PlanesNStuff

Tag: Point Cook

  • The de Havilland Tiger Moth: Australia’s Most-Loved Training Biplane

    The de Havilland Tiger Moth: Australia’s Most-Loved Training Biplane

    Featured image: de Havilland Australia DH-82A Tiger Moth A17-759 (VH-COA) at Wagga Wagga Airport. Photo: Bidgee, CC BY-SA 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Ninety-five years ago, on 26 October 1931, a little biplane called E6 lifted off from Stag Lane Aerodrome in Edgware, north London, with de Havilland’s chief test pilot Hubert Broad at the controls. It was the first true de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth, and it went on to teach tens of thousands of young people across the Commonwealth to fly.

    Here in Australia, the Tiger Moth isn’t just a famous old aeroplane. It’s our trainer. More than a thousand were built in Sydney, it served at flying schools from Tamworth to Western Junction, and you can still climb into an open cockpit and fly in one today.

    If you read our post on the Boeing-Stearman Kaydet, think of this as its Aussie twin. The Stearman taught America to fly. The Tiger Moth did the same job for Britain, Australia and much of the Commonwealth.

    From Moth to Tiger Moth

    Geoffrey de Havilland had already struck gold with the DH.60 Moth, a light biplane that put flying within reach of clubs and private owners. The Royal Air Force wanted a dedicated ab initio trainer (that’s a trainer for complete beginners), and de Havilland developed the DH.60T “Tiger” Moth into what became the DH.82, built to the Air Ministry’s Specification 15/31.

    One problem needed solving first. In the earlier Moths, the fuel tank and the struts holding up the top wing sat right above the front cockpit, which made it hard to get out in a hurry, especially wearing a parachute. De Havilland’s answer was neat: shift the top wing forward so the front seat was clear, then sweep the wings back slightly to keep the centre of lift in the right place. That gentle sweep is one of the easiest ways to pick a Tiger Moth from other biplanes of its era.

    A Few Clever Details

    • Differential ailerons. The ailerons are on the lower wing only, and they’re rigged to deflect mostly upwards and hardly at all downwards. That reduces adverse yaw, the tendency of the nose to swing away from a turn, though pilots still need some rudder in turns. The circular bell crank that drives them sits flush with the fabric under the lower wing.
    • A trainer that keeps you honest. Its big wings are forgiving and its stall and spin behaviour is benign, but it needs positive, prompt control movements. Some instructors liked that, because it helped weed out students who weren’t cut out for flying.
    • Simple to own and fly. It was cheap to own and maintain, and from late 1934 the improved DH.82A (the RAF’s Tiger Moth II) used the 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major engine.

    The RAF’s first Tiger Moths reached the Central Flying School in February 1932. Orders soon followed from more than 25 air forces.

    By the Numbers

    The DH.82A had a wingspan of 8.94 m (29 ft 4 in) and a top speed of about 175 km/h (109 mph). According to the RAAF, de Havilland and its partners built 8,811 Tiger Moths between 1931 and 1945, in seven countries.

    Made in Bankstown: The Australian Tiger Moth

    Black-and-white photo of an RAAF Tiger Moth biplane parked outside the De Havilland Aircraft Pty. Ltd. hangar at Mascot in 1940
    Tiger Moth A17-32 outside the de Havilland Aircraft hangar at Mascot, Sydney, in 1940, just before delivery to the RAAF. Photo: Milton Kent, Australian War Memorial P02881.024, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

    De Havilland’s Australian company started small. In 1939 it delivered 20 Tiger Moths to the Royal Australian Air Force, assembled from imported fuselages with locally built wings. After war broke out, the RAAF chose the Tiger Moth as its primary trainer, and in 1940 de Havilland Australia began licence production at a new factory at Bankstown in Sydney. The first Australian-assembled Tiger Moth flew there in late 1940.

    By the time production ended in February 1945, 1,070 Tiger Moths had been built in Australia. Most went to the RAAF, but batches also went overseas, including 18 for the US Army Air Forces and 41 for the Royal Indian Air Force. Even the engines had an Aussie connection: Gipsy Major engines were built under licence in Australia by General Motors-Holden.

    Training a Generation: The Empire Air Training Scheme

    When the Second World War began, Britain worked out it needed about 50,000 new aircrew a year and could supply fewer than half of them itself. The answer was a joint training plan with Canada, Australia and New Zealand, signed on 17 December 1939. Here it was called the Empire Air Training Scheme, or EATS.

    Australia promised 28,000 aircrew over three years, about 36 per cent of the total. The first courses started on 29 April 1940. By the time the scheme wound up, more than 37,000 Australian airmen had trained under it.

    Black-and-white photo of RAAF Tiger Moth trainers of No. 3 Elementary Flying Training School flying in formation above the clouds, 1941, led by A17-685
    Tiger Moths of No. 3 Elementary Flying Training School, Essendon, flying above the clouds in April 1941. Photo: John Harrison, Australian War Memorial AC0101, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

    For would-be pilots, the first stop was one of 12 Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS), from Parafield and Archerfield to Narromine, Narrandera, Temora, Benalla, Cunderdin and Western Junction in Tasmania. The aircraft was almost always the Tiger Moth. Trainees aimed to go solo after about seven to ten hours, then kept going with instrument flying, navigation, night flying and aerobatics before moving on to service flying school.

    It’s worth remembering what that meant. Many of the young people who learned to fly in a Tiger Moth over a country town went on to serve in Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific, and not all of them came home.

    A Long Retirement (That Never Quite Happened)

    The RAF replaced its Tiger Moths with the de Havilland Chipmunk in the early 1950s, and surplus aircraft poured onto the civil market. In Australia they became the backbone of aero clubs, flying schools and private hangars.

    The RAAF’s own history of Tiger Moth A17-692 sums up the type’s working life. It trained pilots at No. 5 EFTS Narromine and No. 10 EFTS Temora during the war, then went to the Royal Australian Navy at HMAS Albatross, where it served until 1958. It may well have been the last Tiger Moth operated by the Australian military. Today it belongs to the RAAF Museum, and in 2023 it went to Luskintyre in NSW for a refurbishment before returning to the air with No. 100 Squadron.

    Then there’s A17-691. As VH-UVZ it was only the second DH.82A imported into Australia, registered in August 1936. On 21 April 1937 it crashed into Sydney Harbour, and remarkably, it was recovered and flew again. In August 1940 it was impressed into the RAAF as A17-691 and served at No. 10 EFTS Temora. In December 2000 it was donated to the Temora Historic Flight, and it’s now part of the RAAF’s heritage fleet.

    Where to See a Tiger Moth in Australia

    • RAAF Museum, Point Cook, Victoria: Home of A17-692 and No. 100 Squadron, which flies heritage aircraft at the museum. Flying isn’t scheduled on every open day, so contact the museum to check before you go (bookings and photo ID are needed to enter the base).
    • Temora Aviation Museum, NSW: Houses the RAAF No. 100 Squadron Historic Flight collection, including Tiger Moth A17-691. The museum is open daily, but it says no flying displays are scheduled there in 2026 or 2027, so check its Facebook page for where the aircraft will appear.
    • Australian War Memorial, Canberra: Holds Tiger Moth A17-704, built in 1943, which served with No. 1 EFTS at Tamworth.
    • Mackay Tiger Moth Museum, Queensland: Formed in 1974 (as the Tiger Moth Trust) to buy a locally restored Tiger Moth that was in danger of being sold to America. Its hangar beside the Mackay Aero Club is open most Saturday and Sunday mornings, weather permitting.

    Where to Fly in a Tiger Moth

    Nothing beats the real thing: leather helmet, goggles, wind in the wires and a Gipsy Major ticking over in front of you. These operators each list Tiger Moth joy flights on their own websites:

    • Royal Newcastle Aero Club, Maitland, NSW: A DH-82 Tiger Moth restored in the club’s own workshop, with flights over the Hunter Valley, Pokolbin vineyards, Luskintyre and Newcastle.
    • Tiger Moth Joy Flights Yarra Valley, Lilydale, Victoria: Scenic and aerobatic flights over the Yarra Valley in DH-82A Tiger Moth VH-DHR, about an hour from Melbourne.
    • Mackay Tiger Moth Museum, Queensland: Joy flights in one of its two Tiger Moths along the Mackay coast (longer flights also cross the cane fields), most weekends.

