Dinger's Aviation Pages
The de Havilland DH95 Flamingo.




The prototype DH95 Flamingo twin-engined, high-wing monoplane airliner prototype in flight.

By the mid-1930s, the de Havilland company had become the most successful producer of civil aircraft in the UK. Its series of "moth" light aircraft had come to dominate the marketplace for light aircraft, while its Dragon and Dragon Rapide small twin-engined biplane airliners were a common sight across Europe. The larger, four-engined DH 86 biplane airliner had also been a great success. However, the new generation of metal monoplane airliners coming out of the USA, such as the Douglas DC2, Lockheed Electra and Boeing 247, lept ahead in terms of performance and economy of operation and follow-on designs promised to be even more impressive. The British civil aviation industry had fallen so far behind that the British Government set up a committee under Lord Cadman to investigate the matter. Most British aviation companies already had full order books for military contracts. They were content to await the outcome of this committee and then snap up any government subsidy for civil airliners¹. Meanwhile, the de Havilland company had designed not one, but two advanced airliners to compete with the new American designs.

The first design capitalised on de Havilland's experience with the wooden construction of the DH 88 Comet racer. This resulted in the serenely beautiful DH 91 Albatross four-engined airliner and mail carrier. However, the Albatross had many shortcomings as a passenger aircraft, with an absurdly small entrance door (only one metre high in the passenger version of the Albatross), a cramped cabin and high noise level. It would go on to have many issues in service, including problems with the undercarriage, deterioration of the wooden structure in areas it was impossible to inspect, and difficulty effecting repairs on the monocoque structure. The Albatross was designed by Arthur Ernest Hagg, who elected to resign from de Havilland around the time of the maiden flight of the Albatross (some sources say he was fired²), leaving de Havilland without a chief designer. Into the breach, promoted from within the company, stepped Ronald Bishop. He schemed a new airliner that would break with de Havilland tradition by being made primarily of metal; the DH 95 Flamingo.


The Dowty undercarriage and Bristol Perseus engine of the Flamingo prototype. Notice the engine cooling gills are positioned well back on the engine nacelle. The initial rear nacelle design of the prototype was more rounded than on subsequent aircraft.

The Flamingo was a compromise designed to appeal to the European marketplace. It was more of a replacement and upgrade to the DH Dragon Rapide and DH86 than a direct competitor to the larger American Douglas DC3. Although it is often described as able to carry 20, passengers, it would have been very cramped if doing so. A more likely configuration would have been as few as 12 passengers as illustrated by the contemporary layout shown below. The more passengers the Flamingo carried, the less fuel it could carry, and hence, a shorter range. With a full load of 20 passengers, the range would have been as little as 250 miles (402 Km), with only 8 passengers and maximum fuel a range of some 1,400 miles (2253 km) was possible. If the Flamingo is to be considered as a competitor to any American airliner it is probably the Lockheed Electra family. As an executive and VIP transport, it challenged the Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior and as an airliner or feederliner, it was comparable with the Model 10 and Model 14 Super Electra.

12-seat configuration of the DH95, showing dimensions.


Different seating layouts for the DH95. Extra passengers would be at the expense of baggage space. With 20 seats almost no baggage could be carried at all. With the maximum payload of 3,244 Ibs (1,471 kg), the Flamingo could only just about carry 20 average 1940s European men (160 lbs each, 72.5 kg) with no luggage.

As such, the Flamingo would have been equally at home serving the international flights between Europe's main cities as well as flights to such destinations as Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man that were the bread and butter of domestic British airlines. At the same time, it did not completely ignore the potential for sales to North America, having the dual pilots and radio operator demanded by US civil aviation authorities (but not yet mandatory in much of Europe). Particular care was paid to passenger comfort, with extensive soundproofing of the cabin, along with sleeve-valve engines noted for their quietness. It had double-glazed passenger windows along with both heating and cooling arrangements for the passenger cabin. The entrance door was a little small, but it was a lot taller than on the DH91 Albatross and once inside the cabin, there was plenty of headroom. There were two small baggage holds in the nose of the aircraft and another main hold at the rear of the fuselage, served by its own access hatch. The high wing of the Flamingo gave passengers a good view of the countryside they were flying over (the scenic aspect of air travel was a big selling point at the time) while it also meant the fuselage sat close to the ground, meaning no high air stairs were needed to get into the aircraft, and loading of baggage was simplified. Four of the windows doubled as escape hatches and there were two escape hatches in the roof of the fuselage for use if the aircraft had to ditch at sea

Loading cargo and mail into the nose compartments of the Flamingo prototype.

