De Havilland

DH114 Heron

The DH114 Heron 1 prototype (G-ALZL) was first flown by Wing Commander Geoffrey Pike at Hatfield on 10th May 1950, before appearing in public at the SBAC Airshow at Farnborough in September that year.

Initial flying was carried out with a tailplane having no dihedral, this being replaced by a dihedral unit after some 180 hours of test flying. This model featured a fixed nosewheel undercarriage and a total of seven examples were built at Hatfield before production was transferred to Chester.

An air to air photograph of DH114 Heron 2 G-ANPA the fourth production Heron 2.

The aircraft accommodated two pilots and upto 14 passengers (this increasing to 17 if no toilet was fitted).

The prototype DH Heron 2 (G-AMTS) was also built at Hatfield and flew for the first time on 14th December 1952 with production work being undertaken at Chester. It featured a number of improvements including a fully retractable undercarriage which increased its top speed.

Inclusive of the production at Chester, 149 Herons were built comprising the prototype, 51 x Series 1 and 97 x Series 2.  These aircraft were designated as construction numbers 10903 for the prototype and 14001 to 14148 for the production units. Despite the comparatively modest number built, the type was very successful in the export market with 70% being exported to operate in 30 countries.

At a time when 4 engine aircraft were still relatively rare, the Heron was well received by flight crews and by passengers who valued the additional safety whilst operating in the more remote locations.

The Heron was used by several nations as a communications aircraft, seen here is Ghana Air Force 501, a DH114 Heron 2.

In the UK, the Heron replaced the De Havilland DH89 Rapide on Scottish Highland and Island services of BEA. Other commercial users included Jersey Airlines, Cambrian Airways and Channel Airways whilst both the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm utilised the aircraft in various guises.  A number were also used as Executive transports by a number of major companies such as Shell, Vickers-Armstrong, Rolls-Royce and Ferranti.

One of five ex-civilian Heron 2s used by the Royal Navy as the DH114 Sea Heron communications aircraft.

Four VIP aircraft were used by the Queen’s Flight whilst five served as Sea Heron communications variants for the Royal Navy, based at HMS Heron, attached to RNAS Yeovilton.

Later in their operational career, a number of aircraft were also converted to be powered by four 290hp Lycoming IO-540-B1A5 engines and designated as the Riley Heron. Similar conversions were also carried out in Mexico, Australia (Connellan Airways), Puerto Rico (Prinair) and Japan.

Many DH114 Herons were re-engined with Lycoming engines later in their lives. This is VH-CLX of Airlines of Tasmania.

A more ambitious conversion was carried out in the form of the Saunders ST-27 from Saunders Aircraft Corporation of Gimli, Manitoba. The aircraft had a lengthened fuselage for a maximum of 23 passengers, a strengthened wing and two 715 hp P&W PT6A-27 turboprop engines.

A total of 12 ST-27 conversions was completed and the prototype of a further developed ST-28 were built.

Specifications

Survivors

Other information