    Operators set their own age, height and weight limits, and every flight depends on the weather. Check each operator’s website for current details and prices before you book. A Tiger Moth flight also makes a pretty special gift for the aviation lover in your life.

    A Classic for Your Wall

    Poster of a polished chrome vintage biplane in front of a striped orange retro sunset, with the words I'm Not Old, I'm a Classic!
    Our “I’m Not Old, I’m a Classic” biplane poster, available on Etsy. I created it with the help of AI image tools.

    Ninety-five years old and still flying: if any aeroplane has earned the right to say “I’m not old, I’m a classic”, it’s the Tiger Moth. That “still going strong” spirit is exactly why we love our “I’m Not Old, I’m a Classic” biplane poster. It’s a polished chrome vintage biplane in front of a retro striped sunset, and it makes a fun gift for the pilot, aero club member or birthday legend in your life who’s proudly a classic themselves.

    And if you prefer your biplanes from the other side of the Pacific, our Stearman Biplane in Flight print is the Tiger Moth’s American cousin, in blue and yellow.

    Thanks for Flying With Us

    Ninety-five years on, the Tiger Moth is still doing what it does best: putting a grin on the face of anyone who flies in one. Have you flown in a Tiger Moth, or did someone in your family train in one during the war? We’d love to hear the story.

    God bless you with blue skies!

  • The North American P-51: The WWII Fighter That Took the Bombers All the Way

    The North American P-51: The WWII Fighter That Took the Bombers All the Way

    Eighty-six years ago this week, on 26 October 1940, a sleek prototype called the NA-73X lifted off from Mines Field in Los Angeles (the site of today’s LAX) with freelance test pilot Vance Breese at the controls. The first flight lasted about five minutes. Within four years its descendants were escorting American heavy bombers all the way to Berlin and back.

    That aeroplane became the North American P-51, and it’s hard to find a WWII fighter with a bigger fan club. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum puts it plainly: “Many people consider the P-51 Mustang the best fighter of World War II.” It’s also the aeroplane behind our newest print, which you’ll find further down.

    If you’ve read our posts on the golden age of biplanes and the Boeing-Stearman Kaydet, this is the next chapter. Plenty of the young pilots who learnt to fly in open-cockpit biplanes went on to fly this fighter in combat.

    A British Order and a Blank Sheet of Paper

    In 1940 Britain needed fighters, fast. British purchasing officials asked North American Aviation (NAA) to build Curtiss P-40s under licence. NAA had a better idea: let us design you a new and better fighter instead. The British agreed, and the NA-73X flew that October.

    The British named it the Mustang I, and production began in 1941. Two early examples, designated XP-51, went to the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) for testing in the summer of 1941. The USAAF didn’t order it in quantity straight away, but General Henry “Hap” Arnold stepped in to keep 55 of the new fighters for American use, and most of those became F-6A photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

    Part of the design’s secret was aerodynamic. NAA gave it a so-called laminar-flow wing, shaped to keep the airflow smooth over more of the wing and cut drag, with the radiator tucked into a neat scoop under the fuselage.

    The Allison Years

    The early versions used the American Allison V-1710 engine. Down low the aeroplane was fast and pleasant to fly, but the Allison ran out of breath at high altitude, which is exactly where the air war over Europe was being fought. The RAF used its early aircraft for low-level reconnaissance and ground attack. The USAAF’s P-51A went largely to the China-Burma-India theatre, and a dive-bomber version, the A-36 Apache, went into action in June 1943.

    The Merlin Makeover

    The breakthrough came in the autumn of 1942, when engineers in both Britain and the US experimentally fitted the Rolls-Royce Merlin, the engine of the Spitfire and Lancaster. It transformed the aircraft. One Merlin-powered test aircraft reached 441 mph (710 km/h) at 29,800 ft (9,080 m), about 100 mph (160 km/h) faster than the Allison-powered P-51A.

