TIGER MOTH

Arnaldo Correia pores over João Pereira's superb 1/3 scale DH.82A - four years in the making and a true labour of love.

- Arnaldo Correia

Developed from the DH.60T Moth Trainer, the DH.82 Tiger Moth was designed in accordance with Air Ministry Specification 15/31, which stated that when using a service parachute the instructor's egress from the front seat should be easier than on the DH.60, where the centre section struts hindered this, especially if wearing a parachute. The centre section struts were therefore moved forward in order to clear the front cockpit, but to keep the C of G at the correct location the wings had to be given some sweepback, however this put the tips of the lower wings too near the ground so the lower wing dihedral was increased, achieved by shortening the wing struts (the upper wing retained the original dihedral). Designated the DH.82 and powered by an inverted 120hp Gipsy III engine, the aircraft first flew in October 1931 and in 1934 was further improved, receiving a 130hp Gipsy Major engine and plywood rear deck; the definitive DH.82A Tiger Moth Mk.II was born.

THE MODEL

Portuguese resident João Pereira is a self-confessed Tiger Moth enthusiast and having decided to build a large scale model of the type he went in search of a suitable plan. However he wasn't wholly satisfied with those available so he embarked on a scratch-build, drawing his own plan based on information gathered from the study and measurement of a completely uncovered Tiggie airframe resident at the ‘Museu do Ar’ in Alverca, Portugal and incorporating some of the constructional solutions from the plans he'd studied initially.