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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0678.PDF
678 FLIGHT, 1 June 1956 D.H.9A with tropical radiator. This D.H.9A had a Napier Lion engine and an oleo undercarriage. THE DE HAVILLAND D.H.9A . . . Russian-built machines were designated R-l; the initial lettersignified Razv'edchik, or reconnaissance aircraft. The first few R-ls are believed to have been powered by captured Libertyengines, but the power unit was also copied and built in Russia as the M-5 engine. During the 1920s the D.H.9A was widely used at home andoverseas. It shared with the Bristol Fighter the task of policing Iraq, a thankless and unspectacular job which the two warveterans performed efficiently. Control of the British forces in Iraq passed to the Royal Air Force on October 1, 1922, when AirVice-Marshal Sir John Salmond, K.C.B., C.M.G., C.V.O., D.S.O., assumed command. The D.H.9A squadrons which Vickers oleo undercarriage, Handley Page slots and Frise ailerons. (Below) D.H.9A with air-cooled Liberty and Fairey-Reed airscrew. (Crown copyright reserved) served in Iraq were Nos. 8, 30, 55 and 84, and their aircraft played a leading part in subduing the unruly tribes which were seldom at peace, either with one another or the administration. In the summer of 1923 the fiery Sheikh Mahmud proclaimedhimself King of Kurdistan, began a series of raids from his capital of Sulaimaniya, and finally, encouraged by the rebellion ofa number of sheikhs in southern Iraq and Nejd, declared a Jihad against England and her Assyrian allies. Action against Mahmudbegan with a bombing attack on Sulaimaniya, made by forty-two aircraft which included some D.H.9As from Nos. 8 and 30 Sqns.;and the Sheikh finally submitted in 1927, for a time at least. The D.H.9A also served in India with Nos. 27 and 60 Sqns.,and in Egypt with No. 47 Sqn.; additionally, operational flights in Trans-Jordan and Aden were equipped with the type. In theEast the Nine Ack—as the D.H.9A was often called—acquired additional equipment in the best Christmas-tree tradition. Atropical radiator was installed under the engine, and a spare landing wheel was bolted to the fuselage, either under the gunner'scockpit or on the starboard side just behind the engine. Spare parts, emergency rations and water were carried, the last-namedfrequently contained in animal skins slung from the gun-ring to hang outside the fuselage in the comparative coolness of the slip-stream. Compared with these primitive attachments, the bomb racks, flare brackets and long-range petrol tanks were relativelyminor excrescences. Many D.H.9As had a single long-range tank attached to the underside of the starboard upper mainplane,but some machines had one under each upper wing. The various attachments must have had a disastrous effect on performance. Some D.H.9As assisted in the evacuation of Kabul in Decem- ber, 1928. The city was besieged by the rebel Kabibullah Khan. Sir Francis Humphrys, the British Envoy Extraordinary, radioed a message that he desired the evacuation of the women and child- ren of the British Legation as soon as possible. The message ended abruptly, and communication was severed. Several gallant flights were made by D.H.9As to drop messages and signalling equipment for the Legation. Inevitably, a number of modifications had been made to the D.H.9A during its long service. During 1923 it was found that the joints in the mainplane spars just inboard of the ailerons had a tendency to open up. At the end of the year all aircraft were examined for this defect, and the jointed spars were replaced by one-piece members. Earlier in 1923, split-axle undercarriages were introduced. These were generally similar to the kind of undercarriage favoured by the wartime Sopwith company: each wheel was attached to a half-axle which was hinged at its inboard end, and springing was still by rubber shock-cord. Additional bracing wires ran from the fuselage to the inner ends of the half-axles. In the spring of 1925, oleo undercarriages were issued for the D.H.9As in use at flying training schools and the R.A.F. College, Cranwell. The use of this form of undercarriage was discontinued in 1927, however, and the split-axle landing-gear remained standard. In 1924, some of the D.H.9As of No. 207 Sqn. were fitted with R.A.E. silencers (which were possibly the outcome of the experiments which had been conducted at Farnborough with such aircraft as the S.E.5a, D.203, and the Nieuport Nighthawk, J.2415). There may have been some connection between this modification of the D.H.9As and the roughly contemporary installation of early radio-telephony equipment in the squadron's aircraft, but the silencers did not prove particularly effective as had been expected. The D.H.9A was used in some numbers at flying training schools and other training units, and No. 24 Sqn. had seven for communications duties. After its withdrawal from front-line squadrons the Ninak remained in service with several squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. In the Commonwealth, a few examples of the type saw service in Canada and Australia. In 1924 Canada had nine in service and seven in storage; and Australia's D.H.9As were still in use in 1928. During the 1920s several modifications of the D.H.9A appeared. A small number of machines were fitted with the Napier Lion engine; a blunt cowling and underslung radiator were fitted. Of the Lion-powered machines, E.752 was used in deck-landing trials which were carried out on the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Eagle. A few D.H.9As were specially modified for use from aircraft carriers. To facilitate stowage on board ship, the mainplanes were made quickly detachable by the use of special wing-root fittings and a locking device. Slinging gear was fitted. The Lion engine was also installed in J.6957, a D.H.9A which had an oleo undercarriage. An oleo undercarriage of a different type was tested on the Vulcan-built D.H.9A, E.9895. This was an unusually tall under- carriage made by Vickers, Ltd., and a correspondingly tall tail- skid structure had to be fitted to preserve the aircraft's normal ground angle. This aircraft was also fitted with Frise-type balanced ailerons, Handley Page slots, and enormous exhaust pipes.
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