DE HAVILLAND DH 108

The 'de Havilland DH 108' "Swallow" was a British experimental aircraft designed by John Carver Meadows Frost in October 1945. The DH 108 featured a tailless, swept wing resembling a flying wing. Initially designed to evaluate swept-wing handling characteristics at low and high subsonic speeds for the proposed early tailless design of the Comet airliner, three examples of the DH 108 were built to the Air Ministry specifications E.1/45 and E.11/45. The design ventured into the realm of supersonic speeds with all three prototypes lost in fatal crashes.

Contents

Design and development

Testing

Legacy

Specifications (DH 108 "VW120": third prototype)

References

External links

Related content

Design and development

Employing the main fuselage section and engine of the de Havilland Vampire mated to a longer fuselage with a single tail fin and swept wings, the de Havilland DH 108 was proposed in 1944 as a test "mule" for the DH 106 Comet which had initially considered a tailless, swept-wing concept.^[1] Despite the Comet design taking on more conventional features, the value of testing the unique configuration to provide basic data for the de Havilland DH.110 Jackson 1962, p. 428.spurred de Havilland to continue development of the DH 108. Selecting two airframes from the English Electric Vampire F 1 production line, the new aircraft had unmistakable similarities to its fighter origins, especially in the original forward fuselage which retained the nose, cockpit and other components of the Vampire. The Ministry of Supply named the DH 108 the "Swallow," a name that was never officially adopted by the company.^[2]
The new all-wood wing incorporating a 43˚ speepback was approximately 15% greater in area than the standard Vampire wing. Jackson 1962, p. 428. Control was based on the conventional rudder in combination with elevons that were part elevator and ailerons, fitted outboard of the split trailing edge flaps. Jackson 1962, p. 428. Although the Vampire fuselage was retained, as development continued, a revised nose and streamlined, reinforced canopy was incorporated. Jackson 1962, p. 429.

Testing

The first DH108 prototype, ''TG283,'' utilizing the de Havilland Vampire fuselage and a 43° swept wing flew on 15 May 1946. Designed to investigate low-speed handling, it was capable of only 280 mph (451 km/h). During the 1946 Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) air show at Radlett, de Havilland Chief Test Pilot Geoffrey de Havilland Jr put on an impressive display in the DH 108.^[3] In later, low-speed testing, in order to clear the rear fuselage at high angles of attack, the first prototype was fitted with longer Sea Vampire landing gear.^[4]
The second, high-speed prototype, ''TG306,'' with a 45° swept wing with automatic leading-edge Handley Page slats and powered by a de Havilland Goblin 3 turbojet, flew soon after in June 1946. Modifications to the design included a more streamlined, longer nose and a smaller canopy (framed by a strengthened metal fairing) facilitated by lowering the pilot's seat. Jackson 1962, p. 429. Unfortunately, on 27 September 1946, the ''TG306'' suffered a catastrophic structural failure that occurred in a dive from 10,000 ft (3,050 m) at Mach 0.9 and crashed in the Thames Estuary. The pilot, Geoffrey de Havilland Jr., the chief test pilot and son of de Havilland company owner-designer Geoffrey de Havilland, was killed in the accident. Early wind tunnel testing had pointed to potentially dangerous flight behaviours, however, pitch oscillation at high-speed had been unexpected. The subsequent accident investigation centred on a structural failure that occurred as air built up at Mach 0.9, pitching the aircraft into a shock stall that placed tremendous loads on the fuselage. The main spar cracked at the roots with the wings immediately folding backwards.^[5]
After the loss of the second prototype, ''VW120'' became the third and final prototype based on the newer Vampire 5 fighter built at Hatfield. It differed from the first test aircraft in that it featured an even more streamlined pointed nose and smaller reinforced canopy (lowering the pilot's seat allowed for a more aerodynamic canopy shape to be employed). Power-boosted elevators had been specified as a means to control the pitch oscillations at the root of the earlier disaster. A more powerful Goblin 4 of 3,738 lb (16.67 kN) thrust had the potential to push the DH 108 into the supersonic range. Considered an important testbed for high-speed flight, ''VW120'' was readied for an attempt at the World Speed Record held by a Gloster Meteor at 616 mph (991 km/h). The second prototype, ''TG306'' was a "back up" for the attempt and was being used to evaluate handling characteristics at high-speed when it fatally crashed.^[5]
''VW120'' first flew on 24 July 1947 flown by John Cunningham, the wartime nightfighter ace. The following year, on 12 April 1948, it established a new World Air Speed Record of 974.02 km/h (604.98 mph) on a 100 km (62 mi) circuit. Then, on 9 September 1948, it exceeded the speed of sound in a shallow dive from 12,195 m (40,000) ft to 9,145 m (30,000) ft.
In 1949, ''VW120'' put on a stunning aerial display at Farnborough in 1949 and scored a third place in the Society of British Aircraft Constructors Challenge Trophy Air Race before being turned over to the Ministry of Supply and Test flown at RAE Farnborough.^[7]
The third DH 108 was destroyed on 15 February 1950, in a fatal crash near Brickhill, Buckinghamshire, killing its test pilot, Squadron Leader Stuart Muller-Rowland. Accident investigation pointed to a faulty oxygen system that incapacitated the pilot.^[7]
Finally, on 1 May 1950, during stall tests, the first prototype was lost in a crash at Hartley Wintney, killing the pilot, George Genders. In all, 480 flights had been made by the three Swallows.

Legacy

The DH108 established a number of "firsts" for British aircraft: it was the first British swept-winged jet aircraft and the first British tailless jet aircraft (the German Horten Ho 229, a twin-engined, tailless jet designed by the Horten brothers, often incorrectly called the Gotha Go 229 because the Gotha company was selected to put it into production, flew under power for the first time in early 1945); it was the first British aircraft to exceed Mach 1, one of the first jet-powered aircraft in the world to achieve this landmark speed. Two of the aircraft which earlier had exceeded the speed of sound, the Bell X-1 and the Douglas Skyrocket, were both rocket-powered. The XP-86 (the prototype for the F-86 Sabre) had also broken the sound barrier in a test flight on 26 April 1948^[9][10].

Specifications (DH 108 "VW120": third prototype)

References

1. Davies and Birtles 1999, p.10.
2. Winchester 2005, p.78.
3. Watkins 1996, p. 39.
4. Watkins 1996, p. 42.
5. Watkins 1996, p. 40.
6. Watkins 1996, p. 40.
7. Winchester 2005, p.79.
8. Winchester 2005, p.79.
9. Bowman, Martin, ''F-86 Sabre'' (Combat Legend). London: Airlife, 2004, p. 12. ISBN 1-84037-411-X.
10. http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/NAF-86.htm

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★ Davies, R.E.G. and Birtles, Philip J. ''Comet: The World's First Jet Airliner.'' McLean, Virginia: Paladwr Press, 1999. ISBN 1-888962-14-3.

★ Jackson, A.J. ''De Havilland Aircraft Since 1915''. London, Putnam, 1962. No ISBN.

★ McPhee, Andrew. ''Unreal Aircraft.'' "Weird Wings - de Havilland DH.108." Access date: 4 September 2005.

★ Watkins, David. ''De Havilland Vampire: The Complete History.'' Thrupp, Stroud, UK: Budding Books, 1996. ISBN 1-84015-023-8.

★ Winchester, Jim. ''Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-Planes and Experimental Aircraft''. Kent, UK: Grange Books plc., 2005. ISBN 1-84013-309-2.

External links

★ Description of the three planes at Jets45

★ The Brickhill crash of ''VW120''

★ British Aircraft Directory entry

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