The de Havilland company built several multi-engined transport biplanes in the 1930’s, with fully enclosed crew and passenger compartments and engines located in pods in the front of the lower wings. The D.H. 89 was similar in size to the earlier D.H. 84 Dragon, but with significantly more powerful engines. This allowed the Dragon Rapide to carry eight passengers normally, with provisions for two more if required.
The D.H. 89 was built in fairly large numbers, nearly 200 from 1934 to 1939 and over 500 during the war. Overall, some 450 were used by the RAF in the radio training (Dominie Mk I) or communications roles (Dominie Mk II), with another 65 used by the Royal Navy
The D.H. 89A burns 13.4 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Medium Fighter-Bomber chassis +4, Light Fighter
Wings with Biplane option +2, 2¥Small Weapon engine pods 1-2 +1, three
fixed wheels +1.
P&P: 2¥149-kW aerial HP gas engines with 2¥149-kW
props [Pods 1-2] and 63-gallon tanks [Body]
Occ: 2 CS, 8 PS Cargo: 5 Body
| Armor | F | R/L | B | T | U |
| All | 2/2C | 2/2C | 2/2 | 2/2C | 2/2C |
Equipment
Body: Medium radio receiver and transmitter, navigation instruments,
autopilot.
Statistics
| Size: 34'x48'x8' | Payload: 1.19 tons | Lwt: 3 tons |
| Volume: 448 vsp | Maint.: 65 hours | Price: $9,300 |
HT: 12
HP: 210 [body], 135 [each wing], 20 [each wheel], 45 [each pod]
| aSpeed: 150 | aAccel: 3 | aDecel: 32 | aMR: 8 | aSR: 2 | |
| Stall: 59 mph |
| gSpeed: 132 | gAccel: 6 | aDecel: 10 | aMR: 0.5 | aSR: 2 | |
| Takeoff: 576 yards | Landing: 208 yards |
Design Notes
Design aSpeed is 137 mph; the historical speed, as well as actual wing
area (336 sf), has been used. Loaded weight was reduced by 2% to match
historical weight.
If ten passengers are carried, eliminate the cargo space and convert two passenger seats to Cramped and add two Cramped Passenger Seats.
Variants
The D.H. 89M (1935) was a militarized version for use with Coastal
Command in the reconnaissance role, but none were ordered by the British.
A light machinegun was fitted in front of the co-pilot position and another
in a open turret at the rear of the passenger compartment. Two of these
were delivered to Lithuania. Three were also delivered to Spain for use
in Morocco, but these had an additional gun mounted in a ventral position
and provisions for a dozen 26.5 lb bombs.
Contemporaries
The D.H. 84 Dragon (1932) was almost the same size, but used smaller
97-kW engines, which gave a 134 mph top speed. Only six passengers were
carried and loaded weight was 2.25 tons. A total of 115 were built in Britain,
with another 87 built by the Australians starting in 1942, serving as navigation
trainers. A small number of militarized planes (D.H.84M) mounted a light
machinegun in a dorsal ring; these were supplied to Portugal, Denmark and
Iraq.
The D.H. 90 Dragonfly (1935) was a smaller version, also using 97-kW engines (for a top speed of 144 mph). Loaded weight was 2 tons and it carried only four passengers. Some 65 were built, selling for about 2,600 pounds each.