In the early 1930s the British Air Ministry issued a specification for a new trainer aircraft for the RAF. The RAF themselves were quite keen on the DH.60 Gypsy Moth due to its excellent handling characteristics and low running costs, but it fell short of the specification due to the position of the wings relative to the front cockpit which did not allow the pilot to easily bail out.
Determined to win the order, de Havilland took a Gypsy Moth aside and had the top wings moved forward to meet the specification. However, this resulted in the balance of the aircraft being affected, so both sets of wings were swept back and when that wasn't quite enough, the top wings were swept back a little further.
It then became clear that the sweep had reduced the ground clearance of the lower wings and so the inter-plane struts were shortened and the dihedral of the bottom wing increased.
Whether by accident or design, all of these changes made the DH.82 Tiger Moth an excellent training aircraft - often summarised by the phrase "easy to
fly, but difficult to fly well". This meant that it was safe in the hands of a novice but helped instructors weed out weaker pilots.
The RAF began using the aircraft in 1932 and it was not replaced until 1952, meaning the vast majority of RAF and Commonwealth pilots that served in the Second World War, first took to the air in a Tiger Moth.
Nearly 9000 Tiger Moths were built and many were sold as surplus after the war with the result that a great number survive to this day in the hands of pleasure flight companies and within a community of dedicated enthusiasts.
General characteristics
Crew: two, student & instructor
Length: 23 ft 11 in (7.34 m)
Wingspan: 29 ft 4 in (8.94 m)
Height: 8 ft 9 in (2.68 m)
Wing area: 239 sq ft (22.2 m²)
Empty weight: 1,115 lb (506 kg)
Useful load: 710 lb (323 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,825 lb (828 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × de Havilland Gipsy Major I inverted 4-cylinder inline, 130 hp (100 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 109 mph at 1,000 ft (97 kn, 175 km/h at 300 m)
Cruise speed: 67 mph (59 kn)
Range: 302 miles (250 nm, 486 km)
Service ceiling: 13,600 ft (4,145 m)
Rate of climb: 673 ft/min (205 m/min)
Armament
8× 20 lb bombs
This video shows in real time and time-lapse how I built the Vintage model Companies de Havilland Tiger Moth. It took me around 80 hours to complete over a period of 3 weeks
