De Havilland Hornet

what is it?

The de Havilland DH.103 Hornet, developed by de Havilland, is a fighter aircraft driven by two piston engines. It further exploited the wooden construction techniques that had been pioneered by the de Havilland Mosquito. Development of the Hornet had started during the Second World War as a private venture.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 13.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 764 km/htop speed
• size 8,278 kgmax take-off weight
• built 383made 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 82 years ago, in 1944.
• 🏎️Top speed is 5.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 13.7 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

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

spec sheet

first flight

1944-04-19

introduced

1946

retired

1956

status

retired

number built

383

role

land and naval-based fighter aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

de Havilland Aircraft Company

engines

2× Rolls-Royce Merlin 130 / 131 (left-hand and right-hand rotation) / Rolls-Royce Merlin

crew

1

length

10.8 m

wingspan

13.7 m

height

4.3 m

max take-off weight

8,278 kg

top speed

764 km/h

cruise speed

434 km/h

range

—

ceiling

12,649 m

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