In the early 1920s,
Geoffrey de Havilland realised that
war surplus aircraft would need replacing, so his company designed a four-passenger-cabin biplane, the DH.50, using experience gained with the earlier
de Havilland DH.9. The first DH.50 (registered G-EBFN) flew in August 1923 and was used within a few days by
Alan Cobham to win a prize for reliability during trial flights between
Copenhagen and
Gothenburg. Only 17 aircraft were built by de Havilland; the rest were produced under licence. The different aircraft had a wide variety of
engine fits.
In 1924, Cobham won the
King's Cup Race air race in G-EBFN averaging 106 mph (171 km/h). Cobham made several long-range flights with the prototype until he replaced it with the second aircraft. The second aircraft (registered G-EBFO) was re-engined with the
Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar engine and was designated the DH.50J. Cobham flew the aircraft on a 16,000 mi (25,750 km) flight from
Croydon Airport to
Cape Town between November 1925 and February 1926. The aircraft was later fitted with twin floats (produced by
Short Brothers at
Rochester) for a survey flight of Australia in 1926. On the outward flight from England to Australia, Cobham's engineer (A.B. Elliot) was shot and killed when they were overflying the desert between
Baghdad and
Basra. He was replaced by Sergeant Ward, a
Royal Air Force engineer who was given permission to join the flight by his commanding officer. Also in 1926, a DH.50A floatplane was used in the first international flight made by the
Royal Australian Air Force. The
Chief of the Air Staff,
Group CaptainRichard Williams, and two crew members undertook a three-month, 10,000 mi (16,093 km) round trip from
Point Cook, Victoria to the
Pacific Islands.[1]
Licence production
The aircraft was popular in Australia and de Havilland licensed its production there, leading to 16 aircraft being built.
Qantas built four DH.50As and three DH.50Js, Western Australian Airlines built three DH.50As, and
Larkin Aircraft Supply Company built one DH.50A.[2]SABCA built three Puma-engined DH.50As in
Brussels, Belgium for use by
SABENA on routes in the
Belgian Congo. The last one survived until 1937.[3]Aero built seven in
Prague, then in Czechoslovakia.[4] The British-built QANTAS DH.50 (G-AUER/VH-UER) was modified in Longreach, Queensland, to suit the
Australian Inland Mission as an aerial ambulance. The aircraft was called Victory by the
Rev. J Flynn and was the first aircraft used by the
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia.
Variants
DH.50 : Single-engined light transport biplane.
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]