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De Havilland D.H.9B / D.H.9C

Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1919

De Havilland - D.H.4A - 1919 - Великобритания<– –>De Havilland - D.H.9J - 1926 - Великобритания


A.Jackson De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 (Putnam)


De Havilland D.H.9 (Civil), D.H.9B and D.H.9C

   The demilitarised D.H.9 was used extensively by air transport concerns in the years immediately following the First World War and to exploit the full load carrying capacity of this cheap and rugged aircraft, extensive modifications were devised by the Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Ltd., the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. and later by the Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd. Pioneer air services between London, Paris and Amsterdam operated by Aircraft Transport and Travel Ltd. in 1919-20 employed sixteen D.H.9s, eight of which were newly erected by the infant de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, Middlesex and the remainder surplus Government stock stripped of military equipment. Some were fitted with the B.H.P. engine and others with the Siddeley Puma. One of them, C6054, was the first aircraft to make a flight for other than military or experimental purposes in this country, and for this it was allotted, but did not carry, the first permanent British registration marking G-EAAA. Its commercial life was confined to the early hours of the morning of May 1, 1919 because bad weather delayed its departure from Hendon from midnight until it took off piloted by Capt. H. J. Saint at 4.30 a.m. with newspapers for Bournemouth. Thick mist was encountered and an hour later the machine was wrecked on Portsdown Hill, north of Portsmouth.
   Some of the Amsterdam services were flown under contract to K.L.M., the Royal Dutch Air Line, which at that time had no aircraft of its own, but when Aircraft Transport and Travel Ltd. closed down, four of its D.H.9s were taken over by K.L.M. to fly in competition with ten machines of the same type flown over the same route by Handley Page Transport Ltd. At least five D.H.9s also operated between Croydon or Cricklewood and Brussels in 1920-21, often flying in groups of two or three on the services of the Belgian air line SNETA. Another of the former A.T. & T. D.H.9s, G-EAQP, went to Newfoundland in 1922 to join the Aerial Survey Company founded by F. S. Cotton for seal and fishery spotting and for taxi work during the gold rush at Stag Bay, Labrador.
   The earliest civil conversions merely involved the removal of the Scarff ring, bomb racks and other armament but by the end of 1919 nearly all D.H.9s flying on Continental services had been equipped to carry a second passenger in front of the pilot. In this form it was known as the D.H.9B but late in 1921 the de Havilland company further increased the load carrying capacity by a rearward extension of the back cockpit to accommodate light freight or a third passenger. The designation D.H.9C was coined to cover this version and at least 12 were erected at Stag Lane in 1922-23, the first two of which left Croydon on September 23, 1921 piloted by A. J. (later Sir Alan) Cobham, F. J. Ortweiler and C. D. Barnard on delivery to the Cia Espanola del Trafico Aero for a subsidised air mail service started in January 1922 between Seville and Larache in Spanish Morocco. Three British pilots, F. W. Hatchett, Sidney St. Barbe and C. F. Wolley Dod were initially employed, and the 9Cs gave quite extraordinary service for nearly seven years. F. W. Hatchett remained with the company and in 1929 was still flying over the original route in the surviving 9C M-AAGA which he had personally maintained through the years and considerably modified to suit changing conditions. All the pilot's controls and instrumentation were redesigned and moved into the rear cockpit and the front fuselage was widened to accommodate two passengers and mail and covered with a low cabin roof of local manufacture.
   All passengers carried in D.H.9s wore helmet, goggles and flying clothing provided by the company concerned and in winter were issued with hot water bottles. To improve the hard lot of the passenger, the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. devised a further modification converting the rear cockpit into a cabin for two passengers face to face. A light wood and fabric roof hinged about the port upper longeron for ease of entry and although at first the windows remained unglazed, hinged wind deflectors were fitted at the front end to make conversation possible. At this stage it was felt advisable to compensate for the aft movement of the centre of gravity and the wings were given 8 inches of sweep back measured at the outer interplane strut. In this form it was still known as the D.H.9C, the first completed being the khaki drab G-EAYT in which A. J. Cobham made several long distance charter flights to North Africa and the Near East. Its short life ended in the sea when fog overtook it while landing at Venice Lido in October 1922. For the carriage of light freight or for the convenience of cameramen, the cabin top was often removed altogether and many of the Hire Service D.H.9Cs flew permanently in this condition. Some 150,000 miles were flown in 1922-23, in the course of which the earliest recorded crop spraying sortie was made in Kent in June 1922. When pensioned off in 1924, D.H.9C G-EAYU was sold with several military D.H.9s to the Hedjaz Government but unfortunately the ground crew fused some bombs incorrectly and 'YU and its Russian pilot were blown to pieces before reaching the rebel tribesmen.
   Eight D.H.9Cs based at Stag Lane formed the fleet of the de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service in 1922. They flew hundreds of hours to all parts of Europe and the British Isles at a charge of ?8 per hour, mainly on hire to film and newspaper companies wishing to cover distant events in time for their next editions. G-EBGU was fitted at Croydon with an illuminated sign advertising the Star newspaper which Hubert Broad flew over London in a 2 hr. 40 min. night sortie on February 12, 1924.
   Two D.H.9Cs, G-AUED and 'EF. supplied to QANTAS for the 385 mile Charleville-Cloncurry route, opened on November 3. 1922, became the first successful cabin aircraft to operate scheduled services in Australia. They were joined by G-AUEU, converted by H. C. Miller, and by G-AUFM "Ion" - wholly built at Longreach with a fuselage of QANTAS design which had D.H.9C dimensions but D.H.50 layout with the pilot in an open cockpit behind a covered compartment for three passengers. It had the Puma from the crashed D.H.9C G-AUEE. D.H.50 mainplanes, and also extended axles for dual wheel operation from boggy aerodromes. It first flew on February 5,1927 but after a landing accident at Camooweal on January 13. 1928 was flown to Longreach and dismantled. The wings, engine and propeller were used in the construction of the D.H. 50 G-A UJS.
   A much more elaborate cabin conversion was made in Brussels by the Belgian concern SNETA which equipped two of their D.H.9s with the cabin tops and Triplex sliding windows removed from their defunct D.H.4As. Additional luggage space was provided under the fuselage and also in special containers under the lower mainplane just outboard of the undercarriage. These aircraft were acquired by F/Os Nevill Vintcent and J,. S. Newall in 1927 and flew to Stag Lane for modernisation which included the fitting of nose radiators and centre section fuel tanks of the type then in production for D.H.50s, an undercarriage incorporating the new D.H. system of rubber-in-compression, and Dunlop car tyres to reduce puncture risk. Leaving Stag Lane on January 9,1928 they made a leisurely flight to India, arriving at Karachi on April 26th to commence a tour of the sub-continent during which 5,000 passengers were given flights and the foundations of Indian air transport were laid.
   The Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd. at Croydon was responsible for the civil conversion of a very considerable number of D.H.9s but worked independently of the manufacturers and produced its own series of modifications. These inevitably began with the simplest type of demilitarized two seaters, some examples of which took part in long distance flights. One of the most famous was F1287/G-EAQM in which R. J. P. Parer left Hounslow on January 8, 1920 with J. C. Mcintosh as co-pilot and succeeded in reaching Darwin in an extremely patched up condition on August 2nd to complete the first flight ever made by a single engine aircraft between England and Australia. Although considerably damaged in a crash on the last leg of the flight the aircraft was repaired and exhibited for some years at Parer's old school at Bathurst, N.S.W. before going to the Australian War Memorial at Canberra. The first flight from England to Cape Town although begun by a Vickers Vimy, was completed by Pierre van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand in a D.H.9 H5648 named "Voortrekker". Discarded Imperial Gift D.H.9s served in the Dominions for many years on scheduled services such as those run by the South African Air Force (see page 101) and QANTAS in Australia. New Zealand, having no Air Force, lent three each of its nine D.H.9s free of charge to the N.Z. Flyine School, Auckland (F1252, H5546, H5641) the Canterbury Aviation Co., Christchurch; and the N.Z. Aero Transport Co., Timaru. On April 4. 1922 Canterbury's D.H.9 D3136/G-NZAH completed the first flight ever made between Gisborne and Auckland and the New Zealand Aero Transport D.H.9 D3139/G-NZAM later became the first aircraft to make the direct flight from Invercargill to Auckland.
   By 1922 nearly all the important long distance flights had been accomplished and only the round-the-world flight had not yet been attempted. An expedition for this purpose was therefore organised by Major W. T. Blake who planned to fly the overland stages between London-Calcutta and Vancouver-Montreal with D.H.9s. To avoid adverse publicity when the first machine, G-EBDE, was damaged at Istres, France, on the first day, the third aircraft, G-EBDL, was repainted as 'DE and succeeded in reaching Calcutta where the flight was abandoned. The unused second aircraft, G-EBDE, was leased to de Havillands 1923-25 and then sold to Laurentide Air Service, Lac a la Tortue, Canada, as G-CAEU.
   The Disposals Company favoured neither the double rear cockpit nor the cabin top and their conversions were fitted mainly with four individual cockpits one behind the other. Entry to the rearmost pair was simplified by hinging the decking along the port side, a device incorporated in most of the aircraft overhauled at Croydon during more than ten years. Over 60 four seat D.H.9s of this type were supplied to Rumania by May 1922 and four to the Danish firm Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S whose first service with land aircraft was opened on September 15, 1920 when D.H.9 T-DOGH flew from Copenhagen to Hamburg. When the route closed on October 31st the four machines had carried 83 passengers and 1.160 kg of mail. On April 17, 1923 the route was reopened with three surviving D.H.9s. 311 scheduled services being completed before the last flight of the season on October 17, 1923. One of these aircraft was kept airworthy for pleasure flying until 1930 by the cannibalisation of the other two. In 1924 two 2 seat Puma Nines were shipped to the British and Egyptian Tea Co. Ltd., one of which was test flown at Rochester with Short wooden main and tail floats. Undercarriages of this type were fitted to D.H.9s used by the Air Survey Co. Ltd. during the Irrawaddy, Sarawak and Indian surveys in 1924-25, and for a number supplied to Bolivia. The first of these, AM-1 was erected and test flown by J. R. 'Joe' King at Riberalta on the Rio Beni in 1925.
   After 1924 the A.D.C. company no longer fitted a cockpit ahead of the pilot and later conversions such as G-EBJW z.no. 'JX, supplied to Northern Air Lines for a short lived Stranraer-Belfast service, were three seaters fitted with the 300 h.p. A.D.C. Nimbus, Major Halford's re-design of the 230 h.p. Siddeley Puma. Thus after 10 years and two modifications, the designed power of the original B.H.P. engine was at last achieved. The Nimbus was also fitted to two special D.H.9s G-EBPE and PF erected at Stag Lane in 1926 for an aerial survey of Northern Rhodesia by the Aircraft Operating Co. Ltd. They were equipped as two seaters having a camera position under the tail and twin metal floats 21 ft. 9 in. long of the type built by Short Bros, for Sir Alan Cobham's D.H.50J. After transportation through the jungle on Ford trucks and erection by native labour they operated from the Zambesi River, PF alone successfully photographing 52,000 square miles of the Copper Belt.
   Conversions to full swept wing D.H.9C standard by outside firms was confined to G-AUFM by QANTAS at Longreach; G-AUEU by H. C. Miller at Albert Park Aerodrome, Adelaide, S.A.; H4890/G-EBDG by the Manchester Aviation Co. Ltd. at Alexandra Park and H5886/G-EBIG by Berkshire Aviation Tours Ltd. at Monkmoor Aerodrome, Shrewsbury. Both the latter served with Northern Air Lines on the abortive Stranraer-Belfast service in 1925 and afterwards as joyriding machines at Barton until 1930.
   On April 1, 1923 the de Havilland company was awarded a contract for training R.A.F. Reservists and employed Hire Service D.H.9Cs for this purpose. By the end of 1924 these had been replaced by seven Puma engined D.H.9s equipped as two seat advanced trainers, comprising six newly erected machines and the company's oldest retainer, G-EA AC, specially preserved as a practical investigation into the longevity of aeroplanes under normal flying conditions. Two similar machines were also erected for the Beardmore School at Renfrew and another, G-EBHV, supplied to the Armstrong Whitworth Reserve School at Whitley, was fitted with an additional pair of bungee shock absorber struts in the undercarriage.
   In common with most open cockpit types the D.H.9 occasionally appeared as a single seat racer as in the 1922 King's Cup Race when G-EAAC. G-EBEN and EP came third, fourth and tenth respectively. In the following year the de Havilland Hire Service machine G-EBEZ was fitted temporarily with a 450 h.p. Napier Lion with which it came second at 144-7 m.p.h. piloted by Cobham, and in 1927 W. G. R. Hinchliffe reached fourth place at 123-6 m.p.h. in a special single seater G-EBKO with A.D.C. Nimbus engine. The most spectacular result was achieved by the standard two seater VH-UHT in which H. C. Miller won the ?1,000 first prize in the handicap section of the 2,200 mile Western Australia Centenary Air Race from Sydney to Perth in September 1929.
   In 1936 when the type was nearly at the end of its career Aerial Sites Ltd. of Hanworth employed G-AACP for banner towing and Sir Alan Cobham used 'CR for early flight refuelling experiments at Ford, Sussex. For this purpose the hinged decking to the rear cockpits was entirely removed to provide maximum working space.

