de Havilland Dragonfly

The Dragonfly shares a clear family resemblance with the Dragon Rapide, but is smaller and has higher aspect ratio, slightly sweptback wings. The lower wing has a shorter span than the upper, unlike the DH.89, and the top of the engine nacelles protrude much less above its surface because the fuel tank had been moved to the lower centre section. Structurally, too they are different: the Dragonfly had a new preformed plywood monocoque shell and strengthened fuselage. It was designed as a luxury touring aircraft for four passengers and a pilot, with provision for dual controls. The first aircraft, G-ADNA, first flew on 12 August 1935. The Dragonfly achieved maximum performance on low power, by using the new construction methods developed for the de Havilland Comet racer, and therefore was expensive to buy (£2,650). In modern terms, it was an executive transport, aimed at wealthy private individuals, often via the companies they owned.

The first delivery was made in May 1936. Some 36 new-build Dragonflies went to private and company owners, about 15 to airlines/air taxis and three to clubs. Two each went to the Danish and Swedish air forces, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had four to combat rum-runners. Production ended in 1938.Jackson (1978), pp. 374–9.Hayes, pp. 145–50.

By 1939, several aircraft had moved from private to commercial use, like the fleet built up by Air Dispatch Ltd at Croydon Airport, headed by The Hon Mrs Victor Bruce. Amongst her seven examples were also some ex-airline machines.Hayes, p. 158. They were used as air taxis between the various London airports, and also as Army Cooperation night flying trainers. Western Airways of Weston-super-Mare Airport used its Dragonfly on a scheduled service via Birmingham to Manchester.

Seven airframes were shipped to Canada, and erected by de Havilland Canada, where they served a variety of small commercial operators, the R.C.M.P. and two with the R.C.A.F. At least one, CF-BFF, was fitted with Edo floats, and used commercially.

In about 1937, three Dragonflies were bought by the Romanian government for crew training, appearing on their civil register.Grey, C. G., and Bridgman, L., Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938.(1972). p. 51b. Newton Abott: David & Charles {{ISBN|0-7153-5734-4}}

At the start of World War II, about 23 Dragonflies were impressed into the R.A.F and Commonwealth air forces, some six surviving to 1945. Overall, there were about thirteen flying in that year.

File:DH.90 Dragonfly Blackbushe 1953.jpg as an executive transport in 1953]]

Silver City Airways operated a Dragonfly G-AEWZ as an executive transport from 1950 until 1960. By around 1970, only the two survivors noted below were active. In May 2018 Hertfordshire-based Uno bus named a fleet of buses after the Dragonfly plane.{{Cite web|url=https://www.route-one.net/news/uno_s__1m_investment_for__really_important_route_/|title=Uno's £1m investment for 'really important route'|first=routeone|last=Team|date=22 May 2018}}

The fuel tanks in the Dragonfly are in the thickened lower centre-section, not immediately behind the engines as in the Dragon Rapide. As a result, only one aircraft was lost to fire. A common cause of loss was the frequent development of a vicious ground loop either on takeoff or landing, resulting in undercarriage writeoff and spar damage.

• DH.90 : First prototype only. Two 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major I
• DH.90A : Two 142 hp (106 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major 1C or D (postwar, essentially identical) or the earlier, very similar Major II in prewar aircraft.
• Dragonfly Seaplane: the addition of aluminium floats, strengthened attachment points, an extra cabin door and a wing walkway, increased the empty weight to 3,110 lb (1,410 kg) and lowered the maximum speed to 125 mph (200 km/h)Jane's (1938), p. 82c.

File:De Havilland DH.89 and DH.90.jpg and DH.90]]

File:De Havilland DH.90A Dragonfly G-AEDU, Kemble, England arp.jpg

Two flyable aircraft survive:

• DH 90A ZK-AYR {{Cite web |url=http://www.caa.govt.nz/Script/AirReg3.asp?Mark=AYR&Query3=Get+Reg+Mark |title=Aircraft Registration Mark Query |access-date=13 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716175547/http://www.caa.govt.nz/Script/AirReg3.asp?Mark=AYR&Query3=Get+Reg+Mark |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=dead }} (c/n 7508) is operated on scenic and aircraft experience flights by the Croydon Aircraft Company in New Zealand. It was first registered as G-AEDT, then went to Australia in 1938 as VH-AAD, being operated by Adastra Aerial Surveys until 1951; flown to the UK in 1963, the aircraft was sold to the US in 1964 as N2034.Jackson (1988), p. 471. From about 1988 to 1996 it was flying as G-AEDT again, before leaving the UK for New Zealand.
• DH 90A G-AEDU (c/n 7526) has been registered in the United Kingdom since 1992, now owned by Shipping and Airlines{{cite web |title=de Havilland Dragonfly - 1937 |url=https://www.shippingandairlines.co.uk/historic-aircraft/dragonfly/ |website=Shipping and Airlines}} at Biggin Hill as part of its Historic Aircraft Collection and previously owned by the Norman Aeroplane Trust.{{Cite web|url=https://www.caa.co.uk/aircraft-registration/|title=Aircraft registration | UK Civil Aviation Authority|website=www.caa.co.uk}} Originally delivered to Angola in 1937, it flew as CR-AAB and later as ZS-CTR in South Africa.Jackson (1988), p. 150. When it was returned to England in 1979, it used a British registration (G-AEDU) that had been allocated to another Dragonfly but not used. It was exported to the United States in 1983 as N190DH but it was returned to England in 1992 in a damaged state and rebuilt to flying condition as G-AEDU.

