De Havilland Dove

what is it?

The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, amongst other aircraft types, called for a British-designed short-haul feeder for airlines. The Dove was a popular aircraft and is considered to be one of Britain's most successful postwar civil designs, with over 500 aircraft manufactured between 1946 and 1967.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 17.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 370 km/htop speed
• seats 8passengers
• size 4,060 kgmax take-off weight
• built 542made 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 81 years ago, in 1945.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 17.4 m: about 4 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

1945-09-25

introduced

1946

number built

542

role

short-haul airliner

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

de Havilland Aircraft Company

engines

2× de Havilland Gipsy Queen 70 Mk.3

crew

2

passengers

8

length

12 m

wingspan

17.4 m

height

4.1 m

max take-off weight

4,060 kg

top speed

370 km/h

cruise speed

301 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,614 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

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