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Airco D.H.5
A standard production D.H.5
Type:	Biplane fighter
Manufacturer:	Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco)
Designed by:	Geoffrey de Havilland
Maiden flight:	Late 1916
Introduced:	May 1917
Primary user:	Royal Flying Corps
Number built:	549

The Airco D.H.5 was a British World War I single-seat fighter aircraft specifically designed to replace the obsolete D.H.2 while retaining the earlier type's good qualities, especially the good forward view. To facilitate this, it was given "back-staggered" wings. The D.H.5 was one of the first British fighter designs to include the improved Constantinesco interrupter gear to allow a forward firing machine gun to fire through the propeller arc more effectively than the older mechanical gears.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 3 Military Operators 4 Specifications 5 References 6 Related content

The prototype of the D.H.5 underwent official trials in December 1916, by which time superior types such as the Sopwith Camel and the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 were already in the pipeline. In fact its performance was inferior in most respects to the earlier Sopwith Pup. It was however ordered in quantity from four manufacturers: Airco (200), British Caudron (50), Darracq (200) and March, Jones & Cribb (100).

In service the type proved unpopular - its unconventional appearance led to rumours of handling difficulties, and its performance rapidly dropped off at altitudes over 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The single .303 inch Vickers machine gun on the cowl at a time when most fighters carried two such weapons meant the aircraft was also somewhat under-armed for operations in 1917. However, the robustness of the type, and the pilot's fine field of view made the aircraft particularly suited to ground attack duties, and the D.H.5 served with distinction in the Battle of Cambrai. In August 1917, D.H.5s of No. 41 Squadron RFC greatly assisted an infantry attack near Boiry Nore Dame, by strafing enemy trenches and machine gun emplacements.

However by this time it was already in the process of withdrawal from the Western Front - the last D.H.5 squadron receiving S.E.5as in January 1918. D.H.5s issued to training units proved unpopular, and the type soon vanished from RFC service. None have survived to the present day, and the only representative example is an airworthy full-scale replica, built in the United States by John Shiveley and currently on display in the Aviation Heritage Centre, Omaka Aerodrome, New Zealand.

 Australia

• Australian Flying Corps
  • No. 2 Squadron AFC (a.k.a. No. 68 Squadron RFC) in France.
  • No. 7 (Training) Squadron AFC in the United Kingdom.

 United Kingdom

• Royal Flying Corps
  • No. 24 Squadron RFC
  • No. 32 Squadron RFC
  • No. 41 Squadron RFC
  • No. 64 Squadron RFC
  • No. 68 (Australian) Squadron RFC in France.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 22 ft 9 in (6.94 m)
• Wingspan: 25 ft 8 in (7.82 m)
• Height: 9 ft 1 in (2.77 m)
• Wing area: 212.1 ft² (19.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,010 lb (458 kg)
• Loaded weight: 1,492 lb (677 kg)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 102 mph at 10,000 ft (164 km/h at 3,000 m)
• Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,800 m.)
• Rate of climb: 12 min to 10,000 ft / 27 min 30 sec to 15,000 ft (12 min to 3,000 m / 27 min 30 sec to 4,500 m)

Armament

• Guns: 1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun

• Lamberton, W.M. et.al. Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War, Harleyford, Lethworth, Herts, 1960 pp 42-43
• Bruce, J.M. Warplanes of the First World War vol. 1, MacDonald, London, 1965 pp 128-132

Designation sequence

DH.2 - DH.3 - DH.4 - DH.5 - DH.6 - DH.9 - DH.9A - DH.10

See also

v • d • e Aviation in World War I
Aces · Aircraft of the Entente Powers · Aircraft of the Central Powers · Zeppelins · World War I Aircraft

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