De Havilland DH.86 Express

The de Havilland DH.86 Express was a four-engined biplane passenger aircraft manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1934 and 1937. It was designed after talks among the governments of the United Kingdom, India, Malaya, the Straits Settlements and Australia produced an Empire Air Mail Service, and Qantas ordered an aircraft that did not yet exist the day after tenders were called for the Singapore to Australia legs. The prototype first flew on 14 January 1934, but the Qantas representative rejected its single-pilot layout over concerns about pilot fatigue on long stretches, and the nose was redesigned for two pilots. Dual-pilot DH.86s were built for Imperial Airways as the Diana class and flew European and Empire routes, and 15 operated commercially within Australia and New Guinea before the Second World War. A total of 62 of all types were built.