SPECIFICATION AND DATA
   Manufacturers: The Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Hendon, London, N.W.9 and subcontractors.
   Conversions by:
   The Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Hendon, London, N.W.9
   The de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd., Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, Middlesex
   Handley Page Ltd., Cricklewood Aerodrome, London, N.W.2
   The Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd., Croydon Aerodrome, Surrey
   Northern Air Lines, Alexandra Park, Manchester
   Berkshire Aviation Tours Ltd., Monkmoor Aerodrome, Shrewsbury
   Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. (QANTAS), Longreach, Queensland, Australia
   Miller Aviation Ltd., Albert Park Aerodrome, Adelaide, South Australia
   Syndicat National pour l'Etude des Transports Aeriens (SNETA), Brussels, Belgium
   Power Plants:
   One 230 h.p. B.H.P.
   One 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma
   One 300 h.p. A.D.C. Nimbus
   One 450 h.p. Napier Lion
   Dimensions:
   Span 42 ft. 4 5/8 in. Length 30 ft. 6 in.
   Height 11 ft. 2 in. Wing area 434 sq. ft.

Weights and Performances :
   D.H.9 D.H.9B D.H.9C
   B.H.P. Puma Lion Puma Puma
Tare weight 2.193 lb. 2.230 lb. 2.544 lb. 2,504 lb. 2,600 lb.
All-up weight 3,420 lb. 3,900 lb. 3.667 lb. 3,900 lb. 3,300 lb.
Maximum speed 114.0 m.p.h. 110.5 m.p.h. 144.0 m.p.h. 115.0 m.p.h.*
Initial climb 750 ft./min. 650 ft./min. 1,800 ft./min. 600 ft./min.
Ceiling 18,000 ft. 15.500 ft. 24,500 ft. 19,000 ft.
Duration/Range 4 hours 4 hours 3 1/2 hours 500 miles
* Cruising speed 95 m.p.h.


