DH.14 Okapi

The De Havilland DH.14 Okapi was a British two‑seat, single‑engine biplane built by the Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco) just after World War I. Designed by Geoffrey de Havilland in 1918 as a possible replacement for the wartime R.E.8, the Okapi was intended for reconnaissance and light bombing duties. Its 360 hp Rolls‑Royce Eagle VIII engine gave the aircraft a top speed of about 120 mph and a service ceiling near 15 000 ft, while its wooden structure with fabric covering kept weight low. The aircraft featured staggered wings, a spacious open cockpit for pilot and observer, and a rear‑mounted machine‑gun ring. Although three prototypes were built, the rapid post‑war drawdown and the availability of surplus military types left no production order; the sole operational example was used for experimental work at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. The DH.14’s brief career highlighted the challenges of transitioning from wartime to peacetime aviation, and its development informed later de Havilland designs such as the DH.9A. Today the Okapi is remembered as a transitional step that helped shape British interwar aircraft engineering. No original airframe survived, but scale models and archival photographs keep its memory alive for enthusiasts and historians.