The De Havilland Dh-86 Part Fifteen In A Series Examining The Airliners That Established Civil Aviation In Australia

Of vital importance in the design of the DH-86 was the availability of the new 200 hp Gipsy Six Series 1 engine, based on the well-proven Gipsy Major designed by Major Frank 8. Halford. This reliable engine was to be of great importance to de Havilland in reaching the desired design requirements. The DH-86 was constructed of a wooden box structure with spruce members outside a plywood skin. An outer cover of fabric was applied over the formers, the space between was packed with Cabot’s Quilting to reduce noise. The wing layout was braced taper-wing biplane utilising a modified RAF 34 wing section. The two 57 gallon fuel tanks were located, one each side, in fairings behind the undercarriage. The highly developed wing employed a variety of materials in its structure. The inner lower sections out to the inner engines had a structure of steel with wooden ribs while the inner upper sections and lower sections between inner and outer engines had wooden spars with tubular drag bracing and wooden ribs. The outer upper and lower sections had wooden spars, tubular compression members and wing cross bracing. The leading edges were plywood-covered throughout anq the wing was fabric covered. Ailerons were fitted to all four wings.

The prototype DH-86, E-2/G-ACPL was first flown by H. S. Broad at Stag Lihe on 14 January 1934. Rapid flight testing ensued and it received its full Certificate of Airworthiness· on 30 January, just one day inside the time limit stipulated by the Australian Government. It was de Havilland’s first four engined aircraft and seemed just ideal for Qantas’ requirements. Its large 64′ 6″ span wing enabled it to lift a 3680 lb payload comprising 10 passengers, mail and freight over a 764 mile range. Qantas also specified a two seat cockpit for side-by-side seating of pilot and co-pilot. Although the prototype and the first three production aircraft were equipped for single pilot operation, aircraft number four onwards had the nose modified to comply with the Qantas requirements. Also incorporated in the Qantas aircraft was an increase in fuel capacity to 183 gallons and the all up weight went up to 10,000 lb.

During production improved versions were developed. The first of these was the DH-86A introduced towards the end of 1935. It benefited with enlarged brakes and tail wheel, pneumatic under-carriage legs, modified windscreen and a metal rudder. Gipsy Six Series 1 engines with either wooden or Fairey-Reed duralium propellers were installed and AUW was lifted to 10,250 lb. One DH-86A was powered by high-compression Gipsy Six Series 11 engines with de Havilland variable pitch propellers. The AUW was 11,000 lb and small auxiliary fins were fitted. This aircraft was later re-engined with standard Gipsy Six I engines.

The final version was the DH-868 which came about following the loss of British Airways DH-86A G-ADYF at Gatwick on 15 September 1936. Following investigations large auxiliary fins were fitted to the ends of the tailplane to improve handling. All DH-86A aircraft were converted in this way to DH-868 standard. The final production consisted of 10 DH-86Bs, which in addition to the auxiliary fins also incorporated tailplanes which had greater chord at the tips and higher aileron circuit gearing. When the manufacture of the DH-86 ceased in 1937, 62 had been produced.

When the Prime Minister, Mr J. A. Lyons, announced the winners of successful tenders on 19 April 1934, Qantas were confirmed as having been successful for the 4361 mile Brisbane Singapore sector. C. A. Butler was awarded the Charleville Cootamundra route, Tasmanian Aerial Services the Melbourne Hobart route and MacRobertson Miller Aviation Co the Perth Katherine run. This meant that the southern terminus of the long airmail run from London would be at Cootamundra. Mail for southern destinations was loaded at Charleville for the flight to Cootamundra. The mail was then transported by rail to either Melbourne or Sydney. It seemed a strange system and the Sydney newspapers were up in arms as Brisbane received its mail several hours earlier.

Despite Qantas’ prominence in the DH-86 production story they were not the first operator of the aircraft in Australia. Holymans Airways, who had won the contract to operate a cross Bass Strait service from Melbourne to Launceston and Hobart, ordered two aircraft the first of these was shipped to Australia by sea and erected at Point Cook. These aircraft were VH-URN ‘Miss Hobart’ which was the first production DH-86 and VH-URT ‘Loina’. Two other aircraft, VH-USW ‘Lepana’ and VH-UUB ‘Loila’ were later acquired and were used on the Sydney-Melbourne route after Australian National Airway took over Holymans during July 1936.

With considerable pride and optimism, VH-URN inaugurated the Bass Strait service on 1 October 1934. However tragedy was soon to strike when not long after on 19 October, VH-URN disappeared without trace near Wilson’s Promontory. Lost were the pilot Victor Holyman, founder of the airline, co-pilot Gilbert Jenkins and 10 passengers. This was a bitter time for the airline and the loss of such an experienced pilot as Victor Holyman created quite a gap. He was an airman with considerable training, having been a pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I. There was speculation that possibly the accident may have been caused by the pilots changing over in the confined single-pilot cockpit. Obviously as the aircraft was never located, that is all it was – speculation.

It was at this time that Hudson Fysh of Qantas visited the United States and had the opportunity to inspect the latest offerings from the US aircraft industry. Impressed as he was with the Boeing 247; it was the equally new but seemingly more advanced and efficient Douglas DC-3 that captured his interest. Its ease of maintenance combined with metal construction placed it technologically ahead of anything being produced by the British industry. However both the US aircraft, despite their undoubted refinements, were essentially short range aircraft and were not suitable for Qantas’ long range requirements.

Qantas’ five DH-86As were named after Australian capital cities starting a well-known tradition, and were prefixed by the initials RMA for Royal Mail Aeroplane. The value of the mail carried was of critical importance as the airmail surcharge revenue enabled a subsidy rate to be set which would cover costs. A condition of the contract was that during the first three months of the service passengers would not be carried. This would allow the authorities in Australia to ascertain if the operations had reached a sufficient standard of safety to permit the carriage of passengers. The stage was set for the commencement of the service in December 1934 and the first DH-86A VH-USC AMA ‘Canberra’ flown by Qantas’ Chief Pilot Captain Lester Brain, left Croydon on 24 September and after an uneventful flight arrived in Brisbane on 13 October. In regular service the run was planned to be covered in 14 days.

The Australia-England air service was a complex arrangement indeed. The partners were Qantas Empire Airways Ltd (registered in Brisbane on 18 January 1934), which was owned jointly by Imperial Airways and Qantas, Indian Trans-Continental Airways which was 51% owned by Imperial Airways, the remainder held by the Indian Government and Imperial Airways itself. An exotic assortment of mode of travel, equipment and operator was used. Imperial Airways flew the first leg by Handley Page 42W from London to Paris. As there was no agreement nor organisation or equipment to support commercial aircraft to fly across France and Italy, the passengers, mail and freight then travelled by train to Brindisi. From there they took to the air again with Imperial Airways to Karachi, flying in a variety of aircraft. By Short S17 Kent Class flying boat to Cairo and Handley Page 42E Hannibal to Karachi. Then a change to lndian-TCA in an Armstrong Whitworth AW 14 Atalanta for the sector to Rangoon and Singapore. Of course numerous exotic intermediate day and night stops were made on the way, particularly in the Atalanta with its 400 mile range. Finally from Singapore with Qantas Empire Airways to Brisbane. If a similiar service were possible today for old time’s sake with original equipment, can you imagine the waiting list to book a seat!

As the December starting date drew closer, the second Qantas DH-86 was on its way to Brisbane. This was VH-USG (the fifth aircraft of the order) flown by Captain R. A. Prendergast, an experienced Imperial Airways pilot. The delivery flight from England had gone smoothly and VH-USG took off early on the morning of 15 November 1934 from Long reach for the final leg of the journey to Brisbane. The aircraft came down soon after take off near the Ilfracombe Road at Barradale with the loss of Captain Prendergast and the other three men on board. Coming so soon after Holymans Airways’ loss of VH-URN the previous month, the safety of the type was seriously questioned and the DH-86 was grounded in Australia. An extensive inquiry commenced but the cause of the accident was never established. Two theories were advanced but never proven. One was that the fin post gave way allowing the fin to collapse and the aircraft was sent into a spin. The other was that the aircraft was loaded in a manner causing the centre of gravity to be rearwards of its normal position. The aircraft was being flown by the engineer at the time of the accident and Captain Prendergast was found in the rear of the demolished cabin. Qantas strengthened the fin post fittings in its remaining DH-86s in due course and special attention was also paid to load distribution.

Qantas were keen to start the service on 10 December 1934 as originally intended but could not use its DH-86s in Australia. They had signed on P. G. Taylor to fly the third DH-86 from England to Australia, but following the loss of the two DH-86s in Australia he declined to do so as he considered the type unsafe. He contacted Qantas on 21 November and suggested that, in his belief, the DH-86 should be replaced with a more proven type. Hudson Fysh, while respecting Taylor’s undoubted courage, still believed in the DH-86 along with the rest of Qantas’ experienced flying team. So a stop-gap plan was put together using alternative equipment until the DH-86s were available for use. Imperial Airways rallied to the cause and agreed to temporarily fly the Darwin-Singapore leg with Armstrong Whitworth Atalantas. Qantas would operate the Brisbane-Darwin sector with single-engined DH-50J and DH-61 aircraft, hardly suitable but the best in the circumstances. And so on 1 O December with due ceremony, the service commenced with DH-50J VH-ULG ‘Hippomenes’ and DH-61 ‘Diana’ flown by Captains Tapp and Brain respectively. It was not the way that Qantas would have wished but at least it was a start.

As Qantas was not ready to use the DH-86s on the Darwin Singapore sector, they arranged for Imperial Airways to fly two of the Qantas DH-86s from England and use them on that leg. However when the first of these, VH-USF, arrived in Darwin, neither the fin post nor fin bias gear were found to be working normally. The Australian Civil Aviation authorities allowed VH-USF to return to Singapore and the bias gear was not used. The Singapore inspection revealed a serious fault which would have caused a collapse of the fin post. This new problem led to the removal of the Certificate of Airworthiness.

To further exacerbate the situation when VH-USD was inspected in Brisbane after being unloaded from the ‘Bendigo’, it was also found to have a fault in part of the tail assembly. Meanwhile in Singapore a new fin post was built for VH-USt= and she regained her Certificate of Airworthiness. VH-USE was also shipped to Australia and an Imperial AirwaysDH-86 G-ACWE was diverted to Qantas and delivered as VH-UUA ‘Adelaide’, giving Qantas the five DH-86s originally ordered.

After all the trials and tribulations for Qantas involved in the introduction of the DH-86 into service, a new era began on 25 February 1935 when VH-USF ‘Melbourne’ flown by Lester Brain, departed from Singapore and reached Darwin the following day. However the first northbound flight had particular significance for Qantas and Australia as this was the first time an Australian crew had flown an Australian international air service from Australian shores. Piloted by Captain G. U. Allan, VH-USC ‘Canberra’ was the vanguard of nearly fifty years of overseas operations by Qantas.

At last the DH-86 hoodoo seemed broken and the type settled down to operate the service without further incident. Eventually the DH-86 was cleared for passenger operations and the first normal service carrying passengers, mail and freight left Archerfield on 17 April 1935. VH-USF was under the command of Captain H. B. Hussey and the first passenger was Major H. Phillips, a Coldstream Guards reserve officer travelling to London. No less a personage than Lady Louis Mountbatten joined the aircraft at Charleville to become the second passenger. The cost of the first-class air fare from Brisbane to London was £244 and air cargo was £1/7/7 per kilo. These were not inconsiderable amounts for their time and serve to illustrate how today’s modern airliners have brought down the cost of air travel in a comparative sense.

The DH-86 was called the Commonwealth Class by Qantas and left Brisbane each Wednesday morning shortly after 7 a. m. After six intervening stops an overnight call was made at Cloncurry and Darwin was reached the following afternoon. The next leg was to Koepang and to Lombok Island for another overnight stop, then onwards to Sourabaya, Batavia and after the longest 590 mile sector, Singapore. It was certainly a picturesque journey, flown at low altitudes and enjoyed by both crew and passengers. At last the DH-86 had a chance to prove herself and QEA believed all the troubles were well and truly in the past. Unfortunately events in Australia were to bring an abrupt end to this belief.

Holymans Airways VH-URT ‘Laina’ departed Essendon on 2 October 1935 bound for Launceston via Flinders Island. Captain Norman Evans was the pilot in command and he radioed a routine message as the aircraft approached Flinders Island confirming that the aircraft was on course. No further transmissions were sent and the wreckage of the DH-86 was later found in the sea near Flinders Island. Both pilots and the three passengers were lost. Once again Qantas was in the position of having to defend an aircraft which they felt was quite sound. The Civil Aviation Department instructed Qantas to thoroughly inspect their DH-86s. This was done and no evidence of any structural problem was located. It seemed that nothing could be uncovered which could have any bearing on the loss of the ‘Laina’ and the aircraft could be safely operated. Yet again however, events in Bass Strait were to create further problems for Qantas.

VH-USW ‘Lepana’ of Holymans Airways was on a flight from Launceston to Melbourne on 13 December 1935 when a movement was detected of a wing strut fairing. Captain A. M. Bayne believed that a strut collapse was imminent and he decided to make an emergency landing as soon as possible. Given Holymans Airways’ previous history with the type, he could be forgiven for thinking that this was the onset of a major structural failure may have caused the other accidents. ‘Lepana’ was crash landed on Hunter’s Island in Bass Strait with resultant serious damage but none of the eight people on board was injured. Despite strong representations from Qantas that they believed that there was nothing inherently wrong with the DH-86, all the C of As for their aircraft were withdrawn later the same day.

