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Britain's De Havilland Tiger Moth trainer¹

De Havilland Tiger Moth trainer:

De Havilland Tiger Moth DH.82B Queen Bee:

Design

The de Havilland Tiger Moth was an open cockpit biplane trainer.¹

Prototype

The DH.82 Prototype first flew on October 26, 1931.¹

Production

First order of 35 were delivered in November 1931.¹ Production went until 1945.¹

• DH.82, DH.82A, DH.82C: 8,796¹
  • Australia: 1,070¹
  • Britain: 5,483¹
  • Canada: 1,747¹
  • New Zealand: 345¹
  • Norway: 37¹
  • Portugal: 91¹
  • Sweden: 23¹
• DH.82B: 420¹
  • Built by de Havilland and Scottish Aviation.¹
• DH.82C: 1,520¹
  • Produced in Canada¹

Prewar Production

Canada, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden had licensed the production of the Tiger Moth.¹

Expanded Production

After the war started de Havilland subsidiaries in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand started production.¹

In 1940 Morris Motors took over production in Britain.¹ They produced 3,508 of the total Tiger Moths constructed.¹

Variants

• DH.82 Prototype: Had a Gipsy III engine (120 HP).¹
• DH.82:
• DH.82A / Tiger Moth II: Production started in 1934.¹ Had more powerful engine.¹ The top decking fabric was replaced by plywood.¹
• DH.82B Queen Bee: Was a radio controlled gunnery target.¹ Had a wooden fuselage.¹
• DH.82C: Had an enclosed cockpit.¹ Had a skid wheel replaced by a tail wheel.¹ Had Gipsy Major IC engine (145 HP).¹
  • 136 were powered by the Menasco Pirate engine (120 HP).¹ There was a shortage of Gipsy engines due to U-boats in the Atlantic.¹

Usage

The de Havilland Tiger Moth was used by Australia, Britain, Canada, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, and United States.¹

Training

40 Royal Air Force (RAF) training establishments were using the Tiger Moth by September 1939.¹

The number of Elementary Flying Schools equipped with Tiger Moths in the following countries:

• Australia: 12¹
• Britain: 28¹
• Canada: 25¹
• India: 2¹
• New Zealand: 4¹
• Southern Rhodesia: 5¹
• South Africa: 7¹

After War Use

The RAF retired the last Tiger Moth in 1955.¹

	de Havilland Tiger Moth1	de Havilland CH.82A Tiger Moth1
Type	Trainer1
Crew	21
Engine (Type)		de Havilland Gipsy Major I1
Cylinders		41
Cooling
HP		1301
Propeller blades		21
Dimensions
Span	29' 4"1 8.94 m1
Length	23' 11"1 7.29 m1
Height	8' 9.5"1 2.68 m1
Wing area
Weight
Empty	1,115 lb1 506 kg1
Loaded	1,750 lb1 794 kg1
Maximum load	1,825 lb1 828 kg1
Performance
Speed	109 mph1 175 kph1
Cruising speed	93 mph1 150 kph1
Climb with maximum weight	635'/minute1 193 m/minute1
Service ceiling	14,000'1 4,267 m1
Range	300 miles1 483 km1
Armament

Sources:

1. Aircraft of WWII, Stewart Wilson, 1998

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