DE HAVILLAND DH.9A

Source: Great Britain

Acquired: 1926, purchased 7 aircraft

Type: bomber / reconnaissance

Engine: 12-cylinder, 400-hp Liberty engine

Dimensions

Length: 9.15 m

Wing Span: 14.03 m

Height: 3.45 m

Range: 400 km

Maximum Ceiling: 5000 m

Known Serial Numbers: 1, 4, 10, 3K, 4K, 5K, 6K, 63, 65, 67, 68 (there were only seven aircraft in total - some of these serial numbers are renumberings of existing aircraft)

Notes

• Jan.18 - 29, 1926 - J.Basko, Vihmanis and Janis Karklins go to England to perform acceptance flights of seven Airco DH9As being purchased by the Latvian Air Regiment.
• Feb.16, 1926 - Latvian War Ministry accepts the DH9As.
• There is some confusion over the original serial numbers of two of these aircraft, but the five which are known (with their new, Latvian serial numbers) are: E8689 (3K), E8745 (6K), E8779 (1), E8784 (10), E8787 (5K).
• June, 1935 - in an effort to code the various aircraft types, the DH9A is assigned the code name "Type B1"
• September 1936 - 4th Squadron has Nos. 4, 63, 65, 67 and 68
• May 1937 - 6th Squadron has Nos. 1, 4, 67 and 68, but only #1 was fit for service.
• The Stampe et Vertongens were ultimately purchased to replace the DH9As.
• The following information is from Sturtivant & Page's DH4/DH9 File
• # 1
  • Originally Serial No. E8779 (engine #2334)
  • January 1929 - Assigned to the 1st Kurzeme Recon Squadron
  • 1932 - overhauled
  • 1932 - Assigned to 4th Recon Squadron
  • May 25, 1935 - Engine failed, force landing in meadow near Irlava (Nikolajs Vulfs)
  • Feb, 1936 - repaired and returned to the 4th Recon Squadron
  • May 19, 1936 - attemped take off with insufficient speed, tilted to port and ground looped, undercarriage collapsed (Sergeys Babichevs & Eriks Mellups).
  • After repair, briefly appears on 5th Recon roster.
  • May 5, 1937 - Serving with 6th Recon Squadron.
• # 3K
  • Originally Serial No. E8689
  • January 1929 - Serving with 1st Divisions' Recon Squadron.
• # 4
  • Originally Serial No. E8789 (engine #1246)
  • 1927 - Repaired
  • March 27, 1928 - 306 flying hours to date
  • January 9, 1928 - tail assembly damaged in ground incident (Janis Putnins, Nikolajs Strukovs)
  • 1928 - Assigned to 1st Division's Recon Squadron
  • Sept-Oct 1929 - Overhauled
  • August 12, 1931 - force landing at Daugavpils while practicing bomb dropping (Arturs Kregeris) June, 1935 - Still with 1st Division's Recon Squadron
  • Oct. 24, 1935 - Propeller fell off in flight. Force landed near Vecaki, sustaining damage when ran into highway embankment (Nikolajs Vulfs, Davids Timermanis)
  • 1936 - Overhauled
  • Dec.1, 1936 - aircraft tested, reported found capable of max speed of 201 km/hr.
  • 1937 - Appears on roster of 6th Recon Squadron
  • July 8, 1937 - failed to become airborne at Spilve aerodrome, bounced across the Bolderaja highway and crashed, damaging propeller and undercarriage (Pauls Kirpitis & Karlis Krumins) Not returned to service after this incident.
• # 4K
  • Originally serial No. E8785
• # 5K
  • Originally serial No. E8787
• # 6K
  • Originally serial No. E8745
• # 10
  • Originally serial No. E8784 (engine #2100)
  • January 1930 - Assigned to 6th Recon Squadron
  • Feb. 17, 1933 - Hard landing at Spilve, undercarriage and fuselage both damaged (Voldemars Peculis, Karlis Birznieks)
  • June 16, 1934 - crashed, no details known
  • July 7, 1934 - Engine failure, force-landed near Daugavpils, nosed over (Arturs Ieva, Alberts Tirulis)
  • Engine salvaged from July 7 crash is used in reserialled #65.
• # 63
  • Original serial No. unknown, but engine is #2335
  • June 17, 1929 - the pilot misjudged the landing at Spilve, struck the Bolderaja highway and bouncing into a ditch. Most damage was to the engine. (Alfreds Salmins)
  • February 29, 1930 - Repairs completed, aircraft assigned to 1st Division's Recon Squadron.
  • Autumn 1930 - Overhauled
  • June, 1935 - reassigned to the 4th Recon Squadron
  • August 30, 1935 - Insufficient takeoff speed, crashed, damaged propeller (Davids Timermanis)
  • Sept.20, 1936 - While on a ferry flight the engine began to malfunction, forcing the plane down to wave top level in fog. Wing tip touched the water, resulting in a crash. Aircraft was written off. (Adolfs Vasiljevs, Leons Vaiders)
• # 65
  • Original serial No. unknown, but engine is #2100 (salvaged from #10's July 7, 1934 crash)
  • 1929 - 7th Squadron, Krustpils
  • May 27, 1931 - engine failure near Koknese, force landing next to Plavins-Koknese road, damage to undercarriage, propeller and wing. Transferred to Riga for repairs. (Karlis Tenteris, Arturs Kregeris)
  • December, 1932 - repaired and overhauled.
  • June 13, 1933 - crashed on landing, damaging undercarriage, fuselage and propeller (Voldermars Peculis, Karlis Birznieks). Repaired, then assigned to 4th Recon Squadron.
  • Sept.24, 1936 - Engine failure leads to a nose-over. Resulting damage beyond repair. (Janis Renkulbergs, Arturs Meijerovics).
• # 67
  • Sept.11, 1930 - taxiing accident, aircraft runs into a ditch (Janis Rucelis)
  • June, 1932 - repaired and overhauled.
  • Sept 23, 1932 - Engine failed during bomb dropping exercise near Vecaki. Undercarriage destroyed and wing damaged in the force landing. (Voldemars Peculis)
  • June 14, 1934 - Propeller damaged in take-off incident (Arturs Kregeris, Kaneps). Aircraft repaired and re-assigned to 1st Division's Recon Squadron.
  • July 8, 1937 - tragic crash when aircraft runs into Ratsupite creek by Spilve. The undercarriage killed Anna Tillere resting by the riverbank. Aircraft is written off (Edgars Kanailis, Davids Timermanis)
• # 68
  • Original serial No. unknown, but engine is #1362
  • May 27, 1931 - Wing and propeller hit a barn, aircraft crashes in a field with the wing striking the ground. (Arnolds Kadikis, Ernests Strauja)
  • April 1933 - Repaired and overhauled
  • April 12, 1935 - Ground collision with a Martinsyde ADC-1 (piloted by Hugo Freimanis) on the frozen surface of Lake Tukums.
  • Sept.1, 1936 - repaired and transferred to the 6th Recon Squadron.
  • May 5, 1937 - last record of it being on active duty, may be its stuck off charge date.

Sources

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