A.Jackson British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 (Putnam)


De Havilland D.H.9 and D.H.9B

   In the immediate post-war years, therefore, the vast number of warsurplus D.H.9s available for civilian purposes was increased still further when all machines of the type were struck off R.A.F. charge in favour of the D.H.9A. Its civilian life closely followed the pattern set by its ancestor, the D.H.4; the majority were ferried to foreign purchasers and others were rebuilt as cabin machines. If the honour of being the first aircraft to carry civilian markings went to the D.H.6 K-100, that of being G-EAAA, first aircraft on the permanent British civil register, went to a D.H.9. This was formerly an R.A.F. machine numbered C6054 used by Aircraft Transport and Travel Ltd. for carrying mail for an extremely short and undefined period, without C. of A. during the summer of 1919. It is almost certain that this historic aeroplane was never repainted in full civil markings, although it certainly bore the operator’s name in white letters on the fuselage. It was the first of 16 D.H.9s put into service on the London-Paris and London-Amsterdam services of A.T. & T. in 1919-20. Eight of these were newly erected by the infant De Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. just starting in business at Stag Lane, Edgware. A few were powered by the original B.H.P. engine, but the majority were fitted with the 240-h.p. Puma, a re-design of the same engine by the Siddeley Deasy Co. Ltd. This was very reliable and gave the demilitarized D.H.9 a useful performance as civil aviation’s maid-of-all-work. To differentiate it from more drastic civil conversions it was unofficially christened the 'Straight Puma Nine’. A.T. & T. machines all had a third cockpit added between the centre-section struts, considerable ingenuity being required when inserting the passenger. In addition, the rear cockpit was enlarged to provide space for mail-bags or light freight behind the passenger seat. They were designated the D.H.9B, but no two conversions were absolutely identical and cockpit modifications to individual aircraft were as frequent as circumstances demanded.
   An outstanding example was K-109, formerly H9277, which was a D.H.9B in its earliest civil form. In this machine Airco’s chief pilot, Capt. H. Shaw, made the very first British charter flight to Paris on 15 July 1919. Carrying a glass magnate to an important conference, Le Bourget was reached non-stop from Hendon in 2 hours 50 minutes. Within a few weeks this aircraft attained its permanent markings G-EAAC and in March 1921 went into service with the D.H. Aeroplane Hire Service. At this period the front seat was faired over and the rear cockpit converted into a large freight hold. In this condition it was flown to Manchester by Hubert Broad on 28 February 1922 with films of the Princess Royal’s wedding. By 1926 it boasted normal tandem cockpits and had become an advanced trainer with the D.H. School of Flying.
   Only one private D.H.9 existed in those early days, that of R. J. P. Parer. This was G-EAQM, formerly F1287, in which he left Hounslow on 8 January 1920 with J. C. McIntosh to fly home to Australia. After incredible hardships with accidents and considerable damage at frequent intervals, the battered and patched-up Puma Nine finally staggered across the Timor Sea, and into Darwin seven months later. Thus on 2 August 1920 it completed the first flight ever made by a single-engined aircraft between England and Australia. Mascot was reached on 22 August, but it was wrecked at Culcairn on the last leg to Melbourne.
   In addition to its own Continental services, A.T. & T. flew D.H.9s to and from Amsterdam under contract to K.L.M., the Royal Dutch Air Line, which at that time had no aircraft of its own. When the firm closed down, four were sold outright to K.L.M., and continued the service in their former colours until they received Dutch markings in J uly 1921. They were joined on this service by the 10 D.H.9s operated between Cricklewood, Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris by the Handley Page Air Transport Co. Ltd.
