Tag Archives: Test Pilot

27 February 1920

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , ,
Major Rudolph William Schroeder, Air Service, United States Army

27 February 1920: Major Rudolph William Schroeder, Chief Test Pilot of the Engineering Division, McCook Field, Ohio, flew a Packard Lepère L USA C.II biplane to a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record Altitude of 10,093 meters (33,114 feet).¹ The biplane was powered by a turbosupercharged Liberty L-12 aircraft engine producing 443 horsepower.

There are differing accounts of what occurred during the flight. One report is that the L USA C.II created the very first contrail as it flew at altitudes and temperatures never before reached. Also, there are differences in explanations of some type of problem with Major Schroeder’s oxygen supply. A valve may have frozen, the regulator did not operate correctly, or one of his tanks was empty. Another source says that he ran out of fuel. But he apparently suffered hypoxia and began to lose consciousness. He may have lost control, or intentionally dived for lower altitude. The airplane dived nearly 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) before Schroeder pulled out and safely landed. He was in immediate need of medical attention, however.

Recording instruments indicated that he had been exposed to a temperature of -67 °F. (-55 °C.). His goggles had iced over, and when he raised them, his eyes were injured by the severe cold.

Schroeder’s barograph recorded a peak altitude of 37,000 feet (11,277.6 meters). When the device was calibrated after landing, it indicated that his actual maximum altitude was 36,020 feet (10,979 meters).

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) delegated responsibility for certifying the record to the Aero Club of America, whose representatives apparently felt that procedures for setting the record had not been correctly followed, and declined to accept the altitude record.

The National Bureau of Standards next evaluated the data and credited Rudolph Schroeder with having reached 33,180 feet (10,113 meters). Regardless, the current official record altitude, according to FAI, remains 10,093 meters (33,114 feet).

Major Rudolph W. Schroeder, USAAC, flying a Packard Lepère LUSAC 11 over McCook Filed, Ohio, 24 September 1919. (U.S. Air Force)
Major Rudolph W. Schroeder flying a Packard Lepère L USA C.II, A.S. 40015,  over McCook Field, Ohio, 24 September 1919. (U.S. Air Force)

The Packard Lepère L USA C.II was a single-engine, two-place biplane fighter which was designed by the French aeronautical engineer, Capitaine Georges Lepère, who had previously designed the Section Technique de l’Aeronautique Dorand AR.1 reconnaissance airplane for France’s military air service. The new airplane was built in the United States by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. It was a two-place fighter, or chasseur, light bomber, and observation aircraft, and was armed with four machine guns.

The L USA C.II was 25 feet, 3-1/8 inches (7.699 meters) long. The upper and lower wings had an equal span of 41 feet, 7¼ inches (12.681 meters), and equal chord of 5 feet, 5¾ inches (1.670 meters). The vertical gap between the wings was 5 feet, 1/8-inch (1.527 meters) and the lower wing was staggered 2 feet, 15/16-inch (0.633 meters) behind the upper wing. The wings’ incidence was +1°. Upper and lower wings were equipped with ailerons, and had no sweep or dihedral. The height of the Packard Lepère, sitting on its landing gear, was 9 feet, 7 inches (2.921 meters).

Packard Lepère L USA C.II P53, A.S. 40015, left profile. The turbocharger is mounted above the propeller driveshaft. (U.S.. Air Force)

The fuselage was a wooden structure with a rectangular cross section. It was covered with three layers of veneer, (2 mahogany, 1 white wood) with a total thickness of 3/32-inch (2.38 millimeters). The fuselage had a maximum width of 2 feet, 10 inches (0.864 meters) and maximum depth of 4 feet, 0 inches (1.219 meters).

The wings were also of wooden construction, with two spruce spars and spruce ribs. Three layers of wood veneer covered the upper surfaces.

The Packard Lepère had an empty weight of 2,561.5 pounds (1,161.9 kilograms) and its gross weight was 3,746.0 pounds (1,699.2 kilograms).

The Packard Lepère was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 1,649.34-cubic-inch-displacement (27.028 liter) Packard-built Liberty 12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine, which produced 408 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and drove a two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller with a diameter of 9 feet, 10 inches (2.997 meters). The Liberty 12 was 5 feet, 7.375 inches (1.711 meters) long, 2 feet, 3.0 inches (0.686 meters) wide, and 3 feet, 5.5 inches (1.054 meters) high. It weighed 844 pounds (383 kilograms).

