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Subject: de Havilland DH.66 Hercules
Date: 15 Jul 2018 05:37:14 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Hercules
The de Havilland DH.66 Hercules was a 1920s British seven-passenger,
three-engined airliner built by de Havilland Aircraft Company at Stag Lane
Aerodrome. As a more modern replacement for the D.H.10s used on the RAF's
airmail service, Imperial Airways used the Hercules effectively to provide
long-distance service to far-flung regions. Although the giant airliners were
slow and cumbersome, they pointed the way for future airliners.
The Hercules was designed for Imperial Airways when it took over the
three-engined two-bay biplane with room for seven passengers and the ability to
carry mail. In order to minimise the risk of forced landings over remote desert
areas, the Hercules had three radial engines. De Havilland moved away from the
traditional plywood covered fuselage to remove the risk of deterioration in
tropical areas and the fuselage was constructed using tubular steel. The cabin
and rear baggage compartment were made of plywood suspended inside the steel
structure. The two pilots were in an open cockpit above the nose. The cabin had
room for a wireless operator and seven passengers.
With a contract for five years to run the Cairo to Baghdad air mail service, and
a requirement to start a service between Cairo and Karachi, Imperial Airways
ordered five aircraft. In June 1926, while the prototype was still being built,
the type name Hercules was chosen in a competition in the Meccano Magazine. The
prototype, registered G-EBMW, first flew on 30 September 1926 at Stag Lane
Aerodrome.
Four aircraft were built in 1929 for West Australian Airways. They had
modifications to suit Australian requirements including an enclosed cockpit and
seating for 14-passengers as well as room for the mail.
Two additional aircraft were built for Imperial Airways in 1929 and they had the
enclosed cockpit modification used on the Australian aircraft. These were also
retro-fitted to the earlier aircraft.
Role
Airliner
National origin
United Kingdom
Manufacturer
de Havilland Aircraft Company
First flight
30 September 1926
Introduction
1926
Retired
1942
Primary users
Imperial Airways
West Australian Airways
South African Air Force
Number built
11
Following a period of crew training the prototype left the United Kingdom for
Cairo on 18 December 1926 to be based at Heliopolis. The second aircraft left
Croydon for Cairo on 27 December 1926, carrying the Secretary of State for Air
Samuel Hoare. It flew on to India and arrived in Delhi on 8 January 1927. The
prototype, later to be named the City of Cairo by King Faud, operated the first
commercial service between Basra and Cairo on 7 January 1927. The service to
Karachi did not start until two years later after permission was granted from
the Persian Government.
With the start of the service between Cairo and Delhi in 1929 a sixth Hercules,
the City of Basra entered service. With the fatal loss of the City of Jerusalem
in September 1929 a seventh new aircraft was ordered and delivered in January
1930. With the aircraft now out of production when the City of Tehran forced
landed and was destroyed, Imperial Airways bought an aircraft from West
Australian Airways to replace it.
In 1931 two experimental air mail services between Croydon, England and
Melbourne, Australia were attempted. The City of Cairo was to fly the mail from
Karachi to Australia but ran out of fuel and forced landed at Koepang on 19
April 1931. West Australian Airways was approached again and another aircraft
was sold to Imperial Airways. On the delivery flight to Karachi it carried the
first through Australia to England mail.
In December 1931 the former West Australian Airways, City of Cape Town operated
a survey flight to Cape Town pending the extension of the Empire Air Route to
South Africa. The City of Cape Town was briefly used in South Africa from
October 1932 until 1933 by Sir Alan Cobham for his itinerant air pageant. The
City of Jodhpur was used in an aerial ant-locust campaign in Rhodesia in 1934
and the following year it crashed into a swamp near Lake Salisbury in Uganda and
was destroyed. Imperial withdrew the Hercules from service between 1934 and
1935; three were sold to the South African Air Force
Specifications (DH.66A)
General characteristics
Crew: three
Length: 56 ft (17.08 m)
Wingspan: 79 ft 6 in (24.24 m)
Height: 18 ft 3 in (5.56 m)
Empty weight: 9,060 lb (4,110 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 15,600 lb (7,076 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 129 mph (208 km/h)
Range: 525 mi (845 km)
Service ceiling: 13,100 ft (3,990 m)
Rate of climb: 635 ft/min (3.2 m/s)
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