De Havilland Flamingo

de Havilland Flamingo
Description
Role	Passenger transport; Military communications
Crew	3
First Flight	December 22, 1938
Entered Service	July 15, 1939
Manufacturer	de Havilland
Dimensions
Length	50ft 7in	15.4 m
Wingspan	70ft 0in	21.4 m
Height	15ft 3in	4.7 m
Wing Area	651 ft²	60.5 m²
Weights
Empty	12,020 lbs	5,450 kg
Loaded	17,600 lbs	7,980 kg
Maximum takeoff	lbs	kg
Capacity	17 passengers
Powerplant
Engine	2 × Bristol Perseus XVI
Power (each)	930 hp	690 kW
Performance
Maximum speed	239mph @ 6,500ft	385km/h @ 1,980m
Range	1,345 miles	2,160 km
Ferry range	km	miles
Service ceiling	20,900 ft	6,370 m
Rate of climb	1,470 ft/min	450 m/min
Wing loading	27 lb/ft²	131.9 kg/m²
Power/Mass	0.106 hp/lb	0.173 kW/kg
Avionics
Avionics	Sperry Automatic Pilot

The de Havilland DH.95 Flamingo was a high-wing monoplane passenger airliner of the World War II period, also used by the RAF as a troop-carrier and for general communications duties.

The metal framework was mostly metal covered with control surface fabric covered. Two pilots were seated side-by-side with a radion operator behind them in the cockpit. It featured a retractable undercarriage, slotted flaps and variable pitch propellers, and was considered a highly promising sales prospect for the de Havilland company capable of competing with the American Douglas DC-3 and Lockheed L-10 Electra.

Initial models were fitted with 890hp (660 kW) Perseus engines, and even with these performance was excellent - take off at maximum weight in 750 ft (230 m) and able to maintain height or climb at 120 mph (190 km/h) on a single engine.

The prototype was delivered to Jersey Airways for evaulation and became the first revenue-earning Flamingo in 1939. It was later transferred to RAF duties. A further order from Jersey was frustrated by the outbreak of was, but with BOAC denied the credit needed to buy the Douglas DC-5 it ordered 8 Flamingos instead. A further 5 were delivered to the RAF and one to the RNAS. Flamingos were mostly withdrawn from service by 1950 - the last was scrapped in 1954,

A single military transport variant was built to specification 19/39 under the name de Havilland DH.95 Hertfordshire. It had oval cabin windows instead of rectangular ones, and seating for 22 paratroops. A proposed order for 40 was cancelled to leave de Havillands free to produce Tiger Moth trainers. The sole Hertfordshire crashed with the loss of 11 lives at Mill Hill, Hertfordshire in October 23, 1940, apparently because of elevator jamming.

External link

• The de Havilland DH 95 Flamingo

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