De Havilland D.H.89 Dragon Rapide

Yes I flew one of two that was servisable at the Air Accadamy Colombo Sri Lanka.1967. The Aeroplane was extremely stable The Gypsy queens responded so nicely to the two side throttles and the manual flap lever was so nice. True the single pilot was difficult but we did change mid air once trimmed

reply

I too flew (first time)in the early 1950s from LHW when it was virtually unknown. The trip was a surprise from my Scout Master who had taken me for an outing to look for aircraft.

We flew over central London for about 25-30 minutes with a ticket price of seven shillings and sixpence (37.5p)( I still have the ticket). I see current flights in the Rapide are priced at ~ £100. How things change!

reply

I did the maitenance and repairs on a Dominie at Lee-on_Solent (HMS Daedelus) in the 1950s. The squadron commander used to fly it over to Ireland at Christmas time to get duty free!!

reply

I once flew in a Rapide of Jersey Airways from St. Peter Port, Guernsey to Southampton, Eastwick in 1960. It was the only time that I was weighed as well as my luggage. Based upon that the seats were assigned accordingly to trim the aircraft. Crew of one,the pilot, and eight passengers in two lines of four on each side of a center aisle.I believe some are still flying.

reply

I literally grew up to the sound of Dragon Rapides. I lived in Birmingham, under the flightpath for Elmdon [now B`ham International] and Don Everalls` 10 bob joyride Rapides were a daily site.I`ve just started a painting of a prewar Rapide- any suggestions on prewar colour schemes?

reply

flew for the first time in G AIDL on a 30 min flight around Isle of Wight with my sister when we were in our teens ( 1978 ?) Our parents were not amused!
We saw a Pitts Special biplane doing loops from ABOVE. very odd. I think we were overtaken by a train as we headed into the wind, so our ground speed was about 35mph.
Isle of Wight trains were even older than the 1946 Rapide.
If you get a chance to fly in one DO !

reply

In 1950 I was aircrew on Dominies at Donibristle in Fife. These were still the stressed skin models. No toilet facilities, sick bags only. My pilot managed to get us to 9,000ft. in twenty minutes!! Good old Fleet Air Arm, poor relation to the RAF. We flew in Mk1 Ansons when the RAF had Mk23. We always got what the RAF gave up on including a /c and safety equipment etc. One fogbound day we were staggering through the sky to alarge airforce base . they had Superforts. We had no sophisticated nav systems and chose to follow a railway line.I saw a number of things glinting through the fog. Turned out to be the top of the tails of the Superforts. Thia guided us in to Middleton St.George RAF. We pulled up to the ATC.Pilot and passengers got out for a break. An RAF bowser came alongside. The Sgt asked me "What do you do,wind up the elastic"! Ijust looked at him and said "Take a look around. Who is still flying? You or us?" He left.

reply

I took my first joyride in a Rapide from Northolt in 1946. The lady pilot was Monique Agazarian. A few years later I checked her out in one of our club's aircraft and told her that she gave me my first flight in a Rapide. She could remember the occasion and said that she had to give the joyridding up for a while because she was so pregnant she couldn't pull the control column back far enough to land. Over the winter of 1963 /64 I flew a Rapide from Biggin to Cape Town and back to Biggin with a family of five. We landed at 26 different countries during the 16,000+ mile trip and I clocked up 152 hrs on her. Later on I did many 10-minute joyrides on the same aircraft (G-ALGC) at Lands End and one day I did no less that 34 flights. By this time the MOA had made me an 1179 examiner on them. Then I went into the airlines and never had the chance to fly that wonderful aircraft again, but I'll always remember her with nostalgia.

reply

In the early 1950's, BEA used the Dragon Rapide for flights from Eastleigh, Southampton, to Alderney in the Channel Islands. I flew on them quite a few times. They were replaced by Herons when Jersey Airlines took the route over. I lived in Stanwell, just outside what is now Heathrow, and I clearly remember saving the bus fare by walking from home to the grassed area in the centre of the airfield. Added to my pocket money this just about made it possible to take a joyride in one of the Rapides. My mother went barmy when I revealed that I had been flying. Didn't stop me though, and i've loved each flight i've ever been on since.

reply

My first flight was a round Heathrow pleasure flight in a Rapide in the early 50s. I was quite young at the time and would dearly like to know the registration number of the plane as it is the only one of the many planes I have flown in, I'm an ex para, that I do not have a record of.

