de Havilland DH.72 Canberra

[VictorXL188]

I could not find any info on this forum on the de Havilland DH.72, so I thought I would post an entry. The DH.72 was built to Specification B.22/27, which called for a three-engined aircraft with a ceiling over 15,000 feet. Boulton & Paul also submitted a design, which was accepted, to build a single example of its P.32. The sole DH.72 was built by the Gloster Aircraft Company, no doubt due to Hatfield's lack of production facilities due to the success of Moths etc, and was late in being built due partly to de Havilland not having sufficient experience in metal aircraft construction. Another hurdle to be overcome was for the provision of a nose gunner position. The DH.72 was originally due to be just a conversion of de Havilland's successful DH.66 Hercules airliner, but the need for the nose gunner position forced the manufacturer to place the central engine onto the top wing, a configuration shared by its Boulton & Paul rival. Gloster was selected due to a military aircraft manufacturing agreement held with DH. Powerplants consisted of three Bristol Jupiter XFS radial air-cooled engines, each producing 595 hp. One area where the DH.72 differed from the DH.66 was in the use of a monoplane tail arrangement. The two undercarriage units were well spaced, not only to cope with the rough airfields, but to allow for the bombloads to be placed between them. The DH.72 made its maiden flight on 27th July 1931, nearly four years after the specification had been drafted. Following a visit to the RAE at Farnborough in November 1931, the DH.72 joined the P.32 at Martlesham Heath for full load trials. According to 'British Flight Testing - Martlesham Heath 1920-1939' by Tim Mason, it is doubtful whether these trials were completed. Furthermore although at least one of the test pilots flew the aircraft, no record of AAEE trials were made. By the autumn of 1932 the requirement was cancelled. Specifications for the DH.72 were as follows:
General characteristics

• Crew: 5
• Wingspan: 95 ft 0 in (28.96 m)
• Wing area: 1,930 sq ft (179.3 m2)
• Gross weight: 21,462 lb (9,735 kg)
• Powerplant: 3x Bristol Jupiter XFS supercharged 9-cylinder radial , 595 hp (444 kW) each

Armament

• Provision for 2×0.303in Lewis machine guns in nose and tail gunners positions
• 2,500 lb (1,140 kg) bombs on external racks

Although not referred to in the Putnam 'British Flight Testing' book, other sources have used the name Canberra for the type.

 

[dan_inbox]

 

[iverson]

From my files:

 

[iverson]

Probably from a Putnam book, but found on the net: