DH.95 Flamingo
Lady of Glamis the former King's Flight Flamingo circa 1943
Role Airliner
Communications aircraft
Manufacturer de Havilland
Designer Ronald Eric Bishop
First flight 22 December 1938
Introduction 15 July 1939
Retired 1950
Primary users Royal Air Force
BOAC
Number built 14

The de Havilland DH.95 Flamingo was a British twin-engined high-wing monoplane airliner first flown on 22 December 1938. During the Second World War some were used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a transport and general communications duties.

Design and development

The Flamingo was a twin-engined civil airliner developed by de Havilland, led by their newly appointed chief designer R. E. Bishop, and was the first all-metal stressed-skin aircraft built by the company; only the control surfaces were fabric covered. It was powered by two 890 hp Bristol Perseus air-cooled radial engines driving three-bladed de Havilland Propellers 'Hydromatic' variable-pitch propellers. Two pilots were seated side by side with a radio operator behind them in the cockpit, with the cabin accommodating 12–17 passengers. It had a retractable undercarriage, slotted flaps, and was considered a highly promising sales prospect for the company, capable of competing with the American Douglas DC-3 and Lockheed Model 10 Electra. The first prototype flew on 22 December 1938.[1]

Powered by 890 hp (660 kW) Bristol Perseus XIIIC engines, it had a maximum weight takeoff in 750 ft (230 m) and the ability to maintain height or climb at 120 mph (190 km/h) on a single engine. Testing was successful, with the Flamingo being granted a certificate of airworthiness on 30 June 1939,[2] with an initial production run of twenty aircraft being laid down.[3]

Only one Hertfordshire, the transport variant of the Flamingo, was built; it fatally crashed in October 1940

A single military transport variant was built to Specification 19/39 as the DH.95 Hertfordshire. It had oval cabin windows instead of rectangular ones, and seating for 22 soldiers. A proposed order for 40 was cancelled to leave de Havilland free to produce Tiger Moth trainers. The sole Hertfordshire crashed on 23 October 1940 killing five crew and six passengers, including Air Vice-marshal Charles Blount, the AOC of No. 22 Group travelling from Hendon to Northern Ireland, apparently due to jamming of the elevator.

Operational service

DH.95 Flamingo G-AFYH of British Air Transport at Redhill airfield, Surrey, in June 1953

Following the success of the first test flights Jersey Airways ordered three 17-seat aircraft, and this was followed by orders from the Egyptian government and the Air Ministry. The Air Ministry aircraft were to be used by the Air Council and the King's Flight.

The prototype, fitted with 12 passenger seats, was delivered to Jersey Airways in May 1939 for two months evaluation and became the first revenue-earning Flamingo. The first services carried mail only but in July a regular weekend passenger service was operated.

In October 1939 the prototype was bought by the Air Council, being delivered to No. 24 Squadron RAF where it operated until it was lost in an accident in October 1940. The second aircraft was to be the first for Guernsey and Jersey Airlines but it was impressed into military service and delivered to 24 Squadron, the other two on order were never built due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

The King's Flight aircraft was to be used in the event of the royal family having to leave the country but in the end it was passed to 24 Squadron for communications and liaison duties.

Early in 1940 BOAC ordered eight aircraft to be powered by the Perseus XVI and originally intended as ten-seaters. The first BOAC aircraft was delivered to Whitchurch on 5 September 1940. The second BOAC aircraft was impressed by the Air Ministry and allocated for Admiralty use at RNAS Donibristle. To replace the impressed aircraft BOAC were later allotted the aircraft ordered by the Egyptian Government. After a period of training all the BOAC Flamingos were moved to Cairo to operate in the Middle East. The BOAC aircraft were named after English Kings and were named K-class by the airline.

The Flamingo was Winston Churchill's favorite short/medium range transport and he flew it to visit Reynaud and the French leadership as the front collapsed on May 16, 1940.[4]

The BOAC Flamingoes were not popular, and following three accidents – one of which was fatal – and with a lack of spares, the airline decided to withdraw the type. In 1943 the five airworthy aircraft were shipped back to the United Kingdom. They did not return to service and were scrapped in the early 1950s.

Most of the RAF aircraft were withdrawn from use during the war and were slowly scrapped to provide spares for the remaining aircraft. The Admiralty aircraft was due to be withdrawn and scrapped but in August 1944 it ground looped at Gatwick and was abandoned. In 1946 the former Admiralty aircraft was bought by Southern Aircraft (Gatwick) and rebuilt using former BOAC spare parts. It flew again in 1947 and was delivered to British Air Transport at Redhill, gaining a Certificate of Airworthiness. It operated a number of charter flight until it was temporarily withdrawn from use in 1949.

British Air Transport also arranged to restore three former BOAC aircraft, the scheme was abandoned although the aircraft were in an advanced stage of reconstruction. In 1952, British Air Transport restored the original former Admiralty aircraft which flew again on 27 May 1952. Redhill Aerodrome was closed in 1954 and the last flying Flamingo was dismantled and scrapped. A short clip of a Flamingo appears in the film Mistaken Identity

Operators

Military operators

 United Kingdom

Civilian operators

 United Kingdom

Specifications (de Havilland Flamingo)

Data from De Havilland Aircraft since 1909[5]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 3
  • Capacity: 17 passengers
  • Length: 51 ft 7 in (15.72 m)
  • Wingspan: 70 ft 0 in (21.34 m)
  • Height: 15 ft 3 in (4.65 m)
  • Wing area: 651 sq ft (60.5 m2)
  • Empty weight: 11,325 lb (5,137 kg)
  • Gross weight: 18,000 lb (8,165 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Perseus XVI 9-cylinder air-cooled sleeve-valve radial piston engines, 930 hp (690 kW) each
  • Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 243 mph (391 km/h, 211 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 204 mph (328 km/h, 177 kn)
  • Range: 1,345 mi (2,165 km, 1,169 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 20,900 ft (6,400 m)
  • Rate of climb: 1,470 ft/min (7.5 m/s)

Avionics

  • Sperry Automatic Pilot

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to De Havilland DH.95 Flamingo.
  1. ↑ Jackson 1987, p. 399.
  2. ↑ Green and Swanborough 1986, p. 4.
  3. ↑ Green and Swanborough 1986, p. 5.
  4. ↑ Larson, Erik (2020). The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. New York: Crown. ISBN 978-0385348713.
  5. ↑ Jackson 1987, p. 403.

Sources

  • Bain, Gordon. De Havilland: A Pictorial Tribute. London: AirLife, 1992. ISBN 1-85648-243-X.
  • Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "De Havilland's War Orphan." Air Enthusiast. Number 30, March–June 1986, pp. 1–10. Bromley, Kent, UK: Pilot Press.
  • Jackson, A.J. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam, Third edition 1987. ISBN 0-85177-802-X.
  • The Birth of an Airliner , Picture Post , 15 July 1939 pages 43–48
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