   No less than 40 military D.H.9s received civil status solely for overseas ferrying. These were all reconditioned by the Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd. at Croydon, and at least a dozen, between G-EBAO and ’CJ, were delivered by air to the Belgian Air Force in the spring of 1922. Many major journeys had by this time been made by air and only a round-the-world flight remained outstanding. Major W. T. Blake therefore organized an expedition for this purpose and purchased a three-seat D.H.9 G-EBDE, fitted with extra tanks, from A.D.C. Ltd. for the London-Calcutta stage. Another, G-EBDL, was ordered for the Vancouver-Montreal leg. G-EBDE left Croydon on 24 May 1922 piloted by Capt. Norman Macmillan, but after damage at Marseilles was replaced by ’DF, flown out by the A.D.C. test pilot Rex Stocken. Their identities were then unofficially switched for publicity reasons, and ’DF, alias 'DE, was eventually sold for 2,500 rupees to Mr. Birla, a Calcutta newspaper proprietor, who presented it to the University of Benares. The flight continued in Fairey HID floatplane G-EBDI, but was abandoned after its loss in the Bay of Bengal, so that the second D.H.9 G-EBDL was never used.
   With the exception of the D.H.9 advanced trainers G-EAAC, G-EBEZ, ’FQ, ’GT, ’GU, ’HV and ’LH operated by the D.H. School of Flying; G-EBGQ and ’HP in service with the Beardmore School at Renfrew and a floatplane, G-EBJR, sold abroad in 1924, the majority of later D.H.9s were three-seaters. The first conversion was made by A.D.C. Ltd. to G-EAZH in February 1922 and, unlike the D.H.9B, carried both passengers behind the pilot. Messrs. Greig and Higgs bought two of these, G-EBJW and ’JX, late in 1924 and opened Northern Air Lines at Manchester, but the concern was short-lived, and the aircraft ended their useful lives with Air Taxis Ltd. at Stag Lane.
   Puma Nines did not make ideal racing machines, but A. J. Cobham in G-EBAW won the Sprint Handicap at Croydon on 5 June 1922 and flew the venerable D.H. taxi G-EAAC round Britain in the 1922 King’s Cup Race to gain third place. He was hotly pursued by M. M. Pearcey, who was fourth in G-EBEN, specially modified to single-seater, with A. F. Muir tenth in G-EBEP. G-EBEZ was temporarily fitted with a 450-h.p. Napier Lion for the 1923 King’s Cup Race, in which it finished second at 144-7 m.p.h., piloted by Cobham. In the 1927 King’s Cup Race W. G. R. Hinchliffe came fourth at the phenomenal speed of 123-6 m.p.h. in G-EBKO, a special A.D.C. single-seater with an A.D.C. Nimbus engine. This engine was Major Halford’s redesign of the Siddeley Puma, built by A.D.C. Ltd. at Croydon in 1926. Thus after 10 years and two major modifications, the designed power of the original B.H.P. engine was at last achieved. These engines were first fitted in G-EBPE and ’PF built at Stag Lane in 1926 for survey work in Northern Rhodesia by the Aircraft Operating Co. Ltd. They were two-seaters with a ventral camera position giving a field of vision under the tail. G-EBPF operated from the Zambezi on Short twin metal floats, and altogether 52,000 square miles of the Copper Belt were successfully photographed.
   The final chapter in D.H.9 history began at Croydon in 1928, when the renamed A.D.C. Aircraft Ltd. started the conversion of the final batch G-AACP, ’CR, ’CS and ’DU. The last was sold to Surrey Flying Services Ltd. for taxi work, ’CP went banner towing with Aerial Sites Ltd. at Hanworth, ’CR was used in Cobham’s Circus and early flight refuelling experiments, while ’CS was cannibalized before conversion. The final survivors were ’CP and ’DU, both bought up by the Regal Motor Works at Parkstone, Dorset, in 1938 but they never flew again.


