Passenger Airliner / Mail Plane / General Transport [ 1938 ]
Including its two prototypes, only seven total DH.91 Albatross aircraft were ever built by de Havilland and these lived short service lives into World War 2.
In the mid-1930s, the British Air Ministry released Specification 36/35 calling for a transport / mailplane aircraft capable of a transatlantic crossing. The de Havilland concern returned with its DH.91 design drawn up by aircraft engineer A.E. Hagg (1888-1985). The DH.91 lived a relatively short service life as its production and exposure was ultimately limited by the arrival of World War 2 (1939-1945). As such, totals included just seven useable airframes - including two flyable prototypes.
The aircraft used a largely conventional arrangement which included a stepped cockpit overlooking the nose, low-set monoplane wings, and a twin-finned tail unit. The fuselage was relatively deep and dotted by rectangular windows while also being highly streamlined for aerodynamic efficiency. Each wing mainplane carried a pair of engine nacelles and these were equally-streamlined, hugging their mechanical components as close as possible, to further the aerodynamic qualities of the aircraft. This sort of component-hugging benefit was made possible by an all-new cooling system implemented into the design of each unit. Construction also included a unique sandwiched (plywood-balsa) wood arrangement used across the fuselage - a construction technique later pressed onto the war-winning de Havilland "Mosquito" fighter-bomber of World War 2 fame (this aircraft appears in detail elsewhere on this site).
As completed, the DH.91 would field a crew of four to include two pilots, a radioman, and a flight steward. Up to twenty-two seated passengers could be carried if the fuselage was arranged in such a way to accommodate them. Overall length reached 71.5 feet and the wingspan was 105 feet with the height measuring 22.2 feet. Empty weight was 21,230lb against an MTOW of about 30,000lb. Power was served from 4 x de Havilland "Gipsy Twelve" 12-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted-Vee piston engines outputting 525 horsepower each.
Performance went on to include a maximum speed of 225 miles per hour, a cruising speed near 210 miles per hour, a range out to 1,040 miles, and a service ceiling up to 18,000 feet. Rate-of-climb was 700 feet-per-minute.
A first-flight of the DH.91 in prototype form occurred on May 20th, 1937 and a second flyable form was completed and flown thereafter. The second example suffered a complete fracture under load during testing which forced some reinforcement of the airframe. Imperial Airways became the launch customer of the series and took into inventory both of the prototypes and a further five production models (totaling seven airframes). The first example received during October 1938 was converted to seat twenty-two passengers in some comfort while the two prototypes were received in their original mail-carrying forms. The fleet was used to connect locations within the UK to parts of France, Belgium, and Switzerland during the early-going of operational service.
As was common during the period, this small group of aircraft were named as naval ships would be. They fleet constituted "Faraday", "Franklin", "Frobisher", "Falcon", "Fortuna", "Fingal", and "Fiona".
The arrival of World War 2 on September 1st, 1939, changed how Europe did business in the air. The Royal Air Force (RAF) was in dire need of any and all capable aircraft and studied the DH.91 for its range qualities. As such, a pair of the mail carrier forms (Faraday and Franklin) were taken into military service through Squadron No.271 during September of 1940 and these flew a route between the UK and Iceland. However, both suffered from accidents during landing actions while on approach at Reykjavik which ended their flying days in the war heading into 1942. The remaining five passenger haulers served with BOAC (born from the reorganization of Imperial Airways) and these continued in service by connecting Bristol to Ireland and to Portugal though one (Frobisher) was destroyed during a German air raid and another (Fingal) in a landing accident in 1940. Another (Fortuna) example crashed after its now-weakened wood structure gave out in 1943 near Shannon Airport in Ireland.
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓Transport
General transport functionality to move supplies/cargo or personnel (including wounded and VIP) over range.
✓Commercial Aviation
Used in roles serving the commercial aviation market, ferrying both passengers and goods over range.
Length
71.5 ft (21.80 m)
Width/Span
105.0 ft (32.00 m)
Height
22.2 ft (6.78 m)
Empty Wgt
21,275 lb (9,650 kg)
MTOW
30,865 lb (14,000 kg)
Wgt Diff
+9,590 lb (+4,350 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base de Havilland DH.91 Albatross production variant)
Installed:
4 x de Havilland Gipsy Twelve 12-cylinder inverted-Vee piston engines developing 525 horsepower each.
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base de Havilland DH.91 Albatross production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
None.
Supported Types
(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
DH.91 "Albatross" - Base Series Designation; named aircraft were Faraday, Franklin, Frobisher, Falcon, Fortuna, Fingal, and Fiona.
General Assessment
Firepower
Performance
Survivability
Versatility
Impact
Values are derrived from a variety of categories related to the design, overall function, and historical influence of this aircraft in aviation history.
Overall Rating
The overall rating takes into account over 60 individual factors related to this aircraft entry.
16
Rating is out of a possible 100 points.
Relative Maximum Speed
Hi: 300mph
Lo: 150mph
This entry's maximum listed speed (225mph).
Graph average of 225 miles-per-hour.
City-to-City Ranges
NYC
LON
LON
PAR
PAR
BER
BER
MOS
MOS
TOK
TOK
SYD
SYD
LAX
LAX
NYC
de Havilland DH.91 Albatross operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).
Max Altitude Visualization
Design Balance
The three qualities reflected above are altitude, speed, and range.
Aviation Era Span
Showcasing era cross-over of this aircraft design.
Unit Production (7)
7
36183
44000
Compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian).
>>
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.
The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.
United Kingdom (retired)