    In the US the Merlin was built under licence by Packard as the V-1650. Merlin-powered P-51Bs came off the line at NAA’s Inglewood plant in California, and identical P-51Cs were built at a new factory in Dallas, Texas. They entered combat in December 1943 with the 354th Fighter Group, which became known as the “Pioneer Mustang Group”.

    Black-and-white photo of a P-51D fighter coded E2-S flying above clouds with a drop tank under its wing.
    A P-51D of the 375th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force, in 1944. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Little Friends for the Heavy Bombers

    Through 1943 the American daylight bombing campaign was in trouble. Escort fighters simply couldn’t fly far enough to protect B-17s and B-24s on the deepest raids, and losses were heavy. With drop tanks under its wings, the Merlin-powered P-51 could go the whole distance.

    By the time of the first major US heavy-bomber raid on Berlin in March 1944, about 175 P-51B and P-51C fighters were in service, flying escort alongside P-38s. Bomber crews called their escorts “little friends”, and the 353rd Fighter Group, whose markings the Smithsonian’s P-51D wears today, would escort the bombers deep into Germany and then strafe targets on the way home.

    The P-51D: The Classic Shape

    The P-51D, which arrived in quantity in the spring of 1944, is the version most people picture. It added:

    • A bubble canopy, giving the pilot a clear view all round, including behind (the earlier “razorback” B and C had a framed canopy).
    • Six .50-calibre machine guns instead of four, with a simplified ammunition feed.
    • The K-14 gyroscopic gunsight, which helped pilots work out how far to lead a target.

    Nearly 8,000 P-51Ds were built, making it the most numerous version. According to the National Museum of the US Air Force, the type destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air in Europe, more than any other USAAF fighter there. In the Pacific, P-51Ds flew from Iwo Jima from the spring of 1945 to escort B-29s over Japan.

    By the Numbers (P-51D)

    These figures come from the National Museum of the US Air Force fact sheet.

    • Engine: Packard-built Merlin V-1650, 1,695 hp (1,264 kW)
    • Maximum speed: 437 mph (703 km/h); cruise 275 mph (443 km/h)
    • Range: 1,000 miles (1,610 km)
    • Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,770 m)
    • Wingspan: 37 ft (11.28 m); length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
    • Maximum weight: 12,100 lb (5,490 kg)
    • Armament: six .50-calibre machine guns, plus bombs or rockets
    • Production, all versions: more than 15,000

    The Red Tails

    No story of this aircraft is complete without the Tuskegee Airmen. As we mentioned in our Stearman post, African American cadets learnt to fly at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, at a time when the US military was still segregated.

    The 332nd Fighter Group, led by Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., flew from Italy with the 15th Air Force. In July 1944 the group switched to P-51s and painted the tails bright red, which is how they became the “Red Tails”. From June 1944 to the end of the war the group flew 311 missions for the 15th Air Force, 179 of them bomber escorts. On 24 March 1945 they escorted B-17s on a long raid to Berlin and shot down three Me 262 jet fighters, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation.

    About 990 pilots trained at Tuskegee, and some 350 went overseas. Their record is widely credited with helping make the case for desegregating the US armed forces after the war.

    Colour photo of a silver P-51D fighter with a bright red tail and red spinner parked on a grass airfield.
    The 332nd Fighter Group’s red tails gave the Tuskegee Airmen their famous nickname. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Down Under: Built in Melbourne

    Australia has its own chapter. Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) at Fishermans Bend, Melbourne, built 200 of these fighters under licence for the RAAF. The first 80 were assembled from kits supplied by North American as the CA-17, and the rest were built locally from scratch as the CA-18. The first Australian-assembled aircraft, A68-1, flew on 29 April 1945, too late for combat in WWII: only 17 had been delivered by VJ Day. The RAAF also received nearly 300 US-built P-51Ds and P-51Ks, and No. 3 Squadron RAAF flew the type in Italy from late 1944.

    Korea

    When war broke out in Korea in 1950, the fighter was back in action, now redesignated the F-51 in USAF service. It could reach targets from bases in Japan that the early F-80 jets couldn’t, and it was flown by the USAF, the Republic of Korea Air Force, the South African Air Force and the RAAF.

