Airco DH.2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airco_DH.2

The Airco DH.2 was a single-seat biplane "pusher" aircraft which operated as a
fighter during the First World War. It was the second pusher design by Geoffrey
de Havilland for Airco, based on his earlier DH.1 two-seater. The DH.2 was the
first effectively armed British single-seat fighter and enabled Royal Flying
Corps (RFC) pilots to counter the "Fokker Scourge" that had given the Germans
the advantage in the air in late 1915. Until the British developed a
synchronisation gear to match the German system, pushers such as the DH.2 and
the F.E.2b carried the burden of fighting and escort duties.

Early air combat over the Western Front indicated the need for a single-seat
fighter with forward-firing armament. As no means of firing forward through the
propeller of a tractor aeroplane was available to the British, Geoffrey de
Havilland designed the DH.2 as a smaller, single-seat development of the earlier
two-seat DH.1 pusher design. The DH.2 first flew in July 1915.

The DH.2 was armed with a single .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun which was originally
able to be positioned on one of three flexible mountings in the cockpit, with
the pilot transferring the gun between mountings in flight at the same time as
flying the aircraft. Once pilots learned that the best method of achieving a
kill was to aim the aircraft rather than the gun, the machine gun was fixed in
the forward-facing centre mount, although this was initially banned by higher
authorities until a clip which fixed the gun in place, but could be released if
required, was approved. A clip was devised by Major Lanoe Hawker, who also
improved the gunsights and added a ring sight and an "aiming off model" that
helped the gunner allow for leading a target.

The majority of DH.2s were fitted with the 100 hp (75 kW) Gnôme Monosoupape
rotary engine, but later models received the 110 hp (82 kW) Le Rhône 9J.

Other sources advise the Gnôme Monosoupape, nine-cylinder, air-cooled rotary,
100 hp (75 kW) engine was retained in the DH. 2 design despite its tendency for
shedding cylinders in midair; one DH.2 was fitted experimentally with a 110 hp
(82 kW) le Rhône 9J.

A total of 453 DH.2s were produced by Airco.


Role
Fighter

Manufacturer
Airco

Designer
Geoffrey de Havilland

First flight
July 1915

Primary user
Royal Flying Corps

Number built
453

Developed from
Airco DH.1

After evaluation at Hendon on 22 June 1915, the first DH.2 arrived in France for
operational trials with No. 5 RFC Squadron but was shot down and its pilot
killed (although the DH.2 was recovered and repaired by the Germans). No. 24
Squadron RFC, the first squadron equipped with the DH.2 and the first complete
squadron entirely equipped with single-seat fighters in the RFC, arrived in
France in February 1916. The DH.2 ultimately equipped seven fighter squadrons on
the Western Front and quickly proved more than a match for the Fokker Eindecker.
DH.2s were also heavily engaged during the Battle of the Somme, No. 24 Squadron
alone engaging in 774 combats and destroying 44 enemy machines. The DH.2 had
sensitive controls and at a time when service training for pilots in the RFC was
very poor it initially had a high accident rate, gaining the nickname "The
Spinning Incinerator", but as familiarity with the type increased, it was
recognised as very manoeverable and relatively easy to fly. The rear-mounted
rotary engine made the DH.2 easy to stall, but also made it highly maneuverable.

The arrival at the front of more powerful German tractor biplane fighters such
as the Halberstadt D.II and the Albatros D.I, which appeared in September 1916,
meant that the DH.2 was outclassed in turn. It remained in first line service in
France, however, until No. 24 and No. 32 Squadron RFC completed re-equipment
with Airco DH.5s in June 1917, and a few remained in service on the Macedonian
front, "A" Flight of No. 47 Squadron and a joint R.F.C. / R.N.A.S. fighter
squadron and X" Flight in Palestine until late autumn of that year. By this
time the type was totally obsolete as a fighter, although it was used as an
advanced trainer into 1918. DH.2s were progressively retired and at war's end no
surviving airframes were retained.

DH.2 Aces

Distinguished pilots of the DH.2 included Victoria Cross winner Lanoe Hawker
(seven victories, though none in the DH.2), who was the first commander of No.
24 Squadron and Alan Wilkinson. The commander of No. 32 Squadron, Lionel Rees
won the Victoria Cross flying the D.H.2 for single-handedly attacking a
formation of ten German two-seaters on 1 July 1916, destroying two. James
McCudden became an ace in DH.2s to start his career as the British Empire's
fourth-ranking ace of the war. German ace and tactician Oswald Boelcke was
killed during a dogfight with No. 24 Squadron DH.2s due to a collision with one
of his own wingmen, Erwin Böhme. Fourteen aces scored five or more aerial
victories using the DH.2; many went on to further success in later types also.

Lanoe George Hawker V.C., D.S.O., commanding officer of No. 24 Squadron flying a
DH. 2 was shot down by Manfred von Richthofen of Jasta 2 flying an Albatros
D.II.


DH.2 Aces

Pilot victories
Patrick Anthony Langan-Byrne 10
Alan Wilkinson 10
Selden Long 9
Arthur Gerald Knight 8
Eric C. Pashley 8
John Oliver Andrews 7
Sidney Cowan 7
Hubert Jones 7
William Curphey 6
Stanley Cockerell 5
Henry Evans 5
James McCudden 5
Robert Saundby 5
Harry Wood 5

Specifications (DH.2)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 25 ft 2 1/2 in (7.684 m)
Wingspan: 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)
Height: 9 ft 6 1/2 in (2.908 m)
Wing area: 249 sq ft (23.1 m2)
Empty weight: 943 lb (428 kg)
Gross weight: 1,441 lb (654 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Gnôme Monosoupape 9-cylinder rotary engine, 100 hp (75 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 93 mph (150 km/h, 81 kn)
Endurance: 2 hr 45 min
Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,300 m)
Time to altitude: 24 min 45 s to 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Armament

Guns: 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun




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