These problems were becoming old hat to Qantas and they again brought in contingency plans to continue their service from Brisbane to Singapore. The loan of two RAAF Rapides had been approved to be used by Qantas for the Brisbane-Darwin leg and Imperial Airways Atalantas would again maintain the Singapore Darwin route. The two RAAF Rapides arrived in Brisbane on 15 October in anticipation of assisting Qantas. However the same day a thorough examination of the ‘Lepana’ on Hunter’s Island revealed that the only problem was a loose small metal fairing located at the bottom of an interplane strut. The C of A suspensions were lifted and the Qantas DH-86s were again flying.

As for ‘Lepana’, despite the damage suffered in the landing she was salvaged from Hunter’s Island. From the crash site a track was cut through the scrub half a mile to the sea. The aircraft was dismantled into sections and lowered down the cliff face to the beach where the portions were placed onto a pontoon and loaded onto the ketch ‘Leeta May’. She was rebuilt and ‘Lepana’ gave several more years of reliable service.

On 16 May 1935 Qantas increased the frequency of its DH-86 services to Singapore twice a week. By 1938 the Empire flying boats were entering service and the DH-86s concentrated on the Brisbane-Darwin route. During the 3½ years they were Qantas’ main operating aircraft, the DH-86s amassed 2,681,000 miles of flying, completed over 10,000 landings, suffered no structural problems and caused no injury to crew or passengers. It seems that Qantas’ high opinion of the DH-86 was vindicated given their operational experience with the type. As their need for them decreased, some of the fleet was disposed of. VH-USD and VH-UUA were sold to Tata Airlines in India and VH-USC went to MacRobertson Miller Aviation. VH-USF was impressed by the RAAF in 1940 and VH-USE was lost in an accident near Brisbane on 20 February 1942. Soon after take-off from Archerfield, the aircraft under command of Captain C. H. C. Swaffield with First Officer L. S. Marshall and seven passengers crashed into a wooded area with the loss of all on board. A lengthy enquiry extending over several months took place but no reason for the accident was ever identified. The DH-86 had entered heavy cloud soon after departure but whether this had been a contributing factor was not established. An analysis of the wreckage did prove that the fin of the aircraft, which had caused so much concern some years earlier, was not responsible.

Another significant operator of the DH-86 in Australia was W. R. Carpenter & Co Ltd, the New Guinea trading company. They purchased the last three DH-86Bs built and these aircraft were shipped to Australia early in 1938 to operate a service from Sydney to Port Moresby, Salamaua and Rabaul which commenced on 30 May 1938. Of these VH-UYW crashed in New Guinea on 15 March 1940, and the other two, VH-UYU and VH-UYV were impressed by the RAAF.

The outbreak of World War II with its resultant demand for all types of aircraft, saw the DH-86s drawn into RAAF use. A total of eight DH-86s were impressed by the RAAF and they were allocated serials from A31-1 to A31-8. Some served with Nos 35 and 36 Squadrons’ general transport duties within Australia and New Guinea. Another group of aircraft served much further afield with No 1 Air Ambulance Unit in the Middle East. Two of the DH-86s attached to the unit left Laverton on 30 April 1941 but maintenance problems prevented them reaching Heliopolis, Egypt until 3 July. On 29 July, one DH-86 was flown to Gaza to open the Unit’s first base located near the 1st Australian General Hospital. However no spare parts for the aircraft had been forwarded from Australia and it was not possible to keep the aircraft serviceable. A second DH-86 reached Gaza on 9 September but the continuing lack of spares prevented any worthwhile contribution being made. Finally a stock of spares was received and early in October the Unit moved to the Western Desert where its strength was boosted by a third DH-86 from Australia and with the added assistance from an attached South African Air Force Lockheed Lodestar.

During 1942, Captain L. J. Brain arranged to return three DH-86s from the RAAF to enable Qantas to maintain essential services. The aircraft were received during March 1942 and were used to transport equipment during April and May to the Northern Transport Command. One of the DH-86s was returned to the RAAF soon after and the remaining two aircraft rendered yeoman service and apart from flights within Australia also operated to New Guinea. One such episode of their exploits was quite an adventure in itself.

