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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0243.PDF
FEBRUARY 7, 1929 THE DE HAVILLAND "HAWK MOTH Cabin Monoplane with D.H. " Ghost" Engine THE time-honoured jests about ladies' fashions may well find their counterpart in aviation. Whether we like it or not, it is an undeniable fact that already we aviation folk have our modes and fashions, and we share to a large extent the helplessness of the fair sex in that we must, willy-nilly follow the prevailing fashion whether it be good or bad, sensible or unreasonable. Sometimes it is England who decides the fashion, as in the case of the standard type of British light biplane, and sometimes it is another country. Charles Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris in one. Since then, the high-wing cabin monoplane has taken the United States by storm, and innumerable specimens have been constructed, some by the original firm and many by other concerns who foresaw the popularity which the type was bound to attain. From the United States the " fashion " has spread t > other countries, and with the completion of the ne r de Havilland " Hawk Moth," which we describe and illustrat • [" FLIGHT " Photograph THE DE HAVILLAND " HAWK MOTH " : Three-quarter rear view. Note that the wing does not extend across the top of the fuselage, and that the latter is formed as a skylight. When Charles Lindbergh selected the Ryan monoplane and succeeded in crossing the Atlantic on it, he thereby estab- lished a fashion—the fashion of the cabin monoplane. That this is so will scarcely be denied. There were cabin mono- planes long before Lindbergh became famous, not only in America but also elsewhere. For instance, quite a number of years ago the Morane-Saulnier firm of France exhibited at a Paris aero show a cabin monoplane with conduite interieurc. Yet the type did not become popular until this week, the " fashion " may be said to have reachedEngland. The de Havilland Aircraft Co. has ever followed the policy of producing the types which the directors con-sidered to be the " coming thing." When we were holding light aeroplane competitions intended to discover the besttype, the de Havilland Aircraft Co. said, in effect, " No, we do not consider that the rules and regulations for the compe-titions are likely to produce the type of machine which is wanted. Now here is the type which we believe, will meet m as The latest de Havilland Engine: The "Ghost" as fitted in the " Hawk Moth " Monoplane. This engine is of the eight - cylinder Vee type and is air-cooled. [" FLIGHT " Photograph s m 93
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