What's this old bird? (over London 29/7)

[Chucklehead]

Happened to have a camera handy and spotted this old thing flying over North London this afternoon headed North.

[Chucklehead]

Dragon Rapide?

[knight]

Looks like one

[Vocal Minority]

That would have been my opinion

[Eric Mc]

Yes a - a De Havilland DH89 Dragon Rapide.

Note that wing profile - a very popular shape on some 1930s De Havilland designs.


DH88 Comet



DH90 Dragonfly



DH91 Albatross

[Chucklehead]

lovely, thanks gents. Was lovely to see!

[johnnyreggae]

Probably the one that does passenger rides out of Duxford http://www.duxfordflying.co.uk/index.php?pageid=58...

[dr_gn]

It looks like silver with a yellow band + RAF roundels in which case it's probably a DH89A Dominie, not a Dragon Rapide.

[Eric Mc]

For the uninitiated, the Dominie was the version of the DH89 which was produced for the RAF as a navigational trainer and used throughout World War 2. After the war ended, many of these Dominies were sold to the civil market and as a result, a number of the current airworthy DH89s are actually Dominies - although they have been converted to civil spec.

Some, like this one it seems, have been restored and are now painted in RAF military markings.

[Chucklehead]

found this pic on google from your description.. my guess it's the same one

[dr_gn]

Chucklehead said:

found this pic on google from your description.. my guess it's the same one

In which case it's the DH89a Dominie operated by Classic Wings at Duxford. It was damaged a while back when part of the lower wing caught fire. Looked quite dramatic but obviously not too serious thankfully.

[kurt535]

Came out same year as Roy Chadwick's monoplane, the Avro Anson. He then went on to design the Lanc and the glorious Vulcan bomber!

[Tootles the Taxi]

The Duxford incident mentioned above 8th September 2012.

I think one of the engines backfired, setting fire to the fabric-covered lower wing.





Once the fire was doused ...

[Mutley]

Have been up in one of Duxfords dH Rapides a couple of times now. Lovely aeroplane, and the company - Classic Wings - does sightseeing flights over London