De Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird

The de Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird is a British single-seat, single-engine, low-wing monoplane light aircraft first flown in the 1920s. In response to the Daily Mail Light Aeroplane Competition of 1923, de Havilland built two DH.53s, named Humming Bird and Sylvia II, each powered by a 750 cc Douglas motorcycle engine. At Lympne in October 1923 they won no prizes but gave an impressive performance. Humming Bird was then re-engined with a 26 hp Blackburne Tomtit two-cylinder engine and given a revised undercarriage, and the Air Ministry ordered eight Tomtit-powered aircraft in 1924 as communications and training aircraft for the Royal Air Force. Twelve aircraft were built at Stag Lane early in 1924 and one more was later built for an order from Russia. The last two RAF aircraft were used for parasite aircraft trials launched from below the airship R.33, and the RAF retired them in 1927.