The engine coolant radiator was positioned horizontally in the center section of the airplane’s upper wing. Water flowed through the radiator at a rate of 80 gallons (303 liters) per minute.

Packard-Lèpere L USA C.II P53, A.S. 40015. (U.S. Air Force)

The L USA C.II had a maximum speed of 130.4 miles per hour (209.9 kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), 127.6 miles per hour (205.4 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), 122.4 miles per hour (197.0 kilometers per hour) at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters), 110.0 miles per hour (177.0 kilometers per hours) at 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) and 94.0 miles per hour (151.3 kilometers per hour) at 20,000 feet (6,096 meters). Its cruising speed was 112 miles per hour (180 was kilometers per hour). The airplane could climb to 5,000 feet in 4 minutes, 24 seconds, and to 20,000 feet in 36 minutes, 36 seconds. In standard configuration, the LUSAC 11 had a service ceiling of 20,200 feet (6,157 meters). Its range was 320 miles (515 kilometers).

Packard Lepère L USA C.II, P54, S.C. 42138. (U.S. Air Force)

Armament consisted of two fixed M1918 Marlin .30-caliber machine guns mounted on the right side of the fuselage, synchronized to fire forward through the propeller arc, with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and two M1918 Lewis .30-caliber machine guns on a flexible mount with 970 rounds of ammunition.

The Air Service had ordered 3,525 of these airplanes, but when the War ended only 28 had been built. The contract was cancelled.

The only Packard Lepère L USA C.II in existence, serial number A.S. 42133, is in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Packard Lepère LUSAC 11, S.C. 42133, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force)
Packard Lepère L USA C.II, A.S 42133, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force)

¹ FAI Record File Number 8229: 10 093 m (33,114 feet)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

26 February 1955

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North American Aviation production test pilot George Franklin Smith with a North American F-100A Super Sabre (NASM)

26 February 1955: Although it was his day off, North American Aviation production test pilot George Franklin Smith stopped by the office at Los Angeles Airport (today, known as Los Angeles International airport, or simply “LAX”, its FAA airport identifier). The company’s flight  dispatcher told him that a brand-new F-100A-20-NA Super Sabre, serial number 53-1659, was sitting on the flight line and needed to be test flown before being turned over to the Air Force.

North American Aviation production test pilot George F. Smith (left) walks away from an F-100 Super Sabre. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineeers)
North American Aviation production test pilot George F. Smith (left) walks away from an F-100 Super Sabre. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineeers)

Smith was happy to take the flight. He departed LAX in full afterburner and headed off shore, climbing to 35,000 feet (10,668 meters) over the Pacific Ocean to start the test sequence.

A North American F-100A-1-NA Super Sabre, 52-5757 (the second production airplane) takes off at Los Angeles International Airport. (This airplane, flown by NAA test pilot Bob Hoover, crashed east of Palmdale, California, 7 July 1955, when he could not recover from a flat spin. Hoover safely ejected but the Super Sabre was destroyed.) (North American Aviation, Inc.)

But it was quickly apparent that something was wrong: The flight controls were heavy, and then there was a hydraulic system failure that caused the Super Sabre pitch down into a dive. Smith couldn’t pull it out of the dive and the airplane’s speed rapidly increased, eventually passing Mach 1.

Smith was unable to regain control of the F-100. He had no choice but to bail out. As he ejected, Smith read the instruments: the Mach meter indicated Mach 1.05—785 miles per hour (1,263 kilometers per hour)—and the altitude was only 6,500 feet (1,981 meters).

George F. Smith recovering in hospital after his supersonic ejection. (Getty Images)
Smith recovering in hospital after his supersonic ejection. (Getty Images)

The force of the wind blast hitting him as he came out of the cockpit knocked him unconscious. Estimates are that he was subjected to a 40 G deceleration. His parachute opened automatically and he came down approximately one-half mile off Laguna Beach. Fortunately he hit the water very close to a fishing boat crewed by a former U.S. Navy rescue expert.

The F-100 dived into the Pacific Ocean approximately ¼-mile (0.4 kilometers) offshore between Dana Point and Laguna Beach.

George Smith was unconscious for six days, and when he awoke he was blind in both eyes. After four surgeries and seven months in the hospital, he recovered from his supersonic ejection and returned to flight status.

North American Aviation, Inc. F-100A-20-NA Supre Sabre 53-1646. This fighter is from the same production block as the Super Sabre flown by George F. Smith, 53-1659, 26 February 1955. (Unattributed)

George F. Smith appears in this brief U.S. Air Force informational film:

The North American Aviation F-100 Super Sabre was designed as a supersonic day fighter. Initially intended as an improved F-86D and F-86E, it soon developed into an almost completely new airplane. The fuselage incorporated the “area rule,” a narrowing in the fuselage width at the wings to increase transonic performance, similar to the Convair F-102A.

The Super Sabre had a 49° 2′ sweep to the leading edges of the wings and horizontal stabilizer. The ailerons were placed inboard on the wings and there were no flaps, resulting in a high stall speed in landing configuration. The horizontal stabilizer was moved to the bottom of the fuselage to keep it out of the turbulence created by the wings at high angles of attack. The F-100A had longer wings and a distinctively shorter vertical fin than the YF-100A. The upper segment of the vertical fin was swept 49° 43′.

North American Aviation YF-100A Super Sabre 52-5754 lands on the dry lake at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (North American Aviation, Inc.)

There were two service test prototypes, designated YF-100A, followed by the production F-100A series. The first ten production aircraft (all of the Block 1 variants) were used in the flight testing program.

The F-100A Super Sabre was 47 feet, 1¼ inches (14.357 meters) long with a wingspan of 36 feet, 6 inches (11.125 meters). With the shorter vertical fin than the YF-100A, the initial F-100As had an overall height of 13 feet, 4 inches (4.064 meters), 11 inches (27.9 centimeters) less than the YF-100A.

The F-100A had an empty weight of 18,135 pounds (8,226 kilograms), and gross weight of 28,899 pounds (13,108 kilograms). Maximum takeoff weight was 35,600 pounds (16,148 kilograms). It had an internal fuel capacity of 755 gallons (2,858 liters) and could carry two 275 gallon (1,041 liter) external fuel tanks.

Following North American Aviation test pilot George Welch’s fatal accident, 12 October 1954, NACA designed a new vertical fin for the F-100A. It was taller but also had a longer chord. This resulted in a 10% increase in area. (NASA E-1573)

The early F-100As were powered by a Pratt & Whitney Turbo Wasp J57-P-7 afterburning turbojet engine. It was rated at 9,700 pounds of thrust (43.148 kilonewtons) for takeoff, and 14,800 pounds (65.834 kilonewtons) with afterburner. Later production aircraft used a J57-P-39 engine. The J57 was a two-spool axial flow turbojet which had a 16-stage compressor, and a 3-stage turbine. (Both had high- and low-pressure stages.) The engine was 15 feet, 3.5 inches (4.661 meters) long, 3 feet, 5.0 inches (1.041 meters) in diameter, and weighed 4,390 pounds (1,991 kilograms).

Test Pilot A. Scott Crossfield flew this F-100A-5-NA, 52-5778, in flight testing at the NACA High Speed Flight Station, October–December 1954. (NASA)

The Super Sabre was the first U.S. Air Force fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight. It could reach 760 miles per hour (1,223 kilometers) at Sea Level. (Mach 1 is 761.1 miles per hour, 1,224.9 kilometers per hour, under standard atmospheric conditions.) Its maximum speed was 852 miles per hour (1,371 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters)—Mach 1.29. The service ceiling was 44,900 feet (13,686 meters). Maximum range with external fuel was 1,489 miles (2,396 kilometers).

The F-100 was armed with four M-39 20 mm autocannons, capable of firing at a rate of 1,500 rounds per minute. The ammunition capacity of the F-100 was 200 rounds per gun.

North American Aviation built 199 F-100A Super Sabres at its Inglewood, California, plant before production shifted to the F-100C fighter bomber variant. Approximately 25% of all F-100As were lost in accidents.

This is the fifth production F-100A-1-NA Super Sabre, 52-5760, in flight southeast of San Bernardino, California. In this photograph, FW-760 has the taller vertical fin that was designed to improve the Super Sabre’s controllability. (U.S. Air Force)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

25 February 1975

Aviation, , , , , , , ,
Brigadier General Charles E. Yeager, USAF, made his last flight as an active duty Air Force officer aboard a McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II at Edwards Air Force Base, California, 25 February 1975. (U.S. Air Force)
Brigadier General Charles E. Yeager, USAF, made his final flight as an active duty Air Force officer aboard a McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II at Edwards Air Force Base, California, 25 February 1975. (U.S. Air Force)

25 February 1975: At Edwards Air Force Base, California,  Brigadier General Charles Elwood (“Chuck”) Yeager, United States Air Force, made his final flight as an active duty Air Force pilot, flying a McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II 65-0713.¹

Brigadier General Charles E. Yeager made his final flight in the U.S Air Force in the prototype McDonnell YF-4E Phantom II 65-0713.

During his career, General Yeager flew 180 different aircraft types and accumulated 10,131.6 flight hours.

General Yeager retired 1 March 1975 after 12,222 days of military service.

McDonnell YF-4E Phantom II 65-0713 was named Glamorous Glennis for General Yeager’s Final Flight.

¹ 65-0713 was a McDonnell F-45D-28-MC Phantom II which had been modified as the prototype YF-4E, armed with an M61 rotary cannon. Later, 65-0713 was used as a test bed for the F-4G Wild Weasel. The airplane is on display at Edwards Air Force Base.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

24 February 1934

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The prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y in flight over Southern California, 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)

24 February 1934:¹ Edmund Turney Allen,² a consulting engineer and test pilot, took the prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra, serial number 1001, registered X233Y, for its first flight from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation plant in Burbank, California, to the adjacent United Airport (which soon became United Air Terminal, then Lockheed Air Terminal and is now the Hollywood-Burbank Airport, BUR).

Aerial photograph of United Airport, looking west northwest, early 1930s. The Lockheed factory is just out of frame at the lower left, bordering the railroad tracks. (Burbank Public Library)

The Los Angeles Times reported:

NEW-TYPE PLANE PERFECTED

Lockheed Factory Turns Out First of “Electras,” Latest Word in Swift Transport

     The latest forward step by Los Angeles in the field of swift-aircraft manufacture, a 215-mile-an-hour, ten-passenger, low-wing monoplane built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, made its first appearance and took to the air in its initial test flight yesterday.

     The all-metal airliner, one of the fastest multimotored transport planes in the world and designed for economical performance by airlines enjoying little or no air-mail subsidy, was flown by Edmund T. Allen on its maiden flight from the Lockheed plant to United Airport, Burbank.

     The ship, named the Electra, is the first of nine such planes ordered by two airlines, Northwest Airways having placed an order for three and Pan-American Airways awaiting delivery on six Electras. The model follows the single-engine Lockheed Vega, Orion and Sirius models flown by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, Wiley Post, Col. Roscoe Turner, Amelia Earhart and other noted flyers on record flights.

     The Electra’s cruising speed is in excess of 190 miles per hour. It is equipped with controllable-pitch propellers to gain maximum efficiency from its two Wasp Junior engines supercharged to develop 420 horsepower each at 5000 feet.

     The craft is equipped with advanced improvements, including new retractable landing gear, wing flaps to insure low, safe landing speed, and a radical new-type tail assembly having two small vertical fins, or rudders,instead of one large one, making for greater maneuverability.

     The Electra will be on display at United Airport, and the public, according to United Airlines officials, is invited to inspect it.

—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LIII, 25 February 1934, Page 17, Columns 1 and 2

The prototype Lockheed Electra Model 10 prototype, X233Y, at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)

The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was designed as a 10-passenger commercial transport and was a contemporary of the Boeing Model 247. This was Lockheed’s first all-metal airplane. The Electra had two engines, a low wing and retractable landing gear. The airplane was designed by Lloyd Stearman and Hall L. Hibbard.

Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y. (aviadejavu)

A young engineer, Clarence L. (“Kelly”) Johnson, an assistant aerodynamicist at the University of Michigan, performed the wind tunnel tests on scale models of the proposed design and recommended changes to the configuration, such as the use of two vertical fins mounted at the outboard ends of the horizontal stabilizer. This became a design feature of Lockheed airplanes into the 1950s and included the Model 14 Super Electra/Hudson, Model 18 Lodestar/PV-1 Ventura, the P-38 Lightning fighter and the L-1649 Starliner, which was produced until 1958. Johnson would become the leader of Lockheed’s legendary  “Skunk Works.”

Clarence L. "KellY" Johnson conducted wind tunnel testing of the Model 10 at the University of Michigan.
Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson conducted wind tunnel testing of the Model 10 at the University of Michigan. Note the single vertical fin on this wind tunnel model. (Lockheed)

The prototype Electra was was used for certification testing. During a full-load test at Mines Field (now, LAX, Los Angeles International Airport) the Electra’s landing gear malfunctioned. Marshall (“Babe”) Headle, Lockheed’s chief pilot, flew the airplane back to Burbank and made a one-wheel landing. The prototype was slightly damaged but quickly repaired.

Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Passenger cabin of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, looking forward. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra NC233Y at Northwest Airways, St. Paul, Minnesota, May 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra NC233Y, Northwest Airways, St. Paul, Minnesota, 24 May 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra NC233Y, St. Paul Minnesota, 24 May 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)

After testing was competed the prototype Electra was delivered to Northwest Airways, Inc., at St. Paul, Minnesota, in May 1934. The experimental registration was changed to a standard registration, NC233Y, and it was assigned the Northwest fleet number 60.

Like the Boeing 247, the Electra was originally produced with a forward-slanting windshield to prevent instrument light reflection during night flights. This resulted in ground lighting reflections, though, and was changed to a standard, rearward slant with the fifth production airplane. NC233Y was modified by Northwestern’s maintenance staff.

Lockheed built 147 Model 10s in various configurations. The first production variant was the Model 10A. It was 38 feet, 7 inches (11.760 meters) long with a wingspan of 55 feet (16.764 meters), and height of 10 feet, 1 inch (3.073 meters). The wings had a total area of 458.3 square feet (42.6square meters). Their angle of incidence was 0°, and there were 5° 34′ dihedral.

The airplane had an empty weight of 5,455 pounds (2,474 kilograms) and a gross weight of 9,000 pounds (4,082 kilograms).

Three-view illustration of initial configuration of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra.

The Model 10A was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 986.749-cubic-inch-displacement (16.170 liters) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. SB  9-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6:1. They were rated at 400 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 450 horsepower at 2,300 r.p.m. for takeoff, using 87-octane gasoline. The SB engines were direct-drive and turned two-bladed Smith variable-pitch propellers. The Wasp Jr. SB was 3 feet, 6.59 inches (1.056 meters) long, 3 feet, 11.75 inches (1.162 meters) in diameter, and weighed 645 pounds (293 kilograms). The engines were covered by NACA cowlings.

The airplane had a cruise speed of 190 miles per hour (306 kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) and maximum speed of 215 miles per hour (346 kilometers per hour) at 8,000 feet (2,438 meters). The service ceiling was 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) and the range at cruise speed was 750 miles (1,207 kilometers).

The prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra, NC233Y, after cockpit windshield modifications by Northwestern Airways, Inc. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
The prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra, NC233Y, after cockpit windshield modifications by Northwest Airways, Inc. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Catalog #: 01_00091576)

Newsreel footage of the Lockheed Model 10 prototype’s first flight, by cinematographer Alfred Dillimtash Black for Fox Movietone News, is in the collection of the Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina, University Libraries, and can be viewed at: https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/MVTN/id/7073

The Electra was “the Lisbon plane” in the  classic 1942 motion picture, “Casablanca,” which starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains.

Probably the best-known Lockheed Electra is the Model 10E Special, NR16020, which was built for Amelia Earhart for her around-the-world flight attempt in 1937. She took delivery of the airplane on her 39th birthday, 24 July 1936.

Amelia Earhart with her Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, at Burbank, 1937.
Amelia Earhart with her Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, at Burbank, 1937.