SPECIFICATION
Manufacturers: The Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Hendon, London, N.W.g; and other contractors.
Power Plants:
   One 230-h.p. B.H.P.
   One 240-h.p. Siddeley Puma.
   One 300-h.p. A.D.C. Nimbus.
   One 450-h.p. Napier Lion.
Dimensions: Span, 42 ft. 4 5/8 in. Length, 30 ft. 6 in. Height, 11 ft. 2 in. Wing area, 434 sq. ft.
B.H.P. Siddeley Puma Napier Lion
Tare weight 2,193 lb. 2,230 lb. 2,544 lb.
All-up weight 3,420 lb. 3,900 lb. 3,667 lb.
Maximum speed 114-0 m.p.h. 110-5 m.p.h. 144-0 m.p.h.
Initial climb 750 ft./min. 650 ft./min. 1,800 ft./min.
Ceiling 18,000 ft. 15,500 ft. 24,500 ft.
Duration 4 hours 4 hours 3 1/2 hours


De Havilland D.H.9C

   The de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service was inaugurated at Stag Lane in March 1921 with the veteran D.H.9 G-EAAC. Business increased steadily, and by May 1922 seven Puma Nines, loosely referred to as D.H.9Bs, had been brought into service. These were unused military airframes reworked as four-seaters by the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. They were fitted with a cockpit in front of the pilot and provided with a large rear luggage compartment, easily convertible to seat two passengers. One of these, G-EAXG, saw little service, and on 22 January 1922 was flown to Spain by C. D. Barnard, who delivered it to the Espanola del Trafico Aero.
   With the exception of the original G-EAAC, the others were converted, one at a time, into cabin machines simply by building a light wood and fabric roof over the rear cockpit. Entry was effected by lifting the entire ‘lid’, after which the occupants viewed the proceedings through an unglazed window in each side, and consequently wore helmets and goggles. To compensate for the aft movement of the centre of gravity, the wings were given a slight amount of sweep back, and once this was done, the type was known as the D.H.9C. The first conversion was G-EAYT, painted in drab green with white lettering, in which A. J. (now Sir Alan) Cobham made several long-distance charter flights to all parts of Europe, North Africa and the Near East. Its life was short, as on one such charter flight it was caught in fog and met a watery end off Venice Lido in October 1922. G-EBAW and ’CZ were destroyed in crashes in 1923, but the others flew hundreds of hours to all parts of Europe and the British Isles. At £8 per hour they were frequently on hire to film and newspaper companies wishing to cover distant events in time for their next editions.
   There were two other D.H.9Cs which were of considerable interest, as they were converted by outside firms. The first, G-EBDG, was modified by the Manchester Aviation Co. Ltd. at the old Alexandra Park Aerodrome, and was used for joy-riding there by the Northern Aviation Company until purchased in 1924 by Wm. Beardmore Ltd. for their Reserve School at Renfrew. In 1930 it returned to Manchester to spend its last year of life joy-riding with Northern Air Lines at Barton. By coincidence, the other specimen, G-EBIG, was also with Beardmores, having been in use at Renfrew as a straight Puma Nine from 1923 to 1929. When the School was re-equipped with Bristol 89As, it, too, was sold to Northern Air Lines, and converted for them into a 9C, complete with swept-back wings, by Berkshire Aviation Tours at Monkmoor Aerodrome, Shrewsbury.
   Although without sweep back, and therefore not strictly D.H.9Cs, two final Puma-engined cabin D.H.9s sprang into prominence in 1928. They were O-BATA and O-BELG, acquired by F./Os. Neville Vintcent and J. S. Newall from the pioneer Belgian air line S.N.E.T.A. and converted into G-EBUM and ’UN at Stag Lane in December 1927. The forward cockpit was deleted and the rear cabin slightly enlarged and fitted with sliding Triplex windows. Modernization included the fitting of a D.H.50 type nose radiator and centre section fuel tank and an undercarriage employing the new D.H. system of rubber in compression. They left Stag Lane on g January 1928 en route for Karachi, arriving on 26 April. A tour of India followed, during which the aircraft gave over 5,000 passengers flights and laid the foundations of Indian air transport.


SPECIFICATION
Manufacturers: The de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd., Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, Middlesex.
Power Plant: One 240-h.p. Siddeley Puma.
Dimensions: Span, 42 ft. 4 5/8 in. Length, 30 ft. 6 in. Height, 11 ft. 2 in. Wing area, 434 sq. ft.
Weights: Tare weight, 2,600 lb. All-up weight, 3,300 lb.
Performance: Maximum speed, 115 m.p.h. Cruising speed, 95 m.p.h. Initial climb, 600 ft./min. Ceiling, 19,000 ft. Range, 500 miles.

