The A17 – 130 De Havilland Tiger Moth
Developed from the DH60T Gypsy Moth Trainer, with an inverted 120hp Gypsy engine, first flew on 26th October 1931 and was subsequently adopted as the standard trainer of the RAF.
On the outbreak of World war 2, the Tiger Moth 11, or DH 82A was selected as the basic trainer for the Empire Air Training Scheme and the first RAAF aircraft, A17-1 was delivered in May 1940.
In Australia, the local De Havilland company built 1085 Tiger Moths, of which 732 were delivered to the RAAF and the remainder were shipped overseas to other training schools.
Although primarily employed as ‘trainers’ a few Tiger Moths were camouflaged and used operationally with Army co-operation units in New Guinea.
The Tiger Moth remained in RAAF service for almost 17 years. Eventually, on January 9th 1957, the last 10 RAAF Tiger Moths were flown from Point Cook to Tocumwal for disposal.
- Description: 2 seater elementary trainer. Composite wood and metal construction.
- Power Plant: 130 hp DH Gypsy Major 1 (Inverted)
- Performance: Max speed. 95 kts (175 km per hour
- Cruising Speed: 75 knots (135kph)
- Climb: 635 foot per minute
