De Havilland - Post War

Military aircraft production continued after World War Two despite Tiger Moth production ending in 1945 and Rapide production in 1946. Some Mosquito orders were cancelled in 1945 but Hornet and Vampire orders replaced them. The Hornet was the fastest and last piston-engined fighter to enter RAF service. It was operated in the Far East against terrorists in Malaya . The Vampire also saw action in the Far East and undertook a number of notable flights, including the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by a jet fighter in May 1948.

The Vampire, and its successor, the Venom, were major successes. They were exported and built under licence world wide. They served as day and night fighters, on land and from ships. Sea Venoms of the Royal Navy were used during the Suez campaign of 1956 to attack Egyptian airfields. Many of these aircraft were produced at the former Airspeed factory in Christchurch , Hampshire.

On 26 September 1951 the DH.110 was flown by John Cunningham on its maiden flight. In 1952 he exceeded Mach 1 in the type. Tragedy occurred, however, when the first prototype broke-up during the 1952 SBAC Show at Farnborough, Hampshire. John Derry and his observer, Tony Richards, were killed along with 28 spectators, 63 being injured by wreckage.

The DH.110 was similar in layout to the earlier Vampire and Venom but had swept wings, was powered by two Rolls Royce Avon turbojets and had a crew of two. It was originally designed as an all-weather fighter for the RAF but the Gloster Javelin was put into production instead. The DH.110 was modified and entered service with the Royal Navy as the Sea Vixen, replacing the Sea Venom, with a performance far in excess of its predecessor.

In 1946 the Canadian subsidiary of de Havilland designed and built a replacement for the Tiger Moth. The Chipmunk was an all-metal monoplane and was chosen by the RAF in 1948 as its basic trainer. Over 1000 were built at Hatfield and Hawarden, near Chester , for the RAF and overseas users.

The DH.108 was a small tailless jet aircraft based on a Vampire fuselage with a single fin and swept wings. It was used for research and provided valuable information for the Comet airliner and DH.110. Three different aircraft were built. The first was designed to test the performance of the swept wing configuration at low speed. The designers built in a number of safety features as a precautionary measure, but the aircraft performed as expected and was used in mock dogfights with Mosquito aircraft. The second was intended for high-speed research but broke up in flight near Gravesend , Kent , killing Geoffrey de Havilland Jnr. The third aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound and thus was the first British aircraft to do so.

The de Havilland company did not concentrate solely on military aircraft. In 1944 a committee, chaired by Lord Brabazon of Tara , proposed airliner types for post-war production. Two of de Havilland's most famous designs were built to the Committee's specifications.

The Dove was designed as a replacement for the Rapide. It quickly gained popularity with airlines, so much so that production was moved from Hatfield to Hawarden to devote more space to it. It was also used as a business aircraft to move company executives or high value parts around Britain and Europe , independent of airline schedules. The RAF version was called the Devon .

The de Havilland design for a transatlantic mailplane was far more advanced than planned by the Brabazon Committee. The Comet was the first airliner powered by four turbojet engines. It was delivered to British Overseas Airways Corporation and began passenger services on 2 May 1952 between London and Johannesburg in South Africa . It was in advance of anything available to other airlines but its lead was short-lived. There were two fatal accidents in 1953 and another in January 1954. The whole fleet was grounded until the results of the investigations were known. The crash investigation tests provided much valuable information which was incorporated into later designs.

The Comet 2 was operated by BOAC and the RAF, providing rapid transport to all parts of the British Commonwealth . The Comet 4 was the main version to enter airline service and was employed on the first turbojet airline service across the Atlantic between London and New York . They were also operated by the RAF. The Comet never regained its lead in the jet transport market. Delays in production and its tarnished reputation led to orders being placed with American companies.

The company built a larger version of the Dove, the Heron, for use by airlines. It had four Gipsy Queen engines and was ruggedly constructed. It was a post-war equivalent of the DH.86 and saw widespread service with airlines and as a luxury private aircraft, a role in which it served with the Queen's Flight RAF and the Royal Navy.

In due course a replacement was sought for the Dove and design work started on the Jet Dragon. It was not completed before de Havilland was absorbed into the Hawker Siddeley Group. A mock-up was made in 1961 and an initial production batch started using the type number, DH.125.

In 1956 British European Airways issued a specification for a shorthaul turbojet and the D.H.121 was designed to meet this specification. It was ordered into production in 1959. Design work had been undertaken by a consortium of de Havilland, Fairey and Hunting under the old name of Airco. In 1960, however, the take-over by Hawker Siddeley saw the disbandment of the Airco team and the type eventually emerged as the Hawker Siddeley Trident.

Although the de Havilland company was one of the most successful, the British aircraft industry had to compete world wide against a background of rising development costs. The British government was also seeking a consolidation of the aircraft industry into a smaller number of large companies.

The Hawker Siddeley Group, founded by Sir Thomas Sopwith, was successful in bidding for the de Havilland Group and acquired it in January 1960. A re-organisation came into effect on 1 July 1963 and the company became the de Havilland Division of Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd.