De Havilland DH.77

The de Havilland DH.77 was a prototype British fighter of the late 1920s, intended as a fast-climbing interceptor for the Royal Air Force. It was a lightweight low-wing monoplane powered by a relatively low-power 300 hp Napier Rapier I engine, built to Air Ministry Specification F.20/27, which asked for a short-range, fast-climbing, high-altitude single-seat interceptor carrying a minimum of equipment. The single prototype first flew on 11 July 1929 piloted by H.S. Broad. Despite the low power of the Rapier, which gave only about 60 percent of the power of the Rolls-Royce Kestrel in the competing design, its performance was excellent, but only one aircraft was built because the Hawker Fury biplane was preferred.