Air Force
 |
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
Max Speed: 180 km/hr
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
- Bruce, J.M. British Aeroplanes 1914-18
- Bruce, J.M. De Havilland Aircraft of World War 1
- Bruvelis, Edvins Latvijas Aviacijas Vesture
- Davis, Mick AIRCO
- Humberstone, R. (ed) Latvian Air Force 1918-1940
- Jackson, A.J. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909
- Jane, Fred T. Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1919
Profiles Courtesy of Arvo Vercamer
|