de Havilland Flamingo

The de Havilland Flamingo was a British twin‑engine high‑wing monoplane developed in the late 1930s by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. First flown on 22 December 1937, the Flamingo was designed as a fast, all‑metal transport capable of carrying up to 17 passengers or a mixed load of cargo and mail. Its most notable features included a stressed‑skin fuselage, retractable main landing gear and two 850 hp (634 kW) Bristol Perseus radial engines driving variable‑pitch propellers. The aircraft achieved a maximum speed of 210 mph (338 km/h) and a service ceiling of 22,000 ft, performance that rivaled contemporary single‑engine airliners. Only 50 Flamingos were built before production was halted by the outbreak of World War II; the majority were pressed into military service as transport, ambulance and VIP aircraft. Although its numbers were limited, the Flamingo demonstrated the practicality of all‑metal construction and twin‑engine reliability, influencing later de Havilland designs such as the Mosquito and the post‑war Dove. Its brief operational life illustrated the rapid shift from civil to wartime aviation in the late 1930s and cemented its place as a transitional milestone in modern air transport history.

de Havilland Aircraft Company

de Havilland Flamingo

Classification

Production & History

Design & Classification