de Havilland Tiger Moth
| DH 82 Tiger Moth | |
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| de Havilland DH 82A Tiger Moth | |
| Role | Trainer |
| Manufacturer | de Havilland Aircraft Company |
| Designed by | Geoffrey de Havilland |
| First flight | 26 October 1931 |
| Introduced | 1932 |
| Retired | 1959 |
| Status | Retired from military service, still in civil use |
| Primary users | Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Royal New Zealand Air Force<-- only 3 operators given. See other military operators in article----> |
| Produced | 1931-1944 |
| Number built | 8,868[1] |
| Developed from | de Havilland DH.60 Moth |
| Variants | Thruxton Jackaroo |
The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until 1952 when many of the surplus aircraft entered civil operation. Many other nations used the Tiger Moth in both military and civil applications, and it remains in use as a recreational aircraft. It is still occasionally used as a primary training aircraft, particularly for those pilots wanting to gain experience before moving on to other tailwheel aircraft, although most Tiger Moths have a skid. Many are now employed by various companies offering trail lesson experiences. Those in private hands generally fly far fewer hours and tend to be kept in concours condition. The de Havilland Moth club founded 1975 is now a highly organized owners association offering technical support and focus for Moth enthusiasts.
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Design and development
The Tiger Moth trainer prototype was derived from the DH 60 de Havilland Gipsy Moth. The main change to the DH Moth series was necessitated by a desire to improve access to the front cockpit since the training requirement specified that the front seat occupant had to be able to escape easily, especially when wearing a parachute.[2] Access to the front cockpit of the Moth predecessors was restricted by the proximity of the aircraft's fuel tank directly above the front cockpit and the rear cabane struts for the upper wing. The solution adopted was to shift the upper wing forward but sweep the wings back to maintain the centre of lift.[3] Other changes included a strengthened structure, fold-down doors on both sides of the cockpit and a revised exhaust system.[2] It was powered by a de Havilland Gipsy III 120 hp engine and first flew on 26 October 1931 with de Havilland Chief Test Pilot Hubert Broad at the controls.[4]
One distinctive characteristic of the Tiger Moth design is its differential aileron control setup. The ailerons (on the lower wing only) on a Tiger Moth are operated by an externally mounted circular bellcrank, which lies flush with the lower wing's fabric undersurface covering. This circular bellcrank is rotated by metal cables and chains from the cockpit's control columns, and has the externally mounted aileron pushrod attached at a point 45º outboard and forward of the bellcrank's centre, when the ailerons are both at their neutral position. This results in an aileron control system operating, with barely any travel down at all on the wing on the outside of the turn, while the aileron on the inside travels a large amount upwards to counter-act adverse yaw.
From the outset, the Tiger Moth proved to be an ideal trainer, simple and cheap to own and maintain, although control movements required a positive and sure hand as there was a slowness to control inputs. Some instructors preferred these flight characteristics because of the effect of "weeding" out the inept student pilot.[5]
Operational history
The RAF ordered 35 dual-control Tiger Moth Is which had the company designation DH 82.[6] A subsequent order was placed for 50 aircraft powered by the de Havilland Gipsy Major I engine (130 hp) which was the DH 82A or to the RAF Tiger Moth II. The Tiger Moth entered service at the RAF Central Flying School in February 1932. By the start of the Second World War, the RAF had 500 of the aircraft in service and large numbers of civilian Tiger Moths were impressed to meet the demand for trainers.
During a British production run of over 7,000 Tiger Moths, a total of 4,005 Tiger Moth IIs were built during the war specifically for the RAF, nearly half being built by the Morris Motor Company at Cowley, Oxford.
The Tiger Moth became the foremost primary trainer throughout the Commonwealth and elsewhere. It was the principal type used in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan where thousands of military pilots got their first taste of flight in this robust little machine. The RAF found the Tiger Moth's handling ideal for training future fighter pilots. Whilst generally docile and forgiving in the normal flight phases encountered during initial training, when used for aerobatic and formation training the Tiger Moth required definite skill and concentration to perform well — a botched manoeuvre could easily cause the aircraft to stall or spin.
A number of modified Tiger Moths were developed for special roles. A radio-controlled target tug version of the Tiger Moth II called the DH.82B Queen Bee was first built in 1935, with nearly 300 in service at the start of the Second World, (it is believed the name "Drone" derived from "Queen Bee"). These aircraft retained a normal front cockpit for test-flying or ferry flights, but had a radio-control system in the rear cockpit that operated the controls using pneumaticically-driven servos. Four-hundred were built by de Havilland at Hatfield, and a further 70 by Scottish Aviation.[7]
In the aftermath of Britain's disastrous campaign in France, in August 1940, three proposals involved beach defence systems; 350 Tiger Moths were fitted with bomb racks to serve as light bombers as a part of Operation Banquet. A more radical conversion involved the "paraslasher," a scythe-like blade fitted to a Tiger Moth and intended to cut parachutists' canopies as they descended to earth. Flight tests proved the idea, but it was not officially adopted. The Tiger Moth was also tested as a "human crop sprayer" intended to dispense Paris Green poisonous insecticide from powder dispensers located under the wings.[8]
In Canada, de Havilland manufactured 1,523 of the DH 82C, which had a 145 hp D.H. Gipsy Major 1C engine and other modifications including a tail wheel replacing the original tail skid, a stronger undercarriage with wheels set farther forward and enclosed cockpit with a sliding canopy necessitated by the cold northern climate.[9] The de Havilland Canada operation also supplied 200 Tiger Moths to the USAAF, which designated them the PT-24. A further 151 were built in Norway, Sweden and Portugal while 2,949 Tiger Moths were built by other countries of the British Commonwealth.
