DE HAVILLAND DH.10

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.

Contents

Design and development

Operational history

Variants

Operators

Military operators

Civil operators

Specifications (Amiens IIIA)

References

External links

Related content

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. Mason, Francis K. ''The British Bomber Since 1914''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
The first prototype flew on 4 March 1918, powered by two 230 hp Siddeley Puma engines mounted as pushers.^[1] 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. 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. Following successful evaluation, large orders were placed, with a total of 1,291 ordered.

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. 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. 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.

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

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★ Royal Air Force

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★ No. 24 Squadron RAF

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★ No. 27 Squadron RAF

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★ No. 60 Squadron RAF

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★ No. 104 Squadron RAF

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★ No. 120 Squadron RAF

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★ No. 216 Squadron RAF

Civil operators

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★ 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.^[2]

Specifications (Amiens IIIA)

References

1. Thetford, Owen. ''Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57, 1st edition''. London: Putnam, 1957.
2. Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft Since 1919, Volume 2, second Edition''. London: Putnam, 1973. ISBN 0-370-10010-7.

External links

★ Virtual Aircraft Museum

★ British Aircraft Directory

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