The event celebrates the marriage (the day before) of
His Royal Highness William, Prince of Wales, and his
intended, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. Many of
the classic British aircraft that are part of the museum’s
collection—especially one appropriately liveried
de Havilland Dragon Rapide—are expected to take to
the sky to honor the happy couple, followed by the
serving of high tea at 4 p.m., naturally. It promises
to be an elegant affair.
transport of an earlier English
prince, the redoubtable Prince
Edward of pre-World War II
years. He’s the royal groom’s
great-great uncle. The strikingly
painted Rapide made one of its
first post-restoration appearances at EAA AirVenture 2010,
where it won the Lindy award
for best military transport.
As history recalls, Prince
Edward would later reign as
King Edward VIII of England
for less than 11 months before
abdicating the throne
December 10, 1936, to marry
his true love, twice-divorced
American Wallis Simpson. The
story of that critical period in
English history—Edward’s
rejection of his birthright and
his younger brother Bertie's
reluctant ascension to the
throne—is told in the Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech.
Though Jerry’s airplane rolled
out in 1944, he restored it to replicate Prince Edward’s 1934 Dragon
Rapide. The design was absolutely
the peak of aeronautical elegance
for the time, just the image to help
define His Highness’ lifestyle.
“Unfortunately,” admitted
Jerry Yagen, owner of the
museum and its collection of
more than 35 airworthy aircraft,
“it’s entirely possible that our
guests of honor, Willie and Kate,
may have other plans.” The royal
couple has been invited, he said,
but so far, no response. Even so,
a jolly good time is expected for
all who are able to attend.
THE DE HAVILLAND FAMILY TREE
The DH 89 Rapide traces its
genealogical roots to the original Moth series of wood-frame,
single-engine biplanes from de
Havilland, starting with the
DH 60 Gipsy Moth and the
more powerful and swept-wing
Tiger Moth.
But it was the growing
European airline industry that
attracted the most intense interest from de Havilland in the
1920s and early 1930s. The relatively short distances between
countries and major cities made
European air travel a romantic
and timesaving prospect.
De Havilland’s single-engine DH 83 Fox Moth had
an enclosed cabin up front for
passengers, while the pilot
flew from the open cockpit in
the rear. The Fox Moth is said
to be the first commercial airliner to earn a profit, being
used for feeder flights throughout Britain and linking
passengers with its offshore
Channel Islands.
A twin-engine model, the DH
84 Dragon, was introduced in
1932, with tapered wings and a
pair of the same four-cylinder
Gipsy Major engines of about 145
hp that powered the Tiger and
Fox Moths.
A comparatively massive
four-engine variant, the DH 86
Express, was introduced in 1934,
earmarked for, among others, a
new long-legged airline in
Australia known as Queensland
and Northern Territory Aerial
Service—QANTAS for short.
The Express used de
Havilland’s new, more powerful
Gipsy Six engine. A six-cylinder,
inverted, inline powerplant, the
Gipsy Six produced 200 hp. The
four-engine Express was not a
