Airco DH.16

DH.16
DH.16 of Aircraft Transport & Travel; probably Croydon, 1920
Role	commercial biplane
Manufacturer	Airco
First flight	1919
Introduction	1919
Retired	1923
Primary user	Aircraft Transport and Travel
Number built	9

The Airco DH.16 was a British four-seat commercial biplane of the 1910s designed by Geoffrey de Havilland, the chief designer at Airco.

The DH.16 was a redesigned Airco DH.9A with a wider fuselage, accommodating an enclosed cabin seating four passengers, plus the pilot in an open cockpit. In March 1919, the prototype first flew at Hendon Aerodrome. Nine aircraft were built, all but one being delivered to Aircraft Transport & Travel Limited (AT&T). AT&T used the first aircraft for pleasure flying, then on 25 August 1919 it inaugurated a London-to-Paris service. One aircraft was sold to the River Plate Aviation Company in Argentina, to operate a cross-river service between Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

AT&T operated the London (Hounslow Heath Aerodrome)-to-Paris service, plus a Croydon Airport-to-Amsterdam service on behalf of KLM. On 17 May 1920, an AT&T DH.16 (G-EALU) flew the first KLM service between London and Amsterdam. In December 1920, AT&T closed down, and the surviving seven aircraft were stored. Two were later used for newspaper delivery flights, and the other five were scrapped. On 10 January 1923, one of the two newspaper delivery aircraft suffered a fatal crash, and DH.16s were withdrawn and scrapped.

The first six aircraft were powered by a 320 hp (239 kW) Rolls Royce Eagle inline piston engine; the last three aircraft were fitted with the more powerful 450 hp (336 kW) Napier Lion engine.

Data from De Havilland Aircraft since 1909

General characteristics

Performance

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