De Havilland DH.87 Hornet Moth

The de Havilland DH.87 Hornet Moth was a single-engined cabin biplane that the de Havilland Aircraft Company designed in 1934 as a possible replacement for the Tiger Moth trainer. Its side-by-side two-seat cabin was closer to the layout military trainee pilots would later fly, but the Royal Air Force showed no interest, so the aircraft went into production for private buyers. The prototype first flew at Hatfield on 9 May 1934 and, with two other pre-production aircraft, went through an extensive test programme before the first production DH.87A was completed in August. A total of 164 were produced, 84 of them placed on the British register, and over 70 British Hornet Moths were impressed for military service at the start of the Second World War. The type became prized by vintage aircraft enthusiasts, and a small number still fly more than eighty years after production ceased.