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De Havilland DH.14 Okapi

From Alfawiki
de Havilland
IndustryAerospace
Founded1920s
FounderGeoffrey de Havilland
Headquarters
United Kingdom
ProductsAircraft

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The de Havilland DH.14 Okapi was a British two-seat day bomber developed during the 1910s by de Havilland. Conceived as a successor to the Airco DH.4 and DH.9, the aircraft did not proceed to mass production.

Design and development

The Okapi represented an enlarged iteration of the Airco DH.9, featuring a more powerful Rolls-Royce Condor engine, designed to replace both the DH.4 and DH.9 models. A total of three units were constructed; however, with the conclusion of the First World War, the Royal Air Force showed little interest in adopting them. The third unit was the first to take flight and was completed by Airco as the DH.14A, configured as a two-seat long-distance mail plane. The remaining two military versions were finalised by de Havilland in 1921 and utilised for evaluation purposes. One of these aircraft crashed fatally at Burnham Beeches on 10 February 1922, and no further production orders were placed.

G-EAPY

The third airframe, finished as the DH.14A, was intended to participate in the Daily Mail transatlantic flight competition.[1] It was equipped with a Napier Lion engine and featured an expanded fuel capacity of 586 imp gal (2,660 L; 704 US gal).[1] Following the victory of Alcock and Brown in that contest, the project was discontinued.[1] Registered as G-EAPY, this aircraft was subsequently allocated to Sidney Cotton, who aimed to claim the Australian government's £10,000 prize for a flight from England to Australia.[1] However, that prize was secured by Keith and Ross Smith prior to Cotton's readiness.[1]

On loan from Airco, Cotton used the aircraft in an attempt to complete the inaugural flight between London and Cape Town.[1] Departing from Hendon Aerodrome on 4 February 1920 alongside a Napier engineer, they were compelled to make an emergency landing at Cricklewood due to oil system issues.[1] Although Cotton reached Naples by 21 February, failure to locate the Messina aerodrome resulted in a forced landing on an adjacent beach.[1]

Following these events, G-EAPY underwent reconstruction by Airco, which included adding a third cockpit, before being sold to Cotton for participation in the Aerial Derby.[1] The aircraft sustained significant damage after an onboard fire forced a landing near Hertford on 24 July 1920.[1] After completion of the other two DH.14s by de Havilland at Stag Lane in 1921, the DH.14A was repaired once more and re-entered service for test flights bearing a military serial number.[1]

Variants

  • DH.14 – two-seat day bomber powered by a Rolls-Royce Condor engine; two units produced.
  • DH.14A – two-seat long-range mailplane fitted with a Napier Lion engine; single unit built.

Operators

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Specifications (DH.14)

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See also

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References

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Citations

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Jackson 1987, pp. 148-152

Bibliography

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