Aircraft Manufacturing Company Ltd / Airco DH 9
![]() DH9A
The DH9 development was started in order to give the RFC a means of hitting back at the Germans, who had raided London in daylight in June and July 1917.
Based on the DH.4 two seat day bomber the result was the DH.9. The prototype Airco DH.9 was produced by modification of a DH.4, retaining the same wings, tail unit, and generally similar landing gear, but the fuselage was completely new, with a more streamlined nose, and the pilot’s cockpit directly above the lower wing trailing edge. In the DH.4 there had been a problem with communication between the pilot and observer because the two cockpits were too far apart, but in the DH.9 the cockpits were almost back-to-back, no longer separated by the main fuel tank as on the DH4. Fuel in the DH9 was in two tanks aft of the engine and one in the centre-section.
First flying in November 1917, the prototype was powered by a 172-kW (230-hp) B.H.P., built by the Galloway Engineering Company, and referred to sometimes as the Galloway Adriatic.
![]() DH.9
Early testing began in late July 1917 and proceeded so well that existing contracts for 900 D.H.4s held by sub-contractors were amended to cover production of the D.H.9. Some of these early production aircraft had a Siddeley built B.H.P. engine, but a new light-weight version of this engine, known as the Puma and developed by Siddeley-Deasy, was selected as the major production engine. Most D.H.9s were fitted with 230, 240 or 290-hp Siddeley Puma engines, although one small batch, built by Shorts, had 260-hp Fiat A-12s. Rated at 224kW (300 hp), it was expected to give the D.H.9 out-standing performance, but development problems meant that reliability could only be assured by de-rating output to 172kW (230 hp), and the performance of the new bomber was inferior to that of the D.H.4 which it was intended to replace. When the type was first introduced in April 1918, this resulted in serious losses by the squadrons in France.
Carrying a full military payloaad the aircraft could barely make 13,000 ft. The problem was highlighted on 31 July 1918 when ten DH.9s out of twelve on a bombing mission over Germany were lost, some to engine failuew other shot down. During 848 sorties flown by Nos 99 and 104 Squadrons, RFC, 123 engine failures were recorded.
In excess of 3,200 were built in Britain by Airco and 12 sub-contractors, including Westland Aircraft. By the time the prototype flew, Trenchard had already asked for its cancellation, but production was already well advanced and there was no immediate substitute.
![]() DH9A F1010
With the end of the war the D.H.9 soon faded from the RAF scene, eclipsed completely by the D.H.9A which replaced it.Developed from the DH.9, the DH.9A had a 375 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engine fitted at the behest of the Technical Department of the War Office. To accommodate this larger engine the mainplanes and ailerons were enlarged and the fuselage strengthened, but he undercarriage and tail section remained the as the DH.9. Harry Hawker carried out a number of the initial test flights.
![]() DH.9A
With the test completed, a number of the aircraft were assigned to No.110 Sqn, RAF, who used them to carry out bombing raids on Coblenz, Frankfurt and a number of other German manufacturing cities. One of the aircraft had been paid for by the Nizam of Hyderabad, commemorated by an inscription painted on the side of the aircraft.
Armament comprised a front-mounted, forward‑firing 0.303‑in (7.7‑mm) Vickers machine‑gun, with Constantinesco synchronizing gear, and a 0.303‑in (7.7‑mm) Lewis gun on a Scarff ring mounting in the rear cockpit. Normal bombload consisted of two 104‑kg (230‑lb) or four 51‑kg (112‑lb) bombs, which could be carried internally (though they seldom were) or externally, on fuselage or lower‑wing racks. Camera or W/T equipment was also installed.
![]() DH.9A
![]() Irish Air Corp DH9 camera installation
To improve performance of the DH9, the Liberty 12 engines were ordered from the USA, and Airco requested the Westland Aircraft Works at Yeovil, Somerset, to redesign the D.H.9 to accept the Liberty engine. Westland combined the best features of both D.H.4 and D.H.9 with the US powerplant, strengthening the fuselage structure and introduced wings of increased span and chord, ailerons on all wings. Fuel was in two tanks aft of the engine and one centre section. Although nominally a conversion of the earlier aircraft, to take a more reliable American engine, the new DH9A was a complete redesign. The prototype Airco DH.9A, because no Liberty engines had been received, was flown initially with a 280-kW (375-hp) Eagle VIII engine. By the middle of 1918, the converson to the Packhard Motor Company-built Liberty engine had been completed and the aircraft was sent to Martlesham Heath foe evaluaton, while at the same time the Americans were promising deliveries of the engine. Twelve of the engines were already in Britain, and tests with the Liberty-powered DH.9A had been extremely encouraging. A number of different sub-contractors had to be brought in because Airco were heavily committed to the design and development of the DH.10 day bomber. Among the sub-contractor were the Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co, the Westland Aircraft Works, Mann, Egerton Co,, the Whitehead Co, and F.W.Berwick. The first deliveries were made to the RAF during June 1918. The deliveries of the Ameican Liberty engines started to come in, but in July 1918 they stopped abruptly after 1050 had been delivered. Winston Churchill, who was Minister for Munitions at the time, immediately contacted the US Under-Secretary for Aviation, Mr Ryan. Ryan informed Churchill that the US Navy had staked a priority claim on all the Liberty engines that were currently under construction. This was devastating news to Airco, as they now had to find a replacement engine rapidly. The one that sprang to mind was the Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII, which was currently under evaluation in a Westland-built DH.9A.