Postwar
In postwar use, surplus Tiger Moths were made available for sale to flying clubs and individuals. They proved to be inexpensive to operate and found enthusiastic reception in the civil market, taking on new roles including aerial advertiser, aerial ambulance, aerobatic performer, crop duster and glider tug. They were often compared with the Stampe SV.4 famous aerobatic aircraft.
After the invention of aerial topdressing in New Zealand, large numbers of ex-Royal New Zealand Air Force Tiger Moths built in that country were converted into agricultural aircraft. The front seat was replaced with a hopper to hold superphosphate for aerial topdressing. From the mid 1950s, these topdressers were replaced by more modern types such as the PAC Fletcher, and a large number of New Zealand Tiger Moths in good flying condition then passed to enthusiasts.
Royal Navy Tiger Moths utilised as target tugs and "air experience" machines became the last military aircraft when the service purchased a batch of refurbished examples in 1956.[10] These remained in service until the early 1970s.
Tiger Moths were often modified to stand in for rarer aircraft in films. Notably, Tiger Moth biplanes were used in the crash scenes in The Great Waldo Pepper, standing in for the Curtiss JN-1.
Variants
- DH.60T Moth Trainer/Tiger Moth
- Military training version of the De Havilland DH.60 Moth. First eight prototype DH.82 configuration aircraft were named Tiger Moth.[11]
- DH.82 Tiger Moth (Tiger Moth I)
- Two-seat primary trainer aircraft. Powered by a 120 hp (89 kW) de Havilland Gipsy III piston engine; renamed Tiger Moth I in RAF.
- DH.82A Tiger Moth (Tiger Moth II)
- Two-seat primary trainer aircraft. Powered by a 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major piston engine. Named Tiger Moth II in RAF.
- DH.82B Queen Bee
- Unmanned radio-controlled target drone; 380 built. As of 2008, the sole remaining airworthy Queen Bee resides at RAF Henlow, England.
- DH.82C Tiger Moth
- Cold weather operations version for the RCAF. Fitted with sliding glass canopies and cockpit heating. Powered by a 145 hp (108 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major piston engine; 1,523 built.
- PT-24 Moth
- United States military designation for the DH.82C ordered for Lend-Lease to the Royal Canadian Air Force; 200 built by de Havilland Canada.
- Thruxton Jackaroo
- Four-seat cabin biplane, modified from existing DH.82A airframes.
Operators
Military operators
- Royal Australian Air Force
- Royal Australian Navy - Fleet Air Arm (RAN).
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- Belgian Air Force (31 operated from 1945)
- Brazilian Air Force, 5 delivered in 1932 and 12 in 1935.
- Royal Ceylon Air Force
- Hellenic Air Force
- Royal Indian Air Force
- Indian Air Force
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- Imperial Iranian Air Force
- Israeli Air Force
- Sherut Avir
- Royal Jordanian Air Force
Malaya
- Malaya Auxiliary Air Force
- Royal Netherlands Air Force
- Dutch Naval Aviation Service
- Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force
- Royal New Zealand Air Force
- No. 1 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 2 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 3 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 4 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 42 Squadron RNZAF
- Norwegian Army Air Service
- Polish Air Force
- Polish Air Force in Great Britain
- Portuguese Army Aviation
- Portuguese Naval Aviation
- Portuguese Air Force
- Rhodesian Air Force
- Spanish Republican Air Force
- South African Air Force
- Southern Rhodesian Air Force
- Sri Lankan Air Force
- Swedish Air Force
- Royal Air Force
- No. 24 Squadron RAF
- No. 27 Squadron RAF
- No. 52 Squadron RAF
- No. 81 Squadron RAF
- No. 116 Squadron RAF
- No. 297 Squadron RAF
- No. 510 Squadron RAF
- No. 612 Squadron RAF
- No. 613 Squadron RAF
- No. 652 Squadron RAF
- No. 653 Squadron RAF
- No. 654 Squadron RAF
- No. 656 Squadron RAF
- No. 663 Squadron RAF
- No. 668 Squadron RAF
- No. 669 Squadron RAF
- No. 670 Squadron RAF
- No. 671 Squadron RAF
- No. 672 Squadron RAF
- No. 673 Squadron RAF
- Fleet Air Arm
- Uruguayan Air Force
- SFR Yugoslav Air Force
- 2nd Training Aviation Regiment (1945–1948)
Civil operators
The aircraft is operated by many private individuals and flying clubs.
