de Havilland Dove
| DH.104 Dove | |
|---|---|
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| |
| de Havilland Dove | |
| Role | short-haul airliner |
| Manufacturer | de Havilland |
| First flight | 25 September 1945 |
| Number built | 542 |
| Variants | de Havilland Heron |
The de Havilland DH.104 Dove was a British monoplane short-haul airliner from de Havilland, the successor to the biplane de Havilland Dragon Rapide and was one of Britain's most successful post-war civil designs. The design came about from the Brabazon Committee report which called for a British designed short-haul feeder for airlines.
Production
Production of the Dove and its variants totalled 542 including 127 military Devons and 13 Sea Devons. The first customer deliveries were made in early summer 1946 and the last example was delivered in 1967. Initial production of the Dove was at De Havilland's Hatfield factory, but from the early 1950s most were built at the company's Broughton facility near Chester.
Operational service
The Dove first flew on 25 September 1945. From summer 1946 large numbers were sold to scheduled and charter airlines around the world, replacing and supplementing the pre-war designed De Havilland Dragon Rapide and other older designs. LAN Chile took delivery of twelve examples and these were operated within that country from 1949 until sale to small United States airlines in 1954.[1][page needed] The largest order for Doves was placed by Argentina which took delivery of 70[2] which were mainly used by the Argentine Air Force.[3][page needed] An initial batch of 30 Devons was delivered to the Royal Air Force[4] and these were used as VIP and light transports for over 30 years. The Royal New Zealand Air Force acquired 30 Devons between 1948 and 1954 and these remained in service into the 1970s.[5][page needed] A few Doves and civilianised Devons remain in use in 2011 in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and elsewhere with small commercial firms and with private pilot owners, including the Devon21 syndicate operating from North Shore Airfield, near Auckland, New Zealand.
Variants
- Dove 1 : Light transport aircraft, seating up to 11-passengers. Powered by two 340-hp (254-kW) De Havilland Gipsy Queen 70-4 piston engines.
- Dove 1B : Dove Mk 1 aircraft, fitted with two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
- Dove 2 : Executive transport version, seating up to six passengers. Powered by two 340-hp (254-kW) Gipsy Queen piston engines.
- Dove 2B : Dove Mk 2 aircraft, fitted with two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
- Dove 3 : Proposed high-altitude survey version. Not built.
- Dove 4 : Military transport and communication version.
- Devon C Mk 1 : Transport and communication version for the RAF.
- Devon C Mk 2 : Transport and communications version for the RAF. Re-engined version of the Devon C Mk 1.
- Sea Devon C Mk 20 : Transport and communications version for the Royal Navy.
- Dove 5 : The Dove 5 was powered by more powerful engines. The aircraft was fitted with two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
- Dove 6 : Executive transport aircraft. Uprated version of the Dove 2, powered by two 380-hp (283-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston engines.
- Dove 6B : Stressed for operations at a maximum weight of 8,500 lb (3856 kg).
- Dove 7 : Uprated version of the Dove 1, fitted with two 400-hp (298-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-3 piston engines.
- Dove 8 : Uprated version of the Dove 2, fitted with two 400-hp (298-kW) Gipsy Queen 70-3 piston engines.
- Dove 8A : Five seater version of the Dove 8 for the U.S. market. The Dove Custom 600 was an American designation of the Dove 8A.
- Carstedt Jet Liner 600 : Conversions of the Dove, carried out by Carstedt Inc, of Long Beach, California, USA. The aircraft were fitted with two 605-ehp (451-kW) Garrett AiResearch TPE331 turboprop engines. The fuselage was lengthened to accommodate 18 passengers.
- Riley Turbo Executive 400 / Turbo-Exec 400 / Dove 400 : Conversions of the Dove, carried out by Riley Aircraft in the USA. The aircraft were fitted with two 400-hp (298-kW) Lycoming IO-720-A1A flat-eight piston engines. Some of the Riley conversions were fitted with a taller swept vertical fin and rudder. During the late 1960s, Riley Aeronautics, located at the Executive Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, did interior refitting work on both the De Havilland Dove and the Herron. They were also test flown out of this facility.
Operators
Civil operators
- Airways (India) Limited
- Indian National Airways
- Government of Madras
Portuguese Angola
- AERANGOL - Aeronaves de Angola
- ETASA - Empresa de Transportes Aéreos do Sul de Angola
- SATAL - Sociedade Anónima de Transportes Aéreos
Portuguese Cape Verde
Portuguese Mozambique
Portuguese Timor
- Comair (South Africa) operated 2 aircraft.
- South African Airways
- BOAC (for training and communications)
- Bristow Helicopters
- British Midland
- British Westpoint Airlines
- Channel Airways (scheduled services)
- Dan-Air (scheduled services)
- Hunting-Clan Air Transport
- Morton Air Services
- Olley Air Services
- Silver City Airways
- CAA Flying Unit
Military operators
- Royal Jordanian Air Force
- Royal Flight
Accidents and incidents
- On 15 January 1958, Dove G-AOCE of Channel Airways crashed on approach to Ferryfield Airfield, Lydd, Kent, United Kingdom due to mismanagement of the aircraft's fuel system, leading to both engines stopping due to lack of fuel. All seven people on board survived.
Specifications (Dove 7)
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1966–67[7]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Capacity: 8 passengers
Performance
See also
Related development
References
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Jackson, A.J. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam & Company Ltd, 1978. ISBN 0-370-30022-X.
- Jackson, A.J. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam, Third edition, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-802-X.
- Sykes, T. The DH104 Dove and DH114 Heron Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1973.
- Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1966–67. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1966.
External links
