De Havilland Aircraft since 1909

This newly revised third edition is a complete work of reference to all de Havilland military, civil and experimental aircraft from Geoffrey de Havilland’s first primitive biplane of 1909 to the last aircraft type to bear the D.H. label – the D.H. 125 executive jet of 1962. 

The second edition added some 70 extra pages and 168 photos, and this new edition incorporates even greater detail and is updated and corrected throughout. 

It begins with comprehensively illustrated histories of the Company, its pioneer Aeroplane Hire Service, its famous School of Flying and its Aeronautical Technical School.

Over 70 important types, including Sir Geoffrey de Havilland’s pre-1914 aeroplanes, are illustrated with descriptive details of origin, development, specifications of all variants, the operational careers of individual aircraft, and L. E. Bradford’s superb three-view drawings.

It is the story of classic First World War biplanes, of little-known military and civil prototypes between the wars, of the Month and the birth of the British light aeroplane movement, of pioneer pilots and historic record-breaking flights.

It is the story of the Tiger Moth, the Rapide, the incredible mosquito, of jet fighter development, and of the world’s first revenue-earning jetliner, the comet.

Aircraft which did not go beyond the prototype stage (including the elusive D. H. 92 Dolphin) are also fully illustrated and described and, through the good offices of what was then Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd, Hatfield, an extensive survey of unbuilt de Havilland types illustrated by 20 project drawings is presented.

The book includes a wealth of new data and photographs gathered into the author’s private archives since the publication of the first edition and concludes with sections of the products of the Australian and Canadian companies.