De Havilland Aircraft
De Havilland Model Railway Society was formed by a group employees at the de
Havillands Hatfield site over sixty years ago, so we have a strong interest
in the de Havilland company, it's Canadian offshoot and aviation in general.
Over the years de Havilland's at Hatfield produced many famous aircraft some
of which made important contributions to aviation, military and general
history. On this page we illustrate just a few of the Company's famous
aircraft.
Due to our unique(?) link some examples of De Havilland aircraft may
be seen in the "sky" above the trains on the Havil layout!
You can see many of the actual aircraft at the de Havilland Aircraft
Heritage Centre nearby at Salisbury Hall, South Mimms, Hertfordshire.
de Havilland Tiger Moth
One of the classic British aircraft designs. First
flown in 1931, built as a training aircraft for both
civilian and military pilots, many are still in
existence and being flown today.
de Havilland 88 Comet
Winner of the 11,000 mile
1934 England to Australia MacRobertson air race.
de Havilland Mosquito
Largely made of wood the mosquito was built by many
small ex-furniture factories thus not impacting
production of other WWII metal based aircraft.
It operated very successfully as a fighter, bomber
and reconnaissance aircraft. Capable of outrunning
most German fighters and operating at very low
level, the Mosquito produced only a small radar
image forestalling current stealth technology.
de Havilland Vampire
One of the world's first jet fighters first flown in
1943. Over 800 were built and flew with nearly 20
Air Forces around the world.
de Havilland Comet
The worlds first commercial jet airliner, first
flown in 1949.
de Havilland Canada Dash 8
Last in a series of STOL
(Short Take Off & Landing airliners, first flown in 1983. Built by the
"offshoot" company based in Canada.
