Airco DH.16
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name = DH.16
|image = File:DH16-AT&T.jpg
|caption = DH.16 of Aircraft Transport & Travel
|type = 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 an early British airliner designed by Geoffrey de Havilland, the chief designer at Airco. It accommodated a pilot plus four passengers, and was operated from 1919 to 1923.
Design and development
The DH.16 was a redesigned Airco DH.9A light bomber biplane 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 Airco's subsidiary Aircraft Transport & Travel Limited (AT&T).{{cite web |title=Airco DH16 |url=https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/airco-dh16-arras----- |website=baesystems.com |access-date=16 May 2024}}
Operational history
AT&T used the first aircraft for pleasure flying, then on 25 August 1919 it was with this type of aircraft that AT&T operated the first regular (daily) international service in the world, from London-Hounslow Heath Aerodrome to Paris–Le Bourget Airport.Jackson 1973, p.62.
On 17 May 1920, an AT&T DH.16 (G-EALU) flew the first KLM service between Croydon Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.{{cite web |title=KLM founded - 7 October 1919 |url=https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/7-october-1919/ |website=thisdayinaviation.com |date=7 October 2023 |access-date=16 May 2024}}
In December 1920, AT&T closed down. One aircraft was sold to the River Plate Aviation Company in Argentina, to operate a cross-river service between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and the other aircraft were stored. Two were later used for newspaper delivery flights, but on 10 January 1923 one of these suffered a fatal crash, and the remaining DH.16s were withdrawn and scrapped.Jackson 1987, p.156.
Variants
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.
Operators
;{{ARG}}
- The River Plate Aviation Co. Ltd. – three aircraft c/n No 2, No 3 and P-4.
;{{NLD}}
- KLM – services operated by Aircraft Transport and Travel aircraft.
;{{UK}}
- Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited – all nine DH.16s operated from 1919 to 1922.
- De Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service – two former AT&T aircraft from 1922 to 1923.
Specifications (DH.16 with Napier Lion engine)
File:Airco DH.16 3-view Flight October 2, 1919.jpg
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 Jackson 1987, pp. 156–157.
|prime units?=imp
|crew=One
|capacity=Four passengersJackson 1987, p. 154.
|length ft=31|length in=9
|span ft=46|span in=5+7/8
|height ft=11|height in=4
|wing area sqft=489+3/4
|empty weight lb=3155
|max takeoff weight lb=4750
|eng1 number=1|eng1 name=Napier Lion|eng1 type=12-cylinder water-cooled W-block aircraft piston engine
|eng1 hp=450
|prop blade number=4
|prop name=wood fixed pitch propeller
|prop dia ft=|prop dia in=
|max speed mph=136
|cruise speed mph=100
|range miles=425
|ceiling ft=21000
|climb rate ftmin=1000
}}
See also
References
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985)|publisher= Orbis Publishing}}
- {{cite book|last=Jackson|first= A.J.|title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919|volume=2|year=1973|publisher=Putnam|location=London|isbn=978-0370100104}}
- {{cite book|last=Jackson|first= A.J.|title=De Havilland Aircraft since 1909|edition=Third|year=1987|publisher=Putnam|location=London|isbn=978-0851778020}}
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Hirschauer|editor1-first=Louis|editor2-last=Dollfus|editor2-first=Charles|title=L'Année Aéronautique: 1919-1920|date=1920 |publisher=Dunod|location=Paris|page=35|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553380s/f47.item}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPt8e1WG4A&t=44m30s Conquest of the Air] (1936 documentary) includes a brief sequence of G-EACT (G-K-130) of Aircraft Transport & Travel Ltd.
{{De Havilland aircraft}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airco DH.016}}
Category:1910s British airliners
Category:1910s British civil utility aircraft
Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1919