Back إيركو دي إتش 9 Arabic Airco D.H.9 Czech Airco DH.9 German Airco DH.9 Spanish دیاچ.۹ Persian Airco DH.9 French Airco DH.9 Galician Airco DH.9 Armenian Airco DH.9 Italian De Havilland DH.9 Dutch
| DH.9 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Airco DH.9 | |
| Role | Bomber |
| Manufacturer | Airco |
| Designer | Geoffrey de Havilland |
| First flight | July 1917 |
| Introduction | November 1917 |
| Retired | 1937 |
| Primary users | Royal Air Force Royal Flying Corps Royal Naval Air Service South African Air Force |
| Number built | 4,091 |
| Variants | Airco DH.9A Airco DH.9C Westland Walrus |
The Airco DH.9 (from de Havilland 9) – also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 – is a British single-engined biplane bomber that was developed and deployed during the First World War.
The DH.9 was a development of Airco's earlier successful DH.4, with which it shared many components. These were mated to an all-new fuselage and the 230 hp BHP engine, which promised increased performance. Anticipating its usefulness, the type was ordered in very large numbers for Britain's Royal Flying Corps (RFC).
Upon entering service, the DH.9's performance was found to be unsatisfactory. The BHP engine was unreliable and failed to provide the expected power, which gave the DH.9 poorer performance than the aircraft it had been meant to replace. The performance deficit was blamed for the heavy losses they suffered over the Western Front. The redesigned DH.9A was fitted with a more powerful and reliable American Liberty L-12 engine which rectified the shortcomings of the original DH.9 model.