The De Havilland Tiger Moth

Flying an 85 year old aircraft

Duxford is more or less a permanent fixture on the summer air show calendar. The show itself, operated at this former RAF fighter command base has become a favourite, drawing crowds from across the country who arrive in large numbers every year to see the flying displays and to walk around the exhibits in the museums of which there are two large ones, one focussed on the American Air Force and the other more on domestic aviation. It is also an opportunity for the local vintage flying companies to entice their potential customers to consider taking to the air in one of a multitude of aircraft, nearly all of which are more than fifty years old.

I was able to attend the airshow this year and was also later able to take advantage of the rather good opportunity of flying in a Tiger Moth. There are four at Duxford, all in the care of a company called Classic Wings who, in addition to Tiger Moths, have access to Harvards and also I gather a couple of Chipmunks. They also operate flights in a De Havilland Dragon Rapide, which must be one of the most elegant looking aircraft around.

Additionally and if you are so inclined, you could arrange to be strapped to the top wing of a vintage Boeing Stearman and indulge in what is called “wing walking,” although there is little in the way of walking involved, especially when one is aloft. If you are minded to do this then good luck to you- I am much more interested in what goes on inside the aircraft than investigating the drag properties of my body on the top wing- I suspect that I am not particularly aerodynamic and don’t wish to test this.

To return to the point however, I have acquired a Tiger Moth kit from ICM which I will build and keep to serve as a recollection of my flight. You can see that short review here:

This model is a world air forces variant and contains the markings from a number of different air forces which I will not use. Perhaps you may have already seen an extensive review from the excellent Peter Oxley? He goes into a good deal of detail in his unique and entertaining style which includes a look at the sprues, a part of the review in which I know many people are interested and I myself spend a little less time on. Anyway, I salute him here as he is a top bloke.

Instead of one of the world air forces markings, I will settle for the rather more appropriate, (in my case), markings of R4922 in which I flew and which is also the only one in what I shall call “The Duxford Collection” which was actually made by De Havilland themselves. You may perhaps already know that the others were built under licence by Morris Motors at their Cowley plant.

R4922 has an interesting history having been delivered as a military trainer in 1940 and spent some time in storage, being refurbished as well as being converted and used as a four seater aircraft for a period between the late fifties and mid 1970s. There are still one or two “Thruxton Jackaroo,” variants around, but R4922 was converted back into a Tiger Moth in 1976.

What the Air Training Corps used to call cadet “air experience flying” was originally undertaken in the Tiger Moth before that job was taken on in turn by the De Havilland Chipmunk. With an enclosed cockpit which substantially improves your ability to concentrate on flying, (as you are not buffeted by every passing breeze), the Chipmunk became a favourite of many students and pilots. Notwithstanding that, the adventure of flying in an open cockpit aircraft is not one to be missed, a sentiment that I am sure former Squadron Leader Desmond De Villiers would have agreed with.

With a take off weight of only 828 kilograms, (I don’t what that is in gallons), the Tiger Moth is one of the lighter aircraft around and one is likely therefore to feel the effect of every thermal rising from the ground and also every disturbance from above, especially if you are flying close to the cloud base. This light weight does also mean that flying experiences are very much in thrall to the weather conditions and winds of more than around 10 knots and gusting may very well mean that customer flying experiences cannot be undertaken. My own flight was delayed by one day as a result of this.

Classic wings provide fliers with a fur lined jacket to wear during flying and I can assure readers that this will be required even at 1,500 feet, but you will appreciate the cover even more if you rise close to the cloud level as we did because the temperature drops more noticeably. Of course, whilst on the ground in sunny and warm conditions you may (like many dogs I would imagine) question the wisdom of a furry coat! You are also provided with a leather flying helmet and “Biggles” style goggles which are absolutely necessary if you want to see where you are going.

Entry to the Tiger Moth for the pupil, who sits in the front seat, is from the Starboard side and via the walking board that is on the lower wing. One steps onto the seat and then lowers oneself into the cockpit using the cabane struts, following which one straps in and plugs in the headset. You will not be wearing a parachute. When embarking, it is important to avoid the fuel tank which forms a part of the upper wing. It is easy to knock your head and you are advised to take care on this point by almost everyone you come into contact with.

