De Haviland 4
De Haviland 4 (DH.4)
Two-Seat Biplane Day Bomber
The DH.4 was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland as a light two-seat combat aircraft, intended to perform both day bomber and aerial reconnaissance missions. The intention was for it to be powered by the newly-developed 160 hp (120 kW) Beardmore Halford Pullinger (BHP) engine. During August 1916, the prototype DH.4 made its first flight, powered by a prototype 230 hp (170 kW) BHP engine.
Production of the DH.4 was performed by a variety of companies; these included Airco, FW Berwick and Co, Glendower Aircraft Company, Palladium Autocars, Vulcan Motor and Engineering, and the Westland Aircraft Works.
Westland built 150 DH.4s at Yeovil during the Great War and were constructed on the land adjoining the new works. These were the first Westland-built planes to be flown from the aerodrome, with the first flown by test pilot B.C.Hicks in April 1917.
By the end of production, a national total of 1,449 aircraft (from orders for 1,700 aircraft) were constructed in Britain for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).
| General characteristics | |
| Crew: | Two |
| Length: | 30 ft 8 in (9.35 m) |
| Wingspan: | 43 ft 4 in (13.21 m) |
| Height: | 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) |
| Wing area: | 434 sq ft (40.3 m2) |
| Empty weight: | 2,387 lb (1,083 kg) |
| Gross weight: | 3,472 lb (1,575 kg) |
| Powerplant: | 1 × Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII water-cooled V12 engine, 375 hp (280 kW) |
| Performance | |
| Maximum speed: | 143 mph (230 km/h, 124 kn) at sea level |
| Service ceiling: | 22,000 ft (6,700 m) |
| Endurance: | 3 hr 45 min |
| Time to altitude: | 9 min to 10,000 ft (3,000 m) |
| Armament | |
| Guns: | One fixed forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun, 1 or 2 .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis guns on a Scarff ring |
| Bombs: | 460 lb (210 kg) of bombs |
| Production | |
| Number built: | 6,295, of which Westland built 150 at Yeovil during WW1. 4,846 were built in the United States. |
| First flight: | April 1917 |
All the above text based on / 'borrowed' from Wikipedia.
gallery
Courtesy of
Jenny Bell
Jenny's grandfather, Ernest Scott, was a test pilot at Westlands This photograph is dated 1917.
Courtesy of
Jenny Bell
Ernest Scott at the controls of a DH.4 day bomber on the Westland's airfield.
A DH.4 day bomber as built at Westlands.
An early production DH.4.
