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Airco DH.10

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DH.10 Amiens
Amiens Mark II
Type Bomber
Manufacturer Airco
Designed by Geoffrey de Havilland
Maiden flight 4 March 1918
Introduced November 1918
Retired 1923
Primary user Royal Air Force
Number built 258

The Airco DH.10 Amiens was a British twin-engined medium bomber designed and built towards the end of the First World War. It served briefly with the RAF postwar.

Design and development

The DH.10 was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland to meet the requirements of Air Board Specification A.2.b for a single- or twin-engined day bomber. It was a development of the earlier Airco DH.3 bomber, which had flown in 1916, but had been rejected by the War Office because of a belief that strategic bombing would be ineffective and that twin engines were impracticable.[1]

The first prototype flew on 4 March 1918, powered by two 230 hp Siddeley Puma engines mounted as pushers.[2] When evaluated by the RAF, the performance of this prototype was well below expectation, reaching only 90 mph at 15,000 ft with the required bomb load. Owing to this poor performance, the DH.10 was redesigned with more powerful engines in a tractor installation.

The second prototype, known as the Amiens Mark II was powered by two 360 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engines and first flew in April 1918, showing greatly superior performance and proving to be faster than the DH.9A while carrying twice the bomb load.[2] While shortages of the Eagle meant that the Amiens Mark II could not be put into production, it proved the design for the definitive aircraft, the Amiens Mark III, which was powered by the more readily available 395 hp Liberty 12 from America, as was the DH.9A.[1] Following successful evaluation, large orders were placed, with a total of 1,291 ordered.[1]

Operational history

First deliveries of DH.10s were to No. 104 Squadron RAF in November 1918, flying a single bombing mission on 10 November 1918 before the Armistice ended the First World War.[1] Amiens were also used by 97 Squadron (later re-numbered as 60 Squadron) which deployed to India. It provided support to the Army on the North-West Frontier, being used for bombing operations in the Third Anglo-Afghan war.[1] DH.10s were also used by 216 Squadron in Egypt, where they provided an air mail service between Cairo and Bagdhad, starting on 23 June 1921.[2]

Variants

Amiens I
Prototype powered by two pusher Puma engines.
Amiens II
Prototype powered by two tractor Rolls Royce Eagle engines.
Amiens III
Main production variant, powered by Liberty 12 engines mounted midway between wings, 221 built.
Amiens IIIA
Modified Mark II with engines directly attached to lower wings, 32 built.
Amiens IIIC
Version powered by Rolls Royce Eagle engines in case of shortages of Liberty engines, 5 built.

Operators

Military operators

Template:UK

Civil operators

Template:UK
  • Aircraft Transport and Travel Ltd operated a single DH.10 placed on the British Civil Register. This aircraft, G-EAJO, was used for regular airmail flights between Hendon and Renfrew during the railway strike in October 1919. It was destroyed in a crash in April 1920.[3]

Specifications (Amiens IIIA)

Data from The British Bomber since 1914[1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: Three
  • Length: 39 ft 7⅓ in (12.08 m)
  • Wingspan: 65 ft 6 in (19.97 m)
  • Height: 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
  • Wing area: 837 ft² (77.8 m²)
  • Empty weight: 5,750 lb (2,614 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 8,500 lb [2] (3,863 kg)
  • Useful load: lb (kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 9,060 lb (4,118 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2× Liberty 12A V-12 piston, 400 hp (298 kW) each

Performance

Armament

  • One or two Lewis guns on Scarff rings at both nose and midships gunners cockpits
  • Up to 920 lb bombs carried internally

    • References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber Since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57, 1st edition. London: Putnam, 1957.
    3. ↑ Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft Since 1919, Volume 2, second Edition. London: Putnam, 1973. ISBN 0-370-10010-7.

    External links

    Template:De Havilland aircraft

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    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
    It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Airco DH.10".


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