| de Havilland Dragon Rapide
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| Description
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| Role | Passenger transport / trainer
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| Crew | 2
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| Passengers | 8
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| First Flight | April 17, 1934
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| Entered Service |
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| Manufacturer | de Havilland
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| Dimensions
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| Length | 34ft 6in | 10.5 m
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| Wingspan | 48ft 0in | 14.6 m
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| Height | 10ft 3in | 3.1 m
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| Wing Area | 340 ft² | 31.6 m²
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| Weights
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| Empty | 3,230 lbs | 1,460 kg
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| Loaded | 5,500 lbs | 2,490 kg
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| Maximum takeoff | lbs | kg
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| Powerplant
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| Engine | 2 × de Havilland Gipsy Six
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| Power (each) | 200 hp | 150 kW
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| Performance
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| Maximum speed | 157mph @ 1,000ft | 253km/h @ 300m
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| Combat range | 573 miles | 920 km
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| Ferry range | km | miles
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| Service ceiling | 16,700 ft | 5,090 m
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| Rate of climb | 867 ft/min | 260 m/min
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| Wing loading | 16.2 lb/ft² | 78.8 kg/m²
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| Power/Mass | 0.073 hp/lb | 0.12 kW/kg
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The de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide was a successful British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s. Designed as a successor to the DH 84 Dragon, it featured the tapered wings and streamlined undercarriage fairings of the four-engined DH 86 Express.
In 1936 General Franco was carried in a DH 89 on his escape from Africa to Spain at the start of the Civil War.
At the start of World War II many Dragon Rapides were impressed by the British armed forces and together with fresh RAF orders served under the designation de Havilland Dominie. As well as passengers duties they were used for radio navigational training.
731 Rapides were built and they have proved astonishingly durable with many still flying into the 21st century.
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