Airco DH.4

what is it?

The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland (hence "DH") for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself. It was designed and developed specifically as a bomber, as well as aerial reconnaissance missions.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · biplane · 13.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 230 km/htop speed
• seats 2passengers
• size 1,575 kgmax take-off weight
• built 3,949made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 110 years ago, in 1916.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 13.2 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1916-08

introduced

1917

retired

1932

status

retired

number built

3,949

role

light bomber / general purpose

makers

Fokker, Airco

engines

1× Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII / Eagle VIII / Rolls-Royce Eagle

crew

2

passengers

2

length

9.4 m

wingspan

13.2 m

height

3.4 m

max take-off weight

1,575 kg

top speed

230 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,706 m

wings

biplane

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.