De Havilland DH.72

The de Havilland DH.72 was a large British three-engined biplane night bomber, built as a single prototype to replace the Vickers Virginia under Air Ministry specification B.22/27, and it never entered production. It began as a scaled-up, militarized version of the company's successful Hercules airliner, with the central engine moved to the upper wing to make room for a nose gunner's position. It took about three years to build, partly because the contract called for duralumin-clad wings and de Havilland was unfamiliar with metal construction. Gloster completed it at Brockworth with three 595 hp Bristol Jupiter XFS radial engines. The DH.72 first flew on 27 July 1931 and went on to competitive trials at RAF Martlesham Heath, where one of its rivals was the Boulton Paul P.32, but neither aircraft received a production order.