There is an intercom between the pilot and pupil that is always on and one can also hear every transmission between the aircraft and the control tower, so it is quite easy to pick up what is going on. It is a good idea to know the call sign for your aircraft (in my case- “Classic Wings 6”). The instructor is a helpful fellow and will let you know about a good deal of what is going on if you ask him, but he is likely to be fully occupied during landing and take off phases so I myself opted for the mantra of not speaking unless I was first spoken to. It’s a call back to my Air Cadet flying days and makes sense to me.

It will frequently be the case that flights around the Duxford area will be conducted at altitudes of around 1,500 to 2,000 feet. In my case the cloud base was at about 2,300 feet and direction from the Duxford tower requested that we climb to above 2,000 feet for a period during the flight owing the presence of a Mk9 Spitfire skulling around as well as the Dragon Rapide that was flying a sedate pattern for sightseers. In the main however, we flew at an altitude of around 2,000 feet and in a right hand circuit which took in sights like Newmarket race course and the US Air Force memorial and cemetery which is located near to Duxford.

I can assure readers that, whilst the front windscreen is quite small, it is required when one is mowing along at a respectable 70 - 75 mph. The effect of the wind can particularly be felt if one turns ones head whilst talking to the instructor or leans one’s head outwards inadvertently. The intercom which I mentioned earlier allows you to speak to the instructor but is susceptible to wind noise which may interfere with your hearing anything so you are advised to keep the microphone close to your mouth. Additionally I found it helpful to cover the outside of it with my left hand which was otherwise redundant for the duration of the flight and this substantially reduced wind noise.

Flying the bird, so to speak, is an opportunity given to almost anyone who wishes to do so, provided that it is safe from a point of view of traffic in the area. Your instructor will give the instruction “you have control!” to which you should respond “I have control!” From then on until the instructor tells you “I have control,” that’s you in charge! Well, sort of; your instructor will be keeping things on the straight and narrow whilst you muddle along in the front seat! He will quickly understand your level of expertise and won't be asking you to land the aircraft…

The Tiger Moth is a forgiving aeroplane and stalls at as little as 25 knots, but does not dip a wing, neither does it spin unless encouraged somewhat. The front cockpit instrument panel is sparse at best, containing as it does a gyro compass, an altimeter as well as a turn and slip indicator, but no artificial horizon. The idea therefore when flying is to maintain ones attention outside the cockpit. Flying level is accomplished by lining up the crossed over rigging wires directly in front of windscreen with the horizon ahead and then looking at the attitude of the wings with relation to the horizon the each side of you.

Keeping the level attitude of the aircraft is dependent upon “feeling” the effect of the passing air and adding in control inputs as you go. One should be gentle with the controls and the recommendation is to hold the control column with your thumb and first two fingers only. I used the first three fingers and thumb, but succeeded in maintaining a light control. You will receive instruction from the pilot/ instructor as you go and it is a good thing to attend to his words as the ride is easier if you do. To give you an idea, David who accompanied me has more than 1,000 hours in Chipmunk trainers in addition to being a pilot with Ryan Air- it’s fair to say that he is a seasoned flyer.

The aircraft will fly level in calm conditions without input and it is therefore an ideal elementary trainer. I would mention in passing that, for a novice, undertaking other activities, like looking around at the sites which will be pointed out to you enroute will probably result in your flight attitude slipping a little. As you begin to fly, you are likely to be fully occupied with merely directing the aircraft in straight and level flight, so don’t worry too much if this is the case because one has to learn the feel and, once you start to do this, your ability to undertake other tasks will begin to come more easily. For the record, my flying capabilities are limited.

A forty minute flight will pass rather quickly as you work with the instructor and if you have sharp eyes, you may be able to see other aircraft as they move around you. There is a lot to see and much to occupy your mind when flying in this venerable aeroplane. I must confess that I only really thought about the history of this particular aircraft after I decamped and walked away.

It is likely that this Tiger Moth trained many an RAF pilot during the second world war, some of whom may have gone on to become fighter aces, some of whom subsequently gave their lives in service to the country that we live in. Whilst this is a sobering thought, I fancy that those pilots would be happy to note that the elementary trainer in which they learned and first went solo was still flying eighty five years after initially taking to the air. Not only that, but it would be providing subsequent generations with the chance to experience open cockpit flying from a base that they themselves might have known- perhaps quite well.

If you have a chance to fly in a Tiger Moth, do take it. I don’t think that there are many things you will like more.

Classic Wings operate from IWM Duxford and their web site can be found here:

https://www.classic-wings.co.uk