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de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth

De Havilland DH. 82 History of the Tiger Moth

The famous de Havilland DH. The 82 "Tiger Moth" biplane is a military-minded base trainer derived from the previous generation DH. The 60T features a 120hp Gipsy II series engine. Department of Health.

The 82 was developed by de Havilland specifically as a military product from the start, and many modifications were introduced to suit the role, including strengthening the airframe and providing practice bomb-dropping or reconnaissance equipment. The Tiger Moth features a metal casing that united students and instructors, and the product went on to become the famous British-designed and developed biplane trainer, giving many pilots their first taste of heavier-than-air flying.

Department of Health. The 82 was born from eight pre-production aircraft assigned the same DH. The 60T name is similar to the previous "Moth" line of sneakers.

The aircraft retains the same biplane wing layout, except that the upper components are moved slightly forward to facilitate access to and from the cockpit and to improve the visibility of the aircraft. This forces the use of angled parallel brackets. The engine is built into the front compartment and drives the twin-blade arrangement.

Students and instructors sit in separate open-air cockpits. The landing gear is connected by two landing gears and a tail skid, while the tail uses a large surface rudder and a low horizontal plane. Power is provided by 1 x de Havilland Gipsy III series engine rated at 120 hp.

The first flight of the prototype was recorded in October 1931, with a modified wing incorporating more backward arrows.

DH series production. The 82 planes were huge during the interwar period, with a total of 8,868 from 1931 to 1944. It was officially introduced in 1932 and continued to enter service in 1952, but remained a popular mount for civilian pilots. The final brand became DH.

82A Tiger Moth Mk II with modified tail fairing. Another version, DH. 82B "Queen Bee", used as a remote control target drone. Department of Health. The 82C becomes the "winter" model for arctic conditions and operations. There are several sub-variants of this brand.

Military operators have proven to be numerous, covering the full range of the Commonwealth of Nations. Other foreign operators include Brazil, Denmark, France, Iran and Iraq, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the United States.

Served before and during WWII, some examples fell to enemy Germans (Luftwaffe) during the conflict. The real value of the Tiger Moth, however, is known to host the United Kingdom, where the aircraft stockpiles around 20 Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons and is in service with the Fleet Air Force (FAA).

The Tiger Moth is still a popular airshow travel aircraft today (2014) and is in heavy use, although production began in the 1930s.