List of de Havilland aircraft


This is a list of aircraft produced or proposed by Geoffrey de Havilland or designed at the de Havilland Aircraft Company from its founding in 1920 until its purchase by the Hawker Siddeley Group in 1959.
The aircraft are ordered by de Havilland model number; the numbers started with de Havilland's employment at the Airco company as chief designer. Although Airco built the planes, their design was owned by de Havilland and when de Havilland started his own company, he continued the numbering. The numbering sequence continued for later designs of de Havilland's aircraft company, even if they were designed by a factory team with little input from de Havilland himself. The DH.89, for example, was the 89th de Havilland design.
The designs DH.121 and DH.125 which were under development when de Havilland lost its separate identity under Hawker Siddeley, retained their numbering and were produced as the Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident and the Hawker Siddeley HS.125.
The list does not include aircraft designed by de Havilland Canada or de Havilland Australia, founded as de Havilland subsidiaries.
A separate list includes his earlier designs prior to the company formation including his first two family funded Biplanes, his various designs at the HM Balloon Factory -, and later his various designs at The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited.

Designs prior to company foundation

These are designs by Geoffrey de Havilland while working for himself or for other manufacturers.
Design
number
AircraftFirst flightRemarks
Biplane No. 1December 1909Single-seat biplane.
Built with money borrowed from his maternal grandfather, de Havilland's first aircraft took two years to complete.
Unfortunately, he crashed it during its first very short flight at Seven Barrows near Litchfield, Hampshire in December 1909.
Biplane No. 225 September 1910Single-seat pusher configuration biplane –
After the crash of his first aircraft, he built a fresh biplane, making his first flight in it from a meadow near Newbury in September 1910.
F.E.1Biplane No. 225 September 1910Single-seat pusher configuration biplane – became the F.E.1
In December 1910, de Havilland joined HM Balloon Factory at Farnborough, which was to become the Royal Aircraft Factory
He sold his second aeroplane to his new employer for £400. It became the F.E.1, the first aircraft to bear an official Royal Aircraft Factory designation. For the next three years, de Havilland designed, or participated in the design of, a number of experimental types at the "Factory".
Up to about 1913 the designation letters referred to the general layout of the aircraft, derived from a French manufacturer or designer famous for that type:
S.E. = Santos Experimental
B.E. = Blériot Experimental
F.E. = Farman Experimental
From 1913/4 onwards this was changed to a designation based on the role for which the aircraft was designed.
The B.S.1 of 1913 was a one-off anomaly, combining both systems: Blériot Scout.
S.E.1Santos Experimental 1 Royal Aircraft Factory11 June 1911Experimental research aircraft - originally based on a Santos monoplane design, it emerged as a pusher biplane with large balanced fore-elevators, similar in basic layout to the Wright Flyer, but with a fully covered fuselage. Ailerons were fitted to the top wing, and twin balanced rudders were mounted behind the propeller and powered by a 60 hp E.N.V. Type F engine.
F.E.2Farman Experimental 2 Royal Aircraft Factory18 August 1911Two Seat Fighter / reconnainnance - The new aircraft resembled the final form of the F.E.1, with no front elevator, but seated a crew of two in a wood and canvas nacelle, and was powered by a 50 hp Gnome rotary engine.
B.E.1Bleriot Experimental 1 Royal Aircraft Factory4 December 1911Two Seat Biplane trainer It was a two-bay tractor biplane with parallel-chord unstaggered wings with rounded ends and used wing warping for roll control and powered by a 60 hp water-cooled Wolseley engine.
B.E.2Bleriot Experimental 2 Royal Aircraft Factory1 February 1912Two Seat Biplane trainer/bomber The B.E.2 was almost identical to the B.E.1, differing principally in being powered by a 60 hp air-cooled V-8 Renault and in having equal-span wings.
B.S.1 / S.E.2Bleriot Scout 1 Scout Experimental 2 Royal Aircraft FactoryMarch 1913Single Seat Scout. small tractor biplane, was named the B.S.1 after Louis Blériot, a pioneer of tractor configuration aircraft. It had a wooden monocoque circular section fuselage, and single-bay wings. Lateral control was by wing warping. It was powered by a two-row, 14-cylinder Gnome rotary engine rated at 100 hp.
DH.1Airco DH.1January 1915Two-seat fighter/general purpose biplane
In December 1913, de Havilland was appointed an inspector of aircraft for the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate.
Unhappy at leaving design work at the Royal Aircraft Factory, in May 1914 he was recruited to become the chief designer at The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited, in Hendon.
He designed many aircraft for Airco, all designated by his initials, DH.
Large numbers of de Havilland-designed aircraft were used during the First World War, flown by the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force.
DH.2Airco DH.21 June 1915Single-seat pusher biplane fighter
DH.3Airco DH.3Twin-engine long-range day bomber
DH.4Airco DH.4August 1916Two-seat biplane day bomber
DH.5Airco DH.5October 1916Single-seat biplane fighter
DH.6Airco DH.61916Biplane trainer
DH.7Not builtSingle-seat tractor fighter project with a Rolls-Royce Falcon engine, not built due to non-availability of engine
DH.8Not builtPusher fighter projected to be fitted with a Coventry Ordnance Works gun, not built due to delays in gun development and non-availability of specified engine
DH.9Airco DH.9July 1917Two-seat day bomber biplane
DH.10Airco DH.10 Amiens4 March 1918Twin-engine heavy bomber biplane developed from the DH.3
DH.11Airco DH.11 Oxford1919Twin-engined day bomber
DH.12DH.12Not builtImproved DH.11 powered by Dragonfly engines and modified gunner's position – unbuilt
DH.13Not used, probably due to superstition
DH.14(Airco) Okapi1919Two-seat day bomber to replace DH.4 and DH.9
DH.15Airco Gazelle1919Experimental aircraft similar to DH.9
DH.16Airco DH.161919Redesigned DH.9 with four-seat enclosed cockpit for use as a commercial biplane
DH.17Not built16 seat biplane airliner powered by two Rolls-Royce Condor engines, featuring an enclosed cabin and semi-retractable landing gear. Not built for a lack of orders due to post-WWI slump.
DH.18(Airco) DH.1819208 seat, single-engine commercial aircraft
DH.19Not builtRolls-Royce Falcon powered two-seat cabin biplane
DH.20Not builtABC Wasp powered single-seat sports biplane
DH.21Not builtLarge civil transport design study with two engines driving one propeller