The d.h."Dragon Moth" Commercial Airplane (British): A Twin-Engine 6-Passenger Biplane Page: 2 of 10
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NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
AIRCRAFT CIRCULAR NO. 174
THE D.H. "DRAGON MOTH" COMMERCIAL AIRPLANE (BRITISH)*
A Twin-Engine 6-Passenger Biplane
The latest addition to the series of successful De
Havilland types is the "Dragon Moth" or D.H. 84. This
has the distinction of being the first twin-engine air-
plane to be built by the firm.
The "Dragon Moth," which was designed primarily for
commercial purposes, is a twin-engine braced biplane with
a fuselage that completely fills the gap between the
wings. It is remarkably clean, and aerodynamically is in-
teresting for its low span loading, caused by its high
aspect ratio. The inner sections are tapered in plan and
the extensions sweep back so that the swept-bak leading
edge is continued in a straight line out to the wing tips.
(Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.)
A thin airfoil section with no concavity on the under
surface has been used and this may account for the excel-
lence of the aileron control which has proved to be re-
markably good in spite of the large span of the airplane.
An important contribution to the cleanness of design
has been the introduction of a new form of divided landing
gear which might be described as semicantilever. The num-
ber of moving parts has been reduced to a minimum, and con-
sists solely of the telescoping members of the shock-
absorbing legs.
The outer casing of each shock-absorber strut is rig-
idly braced inward to the fuselage and aft to the rear
spar. The sliding member, which consists of a square tube
and carries a stub axle, slides within a collar at, the end
of the outer casing. The small number of moving parts is
expected to reduce the cost of maintenance.
Although the makers have not yet had a great deal of
experience with the type, the "Dragon Moth" appears to
fly fully loaded with one engine stopped. But quite apart
from the additional security conferred by this protection
against forced landing, the duplication of the power plant
*From The Aeroplane, December 21, 1932.
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The d.h."Dragon Moth" Commercial Airplane (British): A Twin-Engine 6-Passenger Biplane, report, January 1933; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279521/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.