A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
Aerial Sites Ltd.'s three seat, banner-towing D.H.9, G-AACP, at the company's Hanworth base in 1936.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
The penultimate civil D.H.9 G-AACR operating as a flight refuelling tanker in 1932.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
Originally intended for the Canadian section of Maj. W. T. Blake's World Flight in 1923, D.H.9 G-CAEU was fitted with the cabin of a D.H.9C and operated by the Laurentide Air Service on skis in 1924.
P.Lewis - British Racing and Record-breaking Aircraft /Putnam/
Third place in the 1922 King's Cup event was gained by A J. Cobham with the D.H.9B G-EAAC.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
A D.H.9B of A. T. & T. Ltd., running up at Croydon in 1920.
P.Jarrett, K.Munson - Biplane to Monoplane: Aircraft Development, 1919-39 /Putnam/
Heavy protective clothing was essential for those prepared to brave the elements in lhe open cockpits of such war-surplus 'transports' as this converted Airco D.H.9 bomber.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
The prototype D.H.9C, G-EAYT, in which A. J. Cobham flew long distance charters for the de Havilland Hire Service in 1922.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
A fully converted D.H.9C of the de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service.
Equipped with sweptback wings, the D.H.9C G-EBAX flew in the 1922 King's Cup with Flg Off L. Hamilton as pilot and Princess Ludwig of Lowenstein-Vertheim as passenger.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
One of the Hire Service D.H.9s, G-EBDD, in the interim condition without cabin top or swept back wings.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
The same aeroplane after the fitting of D.H.9C swept back mainplanes but without the rear cabin.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
The D.H.9 G-EBEZ modified to single-seater and fitted with a Napier Lion engine lor the 1923 King’s Cup Race.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
A. J. Cobham taking off in the Lion engined D.H.9 G-EBEZ, c/n 66, in the 1923 King's Cup Race.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
The Puma engined D.H.9 G-EBKV was converted into a three-seater by the Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd. in 1925.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
G-EBUN, one of the special cabin D.H.9s, being run up in the snow at Stag Lane prior to its departure for India, January 1928.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
The other SNETA conversion O-BATA after modernisation as G-EBUM at Stag Lane in 1927 for the Vintcent-Newall India Flight.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
D.H.9 H5627/G-NZAE, locally modified in New Zealand to seat two passengers in a small cabin, was used by the Canterbury Aviation Co. on the Christchurch-Blenheim mail service in 1922.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
The D.H.9 in which Capt. H.C. Miller won the 2,390 mile Sydney-Perth Race in 1929. It is shown being groomed for the 1936 Brisbane-Adelaide Race.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
"Albatross" flown by the Brisbane section of the Australian Aero Club in 1929, was typical of the majority of demilitarised 'straight Puma Nines' .
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
Seating two in the enlarged rear cockpit, the former A.T. & T. D.H.9B G-EAOZ, flew 153 hours with K.L.M. as H-NABF and was scrapped in 1924.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
D.H.9C M-AAGA, c/n 12, of Cia Espanola del Trafico Aero after the fuselage had been widened and a glazed cabin installed by F. W. Hatchett.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
G-AUFM "Ion", built at Longreach by QANTAS 1926-27 with D.H.50 mainplanes and the pilot behind the cabin.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
O-BELG, a D.H.9 fitted with D.H.4A cabin top and underwing luggage containers by the Belgian concern SNETA.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
One of the four Puma engined D.H.9s rebuilt by A.D.C. Ltd. as four seaters for the Danish Air Transport Company in 1920.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
One of the D.H.9 floatplanes with which the Air Survey Co. Ltd. mapped the River Irrawaddy in 1924.
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
The de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service fleet of D.H.9B and D.H.9C aircraft lined up at Stag Lane in 1922.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
D.H.9
A.Jackson - De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 /Putnam/
DH.9C
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 /Putnam/
D.H.9C