was fitted to it and all but one production aircraft. Changes were also made to the structure including increased span and chord wings and the aircraft was redesignated theDH.75A.
In December 1929 the first aircraft was demonstrated in Canada with both wheel and ski undercarriage. Following trials with the second aircraft on floats, the Canadian government ordered three aircraft for civil use. The first Canadian aircraft (actually the first Hawk Moth) did not have doors on the port side and could therefore not be used as a floatplane, so it was used by the Controller of Civil Aircraft. Further tests were carried out byde Havilland Canada in 1930, and the second and third aircraft were cleared to use floats. With restrictions on payload when fitted with floats the Canadian aircraft were used only on skis or wheels. In an attempt to compete with American-designed aircraft, the eighth aircraft was produced as theDH.75B with a 300 hp (224 kW)Wright Whirlwind engine. Production was stopped and two aircraft were not completed.
With three aircraft operating in Canada, a further two were exported to Australia. One of the Australian aircraft, VH-UNW ex G-AAFX, was used byAmy Johnson to fly from Brisbane to Sydney in 1930 when herDe Havilland MothJason was damaged. Major De Havilland later flew Miss Johnson to Perth in the aircraft, from where she returned to Britain by ship. VH-UNW was later sold toHart Aircraft Service of Melbourne, who used it mainly for joy flights.[3]
In February 1934 it was sold toTasmanian Airways as theCity of Hobart to run betweenBrighton, Tasmania andLaunceston, Tasmania. It made a forced landing at Brighton on 10 January 1935 after a piston-rod failure, with the engine being beyond repair. In mid-1936 the engine-less airframe was sold to G. H. "Harry" Purvis, who refitted it with a Wright Whirlwind engine and used it to conduct joy flights in New South Wales. It last flew forConnellan Airways ofAlice Springs. It was withdrawn from service in 1949.[3]
Data from De Havilland Aircraft since 1909[4]
General characteristics
Performance
