The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft with its strong lightweight plywood construction.

Developed during the early 1930s, the Dragon Rapide was essentially a smaller, twin-engined version of the four-engined DH.86 Express, and shared a number of common features, such as its tapered wings, streamlined fairings and Gipsy Six engines. First named the "Dragon Six", the type was marketed as "Dragon Rapide" and later simply known as the "Rapide". Upon its introduction in summer 1934, it proved to be a popular aircraft with airlines and private civil operators alike, attaining considerable foreign sales in addition to its domestic use.

Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, many of the civil Rapides were pressed into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy. Referred to in military service by the name de Havilland Dominie, the type was employed for radio and navigation training, passenger transport and communications missions. British training aircraft had names with educational associations, and dominie is a Scots term for a school teacher.

Hundreds of Dominies were also constructed during the war. Other Rapides continued to be operated by British airlines throughout the war under the auspices of the Associated Airways Joint Committee (AAJC). Postwar, many military aircraft were returned to civilian service. Shortly after the end of the Second World War, de Havilland introduced a Dragon Rapide replacement, the de Havilland Dove.

Design and development Origins

During summer 1933, the de Havilland aircraft company commenced work upon an aircraft to meet an Australian requirement, producing a four-engined faster passenger aircraft capable of seating ten passengers, the DH.86 Dragon Express. An important feature of the DH.86 was the newly developed and powerful Gipsy Six engine, a six-cylinder variant of the four cylinder Gipsy Major engine. The DH.86 would serve as the a key starting point for the later DH.89.

During late 1933, a team at de Havilland, led by aircraft designer Arthur Ernest Hagg, began working on a new design, intended to be a faster and more comfortable successor to the earlier DH.84 Dragon. The new aircraft was, in effect, a twin-engined, scaled-down version of the four-engined DH.86 Express. It shared many common features with the earlier DH.86 Express, including its tapered wings, streamlined fairings and fuselage, as well as the same Gipsy Six engines. However, the DH.89 demonstrated none of the operational vices of the Express.

On 17 April 1934, the prototype conducted its maiden flight at Hatfield Aerodrome, Hertfordshire. Flown by senior de Havilland test pilot H.S. Broad, it was powered by a pair of Gypsy Six engines. Even prior to the prototype's first flight, plans to proceed with serial production of DH.89 had already received the go-ahead from management. During May 1934, airworthiness trials commenced at RAF Martlesham Heath using the prototype; during one such flight, upon attaining a speed of roughly , the tip of the aircraft's nose buckled. In response to this event, a maximum permissible speed of was implemented for all DH89s. Upon the conclusion of trials, the prototype was sold.

By November 1934, series production of the Rapide had reached full swing. Originally referred to as the "Dragon Six", the aircraft was first marketed as the "Dragon Rapide", although the type later came to be popularly referred to as simply the "Rapide". Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, 205 aircraft were manufactured for airlines and other private owners all around the world. The Rapide is perhaps the most successful British-built short-haul commercial passenger aircraft to be produced during the 1930s.

Further development In response to the issuing of Specification G.18/35 by the British Air Ministry, de Havilland decided to design and produce a single prototype of a modified Rapide for undertaking coastal reconnaissance. Trials using the prototype, K4772, were performed between April and June 1935 at RAF Martlesham Heath and RAF Gosport. However, it ultimately lost out to its rival, the Avro Anson. K4772 was later used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in automatic landing trials before being broken down for spares. Work on a militarised version of the Rapide was not wasted as multiple sales were soon completed with other military customers, the first of which being to the Spanish government in December 1935.

Sensing demand for the type, de Havilland continued to modify the Rapide's design following its entry to service, creating both refinements and entirely new derivatives as a result. Aiming to produce a faster version of the Rapide, a smaller, lighter and externally cleaner version, designated as the DH.90 Dragonfly, emerged; first flying in August 1935, the DH.90 failed to achieve a similar rate of sales to the Rapide and production was terminated in 1938 after 67 aircraft had been completed. In November 1935, the 60th airframe to be produced, G-ADWZ, was modified and used by de Havilland as a trials aircraft. Fitted with elongated rear windows, cabin heating, thickened wing tips, and a strengthened airframe to allow for an elevated gross weight of , G-ADWZ later participated in trials at Martlesham Heath, after which the higher gross weight was cleared for service.

In response to the announcement of an air race between Britain and Johannesburg, South Africa, de Havilland's design team produced a specialised variant of the Rapid, designated as the DH.92 Dolphin. This one-off derivative featured a retractable undercarriage, an expanded wingspan of , a modified nose section, and an increased all-up weight of ; however, flight tests in August 1936 revealed there to be no performance improvement over the standard Rapide, leading to the sole Dolphin being scrapped months later.

