Development
Technical Details
In Service
Insights
AEROPLANE SEPTEMBER 2017 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com 83DH84M
The military variant, specified
from the beginning of the
design stage, was given an ‘M’
suffix, becoming the DH84M.
The first batch was for the Iraqi
Air Force. This version entailed
no major changes to the
airframe or engine, although
the dorsal fin was given a
reflex curved extension, but it
was equipped with
comprehensive armament: a
fixed forward-firing gun on the
starboard nose by the pilot’s
leg, and in a dorsal position a
Scarff-type ring-mounted gun
with a detent rail protecting
the empennage from
enthusiastic gunners. It had
provision for 20lb of light
bombs on external racks under
the fuselage. Radios,
bombsight, cameras (plus
bombsight and camera
apertures in the fuselage floor)
and associated fittings and
other military equipment were
housed in the otherwise
sparsely furnished fuselage.
There was greater access to
the cockpit from the cabin
because of cutaways on both
sides of the bulkhead. The
examples designated as
DH84Ms that were sold to
other military operators or
converted from DH84s lacked
all the enhancements and
armament provisions of the
Iraqi machines.not in any way an overload,
82.5 per cent of its own weight!
This is a quite remarkable
achievement, and has only
been equalled, to the best of
our knowledge, by the de
Havilland Fox Moth, in which
the value exceeds 90 per
cent”. It went on: “The top
speed of the de Havilland
Dragon is about 130mph
(official figures are not
available, but flying the Dragon
against a Puss Moth, the
former was the faster)... At 85
per cent of top speed the
cruising speed is 111mph, so
that the machine is not by any
means a slow one”. Other early
tests demonstrated that the
aircraft cruised at 109mph
using 13 gallons of fuel per
hour while carrying six
passengers with 45lb of
baggage each.
One Dragon, G-ACGG, was
equipped as a VIP four-seater
for the Prince of Wales. He
was a notable supporter of
British manufacturers.
Previously owning a Fox Moth,
he later operated an Airspeed
Envoy and a Dragon Rapide in
the King’s Flight (commanded
by ‘Mouse’ Fielden), all
painted in the colours of the
Brigade of Guards. Another,
G-ADOS, was obtained by
Smiths Instruments and fitted
out with all the firm’s available
equipment as a flying technical
showroom, being operated as
such across Europe.ABOVE: The Prince of Wales’s G-ACGG in its Brigade of Guards colours of red, blue and silver. It later went
to Australia as VH-AAC before impressment as A34-10. AEROPLANEABOVE: A development DH84M shows how light bombs could be mounted under the fuselage. AEROPLANEGOOD PUBLICITY
A
n imaginative de Havilland press demonstration
— as was typical for the company — of the Dragon
took place on 6 March 1933. It involved G-ACAO
flown by Hubert Broad carrying six photographers, 60lb of
baggage and two cameras.
After taking off from the DH airfield at Stag Lane near
Edgware, north London, the Dragon flew to Southampton
at 105mph and 2,000ft, circled the docks and then headed
back, Broad switching off the port engine and using full
power on the starboard. He returned at 80mph and dived
to get the prop started again before landing on both
engines, an example of the DH84’s ability. Mike HooksDATABASE DE HAVILLAND DRAGON
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