The Flamingo's fuselage was a stressed-skin structure with the entire cockpit area being built as a separate unit. Part of the tail section could be detached for inspection. Each wing contained two fuel tanks (four in all) inboard of the engines. Fuel could be pumped between any of the fuel tanks to maintain trim or extend range in the event of one engine failing. The wing had stressed skin construction inboard of the engines and in front of the main spar but rear of the main spar, the outer wing was covered in fabric. The detachable wing tips were metal. The main spar was a lattice girder that passed through the fuselage, while the rear auxiliary spars attached to the side of the fuselage. Control surfaces were fabric-covered. The rearward-retracting main undercarriage and fixed tailwheel were made by the Dowty company. The two engines were Bristol Perseus sleeve-valve engines, originally the XIIC version of 815 horsepower (900 horsepower for take-off or 1 minute of emergency power) driving a constant speed propeller. From the start, it was anticipated these would be upgraded to the XIIC1 or XVI version that would give similar performance but be able to drive a hydromatic propeller that could be feathered in the event of engine failure.


The Flamingo prototype fitted with a central, third fin. This was only fitted after initial flights had shown up handling issues. The fin was discarded when it was shown not to solve the problems.

Was the Flamingo "all-metal"?

Almost all modern descriptions of the de Havilland DH95 Flamingo airliner to be found on the internet describe it as "all-metal". There is a question mark about this. The prototype certainly was not, at least not by the definition of "all-metal" used when it was built and still used when describing WW2 vintage aircraft today. There was a time, during the 1920s, when "all-metal" could be taken to mean only that the main supporting structure of the aircraft was made of metal, rather than wood, but that it would still be largely covered by fabric. However, by the mid-1930s, the advent of Alclad metal covering of aircraft meant that "all-metal" was taken to mean that the entire surface of the fuselage and wings was made of metal alloy, although control surfaces such as ailerons, elevators and rudders could still be covered in fabric to make them that little bit lighter and thus need less manual effort to move.

But the DH95 Flamingo prototype had fabric covering of both the upper and lower sections of the outer wings to the rear of the main spar, so really should not be considered "all-metal" by the standards of the day.

Did the production Flamingos later adopt an "all-metal" wing? Authoritative written sources imply they all had these fabric panels. However, photographic evidence suggests that some Flamingos had a different structure to the wings. If anyone can shed light on this issue, please drop me a line.

R2766 the King's Flight Flamingo, photographed from underneath. It does not seem to have the "ribbed" effect expected of fabric covering. However, it is hard to judge.


The prototype Flamingo first took to the air, from the snow-covered airfield at Hatfield on Wednesday the 28th of December 1938, flown by Geoffrey de Havilland Jnr. Most sources say it was fitted with a central fin for this first flight, but one source³ says that the central fin was only added after the third flight to try to fix some of the minor stability issues being encountered. When it was found that the fin was no solution to the problem it was then removed but photos of the aircraft with the fin in place had been published and initial descriptions of the Flamingo in the aeronautical press described it as having three fins. Later postcards and collectors cigarette cards continued to portray the Flamingo with a central fin long after it had been removed. De Havilland fixed the stability issue by increasing the span of the wings and ailerons, along with decreasing the dihedral of the wings (from 3 to 1 degree). Refinements to the profiles of the engine nacelles, extending them down and rearwards, cut down turbulence and decreased drag.


This photo is reported to show the Flamingo prototype on the day of its first flight from the snow-covered airfield at Hatfield (28th of December 1938) clearly without any third fin. It supports the report that the central fin was only added later, in an abortive effort to improve handling.

The Air Ministry became interested in the military potential of the Flamingo and asked for it to be evaluated by the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Martlesham Heath and allocated the prototype Flamingo the serial number T5357. However, de Havilland declined to send the Flamingo to A&AEE straight away (they were probably waiting until they had sorted the stability issues) and it wasn't until June 1939 that it arrived there, by which time it had the civil registration G-AFUE.


The DH95 Flamingo prototype in flight, showing the central fin fitted during early testing and the initial smaller, rounded rear to the engine nacelles.

