[MVDS] de Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth

[Phaelen Bleux]

Ach. . .so I'm a couple of days early.

Biplane of the Month Club: June

de Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth
In 1932, de Havilland designed the Fox Moth to meet the perceived need for a light transport. Using many of the components of the Tiger Moth (which was in heavy production as a military trainer), the Fox Moth added an enclosed cabin carrying 3 passengers. Between 1932 and 1935, 98 aircraft were built in Britain (8 being exported to Canada), 2 in Australia (which remaining in flying condition even today), and 1 in Japan.
The plane uses 4.85 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel costs $3.20.

Subassemblies: Medium Fighter chassis +3; Recon Fighter wings with Biplane and Folding options +2; 3 fixed wheels +0.
Powertrain: 97-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 97-kW prop and 16-gallon fuel tank [Body].
Occ.: 1 XCS, 3 NPS Body
Cargo: 6 Body

Armor F RL B T U
Body: 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W
Wings: 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C
Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Equipment:
Body: Navigation instruments.

Statistics:
Size: 26'x31'x9' Payload: 0.49 tons Lwt.: 1.04 tons
Volume: 100 Maint.: 107 hours Cost: $3,484
HT: 11. HPs: 60 Body, 25 each Wing, 12 each Wheel.
aSpeed: 113 aAccel: 3 aDecel: 17 aMR: 4 aSR: 1
Stall Speed: 38 mph. Take Off Run: 180 yards. Landing Run: 144 yards.
gSpeed: 155 gAccel: 8 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2
Ground Pressure: High. 1/6 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:
Historical wing area was 261 sf. The cost, weight and HPs of both the chassis and wings were halved. Even with this, design loaded weight was 2,105 lbs. and had to be decreased 2% to the historical. Design aSpeed was 97 mph. Historical values were used for all calculations when available. A 15-gallon fuel tank was purchased for the design; the historical capacity is shown above.

Variants:
Some planes were fitted with a canopy for the pilot. Others added floats or skis. Some sources list accommodations for four passengers; while there is adequate space in the chassis, this made the design too heavy based on the source is used (which listed 3 passengers only).

The DH.83C was a Canadian built version produced after WWII. It featured a number of small improvements, including a canopy for the pilot and a 108-kW engine (+7 mph to aSpeed). 52 built.