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| DeHavilland Rapide Restoration |
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DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT HERITAGE CENTRE
I have paid numerous visits 10 the deHavilland Heritage Centre at Salisbury Hall in recent years, spending time watching the dedicated restoration team under the direction of Project Manager John Johnston, painstakingly restoring a DH 89 registration G-AKDW to a much hoped for flying condition which is a huge undertaking for a small team of enthusiasts with limited resources. This work is being carried out to top level CAA requirements and the pair of Gipsy 6 engines are being rebuilt by a vintage engine company. The prototype Rapide first flew at Hatfield on 17 April 1934 with test pilot H S Broad at the controls. During its 10 year production 728 were built and a number are still flying today, only last year I had a flight in a Rapide at Duxford which was a very memorable experience.
Here is an outline of G-AKDW's history. The aircraft was built at Brush Coachworks at Loughborough as a Dominie for the RAF with the constructorıs number 6897 in 1944/5. Soon after, it was sent to a Maintenance Unit at Witney for modification to civilian requirements as a DH 89A Dragon Rapide. After being test flown it was delivered to Croydon on 5th December and shortly after it was owned by the Ministry of Civil Aviation who leased it to Iraqi Airways leaving Croydon for Baghdad on 2nd February 1946 and it was operated with a sister aircraft until 25th July 1947. On 28th July 1947 both aircraft were delivered to Almaza airport Cairo with Iraqi Airways overpainted. Gibraltar Airways crews collected them and flew them to Gibraltar where their new registrations G-AKDW and GAKDX were applied. Both aircraft were registered in the name of BEA (British European Airways) on 25th August 1947 which in turn were leased to Gibraltar Airways. BEA owned G-AKDW until the 18th May 1949 when it was sold to Short Brothers & Harland at Rochester. It was used on shuttle flights between Rochester and Belfast and also on ad hoc charters. On 23rd June 1958 an export C of A was issued transferring it to Belgium but no owner or registration was given. The aircraft next appeared on the French register as F~BCDB. The French Bureau Veritas carried out an inspection on the aircraft on 29th June 1962, the total flying hours were recorded as 5410. In July 1983 the aircraft was found abandoned on Nimes airfield in the south of France and was taken to Jean Salis Collection where it was left untouched at the back of a hanger without engines or propellers until a member of the Aviodome Museum at Schipol found it and had it transferred to their workshops. He later managed to get two engines and propellers from Jean Salis but it seems unlikely that they were originally fitted as they are not a pair. The museum at Schipol did some restoration work but the work they did is not covered by any documentation acceptable to the CAA, a frustration as far as the current restoration tearn are concerned. In 1992 the policy makers at Schipol decided that the Rapide would not be funded any more and it was obtained by the deHavilland Heritage Museum and is now undergoing a complete rebuild to full CAA requirements.
My grateful thanks to Phillip Birtles Chairman ofthe DH Heritage Museum Trust, also to John Johnston Project Manager DH 89 for their kind co-operation with this article.
Dave Ansell
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