By the end of 1918 nearly nine-hundred had been built. Enquiries were also made of the 500 hp Galloway Atlantic engine that was currently under evaluation. Seventy-two of these engines were ordered in September 1918 with a possible increase to 1000, but only one was ever fitted into a DH.9A, which was re-designatd the DH.15.
![]() DH 9A
Construction not only continued in Great Britain but the type went into unlicensed production in Russia for the Red Air Force.
Deliveries were made from June 1918, initially to No 110 Squadron, but only two squadrons in France and two in Russia had become fully operational with them before the Armistice. Mass production, by a dozen British manufacturers (chiefly de Havilland and Westland), continued after the war; deliveries continued until 1928, and the total built eventually reached nearly 2500. Others, with various engines, were built in Spain, the USSR and elsewhere.
![]() Russian R.1
The D.H.9's basic design was phased out of RAF service in 1931. Those of the SAAF continued in service until 1937. Its RAF replacement, the Westland Wapiti, was based on the same airframe.
Nine served with the RNZAF from 1923 to 1930. ![]() A DH9 specially prepared by the Canterbury Aviation Company
for a Christchurch-Blenheim, New Zealand, mail service.
D.H.9s were also flown experimentally or as a result of conversion with engines that included the 186-kW (250-hp) Fiat A-12, 216-kW (290-hp) Siddeley Puma high-compression engine, 224-kW (300-hp) A.D.C. Nimbus and Hispano-Suiza 8Fg, 321-kW (430-hp) Napier Lion, and 324-kW (435-hp) Liberty 12A. Conversions carried out by the South African Air Force, with the 149-kW (200-hp) Wolseley Viper, 336-kW (450-hp) Bristol Jupiter VI and 358-kW (480-hp) Bristol Jupiter VIII, were known respectively by the names of Mantis, M’pala I and M’pala II.
![]() Variants:
Specifications;
DH.9
Engine: B.H.P, 200 hp
Span: 42 ft 6 in
Wing aera: 436 sq.ft
Length: 30 ft 6 in
Height: 10 ft
Empty weight: 2203 lb
Loaded weight: 3669 lb
Wing loading: 8.4 lb/sq.ft
Max speed: 111 mpg at 10,000 ft
Service ceiling: 17,500 ft
ROC: 500 fpm to 5400 ft
Endurance: 4 hr 30 min
Armament: 1 x Vickers mg, 1 or 2 x Lewis mg
Bombload: 931 lb
Crew: 2
DH.9
Engine: BHP, 230 hp
Length: 30 ft 6 in / 9.29m
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Max speed: 116 mph / 187 kph
Armament: 1 x Vicker .303 sync. Through airscrew, 1 x Lewis .303 for observer
Bombload: 500 lb / 227 kg
DH9
Engine: Siddeley Puma, 230 hp / 172-kW
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Length: 30 ft 5 in / 9.2 m
Height: 11 ft 3 in / 3.4 m
Wing area: 40.32 sq.m / 434 sq ft
Empty weight: 2230 lb / 1011 kg
Loaded weight: 3325 lb / 1508 kg
MTOW: 3669 lb
Wing loading: 8.4 lb/sq.ft
Fuel capacity: 70 Gal
Max speed at 1980m (6,500ft): 104 mph / 167 kph
Max speed: 111 mpg at 10,000 ft
Climb to 1980m (6,500ft): 10 minutes 20 seconds
Service ceiling: 4725m / 15,500ft
Endurance: 4 hours 30 minutes
Armament: one fixed forward-firing 7.7-mm (0.303-in) Vickers machine-gun and one or two 7.7-mm (0.303-in) Lewis guns on Scarff ring in aft cockpit, plus up to 209 kg (460 lb) of bombs.
Crew: 2
Engine: Siddeley Puma, 290 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Length: 30 ft 5 in / 9.2 m
Height: 11 ft 3 in / 3.4 m
Empty weight: 2230 lb / 1011 kg
Loaded weight: 3325 lb / 1508 kg
Max speed: 104 mph / 167 kph
Ceiling: 15,500 ft / 4724 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Fiat A-12, 250 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Length: 30 ft 0 in / 9.1 m
Height: 11 ft 2 in / 3.3 m
Empty weight: 2460 lb / 1115 kg
Loaded weight: 3600 lb / 1632 kg
Max speed: 117 mph / 188 kph
Ceiling: 17,500 ft / 5334 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: ADC Nimbus, 300 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Hispano-Suiza 8Fb, 300 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Napier Lion, 430 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Length: 30 ft 9 in / 9.3 m
Height: 11 ft 7 in / 3.5 m
Empty weight: 2544 lb / 1153 kg
Loaded weight: 3667 lb / 1663 kg
Max speed: 138 mph / 222 kph
Ceiling: 23,000 ft / 7010 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Liberty 12A, 435 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Length: 30 ft 0 in / 9.1 m
Height: 11 ft 2 in / 3.3 m
Empty weight: 2460 lb / 1115 kg
Loaded weight: 4645 lb / 2106 kg
Max speed: 114 mph / 183 kph
Ceiling: 17,500 ft / 5334 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Wright Whirlwing R-975, 465 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Wolseley Viper, 200 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Bristol Jupiter VI, 450 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Engine: Bristol Jupiter VIII, 480 hp
Wingspan: 42 ft 4 in / 12.9 m
Armament: 1 x .303 Vickers mg
Airco D.H.9A
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