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Concept
De Havilland Heron
Summary
The de Havilland DH.114 Heron is a small propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugged, conventional low-wing monoplane with tricycle undercarriage that could be used on regional and commuter routes. A total of 149 were built, and it was also exported to about 30 countries. Herons later formed the basis for various conversions, such as the Riley Turbo Skyliner and the Saunders ST-27 and ST-28.
In the closing stages of the Second World War, the aircraft manufacturer de Havilland began development of a new small twin-engined passenger aircraft, the DH 104 Dove, intended as a replacement for the earlier Dragon Rapide and which soon proved to be successful. As a further development, the company basically enlarged the Dove; the fuselage was lengthened to make room for more passengers or freight, and the wingspan was increased to make room for two more engines. The Heron was of all-metal construction, and was laid out as a conventional design; the resulting aircraft could use many of the parts originally designed for the Dove, thus simplifying logistics for airlines using both types.
The emphasis was on rugged simplicity to produce an economical aircraft for short- to medium-stage routes in isolated and remote areas which did not possess modern airports. The Heron was designed with a fixed undercarriage and Gipsy Queen 30 engines, which lacked potentially unreliable reduction gearboxes and superchargers.
The Heron prototype registered to the de Havilland Aircraft Company, Hatfield, UK, as G-ALZL undertook its first flight with Geoffrey Pike at the controls on 10 May 1950. The aircraft was unpainted at the time, and after 100 hours of testing was introduced to the public on 8 September 1950 at the Farnborough Airshow, still glistening in its polished metal state. By November, the prototype had received its formal British Certificate of Airworthiness and had flown to Khartoum and Nairobi for tropical trials.
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