Airco D.H.4

Rolls-Royce-Engined DH.4
The Airco D.H.4 was the first British plane designed specifically as a day-bomber. While it was originally designed for the 160hp Beardmore or 230hp BHP engine, but it is perhaps fortunate that the BHP production was delayed and the 250hp Rolls-Royce Eagle was available instead. The Eagle was an excellent engine and it only got better with successive marks, culminating with the 375hp Eagle VIII. &#8470;55 Squadron received the first full batch of D.H.4s and arrived in France in March 1917.

Shortages of Rolls-Royce engines forced experiments with many other types, including the 200hp B.H.P. (a development from the early Beardmore), the 200hp Siddeley Puma, the 200hp Galloway Adriatic, Fiat, and the 200hp R.A.F.3a. Batches of D.H.4s were built with these various engines, but pilots greatly preferred the Rolls-Royce.

Westland-built D.H.4s for the RNAS, and they fitted twin Vickers guns for the pilot instead of the normal single fixed gun. When introduced the D.H.4 outperformed all other twin-seaters of its class and could outrun many enemy fighters.

The D.H.4's greatest weak spot was the long distance between the pilot and observer, making cooperation difficult, a fault that was corrected in the Airco D.H.9. DH4s served from March 1917 through to the Armistice, performing bombing, observation, photography, anti-Zeppelin, and anti-submarine duties.

Overall, the D.H.4 was one of the great designs of World War One. It served on the Western Front, Italy, Aegean, Macedonia, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and during the Russian Revolution. An RNAS DH4 took down Zeppelin L.70 in August 1918. Belgium equipped six escadrilles with D.H.4s.

Liberty-Engined DH.4
After America's entry into the Great War, there were high hopes that the country's industrial might could be turned to aircraft manufacturing. Things never go as easily as expected, and the development of a two-seater based on the British DH4 with the 400hp Liberty engine faced repeated delays. After several delays to both the airframe and engine, Fisher, Standard, and Dayton-Wright built DH4s. While 1,213 were shipped to France, only 196 saw front-line combat.

Though the DH4 design had been already eclipsed by its first American use in July 1918, the US Air Service did not have alternatives. The DH4 holds the distinction of being the only fully American-built land warplane to see action in the war.

An improved version, the D.H.4B, was created but it was too late for the war. The D.H.4B fixed problems in the fuel system, moved the fuel tank so that the crew could sit closer together (in the manner of the D.H.9) and moved the wheels further forward to reduce tip-over accidents on poorly-prepared airfields. After the war, a wide variety of minor variants were based on the D.H.4B, including the steel-framed D.H.4M. D.H.4s continued to serve with the American Air Service through the 20's and they were used for Air Mail delivery though 1931.

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Aircraft Chart

1:144 Scale

 * Ares: WGF204A 50th Sqn AEF; WGF204B Cotton/Betts; WGF204C Bartlett/Naylor
 * Shapeways:
 * RR Engine: Kampfflieger, Reduced Aircraft Factory
 * Liberty Engine: Reduced Aircraft Factory
 * Plastic Kit: Valom
 * Metal kit:
 * Wings of War: WW08J Cadbury/Leckie; WW08K USA; WW08L Clayburn Atkey

1:285/6mm/1:288 Scale

 * Shapeways:
 * RR Engine: Reduced Aircraft Factory
 * Liberty Engine: Reduced Aircraft Factory
 * Metal Cast:

1:300 Scale

 * Metal kit: Heroics & Ros GWA124

1:350 Scale

 * Shapeways: Kampfflieger

1:600 Scale

 * Shapeways: Reduced Aircraft Factory
 * Metal kit:

1:700 Scale

 * Shapeways: Reduced Aircraft Factory