De Havilland DH-9 Survivor from India

The pictures are great.

I got this little resolution picture off an Ebay auction (which was for some advertisement torn out of a magazine). The hangar is the same, and the tiggies I believe are from the No. 2 EFTS

Thanks for that Mark, thats more information there than what i can find in a dozen books on indian aviation!

Jagan,

My pleasure.

Here are three images taken in poor light through deep display cabinets. Unfortunately they are distorted and substantially offset to avoid flare wipe out.

Mark

Thanks for that Mark, thats more information there than what i can find in a dozen books on indian aviation!

Thanks mark for the info.

I believe the Maharaja of Jodhpur was also made a Hony Air Vice Marshal of the RAF (as most of the rajas /nawabs etc held some sort of Hony ranks in the Army or RAF ) – that could be the interest.

Jagan,

Here is a digi shot of one of the information panels.

Mark

Thanks mark for the info.

I believe the Maharaja of Jodhpur was also made a Hony Air Vice Marshal of the RAF (as most of the rajas /nawabs etc held some sort of Hony ranks in the Army or RAF ) – that could be the interest.

Will they be at legends?!?!?!

Sorry,I’ll get my coat! 😀 😀

Eventually. :rolleyes:

Mark

Will they be at legends?!?!?!

Sorry,I’ll get my coat! 😀 😀

DH-9’s India

Elaborating further on my initial post and query

1. How did the three DH9s end up with the Bikaner Royal Family? When (which year) were they donated or given to them?
2. What is the Identity of the survivor on display? We know the identity of the two that came to UK. But what about the survivor in india? Any description of its condition by someone who has seen it upclose is appreciated.

Mark12, I remember reading that you have done the obligatory delhi-rajasthan trip in india., did you get to see this aircraft on display up close before?

Jagan,

A little delving.

The three DH-9’s that ended up at Bikaner were part of a batch shipped to India in 1920/1921 as part of the ‘Imperial Gift Scheme’.

Of the two in the UK, the worst one has been identified as E8894 and was made by AIRCo to works number 1414 in March 1918. The better of the two is D5649 was made by Warings to works number 5649.

The ‘restored’ aircraft at Bikaner has unfortunately lost all traces of its former identity in the ‘process’.

Incidentally I was surprised to see what an enthusiastic aviator and aviation benefactor the the Maharaja of Jodhpur was, donating numerous presentation fighter and bomber aircraft during WWII. There is a fine model and photographic display at the Umaid Bhawan Palace. I took a few digitals in poor light.

Mark

Don’t you mean £12.10s.0d ? (Just to confuse the younger members) LOL

Roger Smith.

Not quite that long ago – it’s the 1978 reprint, which surprised me as I thought I had it 2 or 3 years before that.

🙂

Ofcourse, the Jet Wings Magazine (that I mentioned in the first post) is the magazine for Jet Airways – which is probably the airline that you used

Affirm. 🙂

Indeed the DH-9 at Bikaner was featured heavily in the house magazine of one of the internal flight airlines we used, with a photograph that looks suspiciously like the one you have posted on this thread. 🙂

🙂

Ofcourse, the Jet Wings Magazine (that I mentioned in the first post) is the magazine for Jet Airways – which is probably the airline that you used

According to D.H. since 1909, they were supplied to many countries including India after the end of the war. Shows how long I’ve had that Putnam, I paid £12.50 for it – new.

Don’t you mean £12.10s.0d ? (Just to confuse the younger members) LOL

Roger Smith.

According to D.H. since 1909, they were supplied to many countries including India after the end of the war. Shows how long I’ve had that Putnam, I paid £12.50 for it – new.

The heading picture may be particularly sleek as the engine seems to be missing.

Elaborating further on my initial post and query

1. How did the three DH9s end up with the Bikaner Royal Family? When (which year) were they donated or given to them?
2. What is the Identity of the survivor on display? We know the identity of the two that came to UK. But what about the survivor in india? Any description of its condition by someone who has seen it upclose is appreciated.

Mark12, I remember reading that you have done the obligatory Delhi-rajasthan trip in india., did you get to see this aircraft on display up close before?

Jagan,

I would have like to have seen it, but on this occasion, no.

Indeed the DH-9 at Bikaner was featured heavily in the house magazine of one of the internal flight airlines we used, with a photograph that looks suspiciously like the one you have posted on this thread. 🙂 One side trip to IAF Ambala and the IAF Museum in Delhi was just about all the itinerary could accommodate and still maintain family harmony.

Mark

Elaborating further on my initial post and query

1. How did the three DH9s end up with the Bikaner Royal Family? When (which year) were they donated or given to them?
2. What is the Identity of the survivor on display? We know the identity of the two that came to UK. But what about the survivor in india? Any description of its condition by someone who has seen it upclose is appreciated.

Mark12, I remember reading that you have done the obligatory delhi-rajasthan trip in india., did you get to see this aircraft on display up close before?

Aero Vintage

Details and photos of the Indian DH9’s will be on the Aero Vintage website when it is completed.

ww.aerovintage.co.uk

I am hoping to complete this is the very near future.

Glenn

‘This Mr Guy Black’…

Does this Mr Guy Black plan to bring them back to the UK? Hope so, theres no DH.9’s left, except for one i think under restoration somewhere.

…has bought them back to the UK, indeed some while ago, meeting all Indian heritage export criteria, I gather.

Of the two, the the best will be faithfully restored to as original condition for static display in a national museum.

The lesser of the two will be faithfully rebuilt to full original engineering condition for flight operation, both of them dipping quite deeply into an already gathered bank of period fixtures and fittings including two Puma engines.

Idle talk? Just look at the track record of Hawker bi-planes and other aircraft produced and in process at this stable.

Who can really argue that UK manufactured goods, being returned to the country of origin, to be lavished with ‘engineering’ and appreciated, is not a much better bet than accruing yet more years of degrading storage to add to the 80 odd years already accumulated in Bikaner?

Mark

The one in the UK is a DH.9A, it has a large engine (not sure what its called) but makes it look very different from the DH.9 which was powered by a sleek Puma engine.

I took it to be a DH9 like a Spitfire is known as a Spitfire, without getting into the semantics involved in marks or sub-varients…;)

Flood

The Puma engine mght be sleek but it was also rubbish. The design power output of 300hp had to be derated to 230hp, making the DH.9 slower than the DH.4 it was supposed to replace.
There were quite a few different engines fitted to the DH.9A but Liberty seems the most likely. The engine wasn’t the only change – amongst other things the 9A had substantially bigger wings than the 9.

The one in the UK is a DH.9A, it has a large engine (not sure what its called) but makes it look very different from the DH.9 which was powered by a sleek Puma engine.

Liberty engine, isn’t it? Boxy but good, as I recall

Alistair