AVIATION FABRIC PRINT DE HAVILLAND DH-4 SMITHSONIAN AVIATION RELIC SERIES for Sale

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AVIATION FABRIC PRINT DE HAVILLAND DH-4 SMITHSONIAN AVIATION RELIC SERIES For Sale

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AVIATION FABRIC PRINT DE HAVILLAND DH-4 SMITHSONIAN AVIATION RELIC SERIES:
$250.00

Framed Smithsonian Institution print of the De Havilland DH 4 along with an actual piece of original fabric from that very airplane. The original fabric measures two inches square. The print size is 15 x 20 inches, excellent condition.
From the mid-1970\'s to the early \'80\'s, the Smithsonian\'s National Air and Space Museum produced its \"Aviation Relic Series\" of limited edition prints, featuring 2\" square pieces of fabric from various historical aircraft in their collection. These were from aircraft that were going through restoration at the time to replace deteriorating original fabric. The National Air and Space Museum kept some large pieces of the original fabric in their collection for future reference but they decided to make some original fabric available to the public through this poster series to stimulate more interest in the museum. It seems remarkable that the Smithsonian would sell off such significant artifacts, and after a few years, not surprisingly, the museum decided that this was not a good idea after all and their policy now foroffers this practice. Their misfortune is your gain!

For the buyer, the nice thing about them is that you can be absolutely sure the fabric is totally authentic, unlike most aircraft fabric you see in dealer\'s inventories or on .

This print reads as follows: \"The Dayton Wright DH 4 \"Liberty Plane\" was the most important combat plane built in the United States during World War 1. Powered by the native 400 horsepower Liberty engine, the DH 4 proved to be an able bombing and observation plane in France. When the war ended, some 196 DH 4s were in front-line service with the American Air Service. The DH-4 in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum is the first of 3106 built in the United States by the Dayton Wright Airplane Company; it was used as a prototype and as a test vehicle for more than 1.000 flying hours.\"

About the DH-4:

The DH-4 was an ever-present element of the U.S. Army Air Service both during and following World War I. When the United States entered WWI in April 1917, the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps only had 132 aircraft, all obsolete. Modeled from a combat tested British DeHavilland design, the DH-4 was the only U.S. built aircraft to see combat during WWI. With inadequate funding to buy new aircraft, the newly created U.S. Army Air Service continued to use the DH-4 in a number of roles during the lean years following the war. By the time it was finally retired from service in 1932, the DH-4 had been developed into over 60 variants.

The Great War

During WWI, the Air Service used the DH-4 primarily for day bombing, observation and artillery spotting. The first American-built DH-4 arrived in France in May 1918, and the 135th Aero Squadron flew the first DH-4 combat mission in early August. By war\'s end, 1,213 DH-4s had been delivered to France.

DH-4 Production

Of the three U.S. companies that built the DH-4 during WWI, the largest producer was the Dayton-Wright Co. of Dayton, Ohio. The Air Service ordered over 12,000 DH-4s, but a number of problems kept initial production figures low and construction quality poor. The many changes involved in converting the design to American production standards, along with the use of the American Liberty 12-cylinder engine rather than the Rolls Royce engine of the British model, contributed to early production delays.

As the months of 1918 passed, however, quantity and quality improved considerably. By the end of the war, Dayton-Wright delivered 3,106 DH-4s, while the Fisher Body Division of General Motors built 1,600 and the Standard Aircraft Corp. added another 140, bringing the total to 4,846. The remaining 7,500 DH-4s still on order were cancelled.

With few funds to buy new aircraft in the years following WWI, the Air Service used the DH-4 in a variety of roles, such as transport, air ambulance, photographic plane, trainer, target tug, forest fire patroller, and even as an air racer. In addition, the U.S. Post Office operated the DH-4 as a mail carrier.

The DH-4 also served as a flying test bed at McCook Field in the 1920s, testing turbo-superchargers, propellers, landing lights, engines, radiators and armament. There were a number of notable DH-4 flights such as the astounding New York to Nome, Alaska, flight in 1920, the record-breaking transcontinental flight in 1922 by Jimmy Doolittle and the first successful air-to-air refueling in 1923.

1,538 DH-4s were modified in 1919-1923 to DH-4Bs by moving the pilot\'s seat back and the now unpressurized gas tank forward, correcting the most serious problems in the DH-4 design. A further improved version was the DH-4M whereby over 300 DH-4s received new steel tube fuselages.

Crew: Two (pilot and observer/gunner)
Range: 400 miles
Span: 43 ft. 6 in.
Cost: $11,250