de Havilland DH.50

DH.50
A DH.50J of Qantas.
Role	Transport biplane Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	de Havilland
First flight	30 July 1923
Introduction	1923
Retired	1942
Primary users	Qantas Imperial Airways
Number built	38

The de Havilland DH.50 was a 1920s British large single-engined biplane transport built by de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, and licence-built in Australia, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia.

History

In the early 1920s,

In 1924, Cobham won the

• DH.50A : Powered by one 240 hp (179 kW) Siddeley Puma inline engine.
• DH.50J : The Australian-built Qantas fleet were powered by one 450 hp (287 kW) Bristol Jupiter Mk IV radial engine. Other radial engines were fitted in other aircraft in the DH50J series.^[5]

Operators

Australia

• Australian Aerial Services Ltd
• Holdens Air Transport

• Qantas
• Rockhampton Aerial Services Ltd
• Royal Australian Air Force^[2]
• West Australian Airlines Ltd

Belgium

• Sabena

Czechoslovakia

• ČSA

Iraq

• Iraq Petroleum Transport Company Ltd

New Zealand

• Royal New Zealand Air Force

United Kingdom

• Air Taxis Ltd
• Brooklands School of Flying Ltd
• Imperial Airways Ltd
• North Sea Aerial and General Transport Company Ltd
• Northern Air Lines Ltd

Specifications (DH.50 with Puma engine)

Data from De Havilland Aircraft since 1909^[6]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 4 passengers
• Length: 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m)
• Wingspan: 42 ft 9 in (13.03 m)
• Height: 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m)
• Wing area: 434 sq ft (40.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 2,413 lb (1,095 kg)
• Gross weight: 4,200 lb (1,905 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Siddeley Puma 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 230 hp (170 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 109 mph (175 km/h, 95 kn)
• Cruise speed: 95 mph (153 km/h, 83 kn)
• Range: 380 mi (610 km, 330 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 14,600 ft (4,500 m)
• Rate of climb: 605 ft/min (3.07 m/s)
• Wing loading: 8.99 lb/sq ft (43.9 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.059 hp/lb (0.097 kW/kg)

See also

Related lists

• List of aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force
• List of aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Royal New Zealand Navy

References

Notes

Bibliography

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. Orbis Publishing. (part work 1982–85)
• Crook, John (1997). Air Transport the First Fifty Years. The Archive Photographs Series. Stroud: Chalford. p. 21.
  ISBN 0-7524-0790-2
  .
• Grant, James Ritchie. "Anti-Clockwise: Australia the Wrong Way". Air Enthusiast, No. 82, July–August 1999, pp. 60–63.
  ISSN 0143-5450
• Gunn, John (1985). The Defeat of Distance: Qantas 1919–1939. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
  ISBN 978-0702217074
  .
• Jackson, A. J. (1973). British Civil Aircraft since 1919. Vol. 2. London: Putnam.
  ISBN 0-370-10010-7
  .
• Jackson, A. J. (1987). De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 (Second ed.). London: Putnam.
  ISBN 0-85177-802-X
  .
• Kucera, Pavel (August 1990). "Czech fifties — Part 1".
  ISSN 0143-7240
  .
• Kucera, Pavel (September 1990). "Czech fifties — Part 2". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 18, no. 9. pp. 551–553.
  ISSN 0143-7240
  .
• Prins, François (Spring 1994). "Pioneering Spirit: The QANTAS Story".
  ISSN 0143-5450
  .
• Stephens, Alan (2006) [2001]. The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 39–41.
  ISBN 0-19-555541-4
  .
• Stroud, John (January 1988). "Wings of Peace". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 16, no. 1. pp. 41–46.
  ISSN 0143-7240
  .
• Wilson, Stewart (1994). Military Aircraft of Australia. Weston Creek: Aerospace Publications. p. 216.
  ISBN 1875671080
  .
• "A New De Havilland Commercial Aeroplane". Flight. Vol. XV, no. 32. 9 August 1923. pp. 473–477. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to De Havilland DH.50.

• A photograph of the float-equipped DH.50S