De Havilland DH.71 Tiger Moth

The de Havilland DH.71 Tiger Moth was a British single-seat racing and research monoplane built at Stag Lane Aerodrome in 1927. It should not be confused with the later DH.82 Tiger Moth biplane trainer. Designed to explore high-speed flight and to test the replacement for the Cirrus engine, it had a stressed plywood covering and a cockpit shaped around its test pilot, Hubert Broad, so the fuselage sides sloped outwards to fit his shoulders. Only two were built. The first, G-EBQU, flew on 24 June 1927 with an ADC Cirrus II and later with Major Halford's prototype engine, which became the Gipsy. In August 1927 Broad flew it to a Class III light aircraft record of 186.47 mph over a closed circuit. The first airframe crashed in Australia in 1930 and the second was destroyed in an air raid at Hatfield in 1940; a replica now flies in the United Kingdom.