The de Havilland DH.14 Okapi was a British two-seat day bomber of the 1910s built by

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

. The aircraft was designed as an

Airco DH.4 The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland (hence "DH") for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself. It was desig ...

and DH.9 replacement, but it never entered production.

Design and development

The Okapi was a scaled-up Airco DH.9 with a bigger engine, (the Rolls-Royce Condor) intended as a replacement for the DH.4 and DH.9. Three were built, but due to the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

was reluctant to accept them. The third aircraft was the first to fly, and it was completed by Airco as the DH.14A, a two-seat long-range

mail plane The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

. The two military aircraft were completed by de Havilland in 1921 and used for trials. One suffered a fatal crash at

Burnham Beeches Burnham Beeches is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated west of Farnham Common in the village of Burnham, Buckinghamshire, Burnham, Buckinghamshire. The southern half is owned by the Corporation of London and is open to th ...

on 10 February 1922 and no production aircraft were ordered.

G-EAPY

The third aircraft was completed as the DH.14A to compete in the Daily Mail transatlantic flight competition.Jackson 1987, pp. 148-152 It had a

Napier Lion The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 engine, W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept ...

engine and increased fuel capacity. With the winning of the prize by Alcock and Brown the project was abandoned. The aircraft, registered G-EAPY, was then to be used by

Sidney Cotton Frederick Sidney Cotton (17 June 1894 – 13 February 1969) was an Australian inventor, photographer and aviation and photography pioneer, responsible for developing and promoting an early colour film process, and largely responsible for the ...

, who intended to try for the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n government's £10,000 prize for a flight between England and Australia. Keith and Ross Smith won that prize before Cotton was ready. The aircraft was loaned by Airco to Cotton to attempt the first flight between London and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Cotton and an engineer from Napier left

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

on 4 February 1920, but soon forced landed at Cricklewood with oil problems. Cotton reached Naples on the 21 February but they failed to find the aerodrome at Messina and they force-landed on a nearby beach. G-EAPY was rebuilt by Airco with an additional third cockpit and sold to Cotton for use in the

Aerial Derby The Aerial Derby was an air race in the United Kingdom sponsored by the ''Daily Mail'' in which the competitors flew a circuit around London. It was first held in 1912, with subsequent races in 1913 and 1914. Suspended during the First World W ...

. The aircraft was badly damaged when it forced landed following an onboard fire near Hertford on 24 July 1920. When the other two DH.14s were completed by de Havilland at Stag Lane in 1921 the DH.14A was repaired again and joined the test flying with a military serial number.

Variants

* DH.14 – two-seat day bomber with a Rolls-Royce Condor engine, two built. * DH.14A – two-seat long range mailplane with a

Engine, one built.

Operators

; *

Specifications (DH.14)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{De Havilland aircraft De Havilland aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes 1910s British bomber aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1919 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear