Flyhistorisk Museum Sola · Military aircraft
de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth
This aircraft was built by the aircraft factory Hærens flyvemaskinfabrikk at Kjeller, outside Oslo. Aircraft were built and repaired here from 1912 until the Second World War. Most of the aircraft produced at the factory were built under licence from foreign manufacturers.
The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth was developed in England in the early 1930s. It was a military trainer aircraft designed to provide student pilots with basic flight training before progressing to more advanced aircraft types. Instructor and student sat in tandem in an open cockpit, with dual flight controls and instrumentation. The aircraft could be flown equally well from either position.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the British aircraft manufacturer de Havilland developed several popular light aircraft. The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth was a further development of the de Havilland DH.60 Moth. These aircraft were used as trainers all over the world.
NORWEGIAN SERVICE
Hærens flyvemaskinfabrikk built a total of 38 aircraft of this type. Until the outbreak of war in 1940, the Tiger Moth was the standard trainer aircraft of the Army Air Force. The aircraft were also used for communication, observation, and light bombing duties.
The first aircraft to land at the new airfield at Sola was a de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth. This took place on 8 January 1937. The airfield was not yet completed, and no one was aware that an aircraft was approaching. The flight was made by the well-known pilot Captain Ole Reistad, who had flown from Kjeller.
Later that year, in advance of the official opening of the airfield, eleven de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth were sent from Kjeller. En route to Sola, the aircraft were caught by bad weather. Only two reached their destination. The others crashed or were forced to make emergency landings after becoming lost in the storm.
THE MUSEUM’S AIRCRAFT
On the evening before the German attack on Norway on 9 April 1940, the training aircraft at Kjeller were hidden on the ice of Lake Øyeren. They were later evacuated to Sweden, where they were confiscated by Swedish authorities and distributed to various flying clubs. Some aircraft from other Norwegian units were used as communication aircraft during the fighting against the Germans shortly after the invasion.
This aircraft returned to Norway from Sweden as a wreck in 1971. The aircraft was restored, and exhibited at the Armed Forces Museum at Akershus Fortress, among other places, before being stored away in a barn. The aircraft arrived here in 2023.
Specifications
- Type
- Two-seat military trainer
- First flight
- 1931
- Length
- 7,3 m
- Wingspan
- 8,9 m
- Height
- 2,7 m
- Weight, empty and max
- 506 / 828 kg
- Engine
- de Havilland Gipsy III
- Power
- 120 hp
- Top speed
- 175 km/h
- Range
- 480 km
- Armament
- None
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Number of aircraft used by the Armed Forces
- 38
- Service life in the Armed Forces
- 1933–1940
- Museum number
- FMSG2025.010.01
- Project leaders
- Siegfried Hernes, Harald Egge
- Volunteer hours
- 5480