reply

It was 1936 or 37 when as a small boy, I used to gaze wonderstuck at the Air Services of India fleet which had their home on the western side of Juhu airport, Bombay. They had two Dragon Rapides "City Of Jamnagar" and "City of Bhavnagar". Come evening, I would see one of these landing on the grass strip, taxy majestically and park close by, dropping off the 6 or 7 passengers. The air line ran a weekly service from Juhu to, Bhuj, Rajkot, Jamanagar and other places in Gujerat. When the war started Air Services were closed down , but Tata Air Lines continued operation from the Eastern end and they had arround 6 Dragon Rapides, and they used to operate flights more or less daily from Karachi to Colombo ferrying millitary personal

reply

Like Zoltan2 and MalcolmL my wife and I had a flight with G-AIYR from St. Just, Cornwall when on holiday there in July 1976. The fact that I still remember it after 35 years proves what a great experience it was. When I was a boy in the fifties, I visited the old Schiphol (Amsterdam Airport) at least once every week, fascinated as I was by everything that could fly (with the exception of birds ofc; lol). For a couple of years there was a Dragon Rapide stationed there. I think it was used for carthography purposes. It was the kind of airplane I would have liked to have my first flight in, but alas, it didn't take passengers, so I had to make do with a Cessna 172. And then, about 20 years later, I did fly in a Rapid yet. Life has its pleasant surprises too.

reply

Like Zoltan2 and MalcolmL my wife and I had a flight with G-AIYR from St. Just, Cornwall when on holiday there in July 1976. The fact that I still remember it after 35 years proves what a great experience it was. When I was a boy in the fifties, I visited the old Schiphol (Amsterdam Airport) at least once every week, fascinated as I was by everything that could fly (with the exception of birds ofc; lol). For a couple of years there was a Dragon Rapide stationed there. I think it was used for carthography purposes. It was the kind of airplane I would have liked to have my first flight in, but alas, it didn't take passengers, so I had to make do with a Cessna 172. And then, about 20 years later, I did fly in a Rapid yet. Life has its pleasant surprises too.

reply

Good to see others sharing the experience of flying in the Duxford Dragon Rapide. I took my boy there recently & did the same & he got to sit behind the pilot. You should have seen him smile! A really fantastic experience that will be a cherished memory for us both.

reply

My first ever was in a DR from "Ringway", now Manchester, on an open day in 1948 at the age of 13. The 15 minute "flip" cost me five shillings. (25 pence)

reply

Dragon Rapides were used to fly passengers between Wellington and Nelson in New Zealand during WW2. They were named "Venus", "Mars, etc. I flew in them when the regular ferry was not sailing. I think there were 8 seats that faced forward. The views were great because we flew pretty low. Later in the war, they were replaced by Lockheed Electras, which had 12 seats facing across.

reply

I too remember a small charter company based at Heathrow which Operated DH Dragon Rapides as mentioned above by Derek Horsey. It was in the 50's and I believe the aircraft were owned by a lady with an Armenian sounding name. I later heard about her in Aeroplane or Flight magazine. My father bought tickets for my cousin and I to go up for a flip around Heathrow. Yes, believe it or not Heathrow! It took about twenty minutes and as a young boy I was thrilled to bits. It was my first flight. My father was mistaken by the charter company for his cousin, Chris Staniland, who was a well known racing driver at Brooklands and a test pilot for Fairey Aviation who was actually killed testing a Firefly during WW2. I am 71 now but clearly remember the whole event.

reply

As an ATC cadet I was lucky enough to get free flying lessons at Scone
aerodrome on Airspeed Oxfords around 1954. One day my pilot took
me up in a Rapide and after setting trims he came back and ushered me
into the pilot's seat to continue the flight which consisted of surprising
T.A. anti aircraft gunners. What an experience for an eighteen year old.

reply

Around 1947 while on holiday with a friend in the I.O Man I had my first joy-ride in a Dragon Rapide. We took off from a grass strip at Ronaldsway airport and headed for the Calf of Man .As we circled the tiny island the pilot pointed out various features including the Govenor's residence.In the cabin roof were two large circular fabric patches which, I supposed,doubled for skylights and escape break-outs.Back at Ronaldsway we floated in to avery gentle landing.On thanking the pilot for a most enjoyable safe trip he said she was easy to fly and the safety record for the type was unblemished.

reply

Along with many,I had my first flight experience in the Fox Moth from the sands of Southport late 1940's, but also rember a deHavilland, Dragon ? at Squires Gate Airport, that made flights to the Isle of Man, again late '40's / early '50's

reply