de Havilland DH.60 Moth

Developed from the larger DH.51, the first flight of prototype DH.60 Moth (G-EBKT) was carried out by Geoffrey de Havilland on 16 February 1925. The DH.60 Moth is a two seat biplane of wooden construction, with a plywood covered fuselage and fabric covered surfaces. One useful aspect of the design is its folding wings, which allowed owners to hangar their aircraft in smaller spaces. Taking advantage of this, in 1928 Lieutenant L.G. Richardson became the first person to land a British civil aircraft on an aircraft carrier, when he flew his private Moth to join HMS Furious off Portsmouth.

The original DH.60 design changed during production, with different engine types, changes to the wing span, undercarriage and other modifications. A metal-frame fuselage version was designated the DH.60M and was originally developed for overseas customers. A small number of DH.60 Moths were supplied to the RAF and some of these were used by the Central Flying School (CFS) to fly formation aerobatics at the RAF Hendon Air Display of 1927.

With so many DH.60 variants built, it is no surprise that many survive in both museums and in airworthy condition around the world. One of the most famous is Amy Johnson’s DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-AAAH “Jason”, in which she became the first woman to fly from England to Australia in 1931 and is now on display in the Science Museum in London.

About this aircraft

This aircraft, G-EBLV, was originally delivered to the Lancashire Aero Club at Woodford in August 1925. It is the 8th DH.60 built and the oldest surviving member of the Moth family. In August 1937, following a forced landing near Christchurch, Dorset, the aircraft was retrieved by Richard Shuttleworth and brought to Old Warden Aerodrome for repairs by his company Warden Aviation Co, flying again in November 1937. After subsequent owners the aircraft was re-acquired by de Havilland in 1941 and was restored to fly again in 1951, incorporating some parts from the prototype DH.60 Moth G-EBKT. The aircraft was transferred to the ownership of the Shuttleworth Collection from BAE Systems in March 2022.

Specification