The de Havilland DH.60 was a development of the DH.51 biplane and the prototype (G-EBKT) made its first flight from Stag Lane with Geoffrey de Havilland at the controls on 22nd February 1925. It was a two-seat biplane of wooden construction with a plywood-covered fuselage and fabric-covered flight surfaces, powered initially by a 60 hp (45 kW) ADC Cirrus 1 engine. The main variants were the DH.60 Moth, DH.60X Moth and DH.60G Moth.
The Moth was an immediate success and was effectively the world’s first affordable, practical and safe light aeroplane and benefited hugely from its selection to equip a number of officially supported flying clubs. Features included folding wings which allowed the aircraft to be stored in much smaller spaces and some were even capable of being towed by light cars such as Austin Sevens.
One early example was fitted with all-metal twin floats making it the first Moth seaplane. Early production Moths were widely known as Cirrus Moths. Notable flights were made by aviation pioneer Alan Cobham such as his record-breaking trip from London to Zurich and back in a day. Neville Stack flew a Moth to India, reaching Karachi on 8th January 1927 and Lady Bailey (later Dame Mary Bailey) piloted a Moth from Croydon to Cape Town and back in 1929. She also claimed a world height record two years earlier when she took a DH.60X Moth to 17,283ft.
From 1927 onwards the uprated 80 hp Cirrus II engine was fitted to the moth, to become the DH.60X. A few other moths, including six for the RAF, were fitted with Armstrong Siddeley 75 hp Genet I radial engines. The DH.60 Moth was widely exported and licence-built in Australia and Finland. In 1927 production switched to the DH.60X, which was distinguished by a split axle undercarriage (with struts forming an 'X' between the undercarriage legs). This was initially fitted with a 90 hp Cirrus II engine although some were fitted with the 105 hp Cirrus Hermes I. The type was then succeeded in production by the DH.60G Moth, by which time some 403 had already been built, the majority being DH60X Moths.
DH.60 Moth (G-EBLV) was donated by BAE Systems to the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden in 2022 who maintain it in flying condition for display at their regular airshows.