Scale aviation modeller international

Valom 1/72 DH.91 Albatross (RAF) by PeteR Barker

A

common subject for

discussion amongst

modellers and aviators

alike is, “Which aircraft is the

most beautiful ever produced?”

Contenders are many, with

obvious suggestions (from

myself) including the Spitfire,

Concorde, Me 262, XB-70

Valkyrie, and myriad others.

But at the top of my own

list, ever since I saw an image

of it, is De Havilland’s exquisite

wooden airliner from 1937, the

DH.91 Albatross. Only seven were

built, including two prototypes

(with war intervening to end

production in 1939), but they

were all drop-dead gorgeous.

The five production aircraft

were operated by Imperial Airways

on routes from Croydon to Paris,

Brussels, and Zurich. After test

flying was completed, the two

prototypes were also delivered

to Imperial Airways and used

as long-range mail carriers.

In keeping with the usual

practice of Imperial Airways, all

the aircraft were given names,

and the type was known by the

name of the first of the class, in

this case ”Frobisher” (G-AFDI).

When war came the fleet was

pressed into service by the War

Office and put to various uses.

The two mail carriers joined

271 Squadron operating between

Prestwick and Rekjavik, and both

were lost in landing accidents in

Rekjavik, ‘Faraday’ (G-AEVV)

in 1941 and ‘Franklin’

(G-AEVW) in 1942. The

others continued

in use as airliners,

“Frobisher”

BEHOLDER

In the Eye of the

66 • NOVEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

BY SACCO DE VRIES

DH.91 ALBATROSS

BY PETER BARKER

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066-71-CIVIL-Albatross-1118.indd 66 12/10/2018 16:02