Aircraft Manufacturing Co: DH.3
Note: This is a sub-section of Aircraft Manufacturing Co (Airco)
The Airco DH.3 was a British bomber aircraft of the First World War. The DH.3 was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland, Chief Designer at the Aircraft Manufacturing Company in 1916 as a long range day bomber.
It was a large biplane with wide-span three-bay wings, slender fuselage, and a curved rudder and was powered by two 120 hp Beardmore engines mounted as pushers between the wings. In addition to tailskid landing gear, two wheels were placed beneath the nose to prevent bumping.
A second prototype, designated D.H.3A was built with more powerful (160 hp) Beardmore engines, and a production order for 50 placed by the War Office. This order was cancelled however before any could be completed, because Strategic bombing was not thought to be worthwhile and twin engined bombers were claimed to be impracticable. The two prototypes were scrapped in 1917.
The Aircraft Manufacturing Co: DH.10| DH.10]] was a development of the DH.3 which first flew in March 1918 but was too late to see squadron service during the war.
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