De Havilland Flamingo
| 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.
The Flamingo was a twin-engined civil airliner designed by de Havilland, led by their chief designer R. E. Bishop, and was the first all-metal stressed-skin aircraft built by de Havilland; only the control surfaces were fabric covered. It was powered by two 890 hp Bristol Perseus XIIIC air-cooled radial engines driving three-bladed D.H 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.
Powered by 890 hp (660 kW) Bristol Perseus engines, performance was excellent with 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, with an initial production run of twenty aircraft being laid down.
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 soldierss.
A proposed order for 40 was cancelled to leave de Havillands free to produce Tiger Moth trainers. The sole Hertfordshire crashed with the loss of 11 lives at Mill Hill, Hertfordshire on 23 October 1940, apparently due to jamming of the elevator.
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