De Havilland’s last airliner design
On the 100th anniversary of de Havilland, Key Aero examines the history of the DH.121 – later the Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident – which was the Hatfield-based airframer’s final airliner design before its merger in 1960.
Restoring a de Havilland Sea Venom
Getting a 1950s naval jet fighter back to its original condition is a painstaking business…
De Havilland's all-wooden wartime assault glider
In the pre-helicopter age, sending troops behind enemy lines meant packing them into a plywood glider like this…
The Vampire and the jet age
Originally called the Spider Crab, the Vampire ushered in a new era for de Havilland, and was used by some air forces until the end of the 1980s.
The airliner that changed aviation forever
On Sir Geoffrey de Havilland’s 67th birthday in 1949, the aircraft that propelled the world into the jet age took to the skies for the first time. Key Aero examines the history of the revolutionary DH.106 Comet
The ground-attack Mosquito that used cigarette technology
Used for daring, low-flying raids, the Mosquito FB MkVI packed huge firepower – partly thanks to some ingenious thinking from an unlikely source.
The Mosquito’s 272kg bomb
Known as the ‘Highball’, only 200 were ever made. Watch footage of one that was raised up from the bottom of a Scottish loch – 74 years after being dropped by a Mosquito from 618 Squadron.
Made of wood, held together with four bolts: de Havilland’s WW2 game-changer
From being turned down by the Ministry of Defence to becoming de Havilland’s greatest wartime aircraft, the story behind the Mosquito – and the incredible engineering behind it – showed aviation ingenuity at its very best.
Inside the de Havilland Mosquito B35 bomber
Watch our video of the Mosquito’s interior – these are the conditions that pilots and navigators faced…