The Airco DH.2 was a British single-seat fighter with a pusher engine design that made it stand out amongst the competition during World War One. It saw success over the Western Front in 1916 where British pilots successfully ended the “Fokker Scourge” that was giving the German Imperial Air Force it’s edge in aerial combat.
History
Early in the war it was decided that Britain needed a single-seat fighter with a forward firing machine gun to fight back against the German Imperial Air Service’s more nimble and deadly fighters, most prominently the Fokker Eindecker fighters. Therefore Airco designer Geoffrey de Haviland set forth on designing an improved fighter based on the DH.1 twin-seat reconnaissance fighter. The first prototype would take flight in July 1915 and was then dispatched to France for operational evaluation, however it was soon lost and captured by the Germans.
The prototype DH.2 would be flown by a pilot of No.5 RFC Squadron over the western front in August when he would be killed and the aircraft repaired and captured by German forces for study. More DH.2’s would be provided to squadrons with the first fully equipped squadron, No.24 RFC Squadron, arriving in France by early 1916. Soon later many more squadrons would be equipped with DH.2’s and it immediately saw success against the German Fokker Eindecker fighters, successfully ending the Fokker Scourge.
The DH.2’s of No.24 RFC Squadron would be heavily involved over the skies during the Battle of the Somme where No.24 Squadron had engaged in 774 combats and claiming 44 aerial victories. Soon though in late 1916 Germany would introduce new aircraft such as the Albatros D.I and Halberstadt D.II which would outclass the DH.2. This in turn made Britain and France to develop more advanced fighters such as the DH.5. But the DH.2 continued to see use in front-line service in France until June of 1917. After this the DH.2 would be used mainly in the Middle-East and for training duties. The DH.2 was last used as a flying example at RAF Turnhouse in January 1919.
No original DH.2’s survive but in 1970 Walter M. Redfern from Seatle, Washington built a replica which he named the “Redfern DH.2”. Several more were built after Redfern sold the designs, these replicas can still be found flying at various air displays. The original replica can be seen on display at the Omaka Aviation Heritage in Blenheim, New Zealand.
Performance
- Maximum speed: 93 mph (150 km/h, 81 kn) at sea level
- Endurance: 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,300 m)
- Time to altitude: 24 minutes, 45 seconds to 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Specifications
Size
- Length: 25 ft 2+1⁄2 in (7.684 m)
- Wingspan: 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)
- Height: 9 ft 6+1⁄2 in (2.908 m)
- Wing area: 249 sq ft (23.1 m2)
Weight
- Empty weight: 943 lb (428 kg)
- Gross weight: 1,441 lb (654 kg)
Engine
- Powerplant: 1 × Gnôme Monosoupape 9-cylinder rotary engine, 100 hp (75 kW)
Armament
-
Guns
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- 1 x .303in Lewis Gun
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Rockets
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- La Prieur rockets (2 were equipped as examples to take down enemy observation balloons).
Pictures
DH.2 with the personnel of No.32 RFC Squadron
Four DH.2’s at Beauval Aerodrome at the Fourth Army Park 1916
An airworthy replica flying at East Fortune Airshow 2011 in Scotland
The original Redfern DH.2 replica on display at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in New Zealand.
- Yes
- No
- Standard TT (Lower than reserve tier, 0.0-0.7)
- Standard TT (Replacing current reserve tier, move everything else up 1 BR)
- Premium
- Event
- Separate WW1 TT
- I said I don’t want it
- 0.0
- 0.3
- 0.7
- New Reserve Aircraft (Move everything up by 1 BR)
- Have a separate TT for WW1 vehicles
- I Said No