The Airco DH.10 Amiens was a twin-engine heavy bomber that was produced by Airco in 1918 to be used in World War 1. However it would be delivered to the Western Front in November of 1918 and it would only see one combat mission before the War to End All War would come to a close.
History
Back in early 1917 the Royal Flying Corps sought a new bomber that could carry a payload of 500lb of bombs and fly at 15,000ft with a speed of no less than 110mph, they then issued Specification A.2.b to invite aircraft manufacturers to design said bomber. Later that very year Airco would officially respond to Specification A.2.b, drawing inspiration from their early bomber design (DH.3A) which was rejected by the War Office due to it’s lack in engine power.
The DH.10 would share a similar design in it’s body and be equipped originally with a pair of Siddeley Puma engines. The first DH.10 would take flight on the 4th of March 1918. From this test flight it was determined that it’s performance fell short of the stated requirements so the engines were replaced the Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII on the second prototype aircraft. The third and fourth prototypes would use the Liberty 12 engines which proved popular and thus made it into final productions but due to shortages in the production of the Liberty 12 engines some DH.10’s would instead be fitted with the Rolls-Royce Eagle engines.
Following the successful evaluations by the War Office many large orders would be placed for the aircraft, in total 1,291 aircraft were on order at one point. By late March production contracts would be given to five manufacturers.
The DH.10 would enter the war on the 31st of October, only two weeks before the Armistice. The only combat mission during the war took place on the 10th of November with No.104 Squadron, a single day before the end of the war. The mission was a raid on Sarreboug aerodrome.
Specifications
Size
- Height - 14ft 6in (4.42m)
- Length - 39ft 7in (12.076m)
- Wingspan - 65ft 6in (19.96m)
Weight
- Empty - 5,750lb (2,608kg)
- Gross - 8,500lb (3,856kg)
- Max Takeoff - 9,060 (4,110kh)
Powerplant
- 2 x Liberty 12 V-12 engines - 400hp each
Performance
- Max Speed - 131mph (211kph) at sea level / 124mph (200kph) at 10,000ft (3,000m)
- Endurance - 6 hours
- Service Ceiling - 19,000ft (5,800m)
- Time to Altitude - 11 minutes to service ceiling
Armament
Guns
- 2 x 7.7mm Lewis Guns at the nose and middle gunner cockpits
Bombs
- Up to 920lb (420kg) of bombs carried in an internal bay.
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