Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Two-seat sport and training biplane

Power Plant:

(DH60G) One 75 kw (100 hp) de Havilland Gipsy I; or one 78 kw (105 hp) Cirrus Hermes; or one 90 kw (120 hp) de Havilland Gipsy II; all four-cylinder in-line air-cooled engines

(DH60M) One 67 kw (90 hp) ADC Cirrus III; or one 75 kw (100 hp) de Havilland Gipsy I; or one 90 kw (120 hp) de Havilland Gipsy II; all four-cylinder in-line air-cooled engines

Specifications:

History:

In the late 1920s de Havilland was looking at building its own engine for its light biplanes and to this end produced the Gipsy engine initially rated at 75 kw (100 hp), designed by Major Frank Bernard Halford. One aircraft was fitted with a special variant de Havilland Gipsy engine for racing, providing 101 kw (135 hp), but this was de-rated to 63 kw (85 hp) in production aircraft supplied to clubs and private owners, becoming known as the Gipsy I.

On 26 July 1928 Geoffrey de Havilland in a DH.60 (G-AAAA), with his wife as a passenger, set a World Height Record for light aeroplanes of 6,052.4 m (19,857 ft). Mr A S Butler set a World Speed Record for light aircraft of 192.86 km/h (119.34 mph) around a 100 km (62 miles) course.

The Gipsy engined variant became known as the DH.60G and some 627 were built at Stag Lane, Edgeware, 430 by Morane Saulnier in France, 18 by the Moth Corporation in the United States and 36 in Australia. The latter comprised 32 by the Larkin Aircraft Supply Company Ltd; two by de Havilland Australia; one by the Naval Dockyard at Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour (A7-55); and one by J H McConnell.

Eventually de Havilland produced a welded steel-tube fuselage DH.60 to meet requirements of some operators and, although some 28 kg (62 lb) heavier, it was easier to maintain than the wooden-fuselage aircraft. These became known as the DH.60M Metal Moth. Some 744 metal DH.60Ms were delivered, 531 from Stag lane, 161 by the Moth Aircraft Corporation in the US, 36 in Canada, ten by Haerene Flyvemaskinefabric in Norway and six in Australia.

In 1930 the Gipsy II engine was developed to the Gipsy III, this being an inverted variant of the Gipsy II, and at the same time a new airframe was introduced, which became known as the DH.60G-III, the first of this model G-ABUI (c/n 5000) flying in March 1930. The Gipsy III engine was developed to the Gipsy IIIA, which later became known as the Gipsy Major, and DH.60G-IIIs with this engine became known as the DH.60G-III Moth Major, some 88 being built at Stag Lane.

A number of records were set by the Gipsy Moth. Long-distance flights were made by, amongst many, Francis Chichester in G-AAKK, Mrs H Bonney in VH-UPV, Jean Batten in G-AARB, Amy Johnson in G-AAAH, CWA Scott in G-ABHY and G-ACOA, James A Mollison in VH-UFT, Victor Roffey in VH-UPG, the Honorable Hugh Grosvenor in VH-UGS, etc.

The RAAF used 122 examples for training, mainly at Point Cook, VIC where a number also operated on floats for seaplane training. One (A7-55) was used to locate the Antarctic explorer, Lincoln Ellsworth, in January 1936. Aircraft operated by the RAAF were two DH.60G Cirrus Moths A7-1 and A7-2; 22 DH.60X Cirrus Moths A7-3 to A7-24 introduced in 1928; and A7-25 to A7-122 DH.60G Gipsy Moths introduced during 1929 and 1930. Variants provided to the RAAF iucluded models DH.60G, DH.60G-III, DH.60M and DH.60X.

Fifty civil aircraft in the DH.60 series were impressed into military service at the beginning of World War II but only eight of these survived to return to postwar civil use. After the war hundreds of DH.82 Tiger Moths were available and most aviators thought this was a preferable aircraft to have from a flying and maintenance viewpoint, so the number of DH.60s quickly declined.

In addition 14 DH.60 Cirrus Moths were built by the General Aircraft Company at Mascot, NSW. In 1933 the Munitions Supply Board contracted to build six DH.60Ms at the Ordnance Factory at Maribyrnong, VIC, these being delivered in 1935-1936. The DH.60G was also built by the Larkin Supply Company Ltd in Melbourne, VIC with engines supplied by de Havilland, receiving serials in the range A7-23 to A7-54, a total of 28. DH.60Gs A7-56 to A7-60 were built by de Havilland at Mascot, and A7-61 to A7-68 were built as DH.60Ms at the same facility.

Apart from a metal fuselage rather than one built of wood, the main external difference between the two was the prominent stringers under the fabric of the DH.60M.

As with the DH.60G, the DH.60M was also used for a number of record flights: one (G-AARB) was used by New Zealand aviatrix Jean Batten; and another (G-ABHY), fitted with a 90 kw (120 hp) Gipsy engine, was flown by Charles W A Scott from the United Kingdom to Australia in 9 days, 4 hours and 11 minutes. Later the record was beaten in April 1932 at 8 days, 20 hours and 47 minutes. On 1 December 1933 Mr E F Harvie in a DH.60G Gipsy Moth ZK-ABP (c/n 1250) achieved a one-day distance record of 1,879 km (1,168 miles) from North Cape to Bluff in a time of 16 hours 10 minutes, a record which stood for 29 years.

The DH.60 was one of the most popular light aircraft of all time. In Australia by 1932 the DH.60 series formed more than half of the aircraft on the Australian Civil Aircraft Register. Engines used in the series in this region included the Cirrus I, Cirrus II, Cirrus III, Cirrus Hermes, Gipsy I, Gipsy II, Gipsy III and Gipsy Major. Very few aero clubs of the pre-war era did not have DH.60s in their fleet.

Qantas established the Brisbane Flying School at Eagle Farm, Brisbane, QLD in 1927 and assembled aircraft for the club at its facility at Longreach, QLD. West Australian Airways erected its own aircraft and established its own flying school at Maylands. In the 1930s some RAAF aircraft were transferred to aero clubs to assist in the future needs of the air force for pilot training. The type saw service in New Guinea, and Sir Douglas Mawson used two (VH-ULD and A7-55) on his Antarctic expeditions.

The DH.60 also saw service with the RNZAF. These were DH.60Gs (870 to 873, 995, NZ501, NZ502, NZ504, NZ507, NZ513, NZ514, and NZ517 to NZ519) and DH.60Ms (1560, 1567, NZ505, NZ506, NZ509 to NZ511, NZ516, NZ520 and NZ522). Some 22 DH.60s were impressed from civil service (NZ501 to NZ522) and were used to form No 2 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at New Plymouth in 1939. These aircraft were used in the elementary trainer, utility role, and as seaplane trainers (serials 995 and 1567).

The type was placed into service in 1929 initially by the New Zealand Permanent Air Force (NZPAF). One (995) saw service in Samoa in 1930 to assist in the quelling of a Mau uprising; and NZ518 and NZ522 served in Fiji. Following their replacement in the early 1940s by DH.82 Tiger Moths most were scrapped, but a few survived for a time as Instructional Airframes. NZ520 was the former 1560, and NZ522 was built from spare parts. This aircraft had previously been ZK-AFR and was allotted the c/n NZ-1. Four survived the war and were placed on to the New Zealand Civil Aircraft Register. The aircraft with the serials without the prefix NZ used their serial numbers and served with the NZPAF until they were retired in 1936.

More than a dozen examples of the DH.60 series have survived in this region, of which at least ten have been airworthy. Others have been restored and placed on display in museums, including the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, NSW and the Australian Aviation Museum at Moorabbin, VIC.