In November 1936, in response to suggestions that the addition of flaps would aid in landing, a single Rapide was modified in order to explore their functionality. Based on this performance, in February 1937, de Havilland announced that flaps would be fitted to all production aircraft from that year onwards, while other improvements such as a downwards-facing recognition light and metal propellers could be fitted as options. From 1937, to signify the fitting of improved trailing edge flaps, aircraft thus equipped were accordingly re-designated as DH.89A; earlier-built Rapides were commonly retrofitted to this standard during their service life as well.

Operational history

Prewar operations

During July 1934, the first production Rapide, G-ACPM, performed the type's public debut at Hatfield with its entry into the 1934 King's Cup Race. While having achieved an average speed of , G-ACPM had to be withdrawn from the race during Heat 9 of Round 2 when the wing sustained damage caused by hail while flying over Waddington, Lincolnshire. Another purpose-built Rapide, ZK'-ACO, was entered into the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race; fitted with three additional fuel tanks within the fuselage to extend the aircraft's range to 1,000 miles, the aircraft, flown by Squadron Leader J.D. Hewett and Mr C.E. Kay, took sixth place in the handicap race and fifth place in the speed race.

In the summer of 1934, the type entered service with UK-based airlines, with Hillman Airways Ltd being first to take delivery in July. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was another early company to purchase the Rapide; used for quick communications purposes between individual oil fields spread out over vast distances, the aircraft quickly became popular in the oil industry, with the Iraq Petroleum Company and the Asiatic Petroleum Company also procuring their own Rapides.

From August 1934, Railway Air Services (RAS) operated a fleet of Dragon Rapides on routes linking London, the north of England and on to Northern Ireland and Scotland. The RAS DH.89s were named after places on the network, for example "Star of Lancashire".. Isle of Man Air Services operated a fleet of Rapides on scheduled services from Ronaldsway Airport near Castletown to airports in north-west England including Blackpool, Liverpool and Manchester. Some of its aircraft had been transferred to it after operation by Railway Air Services.

During late 1935, the first of an initial batch of 16 Rapides were shipped to the manufacturer's Canadian branch, de Havilland Canada, for modification and re-sale purposes. Canadian aircraft received various changes, including an extended dorsal fin and a modified undercarriage arrangement, allowing for either wheels, skis, or floats to be interchangeably installed, dependent upon usage and weather conditions. The sole Canadian prototype, CF-AEO, was sold onto Quebec Airways in June 1935. Further Rapides were delivered to other customers in Canada, such as Canadian Airways, who used it on their West Coast and maritime routes.

On 30 January 1942, the majority of major Canadian operators were amalgamated into Canadian Pacific Air Lines, who continued to use the type. Further Canadian sales of the Rapide would occur both during and after the end of the Second World War.

During 1938, British operator Airwork Limited placed an initial order for nine Rapides to serve as navigation trainers. The order had been motivated by policy changes within the British Air Ministry, which sought to expand this capability. Repeat orders were placed by Airwork in the lead up to the Second World War, upon which point the firm's fleet of Rapides were all taken on by the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), owned a single Dragon Rapide (G-ADDD), which he frequently used for carrying out his royal duties. He flew this aircraft to London on his accession as king in 1936, making him the first British monarch to fly.

In July 1936 a pair of British SIS agents, Cecil Bebb and Major Hugh Pollard, flew Francisco Franco in Rapide G-ACYR from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco, at the start of the military rebellion which began the Spanish Civil War.Alpert, Michael. BBC History Magazine, April 2002. The aircraft involved has since been placed on public display in the Museo del Aire, Madrid, Spain.

Second World War

At the start of the Second World War on 3 September 1939, all British civil transport aircraft were requisitioned by the Ministry of Aircraft Production. A number of Dragon Rapides were used to provide internal flights under the control of National Air Communications (NAC). Perhaps one of the most significant early uses of the Rapide during the war occurred during the crucial weeks of May–June 1940 during the Battle of France, Rapides of 24 Squadron acted as aerial couriers between Britain and France; out of 24 aircraft, 10 Rapides were lost.

Following the closure of the NAC network, Dragon Rapides continued to fly for British airlines during the war as part of the Associated Airways Joint Committee (AAJC). Upon the outbreak of war, all civil services had been halted but some routes were returned to operation as and when they were deemed of value to the war effort or found to be in the national interest. The AAJC co-ordinated the majority of UK's wartime scheduled services, which were entirely operated on over-water routes. Other Dragon Rapides were pressed into service with the British armed forces as communications aircraft and training aircraft; Australian Rapides were also requisitioned by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).