History Brief, by Johan Visschedijk August 31, 2009

de Havilland

At the age of 27, Geoffrey de Havilland (July 27, 1882 - May 21, 1965), until then a draughtsman with an omnibus manufacturer, designed a 45 hp flat-four water-cooled aircraft engine in his first office at Bedford Square, London. While the engine was built by the Iris Motor Company, the aviation layman Geoffrey constructed a biplane at Bothwell Street, Fulham. It was wrecked just after the first takeoff from Seven Barrows in December 1909, however, a second aircraft was flown on September 10, 1910. In January 1911 Geoffrey joined the Government Balloon Factory at Farnborough as a designer and test pilot, his aircraft became the first 'heavier than air' machine to be purchased by the British Government. It was redesignated F.E.1 by the illogical Civil Service system based on French aircraft designs: All pusher aircraft were designated Farman Experimental (F.E.), all tractor aircraft were designated Blériot Experimental (B.E.), while tail-first or canard aircraft were Santos Dumont Experimental (S.E.). In 1914 Geoffrey became an Inspector of Aircraft in the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate for a few months, as on July 2, he joined the Aircraft Manufacturing Company, commonly known by their trade name Airco, at Hendon, London, as designer, production supervisor and test-pilot. In just over six and a halve years with Airco, Geoffrey designed 26 different types, the D.H.1 to D.H.26. The 'D.H.' in the designations led to these designs often confusingly and incorrectly being listed as de Havilland aircraft. In 1920 Airco ran into financial problems and was taken over by the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSAC); aircraft production was ended. Geoffrey bought the Airco aviation assets from BSAC, hired a large number of personnel that had worked at Airco, and founded the de Havilland Aircraft Company on September 25, 1920, at Stag Lane, London. The first new designs, D.H.27 and D.H.29 were ordered in 1921. Eventually the administration was moved to Hatfield, London, and that became the company head-quarters for decades. On March 7, 1927, de Havilland Aircraft of Australia was formed, followed by de Havilland Aircraft of Canada in 1928, by de Havilland Aircraft of India in 1929, by de Havilland Aircraft of South Africa in 1930, and by de Havilland Aircraft of New Zealand in 1939. In January 1960 the de Havilland Aircraft Company, including its subsidiaries, became a member of the Hawker Siddeley Group, and on July 1, 1963 it became a division of the Hawker Siddeley Group and the de Havilland saga in the UK ended. de Havilland Aircraft of Canada acquired A.V. Roe Canada in July 1962. In June 1974 ownership of de Havilland Aircraft of Canada was transferred to the Canadian government, Boeing of Canada became the new owner in January 1986, while Bombardier of Canada acquired it in March 1992. Since the name de Havilland Aircraft of Canada has been dropped. de Havilland Aircraft of Australia was renamed Hawker de Havilland Australia in January 1963, the name survived a few sales (to BTR Nylex in 1992, Tenix in 1998, Boeing in 2000) until 2009, when it was changed into Boeing Aerostructures Australia, and the name de Havilland has disappeared from the aviation industry. The de Havilland name was also found in several other branches, subsidiaries and enterprises, among them: de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School de Havilland Aircraft Rhodesia de Havilland Aircraft USA de Havilland Engine Company de Havilland Flying Club de Havilland Propeller Company de Havilland Repair Unit de Havilland School of Flying The tables below show only the flown main 'D.H.' types. Many more subversions were produced, and also designs by others were (license) built. The de Havilland designs have been (license) built in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, India, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA, while de Havilland aircraft have been registered in almost all nations world wide.

de Havilland

Aircraft Number One Aircraft Number Two

Government Balloon Factory

F.E.1 F.E.2 S.E.1 S.E.2 B.E.1 B.E.2 B.S.1 B.S.2

Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco)

D.H.1 D.H.2 D.H.3 D.H.4 D.H.5 D.H.6 D.H.9 D.H.10 Amiens D.H.11 Oxford D.H.14 Okapi D.H.15 Gazelle D.H.16 D.H.18

de Havilland Aircraft Company

D.H.27 Derby D.H.29 Doncaster D.H.34 D.H.34B D.H.37 D.H.37A D.H.42 Dormouse            Dingo D.H.50 D.H.51 D.H.52 D.H.53 D.H.54 Highclere D.H.56 Hyena D.H.60 Moth            Gipsy Moth            Moth Trainer D.H.61 Giant Moth D.H.65 Hound D.H.66 Hercules D.H.67 D.H.71 Tiger Moth Racer D.H.72 Canberra D.H.75 Hawk Moth D.H.77 D.H.80 Push Moth D.H.81 Swallow Moth D.H.82 Tiger Moth            Queen Bee            Gipsy Major D.H.83 Fox Moth D.H.84 Dragon D.H.85 Leopard Moth D.H.86 D.H.87 Hornet Moth D.H.88 Comet D.H.89 Dragon Rapide D.H.90 Dragonfly D.H.91 Albatross D.H.92 Dolphin D.H.93 Don D.H.94 Moth Minor D.H.95 Flamingo D.H.98 Mosquito D.H.100 Vampire D.H.103 Hornet              Sea Hornet D.H.104 Dove              Devon D.H.106 Comet D.H.108 D.H.110 Sea Vixen D.H.112 Venom              Sea Venom D.H.113 Vampire D.H.114 Heron D.H.115 Vampire D.H.121 Trident D.H.125

de Havilland Australia

DHG.1 DHG.2 DHA.3

de Havilland Canada

DHC-1 Chipmunk DHC-2 Beaver DHC-3 Otter DHC-4 Caribou DHC-5 Buffalo DHC-6 Twin Otter DHC-7 Dash 7 DHC-8 Dash 8