    No. 77 Squadron RAAF, flying from Iwakuni in Japan, went into action on 2 July 1950, the first British Commonwealth unit to see action in Korea. It flew its last operations on the type in early April 1951 before converting to Gloster Meteor jets. In the US, F-86 Sabres had largely replaced the F-51 in combat by 1953, and the Air National Guard flew its last in 1957. In Australia, the RAAF’s last went in 1959, replaced by Vampire jets.

    No. 77 Squadron RAAF fighter carrying rockets and napalm tanks taxiing on metal matting in Korea, 1951.
    A No. 77 Squadron RAAF fighter, armed with rockets and napalm, taxis out for a mission in Korea in March 1951. Photo: Harold Dunkley, Australian War Memorial C1089130, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Racing: From Reno to Roswell

    After the war, surplus fighters became prized civilian warbirds, and the P-51 found a second career as a racer. From 1964 the National Championship Air Races were held in northern Nevada, where modified P-51s were stars of the Unlimited class for decades. The 2023 event was the last at Reno-Stead.

    The races have since moved to Roswell, New Mexico. After sitting out 2025, the Unlimited class made its Roswell debut on 16–20 September 2026, and Steven Hinton won Unlimited Gold in the P-51D Bardahl Special at an average of 432.897 mph (696.7 km/h). Not bad for a design that first flew in 1940.

    Where to See One Today

    These aircraft are among the most popular warbirds in the world, and plenty are still flying. Always check the venue’s own website for opening hours, flying days and bookings before you go.

    In the USA

    • National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton, Ohio: P-51D Shimmy IV, plus the museum’s excellent fact sheets. nationalmuseum.af.mil
    • Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.: the P-51D Willit Run? is displayed in the Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air gallery, which opened on 1 July 2026. airandspace.si.edu
    • Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, California: “We fly our planes!” Check its flight schedule for flying days. planesoffame.org
    • CAF Red Tail Squadron: its P-51C Tuskegee Airmen tours air shows and events across the US, telling the Tuskegee story. cafriseabove.org
    • Stallion 51, Kissimmee, Florida: flight training and experience flights in dual-control TF-51s. stallion51.com

    In Australia

    • RAAF Museum, Point Cook, Victoria: the heritage CA-18 A68-170 is part of the Air Force Heritage Fleet flown by No. 100 Squadron, which puts on interactive flying displays on as many museum open days as possible. Flying isn’t guaranteed, so contact the museum to check before you go. Bookings are essential, and visitors over 16 need photo ID to enter the base. airforce.gov.au
    • Australian War Memorial, Canberra: an example is displayed among the Korean War aircraft in the Aircraft Hall. awm.gov.au
    • Fly in one, Brisbane: Fighter Pilot Adventure Flights at Archerfield offers P-51D flights. fighterpilot.com.au
    • Fly in one, Melbourne: Mustang Joy Flights flies CA-18 VH-BOB from Point Cook, usually on Saturdays. mustangjoyflights.com.au

    Our Art: Silver Warbird at Sunset

    Framed Silver Warbird at Sunset print hanging above a desk with a lamp and paper planes.
    Silver Warbird at Sunset in a home study. I created this print with the help of AI image tools.

    There’s something about a bare-metal WWII fighter catching the evening light. Our Silver Warbird at Sunset print shows a silver bubble-canopy fighter in US markings cruising above glowing sunset clouds, with a river winding through the landscape far below. It’s the kind of picture that belongs above a desk, in a hangar office or on the wall of anyone who grew up building model warbirds.

    It would make a great Christmas gift for the aviation lover in your life. I created this print with the help of AI image tools.

    Thanks for Flying With Us

    From a rushed 1940 design for a British order to Berlin escorts, the Red Tails, Korea and the racecourse at Roswell, the North American P-51 packed a lot of history into a few short years, and it’s still thrilling crowds today. If you get the chance to hear a Merlin start up at an air show, take it.

    Got a favourite WWII fighter, or a family connection to one? Tell us in the comments. And if this one’s your favourite too, take a look at the Silver Warbird at Sunset poster or digital download.

    God bless you with blue skies!