The prototype Lockheed Model 10 later carried U.S. registrations NC2332, NC17380, and Canadian registration CF-BRG. It was placed in service with the Royal Canadian Air Force 2 August 1940 with the serial number 7652. One of 15 Lockheed Electras in RCAF service during World War II, it was destroyed by fire at RCAF Station Mountain View, Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, 14 October 1941.

Statement of Accident (Royal Canadian Air Force/Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum)

¹ Most sources cite 23 February as the date of the first flight.

² Many sources (e.g., Wikipedia) state that Lockheed’s Chief Pilot, Marshall Headle, made the Electra’s first flight.

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

22 February 1925

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Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, OM, CBE, AFC, RDI, FRAeS (27 July 1882–21 May 1965)
Captain Geoffrey de Havilland, O.B.E., in the cockpit of an airplane, circa 1925. (Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

22 February 1925: At the de Havilland Aircraft Company airfield at Stag Lane, Edgware, London, Geoffrey de Havilland, O.B.E., took his new DH.60 Moth, c/n 168 (later registered G-EBKT), for its first flight.

The DH.60 was a light-weight, two-place, single-engine, single-bay biplane. The fuselage was constructed of plywood and the wings and tail surfaces were covered with fabric. The Moth was 23 feet, 5½ inches (7.150 meters) long with a wingspan of 29 feet, 0 inches (8.839 meters) and overall height of 8 feet, 9½ inches (2.680 meters). The airplane was designed so that the wings could be folded parallel to the fuselage, giving it an approximate width of 9 feet (2.7 meters).

The wings had a chord of 4 feet, 3 inches and the lower wing was staggered slightly behind the upper. Their total area was 229.0 square feet (21.3 square meters). The vertical gap between the wings was 4 feet, 10 inches (1.473 meters) and lower wing was staggered 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) behind the upper. Both wings had 3.5° angle of incidence and 3.5° dihedral. There was no sweep.

The DH.60 had an empty weight of 764 pounds (346.6 kilograms) and its gross weight was 1,650 pounds (748 kilograms).

An A.D.C. Cirrus aircraft engine at the Science Museum, London. (Nimbus227)

The Moth was powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 4.503 liter (274.771-cubic-inch-displacement A.D.C. Aircraft Ltd., Cirrus inline 4-cylinder overhead valve engine with two valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 5.4:1. The direct-drive engine produced 60 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 65 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. The Cirrus was 0.983 meters (3.225 feet) long, 0.908 meters (2.979 feet) high and 0.450 meters (1.476 feet) wide. It weighed 260 pounds (118 kilograms). The A.D.C. Cirrus was designed by Major Frank Bernard Halford, who later designed the de Havilland Gipsy engine, as well as the Goblin and Ghost turbojet engines.

De Havilland built 8 pre-production and 31 production DH.60 Moths. 595 DH.60s of all variants were produced at Stag Lane.

The prototype de Havilland Aircraft Company DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT.
The prototype de Havilland Aircraft Company DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT. (Unattributed)

On 29 May 1925, Alan Cobham flew the prototype from Croydon to Zurich and back in 14 hours, 49 minutes. Cobham also flew the Moth in The Kings Cup Air Race, though weather forced him to land short of the finish. It placed second in a follow-up race.

The G-EBKT was used as a demonstrator for de Havilland for a brief time before being sold to Sophie C. Elliot Lynn, 26 March 1926. She flew the Moth in the Paris Concours d’Avions Economiques in August 1926. (Mrs. Elliott Lynn later became Mary, Lady Heath.)

Sophie Elliott Lynn with her pale blue de Havilland DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT. (Unattributed)
Sophie Catherine Elliot Lynn with her pale blue de Havilland DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT. (A Fleeting Peace)

In 1927, G-EBKT was sold to the London Aeroplane Club. It crashed at Dennis Lane, Stanmore, Middlesex, 21 August 1927, injuring the pilot and a passenger:

On Sunday afternoon, Pilot Officer Stanley Pritchard-Barrett, flying on D.H. “Moth” G-EBKT with his wife as passenger, crashed in the grounds of the residence of Major Sir Maurice FitzGerald,Bt. He was severely injured about his head, and his wife, who was a passenger, had a leg broken. The machine fell from a height of about 90 ft.

The London Aeroplane Club “Moth” is apparently a complete write-off.

—Flight

G-EBKT’s registration was cancelled 20 January 1928.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes