Airco DH.9A

DH.9A
Airco D.H.9A
Role Light bomber/General purpose
Manufacturer Airco
First flight March 1918
Introduction 1918
Retired 1931
Primary user Royal Air Force
Number built 1,997
Developed from Airco DH.9
Variants Westland Walrus
de Havilland DH.15

The Airco DH.9A was a British single-engined light bomber designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. It was a development of the unsuccessful Airco DH.9 bomber, with a strengthened structure, and crucially, replacing the underpowered and unreliable inline 6 cylinder Siddeley Puma engine of the DH.9 with the American V-12 Liberty engine.

Colloquially known as the "Ninak" (from the phonetic alphabet treatment of designation "nine-A"), it served on in large numbers for the Royal Air Force following the end of the war, both at home and overseas, where it was used for colonial policing in the Middle East, finally being retired in 1931. Over 2,400 examples of an unlicensed version, the Polikarpov R-1, were built in the Soviet Union, the type serving as the standard Soviet light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft through the 1920s.

Design and development

The DH.9A was planned as an improved version of the existing Airco DH.9. The DH.9 was a disappointment owing to its under performing and unreliable engines, and the DH.9A was to use a more powerful engine to resolve this. As the Rolls-Royce Eagle engine used in the successful DH.4 was unavailable in sufficient quantities, the new 400 hp (298 kW) American Liberty engine was chosen instead.

As Airco was busy developing the Airco DH.10 twin-engined bomber, detailed design was carried out by Westland Aircraft. The DH.9 was fitted with new, longer span wings, and a strengthened fuselage structure.[1]

The first prototype flew in March 1918, powered by a Rolls-Royce Eagle as no Liberty engines were yet available.[2] The prototype proved successful, with the first Liberty-engined DH.9A flying on 19 April 1918, and deliveries to the Royal Air Force starting in June.[3] By the end of the war, a total of 2,250 DH.9As had been ordered, with 885 being built by the end of the year. As it was decided that the DH.9A would be a standard type in the postwar RAF, the majority of outstanding orders were fulfilled, with 1,730 being built under the wartime contracts before production ceased in 1919.

While the existing aircraft were subject to a programme of refurbishment, a number of small contracts were placed for new production of DH.9As in 1925–26. These contracts resulted in a further 268 DH.9As being built. The new production and refurbished aircraft included batches of dual control trainers, as well as six aircraft powered by 465 hp Napier Lion engines, which were capable of a maximum speed of 144 mph.

The Soviet Union built large numbers of an unlicensed copy of the DH.9A, the R-1. After the production of 20 DH.4 copies, followed by about 200 copies of the DH.9 powered by the Mercedes D.IV engine (also designated R-1) and a further 130 powered by the Siddeley Puma (designated R-2), a copy of the DH.9A powered by the M-5 engine, a Soviet copy of the DH.9A's Liberty, entered production in 1924.[4]

US version and pressurised flights

The United States also planned to adopt the DH.9A as a replacement for the DH.4. Development work on the Americanization of the aircraft commenced at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio.[5] Modifications included a new fuel system with increased fuel capacity, revised wings and tail surfaces, and replacement of the Vickers machine gun on the port side of the British built aircraft with a Browning machine gun on the starboard side.[6][7] Plans called for Curtiss to build 4,000 modified aircraft, designated USD-9A. This order was cancelled with the end of the war and only nine were built by McCook Field and Dayton-Wright.[6][7] One McCook aircraft was additionally modified with an enclosed, pressurised cockpit. In 1921, test pilot Lt. Harold R. Harris made the world's first high-altitude flight in a pressurised aircraft in the USD-9A at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio.[5]

Operational history

First World War

The DH.9A entered service in July 1918 with No. 110 Squadron RAF, moving to France on 31 August 1918 to serve with the RAF's Independent Air Force on strategic bombing missions. Its first mission was against a German airfield on 14 September 1918.[3] A further three squadrons commenced operations over the Western Front before the Armistice, with 99 Squadron (also serving with the Independent Air Force) replacing DH.9s, while 18 Squadron and 216 Squadron replaced DH.4s.[3] Despite the superior performance of the DH.9A over the DH.9, the DH.9A squadrons suffered high losses during their long range bombing missions over Germany.[8] Other squadrons flew coastal patrols from Great Yarmouth before the end of the year.

The United States Marine Corps Northern Bombing Group received at least 53 DH-9As, and commenced operations in September 1918.[9]

Interwar RAF service

While the squadrons in service at the end of the First World War quickly disbanded or re-equipped in the postwar dis-armament, the DH.9A continued in service as the RAF's standard light bomber, with 24 squadrons being equipped between 1920 and 1931, both at home and abroad.

The first post war operations were in southern Russia in 1919, in support of the "White Army" against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. In September 1919, the RAF personnel were ordered to return home, leaving their aircraft behind.[6] A squadron of DH.9As was deployed to Turkey in response to the Chanak Crisis in 1922, but did not engage in combat.[10]

The DH.9A was one of the key weapons used by Britain to manage the territories that were in its control following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the Great War. Five squadrons of DH.9As served in the Middle East,[11] occasionally carrying out bombing raids against rebellious tribesmen and villages. An additional radiator was fitted under the fuselage to cope with the high temperatures, while additional water containers and spares (including spare wheels lashed to the fuselage) were carried in case the aircraft were forced down in the desert, the DH.9A's struggling under ever heavier loads. Despite this the aircraft served successfully, with the Liberty engine being picked out for particular praise for its reliability ("as good as any Rolls Royce") in such harsh conditions.[12] Some DH.9A aircraft were also transported to India to supplement the British Indian Army.

At home, the DH.9A continued on in regular RAF service until 1930, also forming the initial equipment of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF).

Soviet service

The R-1 and R-2 were heavily used by the Soviet Air Forces through the 1920s as its standard light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The Soviets deployed them in support of the Chinese Kuomintang forces in the Northern Expedition against warlords in 1926–27, and against Chinese forces for control of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria in 1929. R-1s and R-2s were also used in support of operations during the Basmachi Revolt in central Asia.[13]

Variants

Polikarpov R-1

Operators

 Afghanistan
 Australia
 Canada
 Iran
 Latvia
 Mongolia
  Switzerland
 United Kingdom
 United States
 Soviet Union

Surviving aircraft

DH.9A number F1010 at the RAF Museum, London (2010)

A single example, serial number F1010, survives and is on display at the Royal Air Force Museum London. The aircraft was completed by Westland Aircraft in June 1918 and was one of 18 DH.9A's assigned to No. 110 Squadron RAF. It was the thirteenth aircraft, but was given the number "12A" because thirteen was thought unlucky. The squadron began flying bombing missions in September 1918, and on the 25th, the crew of F1010 claimed the destruction of a German Fokker D.VII fighter. The aircraft's fourth and final combat mission was on the 5th of October when either flak damage or engine trouble forced a landing behind German lines. The aircraft was undamaged by the landing and the crew were taken prisoner.[18]

The aircraft remained in German hands after the war and in 1936 it was put on display at the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung (Berlin Air Museum), one of the museum's substantial collection of World War 1 aircraft. In 1943, it was one of the museum's exhibits that was moved to Czarnikau (now Czarnkow in Poland) to save them from the Allied bombing of Berlin. The area was captured by Polish forces in March 1945 and F1010 eventually became part of the collection of the Polish Aviation Museum, although it was not put on display and remained in the museum's stores. In 1977, the Polish Aviation Museum exchanged F1010 for a Supermarine Spitfire from the RAF Museum (difficulties caused by the Cold War meant nearly nine years were spent negotiating the swap). The RAF Museum completed restoration of the aircraft and put it on display in 1983.[18]

Specifications (DH.9A)

Polikarpov R-1

Data from The British Bomber since 1914[19]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Related lists

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Jackson 1987, p. 107.
  2. ↑ Bruce 25 May 1956, p. 643.
  3. 1 2 3 Bruce 25 May 1956, p. 644.
  4. ↑ Alexandrov and Petrov 1998, pp. 55–56.
  5. 1 2 Cornelisse 2002, pp. 120–121.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bruce 1 June 1956, p.677.
  7. 1 2 Jackson 1987, pp. 108–110, 119.
  8. ↑ Williams 1999, p. 201.
  9. ↑ Bowyer 1974, p. 29.
  10. ↑ Thetford 1992, p. 193.
  11. ↑ Mason 1994, p.103.
  12. ↑ Mason 1994, p. 104.
  13. ↑ Alexandrov and Petrov 1998, pp. 61–63.
  14. ↑ Gunston 1995, p.286.
  15. ↑ Crick, Darren (31 March 2016). "RAAF A1 de Havilland D.H.9a". Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History. adf-serials.com.au.
  16. ↑ Jackson 1987, p. 110.
  17. ↑ Bowyer 1974, p. 48.
  18. 1 2 Simpson, Andrew (2013). "Individual History: De Havilland DH9A F1010 Museum Accession Number 77/A/921" (PDF). RAF Museum. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Mason 1994, p. 105.
Bibliography
  • Alexandrov, Andrei and Gennady Petrov. "Aah! De Havilland-Ski!:Origins and Development of the R-1, the Soviet DH.9A". Air Enthusiast, Number 74, March/April 1998. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing, pp. 54–63. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Bowyer, Chaz. "de Havilland D.H.9A (RAF: 1918–30)". Aircraft in Profile, Volume 14. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1974, pp. 25–49. ISBN 978-0-85383-023-8.
  • Bruce, J.M. "The De Havilland D.H.9A: Historic Military Aircraft No.13, Part I". Flight, 25 May 1956, pp. 641–644.
  • Bruce, J.M. "The De Havilland D.H.9A: Historic Military Aircraft No.13, Part II". Flight, 1 June 1956, pp. 677–680.
  • Cornelisse, Diana G. Splendid Vision, Unswerving Purpose: Developing Air Power for the United States Air Force During the First Century of Powered Flight. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: US Air Force Publications, 2002. ISBN 0-16-067599-5.
  • Donald, David, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
  • Gunston, Bill. The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft from 1875 – 1995. London: Osprey Aerospace, 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9.
  • Jackson, A.J. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam, Third edition, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-802-X.
  • Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
  • Thetford, Owen. "By Day and By Night: Part 3". Aeroplane Monthly, Vol. 20, No. 8, Issue No. 232, August 1992, pp. 16–22. London: IPC. ISSN 0143-7240.
  • Williams, George K. Biplanes and Bombsights: British Bombing in World War I. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 1999. ISBN 1-41020-012-4.
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