Testing at A&AEE was generally satisfactory, with comfort, quietness, ease of maintenance and vision from the cockpit all being described as excellent. Single-engined performance was good with no loss of height running on one engine, even with a windmilling propeller. Getting into the pilot's seats was a little awkward and a grab-handle in the ceiling of the cockpit was suggested. The prototype had one set of engine instruments that served both engines, there was a switch to flip between looking at each of them. This was considered unacceptable as the pilots might not notice a problem in one of the engines until it was too late, so it was requested that separate instruments for both engines be installed. There was no flap position indicator, and as the position of the flaps could not be seen from the cockpit it was recommended that one be fitted. The "W" control yokes were judged to rise up a bit too far as they were pulled back and it was advised that they be lowered so that a pilot could exert more force on them in an emergency. Finally, the throttle, propeller and engine cooling gills were controlled by the "Exactor" system of pressurised hydraulic lines that had to be "primed" by pumping the control before operation. These were a source of issues for all the various aircraft types that used them, and the Flamingo was no exception. Testing showed they needed frequent repriming in flight to maintain the correct operation of the throttle and propeller and the control of the engine cooling gills was criticised as being imprecise. All these issues seem to have been addressed except for the Exactor controls, which would continue to be an issue throughout the Flamingo's career.⁴

The cockpit of the Flamingo was well laid out compared to other aircraft of the era and had excellent forward visibility. Once in their seats, the two pilots were quite comfortable, but entry and exit to the seats was made awkward by the low headroom caused by the raised floor over the front barrage compartments and by the radio operator's seat which was located centrally, right behind them, facing to the starboard side of the aircraft. Hence the need for a grab-handle in the roof to help the pilots.

The Flamingo received a lot of attention in the aeronautical press and many airlines showed an interest in the new aircraft. Pilots from both British Airways and Imperial Airways took the Flamingo prototype for test flights and Railway Air Services also expressed an interest. But it was Jersey Airways that first placed a firm order, for three Flamingos with a 17-seat layout. De Havilland made the prototype available to Jersey Airways for a two-month trial in June and July of 1939. The prototype seems to have gone straight from testing by A&AEE to being used by Jersey Airways.⁵ The first flights carried mail out to the Channel Islands but then a regular passenger service was run, with the prototype Flamingo configured with a 12-passenger layout. It made 164 scheduled flights and carried 1,373 passengers along with 40,073 lb (18,177 kg) of freight and 693 lb (316 kg) of mail.


The prototype Flamingo pictured over Jersey airfield on the Channel Islands in the Summer of 1939. The following year the airfield would fall into the hands of the Germans and be used by Luftwaffe bombers attacking Britain. In this photo and others taken at the same time, you can see that the engine nacelles have been extended and it looks like the dihedral of the wings have been reduced and the wings extended slightly.

De Havilland set up a production line for the Flamingo at its factory at Hatfield, hoping for a production run of 20 aircraft and costing it on that basis. But with the threat of war fast approaching it was a race against time to get the aircraft delivered. Testing of the prototype by A&AEE had alerted the Air Ministry to its potential as a military transport and after the prototype's use by Jersey Airways, it was purchased for use by the RAF, being delivered to No 24 Squadron at Hendon two weeks before the start of WW2 in Europe. After war was declared it flew support flights to France. Given the military registration T5357, it was written off following some sort of accident in October 1940.


This is the second Flamingo built, carrying the B-registration "E1". It would later carry the civil registration G-AFUF, then the military registration X9317. It served with 24 Squadron at Hendon until October 1942.

Impressed by the Flamingo, the Air Ministry asked de Havilland to design a purely military version of it, issuing specification 19/39 to cover the design in September 1939. The name "Hertfordshire" was allocated to this new variant. Descriptions of the Hertfordshire usually dismiss it as simply the Flamingo with smaller, round portholes in place of rectangular windows. In fact, the changes requested went much further than that. The small passenger door of the Hertfordshire was seated in a larger removable panel to facilitate the loading of heavy freight, including whole aircraft engines (a capacity for carrying 2 of all the standard RAF aircraft piston engines was specified). It was also meant to carry two large tanks of either water or fuel, the same type as used in the Bristol Bombay transport aircraft. Presumably, this would have required the same loading beam as the Bombay to hoist the tanks or engines into the aircraft. For some reason the wireless operator was to be dispensed with, although full wireless equipment was still carried, so presumably the second pilot was expected to operate it. It was to be able to carry 18 troops or 10 stretchers for casualties and the cabin floor was to have lashing points to secure cargo. All these changes should have produced a really useful military transport and the Air Ministry issued contract B8997/39 to cover the purchase of 30 examples of the Hertfordshire, but only one Hertfordshire ended up being completed (serial number R2510) before the contract was cancelled. It is not known if all the changes requested in specification 19/39 were actually implemented on R2510, it certainly had the larger removable panel for cargo loading. The single Hertfordshire would end up being the 7th DH95 to fly.

R2510, the sole Hertfordshire built, showing the larger cargo door fitted to this aircraft. Most of the cabin windows were round "portholes" although the front rectangular windows were retained, presumably because they doubled as escape hatches. R2510 tragically crashed on the 25th of October 1940, with the death of all 11 passengers and crew.

The first Flamingo for the Jersey Airlines order had been allocated the civilian serial G-AFUF, it first flew in December 1939 but was snapped up by the Air Ministry and allocated to RAF No 24 Squadron in January 1940. It seems to have kept its civil registration for a time, not being allocated the military registration X9317 until July 1940. Jersey Airways had become part of the National Air Communications organisation on the outbreak of war (after the fall of the Channel Islands, most of their staff would go on to form a transport squadron for the Royal Navy). So it was clear they were not able to take possession of the aircraft they had ordered anyway. The Air Ministry stepped in to take over the order for the other two aircraft to be used as VIP transports with 4 crew and 8 passengers, issuing a new specification (20/39) in November 1939 on how they were to be furnished inside. The requirements included "luxurious" armchairs, ashtrays and a drinks cabinet along with a cupboard for "holding sandwiches". These aircraft (registrations R2764 and R2765) first flew in February 1940 and were allocated to 24 Squadron (although R2765 spent some time at A&AEE first). It was these aircraft that were used by Winston Churchill during the emergency period of the Battle of France to ferry him to meetings with the French leaders. He was later reported to say the Flamingo was his "favourite aeroplane". No doubt the drinks cabinet and ashtrays added to its appeal!

Winston Churchill alighting from a DH95 Flamingo, showing the small size of the passenger door.

The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was formed by the merging of British Airways and Imperial Airways, a move imposed by the British government. An order for eight Flamingos to be operated by the combined airline had been agreed in late 1939 and civil registrations G-AFYE through to G-AFYL allocated to them. An order for a single Flamingo had also been received from the Egyptian government. However, the needs of the British military and Air Ministry were paramount and production of the Flamingos for BOAC was pushed back by other factors, meaning the order in which various Flamingos first took to the air does not correspond with their manufacturer's construction number.

De Havilland wanted to test the fitting of the Perseus engine with hydromatic propellers before starting the construction of Flamingos for the BOAC order. So the 5th Flamingo (first flight on the 7th of April 1940) had Perseus XVI engines with hydromatic, fully-feathering propellers. It was retained by de Havilland for testing for a while (wearing the B-registration "E-16") before being allocated to No 24 Squadron in June of 1940, at first wearing the civil registration G-AGAZ and later the military registration AE444. It was planned that the Perseus XVI engine would be retrofitted to the Flamingos already flying with the earlier XXC engine, although they did not get around to upgrading the engines of R2764 before its tragic crash.

Flamingo E-16 / AE444 flying with one of its Perseus engines stopped and the propeller feathered. This stopped the propeller from "windmilling" and causing drag that could slow the aircraft down. On some types of aircraft this would cause the aircraft to loose height and crash, although this does not seem to have been an issue with Flamingo. A feathered propeller stopped the engine's auxiliaries working and cut the risk of fire from a damaged engine. This is the Flamingo used to test the Perseus XVI engine installation. The lack of a feathering system on the Bristol Taurus engine led to the loss of many Bristol Beaufort aircraft fitted with them.

The next Flamingo to fly (on the 29th of April 1940), well out of sequence with the manufacturer's construction number, was initially meant for BOAC and already allocated the civil registration G-AFYH. It was taken over by the Royal Navy and given the military registration BT312. It was used for communication duties by No 782 Squadron to the Scottish Islands and Northern Ireland, based out of RNAS Donibristle. This was very appropriate because 782 Squadron was mostly manned by ex-Jersey Airways staff. The pilots of Jersey Airways had been given commissions in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) after the Channel Islands fell to the Germans.

Flamingo BT312, used by the Royal Navy's 782 Squadron at Donibristle on the East coast of Scotland. It carried the name "Merlin VI" and later "Merlin 27". It survived the longest of all the Flamingos, being refurbished as G-AFYH (the registration it had been allocated originally) for use after WW2. It was finally scrapped in 1954.



The same aircraft, later in the war, stripped of its camouflage paint and renamed "Merlin 27". It seems all the aircraft of 782 Squadron carried the name "Merlin" followed by a number to identify the individual aircraft.

The next DH95 to take to the air was the single Hertfordshire R2510, it joined No 24 Squadron in June of 1940. This was followed by a specially commissioned Flamingo with luxury fittings to join the "King's Flight" meant for the transport of King George VI and his family. The King visited Hatfield to see the aircraft under construction in August of 1940. The Flamingo initially carried the civil registration G-AGCC. It joined the King's Flight in September of 1940, later moving to No 24 Squadron in February 1941, when it reverted to its military registration of R2766. It was fitted with deicing boots on the leading edges of the wings, tailplane and rudders, evidently an extra safety precaution for the high-value passengers it would carry. Deicing boots were also fitted to the other two "VIP" Flamingos, R2764 and R2765 but seem never to have been fitted to any other Flamingos.

The internal layout of the Flamingo used by the King's Flight. The table could be removed and stowed away and the armchairs rotated to face forwards.

The King's Flight Flamingo was named "Lady of Glamis" in honour of the Queen. Notice the small window, far back on the fuselage next to the roundel and the lack of a window in front of the passenger door, this is different to all the other Flamingos. The aircraft is fitted with deicing boots on the leading edges of the wings, tailplane and rudders. These pictures show it when it was operated by No 24 Squadron, with the registration R2766.



Another view of the King's Flight Flamingo R2733. It was passed on to 24 Squadron. It survived until 1945 when it was broken up for spares.

Production of the batch for BOAC then started, built to take 12 passengers. The first of these, G-AFYE "King Arthur", was first flown on the 28th of September 1940. Production ran at the rate of approximately one per month until the last was delivered in April 1941. The order for a Flamingo from the Egyptian government was cancelled and the aircraft being built to the order was registered as G-AGBY and allocated to BOAC, to replace G-AFYH which had been diverted to the Royal Navy. This last Flamingo for BOAC only had seats for 10 passengers. In service, the BOAC Flamingos were all given names of Kings of England and collectively known as the "K Class". After a short period providing services within the UK and to neutral Ireland, the BOAC Flamingos were sent out to the Near East, where transport aircraft were desperately needed. To cover the distances involved the Flamingos had to have extra fuel tanks carried within the fuselage. They were ferried out via Gibraltar and Malta to Cairo. The first Flamingo to make the journey did so in August 1941 with others following over the course of the following year until all 8 had reached Egypt. The batch of Flamingos for BOAC brought the total number built up to 16. There were thoughts of BOAC ordering another two, and the registrations G-AFYZ and G-AFZA were reserved for them, but BOAC did not take up the option. In December of 1941, BOAC informed the Air Ministry that the Flamingo's poor payload and lack of deicing equipment meant they were proving less useful than other aircraft in service.


Flamingo R2765 "Lady of Hendon". It was one of the "VIP" Flamingos fitted with deicing boots on the leading edges of the wings, tailplane and rudders.

In the UK, the major user of the Flamingo was 24 Squadron based at Hendon on the northern edge of London. It was known as the "Metropolitan Transport Squadron" and operated a variety of aircraft to provide communication and transport aircraft for military duties and as transport for important political and military figures and visiting VIPs. The Flamingo had performed important work during the Battle of France, ferrying Churchill to meeting with French leaders and it had been a Flamingo that brought General Charles de Gaulle to Britain to head the Free French movement. They went on to provide vital services during the Battle of Britain and into the later war years.


Two Flamingos of No 24 Squadron.

Flamingos of 24 Squadron in flight. R2510, the only "Hertfordshire" is nearest the camera.

However, on the 23rd October 1940, the single Hertfordshire R2510 operated by 24 Squadron crashed shortly after take-off from Hendon, killing all 11 passengers and crew aboard. The crash was blamed on part of the elevator shroud deforming and impairing the movement of the elevator, a similar issue had been observed on another Flamingo used by the squadron that had luckily been able to avoid a crash. Alerted to the issue, 24 Squadron made modifications to their Flamingos to stop it from happening again. However, the issue was apparently not reported back to de Havilland, and in turn, BOAC was not made aware of the problem.

