De Havilland Leopard Moth

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DH.85 Leopard Moth
DH.85 Leopard Moth VH-UUE Wangarratta Vic 17.03.88 edited-2.jpg
Leopard Moth exported to Australia in 1935, exhibited airworthy at the Drage Air World Museum at Wangaratta Airport Victoria in 1988
General information
TypeThree-seat cabin monoplane
Manufacturer de Havilland
Primary usersUnited Kingdom private pilots
Australian pilots
Number built133
History
Manufactured1933-1936
Introduction date8 July 1933
First flight27 May 1933

The de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth is a three-seat high-wing cabin monoplane designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1933.

Contents

Design and construction

It was a successor to the DH.80 Puss Moth and replaced it on the company's Stag Lane and later Hatfield production lines. It was similar in configuration to the earlier aircraft, but instead of a fuselage with tubular steel framework, a lighter all-plywood structure was used which allowed a substantial improvement in range, performance and capacity on the same type of engine. The pilot is seated centrally in front of two side-by-side passengers and the wings can be folded for hangarage.

Operational history

The prototype first flew on 27 May 1933 and in July won the King's Cup Race at an average speed of 139.5 mph (224.5 km/h), piloted by Geoffrey de Havilland. A total of 133 aircraft were built, including 71 for owners in the British Isles, and 10 for Australia, including one delivered to Nancy Bird Walton, the first female commercial air operator in Australia. Other examples were exported to France, Germany, India, South Africa and Switzerland. Production of the Leopard Moth ended in 1936.

44 Leopard Moths were impressed into military service in Britain and others in Australia during World War II, mostly as communications aircraft. Only a few managed to survive six years of hard usage although a small number were still airworthy seventy years after the last was completed. Six remained operational in the U.K. in 2009.

The first prototype Leopard Moth DH85.jpg
The first prototype Leopard Moth

Operators

Leopard Moth, showing complicated wing fold Leopard Moth G-ACMN.jpg
Leopard Moth, showing complicated wing fold

Military operators

Flag of the Congo Free State.svg  Belgian Congo
Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
British Raj Red Ensign.svg  India
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa
Flag of Southern Rhodesia (1924-1964).svg  Southern Rhodesia
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Flag of the British Straits Settlements (1925-1946).svg  Straits Settlements
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of Yugoslavia (1918-1943).svg  Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Airline operators

Flag of India.svg  India

Specifications (DH.85)

De Havilland DH.85 3-view drawing from NACA-AC-186 De Havilland DH.85 3-view NACA-AC-186.png
De Havilland DH.85 3-view drawing from NACA-AC-186

Data fromDe Havilland Aircraft since 1909 [6]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

  1. ↑ Luc Baudoux, Les Avions de la Force Publique du Congo Archived 2012-12-12 at the Wayback Machine , accessed October 2011
  2. ↑ Comas 2022, pp. 44–46
  3. ↑ Ketley, Barry, and Rolfe, Mark. Luftwaffe Fledglings 1935–1945: Luftwaffe Training Units and their Aircraft (Aldershot, GB: Hikoki Publications, 1996), p.11.
  4. ↑ Sturtivant and Burrow 1995, p 59
  5. ↑ Pran Nath Seth; Sushma Seth Bhat (2005). An Introduction To Travel And Tourism. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 112. ISBN   978-81-207-2482-2.
  6. ↑ Jackson 1987, p.340.

Bibliography

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