World War 1 Plane The DH4

1
World War 1 PlaneThe DH-4

• Designed in 1916 by Geoffrey de Havilland, the
  D.H.4 was the only British design built by the
  Americans.
• It was easily identified by its rectangular
  fuselage and deep frontal radiator. Versatile
  heavily armed and equipped with a powerful twelve
  cylinder engine, this biplane daylight bomber was
  fast. Sometimes called the "Flaming Coffin,"

2
The Production

• By the end of the war, 3,431 had been delivered
  to the Air Service.
• Of these, 1,213 had been shipped to France, and
  417 had seen combat.
• The Dayton-Wright Airplane Company built most of
  these.

3
Specifications

• The DH-4 had a span of 43.5 feet (13.3 meters),
  was 30.5 feet (9.3 meters) in length, and 10.3
  feet (3.1 meters) high. It weighed 3,557 pounds
  (1,613 kilograms) when loaded and carried two
  .30-caliber Marlin machine guns
• Also in the nose it carried two .30-caliber Lewis
  machine guns in the rear as well as 220 pounds
  (100 kilograms) of bombs. It used a Liberty 12
  421-horsepower (314-kilowatt) engine and carried
  a two-man crew.

4
The Speed

• Maximum speed 128 mph.
• Cruising speed 90 mph.
• Range 400 miles
• Service Ceiling 19,600 ft.

5
The Flaming Coffin

• The DH-4 had many nicknames such as the Flaming
  coffin and the Liberty Planes.
• The DH-4s were used in many fields, including
  forest patrols, geologic reconnaissance, and
  aerial photography.

• The Army Air Service was called upon to supply
  the Army Corps of Engineers and the Geological
  Survey with aerial photos for mapping and stereo
  viewing. The DH-4 was the most suitable and,
  because of its great numbers, the most available
  plane for the job. It was used as the standard
  airplane for the purpose for 10 years.Other uses
  of the plane
• .

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After the War

• With few funds to buy new aircraft in the years
  following World War I, the US Army Air Service
  used the DH-4 in a variety of roles, such as
  transport, air ambulance, photographic plane,
  trainer, target tug, forest fire patroller and
  even as an air racer. In addition, the US Post
  Office operated the DH-4 as a mail carrier.
• The DH-4 also served as a flying test bed at
  McCook Field in the 1920s, testing turbo
  superchargers, propellers, landing lights,
  engines, radiators, and armament. There were a
  number of notable DH-4 flights such as the
  astounding New York to Nome, Alaska flight in
  1920, the record breaking transcontinental flight
  in 1922 by Jimmy Dolittle and the first
  successful air-to-air refueling in 1923.

• 1,538 DH-4s were modified in 1919-1923 to DH-4Bs
  by moving the pilot's seat back and the now
  unpressized gas tank forward, correcting the most
  serious problems in the DH-4 design. A further
  improved version was the DH-4M whereby over 300
  DH-4s received new steel tube fuselages.
• By the time it was finally retired from service
  in 1932, the DH-4 had developed into over 60
  variants.

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Credits

• Internet www.centennialofflignt.gov had good
  information
• www.upafb.af.mil
• www.firstworldwar.com had good pictures
• The book Great planes of World War one
• Mr.Wetzel