It was some 16 months later, on the 30th of April 1942, that 24 Squadron suffered another loss of a Flamingo with great loss of life. The squadron had been tasked with ferrying around a delegation of Russian officers that had flown to the UK on board a Russian Pe8 bomber on a proving flight prior to the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov making the same trip the following month. The Flamingo crashed near the village of Great Ouseburn, to the northwest of York. The crash was caused by a cylinder in the starboard engine becoming detached, the two surrounding cylinders then broke up and the resulting fire and explosion caused the starboard wing to fall off. The four-man crew, two RAF passengers and four Russian military delegates were all killed, including the highly experienced pilot of the Pe8, Sergei Aleksandrovich Asyamov. The crash was very embarrassing for the British, it was reported that Joseph Stalin said about the incident, "With friends like these, who needs enemies." The Flamingo concerned was R2764, one of the early aircraft taken over from the order for Jersey Airways. Significantly, it had not been upgraded to Perseus XVI engines and fully feathering propellers. There was a small chance that a feathering propeller might have stopped the fire from developing and spreading. The accident report recommended that the engines on Flamingos should be upgraded as soon as possible while acknowledging that this sort of issue with a cylinder detaching from the crankcase had never been encountered on a Perseus engine before and the Perseus was considered a very reliable engine.

The Soviet delegation arriving at Hendon from Scotland on the 29th of April 1942, disembarking from Flamingo R2765 "Lady of Hendon". Their PE8 bomber had flown into the airfield of Kirkton-of-Tealing near Dundee in Scotland. The following day, four of the delegation flew back to Kirkton-of-Tealing in the Flamingo in the background of the photo, R2764 "Lady of Castledown". The purpose of the flight was to brief RAF officers about the PE8 bomber and then fly on to the airfield at East Fortune, east of Edinburgh, to allow the Russians to inspect some of the latest RAF aircraft. It was on the flight back from East Fortune to Hendon that the Flamingo crashed.

Based in Cairo, the BOAC Flamingos flew routes up via Palestine and Jordan to Turkey and down via Eritrea and Aden to Ethiopia. The aircraft struggled in the "hot and high" environment. Even with minimum fuel, their payload was less than half that of a DC3 Dakota or Bristol Bombay and only a quarter of what a Mk II AW Ensign could carry. The Flamingos were the only BOAC aircraft of the time to use sleeve-valve engines and exactor controls and both these new technologies would have been unfamiliar to many of their aircraft engineers. At the end of a precarious supply chain for spares and flying in harsh conditions, the Flamingos did not perform well and were reportedly not liked by their BOAC crews. Then the loss of three Flamingos within the space of 5 months seriously dented their reputation. On the 13th of September 1942, Flamingo G-AFYI "King Henry" crashed on approach to landing at Adana in Turkey. Some articles suggest it was caused by the same elevator shroud issue that had caused the crash of Hertfordshire R2510 two years earlier. However, BOAC reported that it was due to a failure of the Exactor throttle controls. An investigation later blamed it on insufficent training of the pilots, which suggests they may have been unfamiliar with having to "reprime" the Exactor controls. Happily in this instance, there were no casualties. Two months later, on the 18th of November 1942, Flamingo G-AFYG "King Harold" crashed on take off from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia; this was the result of a brake seizure causing the aircraft to veer off the runway and damage the undercarriage. Although the damage was repairable, it was not considered economic to do so and the aircraft was left at Addis Ababa to be reduced to scrap. Finally, and most tragically, on the 15th of February 1943, Flamingo G-AFYE "King Arthur" crashed during a single-engined practice approach to landing at the BOAC maintenance base at Asmara in Eritrea, killing both pilots. The elevator shroud seems to have been implicated in the crash. With confidence in the Flamingo at a low point and BOAC pilots reluctant to fly them, they were removed from service. Even the official Air Ministry history of British airline operations during WW2, a bit of a propaganda publication you would expect to generally praise all British aircraft, only had this very downbeat description of the Flamingo's performance in Africa. "A small fleet of the new K-class (Flamingo) aircraft were also being assembled in Britain for transfer to the trans-Africa route, though they were to prove sadly disappointing in actual operation under tropical conditions, and had eventually to be grounded."

There is a surprising lack of photos of the Flamingo in service with BOAC. This one shows G-AFYF "King Alfred" with one of the huge 4-engined AW Ensign airliners behind it. BOAC Flamingos were camouflaged for service in the UK and their flights out to Egypt. They carried red-white-blue stripes under their registration letters. Once in the Near East, they apparently had the camouflage removed and adopted a silver finish.

The five remaining BOAC Flamingos were recovered to the UK sometime in 1944 and 1945. It is not clear if they were flown back, or broken down and shipped back by sea (the latter course seems more likely). One of them, G-AGBY "King William", was sent to the de Havilland facility at Witney near Oxford for a series of tests on its structure, prior to being broken up for scrap. The other four Flamingos were stored at Croydon until the end of the war when they were acquired by the British Air Transport Company and shipped to Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey with a view to rebuilding them and returning them to service. In the meantime, the sole remaining military Flamingo, the Royal Navy's BT312, was purchased by the Southern Aircraft company at Gatwick and refurbished, being registered as G-AFYH. They sold it on to British Air Transport in May 1947 who then used it for charter flights in 1948 and 1949. The rebuild of the other Flamingos stalled and was then abandoned, with them all being broken up for scrap by 1950. G-AFYH did not fly during 1950 or 1951 but was refurbished in 1952 and took to the air once again for a few test flights. Sadly, no use could be found for the last remaining Flamingo and it was broken up for scrap in May of 1954.

G-AFYH, the last of the Flamingos.
For commercial use, the compromise design of the Flamingo backfired. It was too big and complex to be a happy replacement for de Havilland's Dragon Rapide small airliner while having too small a payload to compete with the Douglas DC3. De Havilland seemed to have learnt a lesson from their experience with the Flamingo, and their first post-war airliner, the de Havilland DH104 Dove was more finely tuned to be a Dragon Rapide replacement. The Dove was one of the most successful British airliners, with 544 examples being built.

DH95 Flamingo Specifications
Taken from the official RAF datasheet.

Max speed: 228 mph (367 kph) at 6,500 feet (1,980 metres) at a mean weight of 15,210 lb (6900 Kg).
Most economical cruising speed: 145 mph (233 kph) at 10,000 feet (3,050 metres).
"Maximum" cruising speed: 193 mph (310 kph).
Range with crew, 8 troops and 375 imp gallons of fuel: 1,420 miles (2,285 km).
Range with crew, 18 troops and 71 imp gallons of fuel: 270 miles (435 km).

Specifications from other published sources.
Max Speed (presumably at minimum weight): 239 mph (385 kph)
Service Ceiling: 20,900 feet (6,370 metres).
Maximum Payload: 3,244 lb (1,471 kg). Empty Weight: 12,020 lb (5,452 kg).
Wingspan: 70 foot (21.34 metres)*. Length: 51 ft 7 ins (15.73 metres).
Engine: Bristol Perseus XIIC or XVI engine.

* The RAF datasheet records a wingspan of 72 feet (this may include a margin for hangar storage), all other sources say 70 foot for the production Flamingos and initially 68 foot for the prototype.

Flamingo Mk II

In 1943, de Havilland considered developing a new version of the Flamingo. It was to have the front part of the fuselage extended slightly to give more room for the radio operator's station (which had been very cramped in the original Flamingo design). The rear fuselage was to be lengthened to give more passenger and cargo space. A single rudder would have been fitted. Power would have been increased by using an updated version of the Perseus engine, or alternatively by fitting American Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines. It was hoped to increase cruising speed to 240 mph (386 kph) while also increasing maximum payload by an additional 1,000 lb (454 kg). The new design would have had a larger door to allow the loading of large cargo items (presumably similar to the door of the Hertfordshire). The troublesome Exactor control system would be replaced by more traditional control cables and rods. The project never came to fruition. At the war's end, de Havilland briefly considered designing a jet transport using as much of the Flamingo structure as possible, to cut down costs and make use of the original production-line jigs that had been kept in storage. Again, nothing came of the scheme.
What If?


If production of the Flamingo had continued, then maybe some might have gone on to wear "D-Day Stripes".

For military use, would the Flamingo/Hertfordshire have been a success if it had continued in production? Even if the elevator shroud issue had been identified early and rectified, it was just that bit too small and carried too small a payload to rival the DC3 Dakota as a pure transport aircraft. However, with hindsight, given a choice between continued production of the Flamingo and production of the Blackburn Botha, (which used the same Perseus engines and used about the same quantity of aluminium alloys in its construction but had a terrible reputation in service) I think most pundits would plump for production of the Flamingo/Hertfordshire over the Botha. Some 580 Bothas were produced on two production lines, one in Yorkshire and the other in Scotland. It is tempting to imagine one or both of those production lines churning out Flamingos or Hertfordshires, leaving de Havilland free to concentrate on Mosquito production. Whatever brickbats may be thrown at the Blackburn aircraft company (mostly unfairly) it always managed to produce other companies' designs very efficiently (it produced large numbers of the Fairey Swordfish, Fairey Barracuda and Short Sunderland during the war). The quiet engines and sound-proofed cabin may have made the Flamingo the ideal "flying classroom" for training radio operators and navigators. As a crew trainer, liaison and light transport aircraft and possible glider tug the Flamingo/Hertfordshire might have found a niche for itself if the elevator shroud issue had been identified early enough. Even more so if the projected "Mark II" could have been got into production at some stage during the war.

NOTES

¹ Government support eventually settled on the Fairey FC1 and Short S32 airliners, neither of which ended up being built.
² For example, the article "De Havilland's Challenge" - listed in the sources below.
³ "De Havilland's War Orphan" article in issue 30 of Air Enthusiast - see list of sources below.
⁴ Exactor controls were a major issue on the Westland Whirlwind fighter that blighted its performance. They were also a constant source of problems for the Short Stirling bomber that also used them. A particularly British innovation meant to replace simple push-pull control rods and cables, they fell out of favour during WW2, although the Exactor company that made them moved into other areas of aviation equipment.
⁵ Before WW2, de Havilland was not in the habit of seeking military orders and had recently been disappointed when orders for their DH93 Don trainer had been cut. They may have avoided sending the Flamingo to A&AEE any earlier for that reason. But they would have had to do it eventually because it was a requirement for new British airliners to be tested by A&AEE before being issued with a certificate of airworthiness to be allowed to carry paying passengers.
Links

BAe Webpage on the DH95 Flamingo

Webpage on the crash of Flamingo R2764.

Website about the crash of R2764 archived on the "Wayback Machine".

PDF copy of the crash report for R2764

Newsreel footage of the Flamingo.

Photos of Flamingo G-AFYH on the Air-Britain photo library website.

Production History of the DH95 on the airhistory.org.uk website.

Listing of those killed in the crash of Hertfordshire R2510 on the RAF Commands website.

Sources and further reading.

My thanks to Matt Willis for showing me the official RAF datasheet for the Flamingo.

My Thanks to Paul Thompson for added information on the Flamingo's use at Donibristle.

"De Havilland's War Orphan" - An article by William Green and Gordon Swanborough in issue 30 (March 1986) of Air Enthusiast magazine.

"De Havilland's Challenge" - An article by Arthur W.J.G Ord-Hume in issue 120 (November 2005) of Air Enthusiast magazine. It concentrates on the proposed post-war "Flamingo Mk II".

"Flamingo's Great Challenge" - An unattributed article in the May 13th 1939 edition of Flying - The Popular Air Weekly magazine. It is an interesting contemporary look at the Flamingo's chance of success in the international marketplace.

An article on the testing of the DH 95 by the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment in the "Probe Probare" series by Alec Lumsden and Terry Heffernan in Aeroplane Monthly Magazine, June 1985 edition.

"Merchant Airmen - The Air Ministry Account of British Civil Aviation: 1939-1944" - Published in 1946 by HM Stationary Office (SO Code 70-481). The official history of British airline operations during WW2, the only mention of the DH95 is a single sentence on page 86.

"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Propeller Airliners" - Editor Bill Gunston. Published by Windward. ISBN 07112 0062 9.

The Aircraft Flown by 24 Squadron: A document on the website of the 24 Squadron Association Blog. Compiled from squadron records.

"D.H. A History of de Havilland" - by C. Martin Sharp, first published in 1960 by Faber and Faber. Revised and extended edition published by Airlife in 1982. ISBN 0 906393 20 5

"De Havilland Aircraft Since 1909" - By AJ Jackson, published in 1962 by Putnam. Extended and revised in 1978. ISBN 0 370 30022X

"Aero Engineering Data Sheet No 53" - Published by the Newnes company, contemporary with the Flamingo.

"Aircraft of the Fighting Powers - Volume 1" - Published by the Harborough Press, 1940.

"The Secret Years - Flight Testing at Boscombe Down 1939-1945" - By Tim Mason, published by Hikoki. ISBN 0 951899 9 5.

"British Flight Testing - Martlesham Heath 1920-1939" - By Tim Mason, published by Putnam. ISBN 085177 857 7.

The Air-Britain summary of BOAC Fleet reports.

Excellent 1/72 plans of the Flamingo, drawn by Chris Bowley, were published in Aviation News magazine, 17-30th July 1995 edition (Volume 21 Number 5).

"Airfield Focus No 52: Donibristle" - By Malcolm Fife, published by GMS Enterprises. ISBN 1870384970.

Anyone interested in looking into the shortcomings of the DH91 Albatross should read the short chapter about it in "Back To The Drawing Board - Aircraft That Flew But Never Took Off" by Bill Gunston, published by Airlife in 1996. ISBN 1 85310 758 1.