The Dart Kitten was a British-built ultra-light aircraft of the 1930s.

Design and development

The Dart Kitten was designed by A.R. Weyl in 1936 and built by Dart Aircraft Ltd at

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. It is an ultra-light single-seat low-wing aircraft with a fixed tailskid undercarriage. The four examples built were powered by a variety of engines of between 27 h.p. and 40 h.p.

Operational history

The Dart Kitten I ''G-AERP'' first flew in January 1937 and was sold to a private owner at Tollerton airport near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. It was stored during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was re-engined with a 40 h.p. J.A.P. J-99 postwar and flew with a private owner at Broxbourne airfield Hertfordshire before crashing there in November 1952. The Dart Kitten II ''G-AEXT'' received its authorisation to fly on 30 April 1937 and had a series of owners before being badly damaged in a crash at

Willingale, Essex Willingale is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. The civil parish also includes the village of Shellow Bowells and the hamlet of Miller's Green. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census wa ...

in November 1964. It was subsequently rebuilt and in 2009 was airworthy with a private owner near

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

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. As of 2023 it is based with the Real Aeroplane Company at Breighton near

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

. The Dart Kitten III ''G-AMJP'' was built by Dart Aircraft in January 1952 and was flown by owners in Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Lincolnshire before being lost in a crash near

Kings Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

in June 1966. A fourth Kitten was home-built at

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

in 1960 and registered in Australia as ''VH-WGL''.Jackson, 1973, p. 298

Variants

; Kitten I : 27 h.p.

Ava 4A Ava or AVA may refer to: Places Asia and Oceania * Ava Kingdom, in upper Burma from 1364 to 1555 ** Inwa, formerly Ava, the capital of Ava Kingdom ** Earl of Ava, a British colonial earldom in Burma * Ava, Iran, Gilan Province, a village * Iv ...

-00 flat four engine; ; Kitten II : 36 h.p. Aeronca-J.A.P. J-99 engine, revised rear decking and simplified undercarriage; ; Kitten III : as Kitten II but with wheel brakes.

Specifications (Kitten III)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * {{Dart aircraft 1930s British sport aircraft 1930s British civil utility aircraft

Kitten A kitten is a Juvenile (organism), juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are fully dependent on their mothers for #Establishing immunity, survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. A ...

Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937