Father Glover, a New Guinea missionary, arrived in Melbourne at the end of April 1942 with a story worthy of Robert Louis Stevenson. Apparently Father Glover had been serenely flying evacuees from north coastal areas of New Guinea under Japanese influence to a hill station situated inland at Ramu. Unfortunately he had the misfortune to crash his aircraft at Ramu during one of the flights. Not to be stopped, he set out on foot with an engineer for Alexishafen, a mission station located behind Japanese lines. The purpose of the trek was to obtain another similar aircraft which was at Alexishafen. They were then able to fly the aircraft to another mission station at Mount Hagen where 90 people were awaiting evacuation. As he could not possibly cope with this number in his small aircraft, he decided to fly to Australia to seek help. However, during the flight he ran out of fuel and force landed on the Papuan south coast. By successive means of water transport including a friendly native and canoe followed by a lugger and finally a motor launch, he ultimately reached Thursday Island and in due course, Melbourne. His courage and fortitude were not in vain and plans were set in train to see what could be done.

Because of their expertise and knowledge of the region, Qantas were approached by the Government to devise a rescue plan. Captain Orme Denny was put in charge of the operation and within four days, DH-86s VH-USC and VH-USF were on their way. Qantas had numerous volunteers for the task and from these, three crews were selected together with Father Glover and Captain T. O’Dea of Guinea Airways. The DH-86s had been suitably modified with long range tanks and high altitude equipment. Horne Island at the northern end of Cape York Peninsula was selected as a base for the operation and a fuel supply was established.

The first flight to Mount Hagen on 13 May was made with the aircraft being flown by Captains Dennyand Sims. On approaching Mount Hagen they encountered cloud but persevered and located the valley leading to the gap in the Bismarck Range which led to Mount Hagen Airfield. An enthusiastic crowd greeted the crews on their arrival including several hundred natives, who were to prove invaluable in the safe operation of the flights from Mount Hagen. The airstrip was 3000 feet long but because of the 7000 feet altitude, Captain Denny elected to reduce the load to seven with a further reduction to six if necessary. It became evident after two days of use that the Mount Hagen Airstrip was too soft for the DH-86s and that the wheels tended to sink into the grassy surface while taxiing. To solve the problem, Captain Denny organised a ‘sing sing’ and 2000 participants arrived. After festivities on the airstrip which lasted through the night and into the following day, the airstrip was sufficiently compacted to enable safer operations. A novel approach by Captain Denny no doubt, but most successful.

The flights from Horne Island to Mount Hagen took an average of three hours each way, a total of 18 flights being made. They departed from Horne Island at 7. 00 a. m. and returned at about 3. 00p. m. They were not without incident one of them, a DH-86 flying north under the command of Captain Nicholl met with severe icing conditions at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The instruments froze and ice formed in all four carburettors sending the aircraft into a spin. As the DH-86 passed through warmer air on its descent, power was restored and the aircraft safely resumed its journey. The last flight was made on 24 May by which time 78 people had been evacuated from Mount Hagen. It was an audacious plan, skilfully and carefully carried out, which reflected great credit on all concerned.

Apart from the Mount Hagen exploits, the DH-86s flew on numerous missions within Australia and New Guinea. They ventured to Port Moresby on 13 December commenced flying duties carrying rations to Poppendetta and Soputa. During the Japanese bombing of Ward’s Strip, Port Moresby that night, both aircraft were damaged, were then repaired and were back in service the following day. There is little doubt that Qantas got full value from these two DH-86s but as other aircraft became available they were replaced and VH-USF was returned to the RAAF in October 1944. VH-USC was seriously damaged during a crosswind landing at Darwin on 9 October 1944. It ran off the runway, striking a ditch, causing major damage to the lower main spar and undercarriage.

By 1946 the last of the Australian DH-86s had been withdrawn from service. Few aircraft have enjoyed such notoriety and also affection since being introduced into service in Australia. However there is little doubt that during the period they were in service they made a valuable contribution, both in peacetime and during World War II.

Specifications of the DH-86A follow.

Powerplant: Four de Havilland Gipsy Six Series 1 of 200 hp each. Span: 64’6″. Length: 46’1¼”. Height: 13′. Wing Area: 638 sq ft. Weight empty: 6250 lb. Weight loaded: 10,250 lb. Max speed at sea level: 166 mph. Cruising speed at 1000 ft: 142 mph. Initial rate of climb: 925 ft/min. Climb to5000 ft: 6. 5 min. Climb to 10,000 ft: 15 min. Service ceiling: 17,400 ft. Absolute ceiling: 19,500 ft. Ceiling with one engine stopped: 13,000 ft. Ceiling with two engines stopped (according to combination): 2,000-4,000 ft. Range: 450 miles.