;{{flag|Australia}}

• Qantas
• Royal Australian Air Force
• Adastra Aerial Surveys
• Connellan Airways
• Bush Pilots Airways

;{{BEL}}

• Belgian Air Force

;{{flag|Canada|1921}}

• Royal Canadian Air Force
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police

;{{flag|Denmark}}

• Royal Danish Air Force

;{{flag|Egypt|1922}}

• Misr Airwork Ltd

;{{flagicon|India|British}} India

• Air Services of India Ltd
• Royal Indian Air Force

;{{flag|Iraq|1924}}

• King Faisal of Iraq
• Iraqi Air Force

;File:Flag_of_Laos.svgLaos

;* Cie Laotienne de Commerce et de Transport (CLCT) – Two aircraft only

;{{NLD}}

• Dutch Army Aviation Group

;{{NZL}}

• Air Travel (NZ) Ltd – Two aircraft only.

;{{flag|Peru|1825}}

• Peruvian Air Force

;{{flag|Rhodesia}}

• Rhodesian and Nyasaland Airways

;{{flag|Romania}}

• LARES

;{{flag|South Africa|1928}}

• South African Air Force

;{{flagicon|Spain|1931}} Spanish Republic

• Spanish Republican Air Force

;{{ESP}}

• Spanish Air Force – Post civil war
• Iberia Lineas Aéreas españolas

;{{flag|Sweden}}

• Royal Swedish Air Force

;{{flag|Turkey}}

• Turkish Airlines Turkish State Airlines (Devlet Hava Yollari)

;{{flag|Uruguay}}

• PLUNA

;{{flag|United Kingdom}}

• Air Dispatch Ltd
• Air Commerce Ltd
• Air Service Training Ltd
• Air Taxis Ltd
• Anglo-European Airways Ltd
• Birkett Air Service Ltd
• British Continental Airways Ltd
• International Air Freight Ltd
• Plymouth Airport Ltd
• Royal Air Force – 15 civil aircraft were impressed into wartime service in 1940
• Silver City Airways Ltd
• Western Airways Ltd

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 2

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|airfoil=RAF 34 modified{{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |access-date=16 April 2019}}

|empty weight lb=2500

|empty weight note=

|gross weight lb=4000

|gross weight note=

|max takeoff weight lb=

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|more general=

|eng1 number=2

|eng1 name=de Havilland Gipsy Major II

|eng1 type=4-cylinder inverted air-cooled in-line piston engines

|eng1 hp=142

|eng1 note=

|prop blade number=2

|prop name=fixed-pitch propellers

|prop dia ft=

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|max speed mph=144

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|stall speed mph=

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|never exceed speed mph=

|never exceed speed note=

|minimum control speed mph=

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|range miles=625

|range note=with maximum payload

|ferry range miles=900

|ferry range note=with a {{cvt|25|impgal|USgal l|0}} tank at the rear of the cabin

|endurance=

|ceiling ft=18100

|ceiling note=

|climb rate ftmin=875

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|time to altitude=

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}}

• List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force
• List of aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Comas|first1=Matthieu|title=So British!: 1939–1940, les avions britanniques dans l'Armée de l'Air|journal=Avions |date=September–October 2020 |issue=236 |pages=38–61 |trans-title=So British!: British Aircraft in the French Air Force 1939–1940|language=French |issn=1243-8650}}
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). London: Orbis Publishing.
• Hayes, P., & King, B. de Havilland biplane transports. Coulsden: Gatwick Aviation Society (2003) {{ISBN|0-9530413-2-8}}
• Jackson, A. J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 2. London: Putnam, 1973. {{ISBN|0-370-10010-7}} or (1988 revision) {{ISBN|0-85177-813-5}}.
• Jackson, A. J. de Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam, 1978 {{ISBN|0-370-30022-X}}
• Grey, C. J., and Bridgman, L, Jane's All the World's Aircraft (1938). London: Sampson Low Martin.
• {{cite journal |last1=Lucchini|first1=Carlo|title=Le meeting saharien de 1938 |journal=Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire |date=April 1999 |issue=73 |pages=53–57 |trans-title=The 1938 Sahara Air Meeting|language=French |issn=1243-8650}}

{{de Havilland aircraft}}

{{Swedish military aircraft designations}}

{{ADF aircraft prefixes}}

{{Authority control}}

Dragonfly

Category:1930s British civil utility aircraft

Category:Biplanes

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1935

Category:Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear