DE HAVILLAND DH-4
Although
the DH-4 was originally a British combat airplane, it was redesigned in the
United States in 1917 for the Liberty engine. The U.S. Air Service in France
used the plane primarily for observation, day bombing, and artillery spotting.
It carried the nickname "The Flaming Coffin" because of the supposed
ease with which it could be shot down in flames. However, in reality, only
eight of the 33 DH-4s the United States lost in combat burned as they fell.
This was no greater percentage than for the French- and British-built airplanes
used by the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
The DH-4 was
the only U.S.-built airplane to fly in combat during World War I. By the end of
the war, 3,431 had been delivered to the Air Service. The Dayton-Wright
Airplane Company built most of these. Of these, 1,213 had been shipped to
France, and 417 had seen combat.
The
DH-4 had a span of 43.5 feet (13.3 meters), was 30.5 feet (9.3 meters) in
length, and 10.3 feet (3.1
meters) high. It weighed 3,557 pounds (1,613 kilograms) when loaded and carried
two .30-caliber Marlin
machine guns in the nose and two .30-caliber Lewis machine guns in the rear as
well as 220 pounds (100
kilograms) of bombs. It used a Liberty 12 421-horsepower (314-kilowatt) engine
and carried a two-man
crew.
Following
World War I, the DH-4 continued in use with the army for a decade. More than
1,500 were rebuilt for increased strength and some were modified for carrying
airmail in the 1920s.
Member
Dan Bott send us the following link to the only DH-4 still
flying.