Survivors
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Numerous examples of the Tiger Moth are still flying today (an estimated 250[5]). The number of airworthy Tiger Moths has increased as previously neglected aircraft (or those previously only used for static display in museums) have been restored. A number of aircraft have been preserved as museum displays (amongst others) at the:
- National Museum of Flight in Scotland;
- Mosquito Aircraft Museum in England;
- Polish Aviation Museum at the former Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport in Poland;
- Museo Nacional Aeronáutico y del Espacio de Chile in Chile;
- Museo Aeronáutico del Uruguay in Uruguay;
- Museu Aeroespacial- (Musal) in Brazil
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa;
- Alberta Aviation Museum
- Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada;
- Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, England
- Canadian Museum of Flight
- Sri Lanka Air Force Museum, Sri Lanka
- Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum, Serbia.
- Pakistan Airforce Museum, Karachi, Pakistan
- Israeli Air Force Museum, Hatzerim, Israel
- Mackay Tiger Moth Museum, Mackay, Australia
- RAAF Museum, RAAF Williams Point Cook, Australia
- Temora Aviation Museum, Temora, Australia
- Royal Aero Club of Western Australia, Jandakot, Australia
- Museu do Ar, Portuguese Air Force, Portugal
- Canadian Air & Space Museum - Toronto (www.casmuseum.org)
Specifications (DH 82A)
Data from The Tiger Moth Story [13]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2, student & instructor
- Length: 23 ft 11 in (7.34 m)
- Wingspan: 29 ft 4 in (8.94 m)
- Height: 8 ft 9 in (2.68 m)
- Wing area: 239 ft² (22.2 m²)
- Empty weight: 1,115 lb (506 kg)
- Loaded weight: 1,825 lb (828 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× de Havilland Gipsy Major I inverted 4-cylinder inline, 130 hp (100 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 109 mph at 1,000 ft (175 km/h at 300 m)
- Range: 302 miles (486 km)
- Service ceiling: 13,600 ft (4,145 m)
- Rate of climb: 673 ft/min (205 m/min)
See also
- Thunderbird 6, a film which features the Tiger Moth prominently.
Comparable aircraft
- Boeing-Stearman Kaydet
- Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann
- Fisher R-80 Tiger Moth
- Stampe SV.4
- Polikarpov Po-2
Related lists
- List of aircraft of the RAF
- List of aircraft of the RAAF
- List of aircraft of the RNZAF
References
- Notes
- ↑ "De Havilland Tiger Moth (D.H.82)." web.archive.org. Retrieved: 12 August 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bain 1992, p. 43.
- ↑ "de Havilland Tiger Moth 82A."web.archive.org. Retrieved: 12 August 2010.
- ↑ McKay 1988, p. 6.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "de Havilland D.H. 82 Tiger Moth." warbirdalley.com. Retrieved: 20 July 2010.
- ↑ Bransom 1991, p. 41.
- ↑ "Queen Bee G-BLUZ, Aircraft History." Captain Neville's Flying Circus. Retrieved: 31 August 2010.
- ↑ "de Havilland Tiger II." rafmuseum.org. Retrieved: 20 July 2010.
- ↑ Hotson 1983, p. 51.
- ↑ McKay 1998, p. 57.
- ↑ Bransom 1991, p. 33.
- ↑ Ketley and Rolfe 1996, p. 11.
- ↑ Bransom 1991, p. 261.
- Bibliography
- Bain, Gordon. De Havilland: A Pictorial Tribute. London: AirLife, 1992. ISBN 1-85648-243-X.
- Bransom, Alan. The Tiger Moth Story, Fourth Edition. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 1991. ISBN 0-906393-19-1.
- Bransom, Alan. The Tiger Moth Story, Fifth Edition. Manchester, UK: Crécy Publishing Ltd., 2005. ISBN 0-85979-103-3.
- Hotson, Fred. The De Havilland Canada Story. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1983. ISBN 0-9690703-2-2.
- Ketley, Barry and Mark Rolfe. Luftwaffe Fledglings 1935-1945: Luftwaffe Training Units and their Aircraft. Aldershot, GB: Hikoki Publications, 1996. ISBN 0-9519899-2-8.
- McKay, Stuart. Tiger Moth. New York: Orion Books, 1998. ISBN 0-517-56864-0.
External links
- Tiger Moth preserved by Chile's Aviation Museum, at the official Museo's website
- Western Canada Aviation Museum: De Havilland Tiger Moth (D.H.82c)
- A photograph of a de Havilland DH.82B Queen Bee
- Sri Lanka Air Force - Tiger Moth and Chipmunk news
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